Saturday, July 3, 2010
Arkansas Courts Damien Echols on 17 years of 'hell'
Posted by Max Brantley on Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 6:21 AM
- Jonesboro Sun
- Damien Echols
Damien Echols, West Memphis Three
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West Memphis 3 judge: I did good
February 10, 2012As you might expect, Sen. David Burnett of Osceola, the judge in the West Memphis Three case, isn't happy with their release and believes, at most, they should have gotten a new trial rather than freedom. /more/
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KAIT lands interview with West Memphis 3 judge
February 9, 2012Could be interesting. State Sen. David Burnett of Osceola, the judge in the West Memphis 3 who was decisively overruled in a landmark Arkansas Supreme Court ruling, is going to talk at length on the case tonight on KAIT-8 in Jonesboro. /more/
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Depp options Echols' forthcoming prison memoir
February 7, 2012Johnny Depp, one of the most vocal celebrity supporters of the West Memphis Three, has optioned Damien Echols' forthcoming prison memoir for possible development into a feature film. /more/
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Damien Echols on life in and out of jail
February 6, 2012Damien Echols — on tour promoting with wife Lorri Davis and "West of Memphis" director Amy Berg while promoting the new doc — gives Democracy Now! /more/
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Colin Firth to star as P.I. in "Devil's Knot"
February 1, 2012'Tis a long way from the great houses of Britain to the trailer parks of West Memphis, Ark. But get ready for an actor to make the transition. /more/
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"West of Memphis" a powerhouse
January 30, 2012I went to the third public screening of "West of Memphis" today, held at Little Rock's Trio's restaurant before a crowd of news media and WM3 supporters. /more/
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Mother of West Memphis 3 victim asks for reopening of case
January 23, 2012Pam Hobbs, mother of Steve Branch, one of three eight-year-olds killed in the 1993 West Memphis slayings that became the West Memphis 3 case, says new information unearthed in a new documentary, "West of Memphis," has persuaded her to call for the state of Arkansas to reopen the case. /more/
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'West of Memphis' explodes at Sundance
January 23, 2012"West of Memphis," the new doc on the WM3 case produced by Damien Echols, Lorri Davis, "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh, has caused an astounding level of buzz with its debut at Sundance this weekend, where it played to sold-out crowds. /more/
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'West of Memphis' debuts at Sundance today
January 20, 2012"West of Memphis," the new documentary about the West Memphis Three case produced by Damien Echols, Lorri Davis, "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh and directed by Amy Berg, will undoubtedly make another big film-festival-circuit splash when it debuts at the Sundance Film Festival today in Park City, Utah. /more/
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West Memphis 3 defense claims new evidence of killer
January 20, 2012The West Memphis 3 defense team continues it work on behalf of the three defendants to point authorities to the person responsible for killing three West Memphis children in 1993. /more/
- More »
Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
"Echols sat in jail for months awaiting trial. During that time he spent only five hours with his lead attorney, public defender Val Price of Jonesboro."
I have witnessed this again and again. As a citizen of this country, I thought that when the accused got a public defender you actually spent quality time with them to build your case. That's not what I saw when I was on jury duty. Some public defenders spend less than 15 minutes with their clients. In Arkansas, if you have to rely on a public defender, you're screwed. Bad. Real Bad.
"Echols said he’s still mystified Griffis was allowed to testify as an expert witness. Griffis admitted on the stand he never took any graduate courses to receive his doctorate, which came from a “diploma mill” in California."
That seems to be a pattern here as well. All sorts of kooks get to testify in Arkansas and claim they're authorities in their subjects. Then they go to "rentboy.com" grab a hottie and head off to Europe for a massage.
"A key prosecution witness, Dr. Dale Griffis, testified that the crime had the trappings of the occult. He said the number of victims and time of month indicated it was a satanic sacrifice."
Well, they'd better round up all the local Freemasons. Nobody does occult better than Hiram Abiff. No, Freemasons aren't satanic, and neither were these boys.
I don't for one minute think these boys got a fair trial. They were tried by a jury in the delta--where people are terrified of "satanism," yet are too uneducated to realize that Christians killed more people in the 20th century than satanists ever thought about. And while I'm thinking about it, there's nothing more occult than Christianity: Praisin' Jesus while "a-drankin" his blood. Praisin' Jesus while eating his flesh. Praisin' Jesus while singing songs with words like "There is a fountain filled with blood," celebrating the violence of nailing a god/human to a torture device (I've often wondered if Jesus would be happy about us being happy for his suffering...). Come brother! There's room beneath the cross! Come sister! Gather 'round the table for the last supper! Praise him! Fetch me that serpent! Lawsy, Mrs. Nellie's got the spirit, hope her pistol ain't loaded!
And you know the boy's lawyers weren't going to put up much of a fight. Their practices would suffer in the community if they got the boys freed.
A few years ago, I read a study showing that many serial killings take place along main trucking routes, often along interstate highways. And West Memphis wouldn't exist without interstates. To me, this is a bit more plausible--that the little boys were attacked by a sophisticated killer who was good at luring children to their deaths.
I'm not saying the "West Memphis 3" are innocent. I'm saying everything points to a bad trial, a bad system. And it's in lots people's interest to cover up the problems or they could lose jobs and political standing. 'Tis a banana republic we have.
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Spunkrat: There are good public defenders and bad public defenders, just as there are good private attorneys and bad private attorneys. You need to take your complaint to the legislature. Public defenders are usually paid much less than prosecutors. They usually have hundreds of cases at a time. Many of them work way more than the forty hour week they are paid for.
I am not defending Mr. Price, but I am defending the men and women the men and women who often chose a career as a public defender over a more lucrative private career. These people do their job with very little resources and support from the government. They are fighting uphill all the way. Please consider this before making a blanket condemnation.
It is true that indigent citizens deserve better representation than they currently receive here in Arkansas. However, the lion's share of the blame lies with our legislature and those local governments that refuse to give the public defenders the resources they need to do this difficult job, because, face it, it would be politically unpopular to do the right thing.
spunrat, right on! Oh, btw you forgot the Southern church song, "Power in the Blood."
Fay:
You're absolutely correct, and I stand enlightened. :)
Perhaps someone who counts will see our postings and realize the problem and get it corrected. I'll be sending a note to my representative to raise the issue.
Not that it'll help...
“I might have said it, but it wasn’t because I did it,” he said. “I was a teen-ager. People were saying a lot of stuff about me. But I might have said it joking around.”
So, the lesson learned here, is that it's not cool to confess to murders if you didn't do them.
Just astounding that these guys are still in prison. What a tragedy for them and their families, what a disgrace to the memories of the 3 boys killed on 5/5/93 (probably by Terry Hobbs) and what an embarrassment to the state. Where is Dustin - stop worrying about the politics of your car and start worrying about justice...
I understand the Supreme Court is going to hear the case (again) in September .... hopefully they'll be out by October!
Guilty or not, the trial was an embarrassment to not only the state of Arkansas, but to any state (or city) across the country that has a court room.
Perhaps the only way "they" sleep at night is the fact that they haven't quite flipped the switch on him (Echols) yet.
Truly pathetic.
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