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Marilyn Manson has been a longtime supporter of the West Memphis Three: Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., and Damien Echols, three men who were wrongly convicted as metalhead teenagers in 1994 of the alleged satanic-ritual murder of three 8-year-old boys. He even spoke out on their behalf at the 2010 Revolver Golden Gods. Now he’s donated a one-of-a-kind, signed original 22”-x-30” painting of Echols, who is currently on death row, for auction to raise money for the Damien Echols Defense Fund. You can bid on it, starting July 13 until July 31, at skeletonkeyauctions. #wm3 From RevolverMagazine.com
Posted at 04:47 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Religion, Science, Television, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Marilyn Manson, Paradise Lost, Paradise Lost 3, WM3
Disturbed will be auctioning items from their Asylum LP to raise funds for Damien Echols (who is on death row), Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.—also known as the West Memphis Three — who were unjustly convicted for murdering three elementary school children in 1994. Since the horrific crimes, DNA from the crime scene and victims was tested by Bode, the country's most trusted crime lab, and none of it matches these three unjustly imprisoned men. For three weeks starting December 5th, Judge David Laser will be holding an evidentiary hearing for the three men to review all post conviction evidence. The SKA auction for these Disturbed items will last for 18 days—from June 24th to July 12th-- one day for each year the West Memphis Three have spent behind bars. June 3, 2011 marked the 18th year that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. have been behind bars for crimes they did not commit.
Earlier this spring, Disturbed released a previously unreleased track called “3” with the proceeds benefitting the Damien Echols Defense Fund. The track can be purchased for 99 cents only via their website.
The starting bid for the Disturbed package has been set at $100.00. There are other great items up for auction right now too, a relisting of John Mark Byer's "Peace" artwork, Drew Stepek's signed Knuckle Supper novel, Gris Grimley's fantastic WM3 tshirts. Log onto Skeleton Key Auctions to place your tax deductible bids now! There is still much DNA to test and legal expenses and forensic experts to pay before the December hearing so WM3 supporters everywhere are urged to help us defray the costs.
Posted at 03:37 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Science, Television, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, Disturbed, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, Todd McFarlane, WM3
By Gerard Matthews
The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Criminal Practice has proposed a rule that would encourage, but not require, the electronic recording of police interrogations. The panel, which is made up of judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers, has opened the proposed ruling for public comment until Friday, July 1.
Seventeen other states require taping of interrogations, according to the Innocence Project, a group that tries to assist prisoners who might be freed through DNA testing.
The proposed rule states that "whenever practical, a custodial interrogation at a jail, police station, or other similar place, should be electronically recorded." The admissibility of any custodial statement will be determined based on the "totality of the evidence," meaning it will be considered alongside other factors, such as why a recording was not made, if it has been clearly altered, the length of the interrogation, age of the suspect and if the suspect is particularly vulnerable for any reason known to the police.
The proposal's language concerns some defense attorneys.
Jeff Rosenzweig is a Little Rock attorney who represents Jessie Misskelley, a member of the West Memphis Three who was jailed for life based on a confession he made at the age of 17. Only parts of that confession were taped. Rosenzweig said he could not talk about the Misskelley case, but could comment generally on the proposed rule. Full story here.
Posted at 01:10 AM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Science, Television, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, WM3
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It’s safe to say that the work of Arkansas’s crime lab, and especially that of Dr. Frank Peretti, one of its medical examiners, will be scrutinized at December’s evidentiary hearing for the West Memphis Three. Defense attorneys have already challenged the scientific accuracy of Peretti’s conclusion that a knife caused the injuries to two of the three victims. Prosecutors used Peretti’s testimony to support their contention that the children were murdered as part of a satanic ritual. However, in October 2007, seven forensic pathologists testified that the injuries Peretti attributed to a knife were more likely inflicted by animals—possibly dogs, raccoons or turtles—after the boys were killed and their bodies submerged in a water-filled ditch.
Defense attorneys for Damien Echols and some of the pathologists held a press conference to announce those opinions. The group also met with Peretti and other officials at the Arkansas crime lab, seeking a collaborative approach to reviewing the autopsy evidence.
That request was denied. And soon after, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued a statement that captures the conflicted alliance between politics and science that exists in most crime labs, including Arkansas’s. McDaniel said: “While the state will look at the new allegations and evidence objectively, it stands behind the conviction of Mr. [Damien] Echols and that of his codefendants and does not anticipate a reversal of the juries’ verdicts.”
The question arises: how objectively can a scientist look at evidence if his employer—in this case the state—has already announced its support of the original conclusion?
The lab’s Quality Manual states that, “External complaints that question the analytical results of an analyst will be investigated.” The manual also outlines procedures to be followed if the complaint is found to be valid.
I asked Channell if he would consider a press conference by a group of distinguished pathologists an “external complaint.” Channell said he would not, because, “Experts have differences of opinion. We don’t see those as complaints. We’re faced with dueling experts in court all the time.”
Fair enough. Then, I asked, is there a form or procedure by which someone can register an external complaint? Channell said there is not, and that he does not know of an external complaint having been filed with the crime lab in the four years he’s been director.
How then, I asked, do scientists at the crime lab respond when others in the scientific community challenge the accuracy of their work?
Channell pointed out that both the Arkansas crime lab and its medical examiners’ office are audited and accredited—something that cannot be said of similar agencies in many other states. Yet it was clear that the issue of his lab’s objectivity was a sensitive one.
“We take pride in our work,” he said. “We don’t work for the prosecutors. We don’t work for the police departments. We are an independent state agency.”
He emphasized: “I don’t report to a chief of police. I report to the governor.” Matt DeCample, spokesman for Gov. Mike Beebe, agreed: “The executive director is appointed by the governor, and the governor can also fire him.” But, Decample added: “The duties, responsibilities, qualifications and compensation of the executive director are all set by the board.”
According to DeCample, the board is charged with defining the executive director’s job and maintaining “direct oversight” of it. What’s more, he noted, the qualifications for appointment to the crime lab board are established by law.
DeCample emailed me a list of the crime lab’s current directors. It included: one circuit judge; a prosecuting attorney, a deputy prosecuting attorney and a former prosecuting attorney; two physicians (one the dean of the University of Arkansas’s College of Medicine and the other a surgeon); a county sheriff and “one seat currently vacant” to be “held by an active police chief.”
So, the board of directors for the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory consists of one judge, three current or former prosecutors, two police officers, and two physicians. Yet even that meager representation of scientist is not accurate. According to Channell, the dean of the college of medicine, though required by law to serve, is not currently on the board.
Does any of this matter? It does.
The crime lab is supposed to be an unbiased scientific entity. “Independent,” as Channell said. And courts regard it as such. Yet the board authorized to define the executive director’s job and watch how he handles it is comprised primarily of police and prosecutors. At present, the one physician on the board is not even a pathologist, and the board is not required even to have one.
In practice, the crime lab works closely with police and prosecutors. It works in relative isolation and can lack the collegial challenges that confront scientists in larger, competitive institutions.
A report published in 2009 by the National Research Council addressed what it called the “Needs of the Forensic Science Community,” now that DNA tests have proven that the testimony of many forensic scientists resulted in wrongful convictions.
That report, titled “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward,” stated this: “Government reports over the years have recommended that a medical examiner system should be an independent agency or should report to a commission so that it avoids any conflicts of interest and so that it reports directly to the jurisdictional governing body.”
Some reformers suggest that a state crime lab should be part of the Health Department; that its services should be available to anyone for a fee, like a university hospital; and finally that the crime lab be managed by a three-person panel, with appointees recommended by the state attorney general, the public defender’s office, and the legislature’s judiciary committee.
No system is going to be perfect. But something is clearly wrong when attorneys for a man facing a sentence of death cannot obtain even cursory information from the crime lab of the state that sentenced him, as has been the case with Echols.
In a pre-hearing brief filed in February, lawyers for Echols told Judge Laser that their efforts to find out from the crime lab how many autopsies Peretti performed in the years 1992, ’93 and ’94 had been ’rebuffed.” According to Echols’ brief, the lab replied that the attorney general’s office said that the records would only be released if Echols’ attorneys got a court order.
Thus, in the February brief, Echols’ attorney, Stephen L. Braga, wrote: “Since the attorney general’s office has already apparently decided not to authorize the release of this information to Echols’ counsel, Echols hereby asks this court to do so.”
Braga also told the court that he had written to Peretti’s boss, Dr. Charles Kokes, on April 21, 2010, requesting “copies of all autopsy reports, photographs, toxicology reports, written notes (including bench notes), field investigator reports, police reports, phone logs and/or communication sheets in the medical examiner’s office file(s) from May 1993 to date relating to the ME office’s work on the autopsies of the victims in this case.”
Braga said he would pay the cost of copying and shipping. But eight months passed without a response.
Braga wrote to Kokes again on January 5 of this year. This time he asked: “Can you please let me know whether you will provide me with access to these materials voluntarily or not?” By Feb. 18, when Braga filed his brief, he wrote that Kokes had still not responded.
In that brief, Braga cited the pertinent section of the Arkansas Code: “The laboratory shall disclose to a defendant or his or her attorney all evidence in the defendant’s case.”
In the West Memphis case, at least, the laboratory’s actions belie claims of independence.
Posted at 03:05 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Religion, Science, Television, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, WM3
Indie Horror novelist, Drew Stepek will be auctioning an autographed copy of his gold medal winning novel “Knuckle Supper” 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 — who were convicted for murdering three elementary school children in 1994. Since the horrific crimes, DNA from the crime scene and victims was tested by Bode, the country's most trusted crime lab, and none of it matches these three unjustly imprisoned men. For three weeks starting December 5th, Judge David Laser will be holding an evidentiary hearing in Jonesboro, AR for the three men to review all post conviction evidence.
The auction will last for 18 days—from June 17th to July 5th —one day for each year the West Memphis Three have spent behind bars. June 3, 2011 has marked the 18th year anniversary that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. have been behind bars for a crime they did not commit. 100% of the tax deductible winning bid will go to the Damien Echols Defense Fund which assists each of them with forensic testing and other legal expenses.
Auction is for horror fans 18 and over, please.
Posted at 04:12 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Religion, Science, Television, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, WM3
Posted at 10:02 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Science, Television, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Black Flag, Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, Dez Cadena, false confession, hardcore, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, WM3
We are honored to be able share this article of Mara's with WM3 supporters everywhere...
A Star-studded Rally on Behalf of the West Memphis Three Prompts the Delicate Question
By Mara Leveritt
For someone who’s not a member of the legal profession, I felt honored to be invited to write an article for the UALR Law Review about the “Voices for Justice” concert held on behalf of the Arkansas prisoners known as the West Memphis Three. I was asked to focus particularly on how—or even if—an event featuring such well-known celebrities as Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines, Patti Smith, and Johnny Depp might affect the men’s legal appeals.
Posted at 01:05 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Religion, Science, Television, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, WM3
Panel features Joe Berlinger, Mara Leveritt, Lorri Davis, Mike Poe and Capi Peck discussing the impact of local media on the WM3 case, now and then. Courtesy of the ArkTimes.com.
Posted at 02:45 PM in Books, Film, Legal News, Religion, Science, Television, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, WM3
The WM3 have been unjustly imprisoned since 6/3/93 though they are innocent. Today, raise awareness however you can for Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols & Jessie Misskelley. Bookmark wm3.org and learn what you can do to help set them free!
Posted at 08:31 AM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Legal News, Music, Religion, Science, Television, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Damien Echols, Devil's Knot, false confession, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley, Joe Berlinger, Judge Laser, Mara Leveritt, Paradise Lost, WM3
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