By George Jared
JONESBORO — Three women’s witness statements will not be considered by the Arkansas Supreme Court in deciding whether they’ll order a new trial for convicted murderer Damien Echols.
Justices denied a motion for staying Echols’ appeal and refused to consider new witness statements submitted for review earlier this month.
No written explanation accompanied the decision. Officials with the Arkansas Supreme Court in Little Rock said it is common for motion rulings not to have written explanations.
Echols and cohorts Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted in 1994 of the deaths of West Memphis 8-year-olds Michael Moore, Steven Branch and Christopher Byers.
The boys’ bodies were found in a drainage ditch in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis on May 6, 1993, one day after they reportedly disappeared while riding bikes in their neighborhood.
Attempts to reach Echols’ attorney, Dennis Riordan, were unsuccessful.
Claims by sisters
Two sisters, Jamie Clark Ballard and Brandy Clark Willams, claim they saw Byers, Branch and Moore at 6:30 p.m. on May 5, 1993, near the time prosecutors believe the boys were abducted. Ballard was 13 at the time, and Williams was 11.
Their mother, Deborah Moyer, also claims she saw the boys at the time. All three stated in sworn affidavits that the last time they saw the boys the three were headed toward Branch’s house, which was on the same street as Moyer’s, at the behest of Terry Hobbs, Branch’s stepfather.
In sworn statements Hobbs has said he never saw his stepson or the other boys on May 5, 1993.
Hobbs became a central figure in the case in 2007 when a hair collected from one of Moore’s ligatures likely matched Hobbs’ DNA. Another hair collected from a nearby tree stump at the crime scene is a likely match for a friend Hobbs claimed to have been with when the boys became missing, according to court documents.
The West Memphis Police Department has maintained that Hobbs and the friend, David Jacoby, are not and never have been suspects in the case. Secondary hair transfer might account for those particular hairs being at the crime scene, police say.
None of the DNA evidence that has been tested thus far implicates Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley, who’ve been dubbed the “West Memphis Three.”
More than $1M raised
Their supporters have raised more than $1 million to hire attorneys and investigators to seek new trials.
A lack of DNA and forensic evidence linking the convicted to the crime and perceived wrongdoing by prosecutors and Judge David Burnett have spurred international interest in the case.
The bizarre manner in which the boys were tied and the horrific injuries to their bodies led police and prosecutors to believe the killings could have been part of an occult or satanic ritual.
Echols told police he was a member of the Wiccan religion and didn’t believe in God or the devil. The admission made him a suspect, and it also brought his best friend, Jason Baldwin, into the fold.
Some of the parents of the slain boys have in recent years come forward doubting the convictions.
Police based their initial case on a convoluted confession given by Misskelley on June 3, 1993. Misskelley got the time and exact place of the crimes wrong during his interrogation.
He also told police the boys were sexually assaulted.
According to state Medical Examiner Dr. Frank Peretti and other defense forensic pathologists, the boys were not sodomized, and no evidence proved they were forced to perform oral sex, as Misskelley confessed.
Misskelley, who has an IQ of 72, also said ropes were used to tie the youths when, in fact, their own shoelaces had been used.
Despite the inconsistencies a jury found Misskelley guilty. Even after the conviction Misskelley confessed twice more, and each time his story changed. He now claims the initial confession was coerced.
Police maintain that Misskelley gave them details, such as the mutilation of Byers’ genitals, that only the killer would know. A review of the confession tape isn’t clear as to whether Misskelley identified Byers.
The three women came forward with their new claim after learning earlier this year that Hobbs told police he didn’t see the juveniles the day they disappeared.
Ongoing lawsuit
Hobbs is in an ongoing civil lawsuit with famed country music singer Natalie Maines after she allegedly named him as the true killer on Web site posts and at a rally in Little Rock in 2007.
Hobbs steadfastly maintains his innocence in the case but refuses to comment about it publicly, acting on the advice of his attorney.
Retrial for hearings for both Baldwin and Misskelley wrapped up earlier this month, and Burnett is expected to decide by the end of the year if the two will receive new trials.
Echols has other challenges before the Arkansas Supreme Court that might garner him a new trial. It’s unknown when the court will rule on those filings.
Copyright 2009 Jonesboro Sun
ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
Opinions delivered October 29, 2009
CR08-1493. Damien Wayne Echols v. State of Arkansas, from Craighead
Circuit, Western District. Appellant’s motion for order staying appeal
and remanding for further proceedings regarding showing of actual
innocence is denied. Wills, J., not participating.
By George Jared
JONESBORO — She had two pieces of candy in her hand, one for her son
Stevie, and the other for her daughter Amanda.
Leaving work at a West Memphis restaurant at 9 p.m. May 5, 1993, Pam
Hobbs walked up to her husband’s car. Inside, 4-year-old Amanda
reached for the treat in her mother’s hands. “Where’s Stevie?”
she asked Amanda. “Momma, we can’t find him,” the girl replied.
Pam spent the rest of the moon-lit night searching the neighborhood
and combing the nearby woods, desperately hoping the boy would come
home.
The nude, bound bodies of 8-year-old Stevie Branch and his two
companions, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, were found in an
irrigation ditch in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis the
next day.
Less than a year later three teen-agers — Damien Echols, Jason
Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley — were convicted of capital murder in
the case. For years Hobbs referred to the so-called “West Memphis
Three” as “punks” and “freaks.”
From the beginning, Hobbs said she suspected that her then-husband,
Terry Hobbs, might be involved. Stevie disappeared around 6 p.m. that
night, but, according to police records, Terry Hobbs didn’t tell his
wife about the disappearance until he picked her up from work more
than three hours later, even after he claimed to authorities he’d
been searching for the boy.
“He didn’t tell me Stevie was missing. He went and used the pay
phone,” Hobbs said. “Amanda’s the one that told me. Don’t you
think it’s a little suspicious that he didn’t tell me my own son
was gone?”
Hairs and other DNA from the crime scene were tested in 2007, and
none of the convicted men were a match. But one hair found inside a
ligature used to bind Michael Moore could have come from Terry Hobbs,
and another hair at the scene might have come from one of the man’s
friends, according to court documents.
The hairs could have also been at the scene because of secondary hair
transfer, police said. Witnesses have come forward in the last week
claiming to have seen the boys in Terry Hobbs’ care near the time
they disappeared, according to documents filed with the Arkansas
Supreme Court.
The new allegations contradict sworn statements Terry Hobbs made to
investigators in which he said he didn’t see any of the boys the day
they disappeared.
This evidence convinced Hobbs that her former husband might be
involved in the brutal slayings.
Terry Hobbs denied the allegations by his former wife. Advised by his
attorneys not to speak with the media, Hobbs said Monday morning he
couldn’t answer questions about the specific accusations. But he did
say defense attorneys for the convicted have leveled vicious attacks
against him.
“If I could, I’d tell them to straighten and do right,” Terry
Hobbs said. “I don’t care what any of them think.”
Terry Hobbs’ attorney, J. Cody Hiland, is out of town this week and
unavailable for comment.
The West Memphis Police Department has repeatedly stated that Terry
Hobbs is not a suspect in the killings, and the case is closed. Terry
Hobbs is suing country singer Natalie Maines for defamation after she
allegedly referenced him as the possible killer in Web site posts and
at a rally in Little Rock in 2007.
Finding a knife that belonged to Stevie years after his death in her
ex-husband’s knife collection also fueled Hobbs’ speculations. The
night Stevie went missing, his stepfather repeatedly washed already
clean clothes and other items around the house, Hobbs’ sister, Jo
Lynn McCaughey, said.
Draped in a Free the West Memphis Three shirt, McCaughey said she
thinks her former brother-in-law was involved. During those hearings
Hobbs spoke to Baldwin for the first time, telling him that she hoped
he got another trial.
“If they’re not guilty, then God let them go,” Pam Hobbs said.
“I wish I could just tell Judge [David] Burnett to look at the new
evidence. They never got a fair trial. They were convicted before the
trials ever started.”
Attention from the case tortures Hobbs, she said. Questions about the
murders and who committed them haunt her. Despite her belief that
Terry Hobbs may have played a role in her sons’ death, the two still
talk. Their daughter Amanda has two children now. And Hobbs said the
children bring her a lot of joy.
Conversations about what happened to Stevie are rarely brought up,
she said. After 17 tumultuous years of marriage, the couple split up
in 2004.
Before Stevie’s funeral, Hobbs spent a quiet moment alone with her
son. Sitting next to his body, she gently slipped his socks on one
last time.
Should Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley ever be exonerated for the
crime, it’s possible that no one will be brought to justice for
Stevie’s murder.
Hobbs said she’s content with that. “God knows who did it, and
he’ll take care of it in good time,” she said.
Hobbs thinks often about her son, who’s been gone now twice as long
as he was alive. He liked to sing and dreamed of someday being a
police officer, his mother said.
A trunk containing Stevie’s last earthly possessions is under lock
and key, Hobbs said. Clothes, toys, school papers and other
knickknacks inhabit the trunk.
In lonely moments she’ll pull out an old school paper or assignment
completed by her son.
“He was so smart, and he made really good grades the three years he
was in school,” she said. “I always like to remember that.”
The mother said she thinks she’ll see her son again.
“I’ve got an angel in Heaven,” she said. “Steve’s in Heaven.
He’s waiting for me.”
Copyright 2009 Jonesboro Sun
Last year, curator Jenny Schlenzka had the chance to curate “Through A
Glass Darkly,” the opening exhibition of RedLine, a promising
not-profit contemporary art space in Denver. While working there,
Schlenzka and fellow artist Jen DeNike discovered the story of Damien
Echols. Echols is an artist and writer who, at 18 years old, was
wrongly convicted of murder in 1994 in West Memphis, Arkansas and
sentenced to death.
Both the trial and investigation were characterized by egregious
misconduct on the part of the authorities. Echols was merely a
goth-metal kid in a conservative small town who was targeted for being
different. Deeply involved in this case of human injustice, DeNike and
Schlenzka put together a group of artists, museum curators, gallery
directors, musicians and actors who believe in the innocence of Damien
Echols.
On October 25 from 6 to 9pm, New York gallery Maccarone Inc. will host
a benefit that aims to raise much-needed legal funds for the final
push to free Damien Echols. The related silent auction includes works
by Allora & Calzadilla, Kristin Baker, Walead Beshty, Carol Bove,
Peter Coffin, Jen DeNike, Carlton DeWoody, Anna Gaskell, Douglas
Gordon, Adam Helms, Elizabeth Huey, Alfredo Jaar, Terence Koh, Nate
Lowman, Corey McCorkle, Anthony McCall, Adam Pendelton, Genesis Breyer
P-Orridge, Lisi Raskin, Mika Rottenberg, Taryn Simon, Mike Smith, Alec
Soth and Francesco Vezzoli.
http://www.flashartonline.com/interno.php?pagina=news_det&id=526&det=ok&title=Cultural-reaction-against-death-row
By George Jared
JONESBORO — Neighbors of three West Memphis 8-year-olds who were
murdered in 1993 have come forward, claiming they saw the juveniles
around the time they disappeared.
And the new revelations conflict with statements made by one of the
boys’ stepfather as to his whereabouts when the three went missing.
In affidavits presented to the Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday,
sisters Jamie Clark Ballard and Brandy Clark Williams and their
mother, Deborah Moyer, claim to have seen Stevie Branch, Christopher
Byers and Michael Moore at 6:30 p.m. May 5, 1993.
The boys were playing in Moyer’s backyard when Branch’s stepfather,
Terry Hobbs, yelled at the boys and told them to go to his house,
according to court documents.
Ballard, then 13, said she spoke to Byers, telling him his older
brother was looking for him. Williams, who was 11 at the time, and
Ballard then left for church, documents state. Moyer said she went
outside to tell the boys to get out of her yard, and she saw a man
with blond hair standing down the street yelling at the boys.
Contradicts statements
That contradicts a sworn statement Hobbs gave to police, in which he
said he never saw Branch or the other two on the day they disappeared.
Officials with the West Memphis Police Department have repeatedly said
Hobbs is not a suspect in the murders, and he was interviewed only at
the behest of prosecutors.
Hobbs has professed his innocence in various media interview and even
filed a lawsuit against famed country musician Natalie Maines after he
claimed she made public remarks indicating he was guilty of the
killings.
Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, who were teens at
the time, were convicted of capital murder in 1994 for killing the
boys.
The nude, tied, bludgeoned bodies of Branch, Moore and Byers were
found in a rain-filled ditch in the Robin Hood Hills area of West
Memphis, a day after they went missing.
A perceived lack of DNA or forensic evidence tying the convicted to
the crime has caused a international outpouring of support for new
trials in the case.
Attorneys for Echols presented the neighbors’ statements to the
Arkansas Supreme Court in hopes it will order new trials. It’s not
known if or when the statements will be added to Echols’ case file.
Satanic or occult activity was the alleged motive for the crime.
Misskelley confessed to police in 1993
Misskelley confessed to the crime in an interview with police June 3,
1993. He claimed he, along with Echols and Baldwin, was consuming
alcohol near the ditch when the three boys approached. The teens then
subdued, sexually assaulted and tortured the boys before disposing of
them in the water, police said.
The confession is riddled with errors, including the time of the crime
and where it happened. Misskelley said ropes were used to tie the
victims when in fact their own shoelaces were used. Misskelley, who
has an IQ of 72, has since recanted the confession and has said that
police coerced him into confessing.
Renowned forensic pathologists have recently testified at a hearing
for Baldwin and Misskelley there was no evidence of a sexual assault.
State medical examiners, who were criticized for their work on the
case, said there was no evidence the boys were sodomized, and no semen
was collected.
Horrific injuries to all three boys, including the genital mutilation
of Byers, were the result of cuts from a sharp implement or knife,
state medical examiners claim. But defense forensic pathologists
testified that most of the wounds, including those to Byers genitals,
can be attributed to animal predation.
In Misskelley’s confession he claimed they used a knife on the victims.
Hairs and other DNA collected from the crime scene were tested in 2007
and didn’t match any of the defendants. A hair found inside one of
Moore’s ligatures matched Hobbs, court records state. Police said the
hair could have been at the scene as a result of a secondary transfer.
Ballard, Moyer and Williams came forward with new information about
the case after learning Hobbs said he didn’t see his stepson or the
other boys just prior to their disappearance.
According to documents, Ballard said she was friends with Ryan Clark,
Byers older brother. After school the day the boys disappeared,
Ballard said Byers’ stepfather, John Mark Byers, told Clark to find
his brother.
When Ballard saw Byers playing in her backyard she reportedly told him
that his brother was looking for him, and he needed to go home.
Pam Hobbs, Branch’s mother who was married to Terry Hobbs for 17
years, has said recently that she believes her ex-husband was involved
in the murders, and she thinks the men convicted deserve new trials.
John Mark Byers has also said he thinks Terry Hobbs was involved with
the murders, and he now ademantly supports efforts to free the so
called “West Memphis Three.”
Rule 37 hearings for Misskelley and Baldwin wrapped up earlier this
month, and Judge David Burnett is expected to rule by the end of the
year if they will get new trials. In 1999 Burnett rejected a bid by
Echols for a new trial.
gjared@jonesborosun.com
Copyright 2009 Jonesboro Sun
In light of new developments in the West Memphis Three case, Lorri Davis visits Today's THV to talk about the case.
Three 8-year-old boys murdered, three teens convicted. In the last 16 years, the West Memphis Three case has had many twists and turns.
Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin continue to fight for a new trial as new developments surface.
On Monday, we told you Echols' attorneys filed affidavits claiming they have new witnesses that claim they saw Terry Hobbs, one of the victim's stepfather's, with the three boys shortly before they disappeared. They also say a hair found links Hobbs to the crime scene.
On Tuesday, Hobbs' lawyer responded to those claims saying they are lies and that Echols defense team is concerned only with falsely accusing Hobbs to create an alternative suspect to help his convicted client.
Lorri Davis who has been married to Damien Echols for more than 10 years sits down with THV's Liz Massey on Today's THV at 6:30. She'll talk about these new developments plus she reacts to Hobbs' lawyer's statements which you can read in its entirety below.
Terry Hobbs and his attorney have declined an on-camera interview.
Statement by Terry Hobbs' attorney:
Today, in his latest attempt to free their convicted clients, Dennis Riordan has produced affidavits which, sixteen years later, falsely claim that Terry Hobbs was with the three victims of the crime between 5:30 and 6:30. The affidavits prove nothing.
This is the latest lie put forward by Dennis Riordan and the Damien Echols defense team. Dennis Riordan lied when he claimed in a press release that his Habeas filing included a chronology of events that implicated Terry Hobbs, when in fact the time of death stated in Riordan's own filings is consistent only with the innocence of Terry Hobbs. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about this false statement.
Dennis Riordan lied when he said in a press release that new evidence placed Hobbs at the scene of the crime, a statement which Riordan himself (and his DNA expert) contradicted in the Habeas petition and his November 1, 2007 press conference. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about these contradictions.
Dennis Riordan has also dishonestly withheld comment on other evidence that is consistent with the innocence of Terry Hobbs. The Memorandum In Support of Petition for Habeas Corpus filed by Riordan on October 1, 2007 states at pages 106-107: "Tony Anderson, the fingerprint evidence expert on the crime scene when the victims' bodies were discovered" a print was found at the scene "within five to ten feet of where the first body was located, and it was at an angle that made clear that it had been left by someone who had been in the water." Anderson compared the print to the convicted, the victims and every police officer on the scene, and found no match. The fingerprint is "powerful circumstantial evidence" that someone other than the three accused committed the charged murders, according to Dennis Riordan's own filing. This fingerprint does not match Terry Hobbs. The Arkansas State Police excluded Hobbs as the donor of this fingerprint. This evidence has not been publicly commented upon by Dennis Riordan because he is too busy with his dishonest attempts to create an alternative suspect. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about the fingerprint evidence.
Similarly, Dennis Riordan's DNA filing also includes a hair that was also found in the shoelace used to bind a victim that is inconsistent with Terry Hobbs, the victims, or the accused. Riordan has never mentioned this hair in a public statement.
Again, Dennis Riordan is concerned only with falsely accusing Terry Hobbs of this crime to create an alternative suspect to assist his convicted clients. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about the hair from which Terry Hobbs has been excluded as the donor.
Neighbors say they saw Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore with Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, just before their disappearance. It's a claim Damien Echols believes helps his case for a new trial.
Three 8-year-old boys lost their innocence on May 5, 1993 when they were brutally murdered.
Three teenagers were convicted; Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. Many believe though it's a double tragedy.
Today's THV spoke with Echols from death row. He says, "It's like being in absolute terror and being numb at the same time."
For many people, this haunting crime leaves more questions than answers more than 16 years later.
Echols explains, "You know even though I am in this prison, I am surrounded by the love of the people that care about me and are helping me through this situation."
One of the victim's step-fathers under oath stated that he'd never seen his step-son or the other two boys the day of the murders. But there's been some new developments. Three new sworn statements show something different.
The claims are from Terry Hobbs' neighbors; a woman and her two daughters.
One states, "Between 5:30 p.m. And 6:30 p.m., I saw Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers playing in my backyard. I am absolutely, completely and totally positive that I saw Terry Hobbs hollering at Stevie, Michael and Christopher to get back down to the Hobbs' house at approximately 6:30 pm."
The affidavits also claim a hair ties Hobbs to the crime scene.
"It's one of those things that you get, I get a little excited about, but at the same time this has been drug out for so long in the past. It's not going to come to a conclusion quickly. I know that. It has already been 16 and a half years and I just try to stay calm and remain patient and not get my hopes too high," says Echols.
Echols says it will likely take a federal court to look at the case before he'll be given a new trial. His arrest, he calls was a rush to judgment. As for his conviction, he calls it an injustice.
"I have been here for, I've lost count, somewhere between 20 and 25, 28 executions. I can't even keep count anymore and you don't get used to it, ever."
Today's THV tried to get into touch with Terry Hobbs for comment but were referred to his lawyer who was not available.
Meantime, you may be asking why the three women just came forward. They say they were never questioned by police at the beginning and were unaware, until now, of Hobbs' recent statement that he hadn't seen the boys the day of the murders.
Two of the three victim's families have now come forward in support of the so-called West Memphis Three. Be sure to watch for more from Damien Echols in the coming weeks on Today's THV as we dig deeper into this story.
More On The New Developments
According to the affidavits, Hobbs was calling loudly at the children and ordering them to return to his house.
Jamie Clark Ballard, who lived three doors down from Terry and Pam Hobbs, has supplied a sworn affidavit, as have both her mother and her sister. Ballard was 13 at the time and the boys were 8. She is now 21.
Ballard says in her affidavit that Hobbs was yelling at the boys to come home and it appeared they were headed in that direction before she left for church. She said they returned home from church at about 8 p.m., and that she didn't see any kids outside nor Terry Hobbs. She says, "I had no idea that the kids were missing. There was no evidence that there was a search going on for the little boys."
The affidavit continues, "Following the murders, the police never came to interview me or my family. In fact, after the murders, I do not recall ever seeing any police vehicles on my street or seeing any police interviewing any of the people in my neighborhood."
Damien Echols' case is currently under appeal in the Arkansas Supreme court seeking a new trial based upon new evidence.
Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley are serving life sentences.
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=92528&catid=2
One day after defense attorneys announced a new development in 1993's so-called West Memphis Three case, the other side is telling their side. The defense says neighbors say they saw Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore with Branch's stepfather, Terry Hobbs, just before their disappearance. Click here to read that story. The boys were found murdered the next day, May 6, 1993.
Those new witnesses were never question (sic) during the investigation and have come forward now after learning more details of the case.
Statement by Terry Hobbs' attorney:
Today, in his latest attempt to free their convicted clients, Dennis Riordan has produced affidavits which, sixteen years later, falsely claim that Terry Hobbs was with the three victims of the crime between 5:30 and 6:30. The affidavits prove nothing. This is the latest lie put forward by Dennis Riordan and the Damien Echols defense team. Dennis Riordan lied when he claimed in a press release that his Habeas filing included a chronology of events that implicated Terry Hobbs, when in fact the time of death stated in Riordan's own filings is consistent only with the innocence of Terry Hobbs. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about this false statement.
Dennis Riordan lied when he said in a press release that new evidence placed Hobbs at the scene of the crime, a statement which Riordan himself (and his DNA expert) contradicted in the Habeas petition and his November 1, 2007 press conference. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about these contradictions.
Dennis Riordan has also dishonestly withheld comment on other evidence that is consistent with the innocence of Terry Hobbs. The Memorandum In Support of Petition for Habeas Corpus filed by Riordan on October 1, 2007 states at pages 106-107: "Tony Anderson, the fingerprint evidence expert on the crime scene when the victims' bodies were discovered" a print was found at the scene "within five to ten feet of where the first body was located, and it was at an angle that made clear that it had been left by someone who had been in the water." Anderson compared the print to the convicted, the victims and every police officer on the scene, and found no match. The fingerprint is "powerful circumstantial evidence" that someone other than the three accused committed the charged murders, according to Dennis Riordan's own filing. This fingerprint does not match Terry Hobbs. The Arkansas State Police excluded Hobbs as the donor of this fingerprint. This evidence has not been publicly commented upon by Dennis Riordan because he is too busy with his dishonest attempts to create an alternative suspect. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about the fingerprint evidence.
Similarly, Dennis Riordan's DNA filing also includes a hair that was also found in the shoelace used to bind a victim that is inconsistent with Terry Hobbs, the victims, or the accused. Riordan has never mentioned this hair in a public statement. Again, Dennis Riordan is concerned only with falsely accusing Terry Hobbs of this crime to create an alternative suspect to assist his convicted clients. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about the hair from which Terry Hobbs has been excluded as the donor.
Neighbors Saw Steven Branch, Christopher Byers & Michael Moore With Hobbs Just Before Their Disappearance
For Immediate Release
(Little Rock, AR; 10/12/09)
Three eyewitnesses have come forward and provided sworn statements that they saw Steven Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore with Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steven Branch, at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5, 1993, immediately before the time the boys disappeared. Hobbs was calling loudly at the children and ordering them to return to his house. The new evidence establishes that the last person who had custody of the three boys before they vanished and died was Terry Hobbs. Jamie Clark Ballard, who lived only three doors down from Terry and Pam Hobbs, has supplied a sworn affidavit, as have both her mother and her sister.
Based upon this new evidence, a motion on behalf of Damien Echols was delivered today to the Arkansas Supreme Court asking the court to order the matter to the Circuit Court to permit further factual development of Echols’s claims of actual innocence.
Ballard states in her sworn affidavit that, “Between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., I saw Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers playing in my backyard. I am absolutely, completely and totally positive that I saw Terry Hobbs hollering at Stevie, Michael and Christopher to get back down to the Hobbs house at approximately 6:30 pm. If Terry Hobbs said he did not see Stevie Branch, Michael Moore or Christopher Byers on May 5, 1993, he is not telling the truth. I know for a fact that Terry Hobbs saw, was with and spoke to Stevie, Michael or Christopher on May 5, 1993.”
Hobbs has repeatedly said that he never saw the three boys the day they were murdered. In fact, during a recent civil deposition of Terry Hobbs, dated July 21, 2009, Hobbs stated, for the first time under oath, that he never saw his stepson, Steven Branch, at any time on May 5, 1993. Under oath he was asked, “It’s your testimony that you did not see Stevie Branch at all the day of May 5th of 1993. Correct?” Hobbs answer: “Correct.” “Did you see Stevie at all that day, May 5th?” Answer: “No, I did not.” “Did you see any of the three boys that day?” Answer: “No, I did not. No I never seen Stevie that day.”
Police never questioned Terry Hobbs during the original investigation of the crimes, but after new evidence was revealed that his DNA was found at the crime scene in 2007, he was questioned by West Memphis Police Department on June 21, 2007. In that interview he stated numerous times to Detective Mitchell that he did not see the boys at any time that day. Officer Mitchell asked Terry Hobbs about what time he got home from work, and he responds roughly about 3-3:30 p.m. He was then asked if he saw Stevie anywhere. His answer: “I did not, he wasn’t there.”
According to the motion prepared by Dennis Riordan and Don Horgan, Echols attorneys, “It has previously been established that Hobbs was never questioned by police during the original investigation of the crimes, despite the fact that the lead detective in the investigation of the murders has conceded that when a child homicide occurs, police should always consider the parents of the child as potential suspects, and that it is “statistically proven that homicide victims are usually the result of family, close friends, [and] known acquaintances” DNA evidence submitted to the Circuit Court in the § 16‑112‑201 proceedings below links Hobbs to the ligature used to bind Michael Moore. A hair linked by DNA testing to David Jacoby, whom Hobbs had visited in the hour before the boys disappeared, was found at the crime scene. Hobbs, moreover, has been accused of assaultive conduct in the past. He has made bizarre and self-incriminating statements concerning his activities on the date the boys went missing. His whereabouts during a key early evening time period on May 5th have never been accounted for. Certain family members recalled that he had acted suspiciously on the date of the disappearance and the days that followed. His wife and other family members have voiced their belief that Hobbs was responsible for the killings.
“Considered in the context of all available evidence in these matters, the new revelations that Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steven Branch, had Steven, Christopher, and Michael in his custody just before their disappearance and death, and that Hobbs has deliberately denied and concealed that critical fact, cannot reasonably be reconciled with the conclusion that appellants were responsible for the crimes of which they stand convicted.”
The eyewitnesses, who saw the boys in their backyard prior to returning to the Hobbs home, were never questioned by the police on the day of the murders. According to the affidavit of Jamie Clark Ballard, “Following the murders, the police never came to interview me or my family. In fact, after the murders, I do not recall ever seeing any police vehicles on my street or seeing any police interviewing any of the people in my neighborhood.”
Damien Echols case is currently under appeal in the Arkansas Supreme court seeking a new trial based upon new evidence. Dozens of pieces of evidence found at the crime scene conclusively show that no DNA from the murders matches Echols or the other two men. DNA testing, however, links Terry Hobbs, stepfather of one of the murdered children, to the crime scene, and other evidence has emerged implicating him in the crimes. In addition, scientific evidence from the nation’s leading forensics experts demonstrates that most of the wounds on the victims were caused by animals at the crime scene, after their deaths – not by knives used by the perpetrators, as the prosecution claimed and was the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case. Moreover, evidence presented that a knife recovered from a lake near one defendant’s home caused the wounds was completely discredited by the pathologists.
Echols’s also informed the Supreme Court that a prominent Arkansas attorney in a sworn affidavit has revealed improper conversations that the jury foreman held with the attorney while the original trial was in progress, clearly violating the law and the rights of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin to a fair and impartial trial. In those conversations, the jury foreman indicates that he had prejudged Echols’s guilt and was trying to convince other jurors to convict based upon news reports of the false confession of Jessie Misskelley, which was barred from admission at the Echols-Baldwin trial. During one conversation, the jury foreman told the attorney that the prosecution had presented a weak case, and that the prosecution had better present something powerful the next day (the end of the prosecution’s case) or it would be up to him to secure a conviction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/us/12westmemphis.html?_r=1
By SHAILA DEWAN
October 12, 2009
West Memphis Journal
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. — The patch of woods has been cleared, the shallow ditch has been rerouted, the Blue Beacon Truck Wash has been torn down and 16 years have passed. But though the setting where three 8-year-old boys were found killed, naked and bound, in 1993 is unrecognizable, the crime still has the power to dominate the front page of the small newspaper here and bring tight smiles to the lips of civic boosters.
For years, outsiders have raised questions about the guilt of the three misfit teenagers, Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who were convicted of the murders. But more recently, a steady dribble of new evidence has begun to seep into the consciousness of West Memphis, eroding the once nearly unanimous belief that those outsiders — including rock stars, HBO filmmakers and the creators of “South Park” — did not know what they were talking about.
To Shaun Hair, 30, who left West Memphis for college after the killings, it was a jolt to hear friends and neighbors begin questioning the verdict. “I was like, ‘That’s stupid, quit buying the hype,’ ” he said.
But when Mr. Hair, who returned to the area in 1999 and now works as a criminal defense lawyer, re-examined the case, he found it troubling. “If I were the defense attorney,” he said, “I would want a retrial.”
Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Misskelley are serving life sentences; Mr. Echols is on death row. Their convictions were based on an error-riddled confession by Mr. Misskelley, who later recanted, and testimony about satanic cults. Scant physical evidence was presented.
Since new DNA evidence drew renewed attention to the case in 2007, witnesses have come forward with new information about the victims’ whereabouts in their last hours and the knife that prosecutors suggested had been the murder weapon. A “tip line” established by the defense fund for the West Memphis Three, as their supporters call the convicted men, has attracted calls expressing the hope for a new trial.
“Come on Arkansas, Supreme Court, give them the chance to prove their innocence,” said one caller from a local area code in September, who did not leave his name but said he did not mind if his comments were released.
Even the parents of the victims have had second thoughts. Early this month, Pam Hobbs, whose son Steve Branch was killed, became the second parent to say she believed that the West Memphis Three were innocent.
Still, the trial remains a delicate subject in West Memphis and its county, Crittenden. The mayor of West Memphis, William H. Johnson, declined to be interviewed about it. Linda Miller, who owns a health food store with her husband and believes that the convictions were wrong, said she was wary of speaking her mind because the issue was so “polarizing.”
In Little Rock, a two-year-old advocacy group, Arkansas Take Action, formed by a pair of restaurateurs and Mr. Echols’s wife, Lorri Davis, to raise awareness of the case, has held successful rallies and a candlelight vigil, and even drummed up new evidence of jury misconduct. But it cannot claim a single member in Crittenden County.
That is partly because residents have other preoccupations, including poverty and tensions between black residents and the West Memphis Police Department. The city’s population, about 27,000, has long been stagnant, and the housing boom that overtook so many communities bypassed West Memphis.
Instead of a historic town square, West Memphis is largely defined by a mile-and-a-half stretch where two interstates come together, funneling more than 30,000 trucks a day through the town and giving it a generic, transient air. The once-wooded crime scene was sandwiched between that stretch and a residential neighborhood called, as Lila Bailey, 68, a longtime resident, put it, “Garden Something.”
The unusual murders — three children from three different families — were also a deep trauma for a town small enough for only a degree or two of separation. Questioning the results of the trial, some residents said, is tantamount to questioning the local police, prosecutors and judges, and can feel like disloyalty to the victims. Perhaps because they lived through it, few have studied the case in the same detail as the West Memphis Three supporters have. There is a strong urge to move on.
After the trial, said Ramona Taylor, a city councilwoman, “People felt comfortable that the problem was resolved, and this was an anomaly. It was not representative of our community or of our youth.”
Janine Earney, the director of the Crittenden Arts Council, said she becomes angry every time she reads about the West Memphis Three — who, she points out, were not even from West Memphis, but the next town.
“I don’t think anyone from the outside can look at what happened in this community and judge it,” she said.
But a lack of open debate about the case does not mean that there are no deep, if quiet, misgivings about the convictions. From his living room recliner, Mrs. Bailey’s husband, Otto, offered his opinion. “I bet if you polled three-fourths of West Memphis,” he said, “they would say those boys had nothing to do with it.”
