Exonerate the WM3 Official Blog

Joe Berlinger Screens Paradise Lost & Discusses WM3 Case @LRFF

Joe Berlinger, the director of the Paradise Lost movies for HBO, as well as the 2010 Little Rock Film Festival Official Selection, Crude, will attend this year’s festival. Berlinger will screen the first Paradise Lost film about the infamous West Memphis 3 case, in which three misfit kids from a small Arkansas town were tried and convicted of murder. Fueled by Berlinger’s film, the case became a world wide media sensation, with many believing the kids to be innocent, and unfairly singled out for their unique dress and their interests in witchcraft and heavy metal.

In a panel discussion called “The Media and the West Memphis 3″ moderated by the Arkansas Time’s Lindsey Millar; Berlinger along with Mara Leveritt, the author of “The Devil’s Knot”, Lorri Davis, wife of Damien Echols, and Capi Peck-Peterson, co-founder of Arkansas Take Action will discuss the ways in which the extraordinary media attention and involvement has both beneficial to, and harmed, the case of the three men who still sit in jail for murder.

More details here.

Echols' Attys File for Separate Juror Misconduct Hearing

Attorneys for Damien Echols  filed a reply brief on May 26, 2011 challenging the Arkansas Attorney General’s view that the blatant juror misconduct at the original trial was not relevant in a hearing for a new trial. “Evidence of jury misconduct at the Echols-Baldwin trial is germane to the Court’s present inquiry because it eliminates not only a presumption that the verdicts were valid but also any inference that the substantive evidence adduced at the trial was deemed reliable or credible by the Echols-Baldwin jury.”

Attorneys  for Echols asked presiding  Judge David Laser to admit evidence of juror misconduct into this proceeding and to conduct oral arguments and allow witness testimony. They also asked the judge to conduct a separate hearing on the juror misconduct prior to the December 5, 2001 court date to ensure that there be ample time to present all the evidence.

Judge David Laser is expected to rule shortly.

Download Echolsreply-jurymisconduct

Eddie Vedder On Giving The Ukulele A Turn In The Spotlight

By Ann Powers

"It's an activist instrument!" declared Eddie Vedder last week, speaking by phone from a Seattle recording studio. He wasn't talking about the Fender electric he once decorated in tribute to the late radical historian Howard Zinn, or any of the fascist-killing machines he's wielded in two decades worth of playing with Pearl Jam.

The singer and songwriter meant the ukulele, which he picked up in a Hawaiian convenience store in the mid-1990s as a traveling companion and songwriting tool. The soulful muse of his long-in-the-making second solo album, Ukulele Songs, is an instant community-builder.

                                                                            ***           ***

Indeed, Ukulele Songs is a very personal collection – an arc of mostly love songs dedicated to his wife, Jill McCormick, and their two daughters, Olivia and Harper Moon. Though the famously self-protective rocker declares that all the songs are "works of fiction," the more private writing process has led to a set of songs that are more revealing, frank and sweeter than his usual output. (The song "Satellite," which he's been playing in concert for a decade, is about Damien Echols, an Arkansas death row prisoner whom Vedder and many others believe was wrongly convicted, written from the perspective of Echols' wife Lorri Davis.)

Read the full article at NPR.org.

No false confessions? Science has found dozens, often wrung from coerced young suspects

By Beth Warren

The Commercial Appeal

A teenager woke up early on the first day of his senior year, strolled into the den and found his father covered in blood. Marty Tankleff called 911 in a panic. As his father gasped for air, he grabbed a towel to press on the gaping neck wound. The teen then darted through the sprawling, upscale house to search for his mother. Her blood-splattered body lay on the floor of her bedroom.

Nine days earlier, Marty had celebrated his 17th birthday with his parents. Read the full story here.

How a man in Denmark created an invaluable WM3 online archive

There are many unsung, behind-the-scenes heroes and heroines in the WM3 saga. At long last Mara Leveritt introduces Mr Hansen, Monte and Greg, keepers of Callahan, the crucial WM3 case document and photo resource for lawyers, news reporters, supporters and researchers.

by Mara Leveritt

Christian Hansen, a laborer in Denmark, loves Clint Eastwood. He admires the actor’s work so much that an online friend nicknamed him “Callahan” after Eastwood’s character in the “Dirty Harry” movies. He never imagined that the little website he formed as a repository for documents about the case of the West Memphis Three would become the largest archive of a criminal case in the world. If he had, he says, he would have named it something other than “Callahan.”

But there you have it. A modest Danish guy who likes to work with his hands creates a site named after a fictional San Francisco cop and, over time, the site morphs into a massive online reference library for the nonfiction process that ensnared—and still holds—three kids from Arkansas. Callahan has become the go-to site for anyone wanting to search police, court or media records from the case.

Article reprinted by kind permission of Mara Leveritt. Subscribe to DK2 now!

Download DK2 Callahan

Atty Gen Dustin McDaniel responds to alleged juror misconduct in WM3 trial

From Today's THV

 

Largo: An Evening with Demetri Martin Hosted by Jeff Garlin to Benefit The West Memphis 3

via largo.laughstub.com

Get your tickets now before they sell out! 

 

Description: Largo is proud to present another benefit for those fighting for justice in the heartbreaking West Memphis Threecase. Demetri Martin joins host Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm, "My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World") in fighting for this heartbreaking cause. Jeff will interview Demetri as he takes questions from the audience, and talks about his new book, "This Is A Book." After the show, Demetri will hang out in the lobby and sign copies of his book. And you never know just who might show up... Doors open for drinks at 6:30, Showtime 8pm, Tickets $30.

 

Juror Misconduct Evidence Admissable Says Atty General

On May 16, the office of the Arkansas Attorney General submitted a brief to the Craighead County Court of Judge David Laser agreeing to the admission of juror misconduct evidence in evidentiary hearings in the West Memphis 3 case. The evidence presented by attorneys for the men goes into detail about how police obtained Misskelley’s so-called confession during his interrogation, how the prosecution introduced it via news reports prior to the trials, and how the jury came to consider the inadmissible “confession” during its deliberations. Lloyd Warford, a prominent Arkansas attorney, former prosecutor, and state official, submitted a sworn affidavit detailing a dozen improper conversations that jury foreman Kent Arnold held with him while the original trial was in progress, clearly violating the law and the rights of Echols and Baldwin to a fair and impartial trial. Arnold allegedly lied to the court during jury selection so that he would be sure to be selected, then he allegedly introduced Misskelley’s false confession into jury deliberations though it was constitutionally barred from the trial and deliberations because Misskelley refused to testify against Echols and Baldwin.

According to the Attorney General’s filing, “The State does not resist admission of the juror misconduct evidence, although the State does not believe it will aid the Court’ resolution of the question on remand - whether a new trial would result in acquittal.”

In the motion for a new trial, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin asked presiding Judge David Laser to admit evidence of juror misconduct at their first trial into this proceeding. They also asked the judge to conduct oral arguments and allow testimony at the hearing scheduled to begin December 5, 2011.

Judge Laser's rulings on juror misconduct and DNA briefs by the state and WM3 attorneys are expected next week.     #wm3

Download Ag-juror-reply

UFC Fighter Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy Auction to Aid Defense Fund

UFC Fighter Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy will be auctioning an autographed poster from his March post-fight party held in Seattle, WA to raise money for the defense fund of Damien Echols (who is on death row), Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.—also known as the West Memphis Three.  

This Skeleton Key auction will last for 18 days, from May 16 to June 3 -- June 3, 2011 marks the 18^th year that they have been behind bars for crimes they did not commit.

The starting bid for the Dan Hardy autographed poster has been set at $20. Register to bid now! Your winning bid is tax deductible as the Damien Echols Defense Fund is a 501(3)(c) LLC.    #wm3

5/20 Kara Clark Special Event for WM3 Supporters Only @HOB

Long time WM3 supporter and alt.country/rock badass Kara Clark is offering an incredible deal for Southern California supporters-- a presale admission price of $5.00 that includes a signed EP plus an exclusive WM3 meet and greet with Kara. Click here to purchase and use the password wm3. The invite won't work without it. We'll see you there!

Kara Clark Band w/ Merle Jagger and special guest appearance by Eerie Von. House of Blues Foundation Room. Doors: 7:30pm. Showtime: 9pm.

#wm3org

New Free the WM3 Bumperstickers on Zazzle #wm3

We've gained a lot of new supporters this week so make sure you check out the official wm3.org merchandise at zazzle.com. Burk Sauls just added four brand spanking new bumperstickers so make sure you're displaying them proudly for the upcoming Worldwide Awareness Day on June 3! 18 years too long...

Mara Leveritt Files Impropriety Complaint Against Atty General McDaniels

You must subscribe to DK2 to get this kind of exclusive, breaking news by Mara Leveritt for her follow up to Devil's Knot. Recent posts also include courtroom rules for the December evidentiary hearing, a new Echols/Baldwin juror affidavit and recent state testing of DNA. It will be the wisest $15 you ever spend, we promise!

Mara:

Today, I sent the following letter to the Arkansas Supreme Court’s Committee on Professional Conduct. It asks the committee to investigate whether Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and his deputy attorney general, David Raupp, have violated their constitutional duties and the court’s rules of professional conduct for attorneys by continuing to support the jury verdicts in the trial of Damien and Echols and Jason Baldwin, despite unrefuted evidence that those verdicts were tainted by gross juror misconduct—evidence that has been before Arkansas courts for more than three years.

Download Mara McDaniels

WM3 Briefs Filed Regarding Evidence of Juror Misconduct

Damien Echols' attorneys submitted a “Brief on The Admissibility of Evidence of Juror Misconduct,” asking presiding Judge David Laser to admit evidence of juror misconduct at his first trial in the December hearing.

The filing includes shocking evidence that the jury foreman at the Echols-Baldwin trial, Kent Arnold, allegedly lied to the court during jury selection so that he would be sure to be selected and allegedly introduced Misskelley’s false confession into jury deliberations although it was constitutionally barred from consideration because Misskelley refused to testify against the two.

Lloyd Warford, a prominent Arkansas attorney, former prosecutor, and state official, submitted a sworn affidavit detailing a dozen improper conversations that Kent Arnold held with him while the original trial was in progress, clearly violating the law and the rights of Echols and Baldwin to a fair and impartial trial. In those conversations, juror Arnold indicated he had prejudged Echols’s guilt and was trying to convince other jurors to convict them based upon Misskelley's so-called confession.

Echols contended in his 2008 motion, and asserts again today, that the 1994 judgments were fundamentally flawed and unreliable, and he was found guilty principally based on what biased jurors had heard and read outside of the courtroom.

In a separate filing, attorneys for Baldwin state, “Baldwin has tendered ample evidence of misconduct by his original jury as part of his Petition/Motion for New Trial, including the record of the jury selection, affidavits, juror notes, and other evidence demonstrating that the original verdict was tainted by misconduct.”

Download Echolsmisconductbrief                          Download Baldwinjurybrief2

May 31: Largo Benefit for WM3 w/Jeff Garlin & Friends

Los Angeles' Largo at the Coronet is proud to present another benefit for those fighting for justice in the heartbreaking West Memphis Three case. Jeff Garlin is among the many special guests that will grace its intimate stage. Tickets are going to sell out fast once the special guests are announced so purchase your tickets now!