Evidentiary Hearings Ordered for All Three Defendants

[Compassionate Reader]

I've just got three words for the State and the prosecution, all means all.

 

[tezi]

I've just got three words for the State and the prosecution, all means all.

Yeppers! All means all...

 

[Nova]

I'm actually glad there is going to be an evidentiary hearing. We will now learn whether or not some old witnesses recant their testimony or not, plus am looking forward to further DNA testing of hairs, and anything else that needs to be tested. Perhaps the functioning IQ of Jessie will finally be resolved, and he will be handled in a manner appropriate to someone of his abilities or lack thereof.

I do worry that Echols statement may be more cocky than it is hopeful, also noting his words may hold more than one meaning. Wouldn't it be something if they really were guilty, and Echols had been using Lorri all this time to get himself free, and once free has no further use for her.

But why would an innocent man want to keep the cameras off his mother and sister, and ask that they not talk to media? Kind of baffling to me. Also baffling is the lack of photos of Damien's mother with Lorri. Just seems really strange to me, as if something or someone was being kept hidden or quiet intentionally. I did read that his mother was excited about the hearing.

The media have been both a help and a hindrance to Echols. It wouldn't surprise me if he wants to keep his mother and sister away from that pressure.

Further, they may both be material witnesses in the event of a retrial. Any misstatements to the media may be used against them.

 

[annkitty0630]

It's about friggin time this happened and I am dumbfounded that Burnett is now in the Senate!! Tez, that is a scary thought since you live in Arkansas honey!! Anyhow, there are some people down in West Memphis shaking in their booties since it looks to me like there will finally be another trial in this horrible miscarriage of justice.... Let's get justice finally for Stevie, Christopher & Michael and Free the WM3!! Take Care All!! Ann :woohoo: :innocent:

 

[~Lisa~]

Video of Damien's Mother back in West M.
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-damien-echols-mother-story,0,2300987.story

 

[2goldfish]

The ASSC has ruled on Damien's appeal and the Rule 37 Hearings for Jessie and Jason. Evidentiary hearings have been ordered for all three. Here's the link to Damien's opinion. The site is so swamped that it will take some time to get the others.

http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/WebLink8/0/doc/50532/Electronic.aspx

I was just reading through this ..oh my gosh..

The results of the testing established that neither Echols, Baldwin, nor Misskelley was
the source of any of the biological material tested, which included a foreign allele from a
penile swab of victim Steven Branch; a hair from the ligature used to bind victim Michael
Moore; and a hair recovered from a tree stump, near where the bodies were recovered. In
addition, the DNA material from the hair found in the ligature used to bind Moore was found
to be consistent with Terry Hobbs, Branch’s stepfather. The hair found on the tree stump
was consistent with the DNA of David Jacoby, a friend of Terry Hobbs.

did all of you who read that get the same sick feeling that I did?

how did this happen

 

[Nova]

I was just reading through this ..oh my gosh..



did all of you who read that get the same sick feeling that I did?

how did this happen

(Emphasis added.)

Oh, yeah. This isn't news to some of us, but, yes, our original reactions were the same.

It happened because of either (a) lazy and sloppy police work (the more positive view), or (b) because of outright corruption in the WMPD.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

This case, in my opinion, was a rush to judgment. The parents needed closure, and the community needed assurance that a killer was not stalking children. So, they focused on the town "weirdo" and his friends. In defense of the WMPD, DNA testing was in it's infancy in 1993, and the recent (2007) results would not have been available then. However, in my opinion, the two people most responsible for this travesty are Jerry Driver, the probation officer who first suggested the whole Satanic ritual killing approach and the suspicion of Damien to the WMPD, and Judge Burnett by refusing to recuse himself and continuing to uphold his own verdicts in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. At least Burnett is out of the picture now.

 

[2goldfish]

I just DONT understand, if this is KNOWN and from your replies obviously it's been well known, how can they still be in prison? why is this not sorted out immediately? what is going on?

dont get me wrong, I smelled a rat the instant I first heard of this case but that DNA testing is....whoa whoa whoa? HOW is this HAPPENING?

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Unfortunately, they are still in prison, in my opinion, because the same judge that presided over both trials has (up until now) presided over all appeals at the Second Circuit Court and has not reversed himself. The Arkansas State Supreme Court has had multiple chances to reverse the decisions, but for whatever reasons (political most likely because judges are elected), have failed to do so until now. As to why the ASSC has decided to reverse the original trial judge at this point is unclear to me. Maybe the justices just felt that the amount of evidence pointing elsewhere has finally reached critical mass. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Auburnesq]

As to why the ASSC has decided to reverse the original trial judge at this point is unclear to me. Maybe the justices just felt that the amount of evidence pointing elsewhere has finally reached critical mass. But that's just my opinion.

The ASSC's decision was based on the trial court judges interpretation of the DNA statue. Under the previous version of the statute, Burnett was required to hold an evidentiary hearing before issuing a decision, which he did not. The decision is a procedural one and has nothing to do with the actual merits (or amount) of the evidence. The case was remanded back to the trial level for a merit based decision. The decision is important because it sets a precedent for all similarly situated convicts (seeking a new trial under the older version of the DNA statue) requiring evidentiary hearings including all evidence, not just the WM3.

 

[dstrattenfan]

I don't see how we can know how Echols would function outside prison after so many years behind bars.

But in this country, we don't keep someone in prison simply because he scared somebody when he was a minor.

Well said.....I know I said and did a lot of really stupid things when I was 18 but I was married at 17 so that should tell u something:banghead:

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I've said this before, but maybe not here. The one that I'm the most worried about post release is Jessie. Given his mental deficiency, it is quite possible that he has become "institutionalized" while in prison. I don't know what can be done to alleviate that situation; money would help, but it wouldn't be the entire answer. IMO, Damien and Jason will be alright post release, but Jessie will definitely need some help. Just thinking about the advances in technology since these guys have been incarcerated is mind boggling. Damien has never been on the Internet or had a cell phone. I'm not sure about Jason and Jessie. They might have had limited Internet access in prison, but it's possible that they, too, have never seen or used the Internet or cell phones. They will all require adjustment time, but, as I said, I worry the most about Jessie.

 

[dstrattenfan]

I've said this before, but maybe not here. The one that I'm the most worried about post release is Jessie. Given his mental deficiency, it is quite possible that he has become "institutionalized" while in prison. I don't know what can be done to alleviate that situation; money would help, but it wouldn't be the entire answer. IMO, Damien and Jason will be alright post release, but Jessie will definitely need some help. Just thinking about the advances in technology since these guys have been incarcerated is mind boggling. Damien has never been on the Internet or had a cell phone. I'm not sure about Jason and Jessie. They might have had limited Internet access in prison, but it's possible that they, too, have never seen or used the Internet or cell phones. They will all require adjustment time, but, as I said, I worry the most about Jessie.

I dont see Jessie making it to long I think that drink and drug will take him he will find so many "new friends" who will coach him into things i really always felt bad for him bc he was so slow my god just listen to him he could barely formulate a sentence that didn't involve the WWF (WWE now)....Remember when he said like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz that he was going to get a brain tattooed on his head so that way he would finally have a brain how sad and that was only a few years back....They used him to get a conviction and tossed him away why do u think they never went at Damien and Jason like that? They weren't "criminal masterminds" who controlled legions of underlings that is just crazy...However I do think that the police believed they were guilty I honestly do....... not so much Jason but Damien my goodness they act like he was David Koresh

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Maybe the police believe Damien is responsible and maybe they don't. What I think they believe is that they have to continue to profess to believe in the guilt of the incarcerated young men to save face. If they admit they have the wrong guys, then they have to admit to shoddy police work from back in 1993 to date. They just don't want to do that. If there were some way that they could save face and still release the guys, they'd do it in a heartbeat in my opinion.

 

[dstrattenfan]

Maybe the police believe Damien is responsible and maybe they don't. What I think they believe is that they have to continue to profess to believe in the guilt of the incarcerated young men to save face. If they admit they have the wrong guys, then they have to admit to shoddy police work from back in 1993 to date. They just don't want to do that. If there were some way that they could save face and still release the guys, they'd do it in a heartbeat in my opinion.

I think at the time they honestly thought they were all guilty and I'm not sure weather they believe that now but do I think they will ever admit it no I dont think they will....They certainly aren't gonna jump on the Mark Byres and Pam Hobbs train...But if it were my child and all the cops r telling me 100% these r the guilty persons I would believe them I mean they r the police and u r supposed to believe what they say...But I really do think that they felt they were right and they will never admit that they were wrong ever....I personally think that "Mr. Bojangles" is the guilty party or maybe Terry Hobbs IDK but I dont the the WM3 r guilty

 

[Compassionate Reader]

From the way Gary Gitchell gave evasive answers in his Pasdar deposition, I think that he may be reconsidering his opinion, although he'll never admit it. At least he admits now that he should have never called the case an "eleven" as he did at the time. As to Mr. Bojangles, I have recently changed my opinion on him. In his Pasdar deposition, TH mentioned a "black bum" he saw on May 5, 1993 in the RHH woods, but he didn't mention this guy at the time. Pam denies seeing such a person. I think TH knows now about the whole Bojangles debacle and is trying to deflect suspicion from himself. Some have conjectured that Mr. Bojangles was shot by TH (the gunshot that some people claimed to have heard during the searching on the night of May 5th). That is what I used to believe, but, if that were the case, why wouldn't TH have mention the guy he shot at while out searching on the night of May 5th before the Pasdar deposition in 2007? I believe that Mr. Bojangles was just someone, maybe an OTR trucker, who possibly fell down and injured himself while drunk or stoned and wandered into Bojangles to regroup. IIRC, there was another restaurant closer to the RHH woods than Bojangles. If Mr. Bojangles had been in the RHH woods, why didn't he go into that other restaurant? I don't think he was near the murders because IMO if he had heard or seen something he would have come forward by now. Of course, it's possible that he's dead, that he was dying when they saw him in the restaurant, or that TH did shoot him that night and he later died of his wounds (like what happened with Jackie, Jr.). I don't think Mr. Bojangles was the killer or even an accomplice of the killer. I think he just happened to be in the area and moved on, possibly without ever knowing about the significance of his presence in the restaurant. But that's just my opinion. Unless or until he comes forward, thanks to the ineptness (or maybe the deceptiveness) of the WMPD, we'll never know for sure.

 

[sleuthin-suz]

Compassionate, you have some excellent theories on Mr Bojangles. I think he saw something. Maybe he was homeless and came across the bodies and thats when TH "shot" him or maybe even got into a fight which caused the bleeding. I definatly believe that Mr Bojangles could give us some answers if only we knew who he was or where we could find him if he is even still alive...
thanks to that lazy cop who didnt bother going in to check it out and those lazy lying cops that "lost" the blood scrappings off the walls in the rest room... thanks a lot!! how convienient!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Compassionate Reader]

What I loved is that Meeks checked out Marty King's report through the drive thru window. What BS.