Court denies petitions of 3 in ’93 killings
Posted on Friday, June 27, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/229805/
The Arkansas Supreme Court denied without prejudice Thursday petitions from Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to have their cases re-examined by their respective trial courts.
Baldwin, Misskelley and Damien Echols were convicted in 1994 of killing three West Memphis boys in 1993 in what prosecutors deemed a satanic ritual.
In the years since, the case has drawn international attention. Funds raised from grass-roots efforts eventually garnered the three men — teenagers at the time they were convicted — a high-profile team of attorneys and forensics experts who contend Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were the victims of a city caught up in hysteria.
Several weeks ago, defense attorneys filed two petitions asking the high court to give the trial courts authority to consider facts not known at the time of trial through no fault of the defendants.
By denying the petitions without prejudice, the Supreme Court has left open the possibility for more filings on the matter.
Attorneys on both sides couldn’t comment for this article as they have been ordered by Craighead County Circuit Judge David Burnett to quit talking to the news media.
In several filings this year, however, the attorney general’s office has argued repeatedly that the convictions were the result of a fair and thorough judicial process.
In January, in response to allegations that he isn’t able to appreciate the significance of new developments in the case, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said, “Of course I am open-minded and, if there was any new evidence that exonerated these defendants, I would be the first one to start approaching the governor about options on bringing justice to the matter.”
In Baldwin’s petition, filed at the end of May, attorneys argued that prosecutors withheld material evidence from the defense teams representing Baldwin, then 16; Echols, then 18; and Misskelley, then 17.
The evidence to which they refer includes new information regarding a knife (the purported murder weapon ); a contention that police investigators considered animal predation as a possible source of the children’s wounds; and new information about one of the state’s key witnesses, a former juvenile inmate named Michael Carson.
Misskelley’s petition discusses the role of Vicky Hutcheson, the only witness who corroborated Misskelley’s statements to police. Defense attorneys have long argued that these statements were forced and, as a result, peppered with inaccuracies.
Hutcheson, the petition states, has since admitted that she lied about Echols’ purported interest in the occult and says police wanted her to help set him up.
Misskelley’s attorneys argue prosecutors suppressed evidence that Hutcheson had been coerced by police into making false statements.
“The prosecutor’s failure to disclose material evidence bearing on the credibility of Hutcheson violated [Misskelley’s ] rights. The evidence would have shown not only that Hutcheson’s story was false, but that [Misskelley’s ] defense of coerced confession was likely true — WMPD [West Memphis Police Department ] had used similar tactics on Hutcheson.”
In its responses to both petitions, the attorney general’s office argued that defense attorneys were misapplying law to suit their purposes.
This type of petition, the state says, is meant to allow a trial court to evaluate supportable, factual claims — not to investigate them.
Misskelley’s and Baldwin’s petitions offer claims that have no merit, the state contends.
Misskelley’s petition “offers hypothetical assertions,” state attorneys say. Rather than presenting solid claims, the defense is asking for a court-ordered discovery they hope will bolster “tentative allegations,” the state contends. “The Court should not grant a petition that amounts to a request for a fishing expedition.”
Meanwhile, Burnett has set a three-week court session in September and October to hear appeals regarding new DNA evidence.
Echols, sentenced to die for the murders, remains on death row. Baldwin and Misskelley are serving life sentences.