Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Law Briefs set for West Memphis Three hearing
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 12:39 PM
Times senior editor Mara Leveritt, who wrote the ground-breaking book, "Devil's Knot," that spurred worldwide interest in the case, was on hand to cover the hearing. She reports a first-time court reference to secret DNA testing by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office that seems likely to be a subject of much more discussion in future proceedings.
Her full report follows on the jump. You can also keep up with her ongoing coverage on her blog, maraleveritt.com
By Mara Leveritt
At a scheduling conference today in circuit court in Jonesboro, Judge David Laser ordered attorneys representing Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. to file briefs with him by Feb. 18 regarding issues to be addressed at the evidentiary hearing that was ordered last September by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
Laser said he was “giving this case priority” and that he wanted to “get this done as soon as possible.” Laser was appointed to hear the case because the previous judge, David Burnett, was elected to the state Senate.
The conference took place with some attorneys appearing in person and others by speaker phone. Ten lawyers participated in all — four for the state and two each for the three men, known as the West Memphis Three.
As issues to be considered were discussed, Laser said, “As I look at it, they [justices of the Supreme Court] basically want this case pre-tried through the court.” He added, “I’m certainly not limiting what can be presented. If there are additional issues or evidence that needs to come in, they will come in.”
Little Rock attorneys Jeff Rosenzweig, representing Misskelley, and Blake Hendrix, representing Baldwin, noted that unlike Echols, their clients still have appeals pending regarding their Rule 37 hearings to examine the adequacy of their counsel at their 1994 trials for the slayings of three West Memphis children.
Stephen Braga of Washington, D.C., the newly appointed lead attorney for Echols, agreed that while those appeals need to proceed, “No matter what happens to them, this hearing needs to go forward with regard to Echols.” Only Echols faces the death penalty. The other two are serving life sentences.
Laser responded, “Yes, that seems the way it ought to be.”
He told the attorneys, “Let’s operate on the assumption we’re going to move forward on all three cases to the extent we can.”
Attorneys for the three men noted that there was still some hair and fiber evidence that needs to be tested. They said the “intermingled” hairs were of human and other animal origin.
Attorney John Philipsborn of San Francisco, representing Baldwin, told the judge that at one point, after state and defense attorneys had agreed on evidence to be tested for DNA, “The state did some testing of its own.” Philipsborn asked that no party undertake potentially destructive testing of evidence without mutual knowledge and agreement.
Laser ordered that all testing will be “above the table.” The judge also put all attorneys under a gag order. “If a new trial is ordered, we will need to impanel a jury, so a gag order seems reasonable.” He then said he would prefer to “schedule the hearing more or less like an actual trial” and that he dates open in July, August and October.
All attorneys now have 45 days to submit briefs outlining issues they want to present and a schedule for the hearing.
New evidence, including allegations of juror misconduct and DNA findings, prompted the Supreme Court to order a new hearing for the men, whose convictions had previously been upheld. The hearing will decide whether they men deserve new trials.
Philipsborn's reference to other DNA testing, marked the first time that there’d been an official court reference to the fact that the attorney general did secret, additional DNA testing after no trace of the defendants turned up in the initial round of agreed-upon DNA testing. News of this leaked out inadvertently to the defense and it’s expected to be a subject of discussion in the Feb. 18 briefs. In the meanwhile, lawyers are gagged and attorney general working papers are not open to inspection. Three employees of the attorney general and Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington would not comment on the secret testing.
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Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
"DALLAS — A Texas man declared innocent Tuesday after 30 years in prison could have cut short his prison stint twice and made parole – if only he would admit he was a sex offender.
But Cornelius Dupree Jr. refused to do so, doggedly maintaining his innocence in a 1979 rape and robbery, in the process serving more time for a crime he didn't commit than any other Texas inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.
"Whatever your truth is, you have to stick with it," Dupree, 51, said Tuesday, minutes after a Dallas judge overturned his conviction.
....
Under Texas compensation laws for the wrongly imprisoned, Dupree is eligible for $80,000 for each year he was behind bars, plus a lifetime annuity. He could receive $2.4 million in a lump sum that is not subject to federal income tax.
The compensation law, the nation's most generous, was passed in 2009 by the Texas Legislature after dozens of wrongly convicted men were released from prison. Texas has freed 41 wrongly convicted inmates through DNA since 2001 – more than any other state.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/c…
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Good luck boys........My prayers are with you........The truth will set you free.
The truth will set you free? Not in this case. My opinion is, they're telling the truth, and they aren't guilty. If they WERE, guilty, and were to tell the truth about committing the crime, Damien would be killed.
they need to be free they are not gilty you can see who the real siko is if you just look at the evedance it makes me feel unprotected from are police
they do need to be released its wrong that these inoccent men are behind bars for a murder they honestly did not commit. the justice system is so messed up it makes me to feel unprotected by the police
The way these murders were carried out fit Damien Echols to a tee, it defined his personality and his mental condition at the time. Echols, who was trying to impress his friends Baldwin and Jessie MissKelley by demanding to be sexually serviced by the three boys forgot that the other boys would tell their parents when they got home that they had been propositioned by him , so he then had to kill all three of the boys while at the same time exhibiting his perverse sexual desires by tying them up. This case completely makes the jury's decision an annoyance. Echols has undergone a total metamorphis from being a pure sociopath to a choir boy. He should have been executed 18 years ago.
From the false and forced confession of a teenager that was disproved by physical evidence several times but was still allowed into evidence.
Sounds like jbrauthor was there! Maybe you should be behind bars too! If I'm not mistaken there were no signs of sexual abuse. It's not really the point if they are guilty or innocent..it's that they did not receive a fair trial. Burnett knows he was wrong for not letting them have a hearing on the new evidence. And Gitchel should be put behind bars when they have their new trial and it comes back innocent! Put yourself in their families shoes, how would you feel if your son was convicted of such a horrible crime and not given a suitable trial? Everyone deserves a fair trial no matter what their mental condition is or how their personality is defined!
Apparantly you haven't read any of the "so-called" evidence against them! If you had you would realize all the things "used: against them for a speedy trial, to satisfy the police and community, and used not to see what really happened! How about you pretend you are even ONE of those men, now or even back then...and you know you didn't do it?? Would be a different story then, huh? I have read everything I can on the case and looked at all the pics and evidence available...there's NO WAY these three did this horrible thing! But SOMEONE did...and they are running FREE? WHAT ABOUT THAT? ..... There TRULY are people in PRISON that are NOT GUILTY! And I believe these 3 are INNOCENT IN THIS CASE! Even Pam Hobbs BELIEVES they are and she is one parent of a child that was murdered! Why do you think that? State brought in so-called EXPERTS that didn't even have proper credentials... the list goes on and on...how this got manipulated! Please go read ALL the evidence ...and get a clearer picture of this whole mess! Set the record straight Arkansas...FREE THE WM3!
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