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Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
This story is outrageous, totally inexcusable. However I've seen multiple stories like this in my lifetime. These fucking prosecutors and judges simply won't come back and admit they were wrong. In this case, the same judge won't allow a new trial. I couldn't imagine having an ego so big, that it kept three innocent people in jail, one of which faced the death penalty.
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
Actually in alot of cases, the judge simply moves on.
It comes back to the DA's office being embarrassed, and covering their ass. If they show pursuit of prosecution on innocent people, it makes them look incompetent, and people get fired, investigations get opened up, investigators start going back through all of their cases to see if they were as air tight as they originally made out...
It's all about "ass covering"... and "the big picture".
Nobody is quicker to use to analogy of for every 100 guilty parties, 1 might be innocent than a fucking prosecutor. 
Fuck your odds. I'd rather let all 100 out, than 1 innocent be in there.
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
Kind of on topic with some of the sentiments of this thread.
From an interview with Macy Gray:
Which artists do you most admire?
Billie Holiday, Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, Axl Rose and Lauryn Hill. Some singers mean every single word they sing '“ it's as if their heart just got cut open, and their blood is spilling out.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/ma … ray-singer
Beautifully put 
- emcitymisfit
- Rep: 28
- killingvector
- Rep: 21
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
Olorin wrote:I dont even know the back story
Wow. You're in for an eye opening story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_3
I HIGHLY recommend the documentary called Paradise Lost. One of the best documentaries I've ever watched. It might still be on youtube. If not, rent/download it ASAP.
And if you read the court transcripts you will realize why the documentary presented a slanted view of the entire case.
Jesse Misskelly has been represented as a 'retard' by his own defense team and the Echols/Baldwin attorneys. However, on the stage, the defense's own expert admitted that Misskelly was not retarded and was aware of the difference between right and wrong.
This is important because the crux of the case comes down to Misskelly's confessions (plural) which, in the determination of actual guilt or innocence, condemns Baldwin, Echols, and Misskelly.
The first confession was delivered without any warning after Misskelly made it clear he wanted to clear his conscience. Although he made mistakes as to the timing of the crime, which were corrected in a second tape recorded interview, he knew aspects of the crime that only the police knew, i.e. that the Byers boy was the only victim who had his genitals mutilated, that two of the boys were sodomized, that black 'rope' (in reality shoestrings) was used to hogtie the victims, and that two of the boys were drowned while the other was killed in a different manner.
Misskelly went on to confess AFTER his conviction while being transported to the county jail. He told the escorting officers that the appeals process was not going to save him because he was involved in the killings. The officers informed the DA and Jesse's lawyer who tried vehemently to stop Jesse from making another statement to the prosecution. Remember this was post conviction and there was nothing Jesse could gain from making such a statement. Stidham, jesse's lawyer, was exasperated and had to listen to jesse lay out the act of murder to the DA. He told the authorities he had held one of the boys and even ran down one after he tried to escape. To corroborate this story, Jesse told the DA that he threw an empty Evan Williams whiskey bottle under the highway underpass in the Robin Hood Hills woods. As the sun was setting , the DA, the police, and Stidham went out to the crime scene, recovered a broken bottle top which was immediately matched to the Evan Williams whiskey bottle. It was found in the exact place Jesse had said it was located and offered a piece of evidence that the police were not even aware.
The Paradise Lost documentaries are very well made and I do encourage watching them. But the director Joe Berlinger admitted that he was convinced of the 3's innocence after only a five minute conversation with Echols. The teleplay is decidedly one sided as it did not truly capture details of the trial and the appeals which were commonly known to those covering it.
1. During Misskelly's trial, the defendant sat with his head down the entire trial. The jurors could see into the holding area at times and noticed Misskelly joking around and smiling with his attorneys before the proceedings started
2. Echols was decimated on the stand; this point was brought up by Jason's lawyer in the documentary. Echols hedged on his involvement in some form of satanic rituals; Misskelly gave police a detailed description of the meetings which included orgies and animal sacrifice. Echols hedged on his knowledge of Aleister Crowley; the DA produced a legal pad that Echols had scribbled on in which the defendant had been writing the names of various people, one of which was Crowley.
When Melissa Byers took the stand and told the jury that her deceased son was frightened one day (before the murders) by a man with long black hair and wearing all black clothes who drove up to their house, jumped out of a green car, and taken his picture, the connection with Echols was established. All the elements of the description fit Echols. Misskelly had mentioned in his confession that Damien had pictures of the three boys in a briefcase he brought to these night meetings. Echols, according to Misskelly, had selected these victims some time before the crimes.
3. The DNA and fiber evidence could not exonerate the 3; fiber evidence could not eliminate Echols and Baldwin as the source of fibers found at the crime scene. DNA evidence could not eliminate Echols and Baldwin as being source of DNA found at the crime scene.
I strongly suggest, if you are interested in the case, to probe deeper because the documentaries promote the wm3.org agenda and not the true facts of the case.
- killingvector
- Rep: 21
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
This story is outrageous, totally inexcusable. However I've seen multiple stories like this in my lifetime. These fucking prosecutors and judges simply won't come back and admit they were wrong. In this case, the same judge won't allow a new trial. I couldn't imagine having an ego so big, that it kept three innocent people in jail, one of which faced the death penalty.
Echols has exhausted his state appeals. His defense has flailed around with different theories at each level of appeal: the Bojangles man, animal predation, John Byers, and now Terry Hobbs.
He filed his federal writ early which, once it is rejected (and it will be), the time table for execution should be set. Probably in 2011 or 2012.
Justice prevails.
- killingvector
- Rep: 21
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
James Lofton wrote:Olorin wrote:I dont even know the back story
Wow. You're in for an eye opening story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_3
I HIGHLY recommend the documentary called Paradise Lost. One of the best documentaries I've ever watched. It might still be on youtube. If not, rent/download it ASAP.
Man, I'm with Olorin, had no clue about the West Memphis Three. Just read that wikipidia link though. Fascinating stuff. I'm gonna have to try and catch the documentary.
I could see how "Chinese Democracy" made him cry after being locked up for so long. I think I'd cry over a lot of things in that case. On the bright side for him, he really didn't miss out on too much as far as GNR goes, unfortunately.
The wikipedia article on the case grossly misrepresents the facts. WM3.org supporters have had their hand in writing that wiki and, despite the outing of obvious lies and fabrications, continue to do so.
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
Recent DNA tests involving dozens of items related to the crime have failed to link any of the three defendants to the crime scene.
'¢ A hair found at the site where the bodies were recovered has been shown to be a positive DNA match to another individual. The matching hair was found on a ligature used to bind one of the victims. This individual is the stepfather of one of the other victims.
'¢ Another hair found at the site has been shown to be a positive DNA to a man who was with the stepfather on the day of the crimes.
'¢ DNA recovered from the penis of one of the victims has been shown to NOT match Jessie Misskelley, Jason Baldwin or Damien Echols.
'¢ Scientific analysis by some of nation'™s leading forensics experts have shown that the original investigation was not conducted properly.
'¢ Recent examinations have shown that wounds on the victims'™ bodies were caused by animals at the crime scene after the victims were dead.
'¢ These wounds were not caused by knives, as claimed by the prosecution, a claim that was a substantial factor in their case.
'¢ In 1993, unqualified, untrained examiners that were not Board Certified reached erroneous conclusions based on misinformation.
'¢ Witness testimony pertaining to knives and stabbing have been shown to be false.
'¢ These new forensic findings undermine testimony by questionable "cult expert" Dale Griffis, who contended the murders had been a part of a satanic cult ritual human sacrifice. This absurd claim has again been proven false.
'¢ The scientific evidence provided by qualified forensic experts has refuted everything used in court to convict these three innocent men.
- killingvector
- Rep: 21
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
'¢ Another hair found at the site has been shown to be a positive DNA to a man who was with the stepfather on the day of the crimes.
No, it did not. The DNA from the hair could not rule out Terry Hobbs as the donor, but it could also not rule out thousands of other residents of West Memphis.
Additionally, Hobbs lived in the house with one of the victims, and, if the hair does belong to him could have been brought to the crime scene through secondary transfer.
Finally, Hobbs' movements on the night of the murder are well accounted for. If you read John Byers trial testimony he asserts that Terry Hobbs was there when the parents massed together to start looking for the boys around 8 to 9pm, approximately the time of the slaying according to the ME. His movements before this time are equally well known.
Recent examinations have shown that wounds on the victims'™ bodies were caused by animals at the crime scene after the victims were dead.
Not true. This was a defense theory that alligator snapping turtles had cause the genital mutilations on Christopher Byers. The judge ruled that the ME was enough of an expert on animal predation wounds that he could distinguish between cuts and bites. The theory was discredited.
Additionally, the bodies were found face down and submerged in water. It is inconceivable that an animal would turn over a body submerged in water, feed off of it, then re-submerge it. The evidence simply doesn't show that existed.
These wounds were not caused by knives, as claimed by the prosecution, a claim that was a substantial factor in their case.
It was a defense theory which Judge Burnett shot down b/c of the ME's credibility in the field.
These new forensic findings undermine testimony by questionable "cult expert" Dale Griffis, who contended the murders had been a part of a satanic cult ritual human sacrifice. This absurd claim has again been proven false.
The killers were three kids in their late teens, early twenties who were dabbling in the occult and satanic worship. They read Crowley and other books to learn about the practices. By no means were they experienced satanists, but they did believe in what they were doing. So an occult expert really has no validity here because the killers were not experts in the occult themselves.
'¢ The scientific evidence provided by qualified forensic experts has refuted everything used in court to convict these three innocent men.
Like what now? This is a blanket statement with no support.
Misskelly confessed twice to police before he was arrested. He confessed AFTER he was convicted and provided corroborating evidence to the DA. I have never read a single quote from Misskelly saying he was innocent of the crime, despite what Dan Stidham says on his website. Misskelly knew details of the crime not released to the public and details not known to police until they canvas the area looking for the evidence after the third confession.
Both fiber and DNA evidence used in the appeals process could not eliminate the 3 from that crime scene. Echols and Baldwin shared the same partial DNA profile as one or more of the victims. Fibers taken from Echols and Baldwin's residence were indistinguishable from those found at the crime scene. Blood on Misskelly's shirt was consistent with both his blood and one of the victims.
Misskelly told police that he attended these 'occult' gatherings that Echols and Baldwin held in the woods. He said there was drug use, orgies, and animal sacrifice. Inside a briefcase which Damien brought to these gatherings of 10 to 20 kids was a photograph of one or more of the victims. Misskelly identified one of the photos as Christopher Byers. Misskelly later heard from Baldwin that Damien had picked out three little boys to kill.
A few weeks before the murder, Christopher Byers ran screaming into the house. A man with long black hair, wearing a black shirt and driving a green car had pulled up to the house. He proceeded to take out a camera and photograph the young child. Byers told his parents about the incident immediately. The description of the individual and the car is consistent with Damien Echols and corroborates Misskelly's statement about the photo in Echols' briefcase and Baldwin's statement that Damien had picked out victims.
'¢ In 1993, unqualified, untrained examiners that were not Board Certified reached erroneous conclusions based on misinformation.
Was this a copy and paste job? What does this mean?
'¢ DNA recovered from the penis of one of the victims has been shown to NOT match Jessie Misskelley, Jason Baldwin or Damien Echols.
Moore and Branch were submerged in water which caused significant contamination of the DNA sample. There is possibility of cross contamination from the victims themselves. This DNA result is actually a no result.
Re: Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three Interview
dunno enough about this case to have an opinion (never even heard about it before this thread was started tbh 
), but IMHO wikipedia and a movie documentary are not in anyway conclusive evidence to determine guilt (or lack there of) and niether is Axl wearing a shirt regarding the subject ... thats all carry on
