First, as you know if you've read any of my posts, I am firmly convinced that the three are innocent. However, I will give you a list of the "evidence" that was presented in the trials:
In the Miskelley trial, the only real evidence was Jessie's "confession" which I believe (as do experts on false/coerced confessions) was coerced because of his suggestibility due to his limited mental ability.
In the Echols/Baldwin trial, the following was presented:
1) Against Echols, statements by a couple of tweens who claimed that they overheard a conversation at a softball game in which he admitted that he killed the little boys, was going to kill two more and then turn himself in. Damien doesn't remember making these statements, but even if he did, it is my opinion that it was typical of his behavior (wanting to say shocking things) and was a defense mechanism against the unacceptance that he felt from the community, even before these murders. Also, the two girls did not claim to be part of the conversation. They only claim that they overheard part of it. One of their mothers has since stated that she didn't believe that the statements were true.
2) Against Baldwin, a "jailhouse snitch" statement from another juvenile, Michael Carson, who claimed that Jason admitted to him that he committed the crimes. However, Carson's drug counselor (whose name I can never remember) told the defense that he (the counselor) told the facts of the case to Carson before Carson told his story to the police. Unfortunately, while allowing Carson to testify, Burnett disallowed his counselor's testimony at trial. Also, the Arkansas Department of Corrections officials on duty at the time stated that the two (Jason and Michael Carson) were not out of earshot long enough for such a conversation to have taken place.
3) Against both, fiber evidence. The fiber evidence was weak at best, and Davis (one of the prosecutors) admitted this to the parents and grandparents during a briefing between the trials. The fibers found could be linked to any of probably thousands of garments which could be purchased at the local Wal-mart. They were found to be "microscopically similar" to Jason's mom's bathrobe and a child's shirt found at Damien's residence (or was it Jason's?). The defense has been trying to get permission for a while to retest the fibers with newer methods which could provide more information. Burnett has denied that request, but I believe that when the evidentiary hearing was ordered, those fibers were sent for retesting.
4) A knife with a serrated blade which was found in the lake behind Jason's trailer home. This knife was not linked in any way to the crime in 1994. It was found about a month after the arrests and no evidence has been released that was found on the knife that would link it to the crime or to either of the defendants. Back in 1994, the theory was that a knife (with a serrated blade) was used to "castrate" Chris Byers. However, since then, several experts (although disagreeing on some points) examined autopsy photos and notes and concluded that the wounds originally attributed to the knife were actually caused by post mortem animal predation.
Additionally, according to an affidavit by Lloyd Warford, a lawyer, the jury foreman in the Echols/Baldwin trial discussed Jessie's "confession" during deliberations, and some jurors have indicated that the confession, which was ruled inadmissible at the Echols/Baldwin trial (because Jessie recanted and refused to testify against the other two), was the major reason they voted to convict. So, to answer your question about evidence in one word, none.
These boys were convicted because of "Satanic panic" along with the community's and the police department's need to punish someone for these horrendous murders. So, through the malicious machinations of a juvenile officer, the police zeroed in on Damien as the primary suspect, got a mentally challenged youth to "confess" (a story which BTW doesn't match the evidence) and fabricated a case against three poverty-stricken kids who did not have the finances to get proper council. Now, through many different groups, funds for proper council have been forthcoming and the result is that, finally, a new evidentiary hearing has been ordered. We still don't have a date, but most people "in the know" believe that it will be in March or April of this year. It has been suggested by Damien and his wife (and others) that new evidence will be presented at this hearing. All supporters are looking forward to the hearing, whenever it happens.
One last word, many non supporters point to "Exhibit 500" which is about Damien's mental health as proof that he is the guilty party. All the Exhibit shows (and you can read it for yourself on callahan) is that Damien was a troubled youth. He needed medication at the time. So do many kids today. No matter what mental condition Damien suffered from, his mental state simply doesn't prove that he committed these murders. To properly convict someone of murder, the police need to show motive, opportunity and evidence. The only motive they could find was Satanic ritual. Their expert was shown to have a mail order doctorate. No evidence of Satanic rituals was presented. The opportunity is not there as the three all had alibis. However, since the alibis were provided by family and/or friends, the prosecution chose to discount them. Unfortunately, the defense failed to subpoena phone records which could have confirmed Damien's alibi. It is possible that this failure was because the defense council was inexperienced. It is also possible that the prosecution or the WMPD misled the defense into believing that the phone records were unavailable. Either way, it is an unfortunate situation. The evidence situation has been discussed above. Please feel free to visit the callahan site (which is the depository of court documents) and read for yourself. You can also visit
www.wm3.blackboard.com where an ongoing discussion of the trial is carried on by supporters seeking justice for six people, the three little boys killed and the three young men falsely imprisoned for the murders.
in my life, my cousins murder never solved , in fact does anyone know how to look up the % of unsolved cases in WM ? Dogmatica I don't mean to be a smart a@@ but I've had a lot of experience begging them to look at the obvious, and I have been told , probably some ******** did it , by a WM Detective, it was a while back (1989) but every time I have dealt with them my stomach turns, my whole family there has had the same experience my Aunt and Uncle died without ever knowing what happened to Fred New Jr. their Son! and I cant get anywhere, I just think someone else (TH) got away with murder , I'm not alone and WM will never do any back peddling until those Old heads and their successors are outta there.
