5 posts tagged “dennis riordan”

WMCTV-5
Reported by Janice Broach
Nov 1, 2007 02:20 PM

Dennis Riordan

There is no evidence linking the West Memphis 3 to the murders of three eight-year-old boys in 1993. That was the message delivered Thursday by a panel of experts at a press conference in Little Rock.

Among those in attendance at Thursday's announcement was Damien Echols' wife, dressed in blue.  She, along with members of the press and other interested parties, gathered in a classroom at the University of Arkansas Law School to listen to a panel of legal heavy hitters, including a defense attorney, an FBI profiler, and a forensics expert.  The panel spent more than an hour laying out its findings in the West Memphis 3 case.

"Then, as now, there is not a single piece of evidence to tie Damien Echols to these crimes," said defense attorney Dennis Riordan.

John Douglas, the former FBI profiler who broke the Ted Bundy case, said the killer of the three eight-year-old boys was too sophisticated to be a teenager. The West Memphis 3- Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelly- were all teenagers when they were arrested for the murders more than 14 years ago.

Riordan said the panel's investigation revealed there is no evidence that ties the West Memphis 3 to the murders of the eight-year-old boys.  While showing video from the trio's trial, Riordan said Jessie Misskelley's statement that all three committed the crimes was a sham- a statement filled with inaccuracies that was led and coerced by police.

"This is not a Satanic murder," Riordan said. "There is no ritual. There is no ritualistic crime going on here."

Prosecutors maintained a knife found behind Jason Baldwin's trailer was used to ritually cut up the boys.  Forensic expert Dr. Richard Souviron said the wounds found on the victims were claw marks from animals..

"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know these cuts did not come from a serrated knife or any knife, and see these marks on these two human beings that back handed knife made the marks," Souviron said. "Give me a break. That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

Earlier this week, the defense team filed more than 700 pages of evidence from their investigation in federal court, in an attempt to get the convictions overturned.

WMCT-5
Nov 1, 2007 06:27 AM
[Written before the press conference]

The man who forensics experts say is implicated by new evidence in the West Memphis 3 case talked about the allegations with Action News 5 in July. But now, Terry Hobbs is changing his tactics.

Attorneys for the West Memphis 3 say new DNA evidence implicates Hobbs, the stepfather of Stevie Branch, one of the murdered eight-year-old boys.

Hobbs attorney, Ross Sampson wasn't worried about the new evidence. "The allegation itself is ridiculous," he said.

Ridiculous, even though Hobbs talked exclusively with Action News 5 in July about the allegations.  During that interview, when asked whether he murdered the little boys, Hobbs said, I'd have to laugh at that, and say there's something wrong with someone who would think that."

Hobbs is not talking now, after defense attorneys filed a 700 page document in federal court detailing the new evidence.

International forensics experts claim they found no traces of evidence at the crime scene to link murders to the West Memphis 3.

Two hairs found at the scene, one from Terry Hobbs, and one from a friend of his, are part of the evidence experts are focusing on.

Searchers discovered the three eight-year-old boys in a watery ditch near their West Memphis homes. Experts say the cuts on their bodies came from animals, and not a knife.

Terry Hobbs has not been charged with anything, and his attorney does not expect that to happen.

"We really don't expect any type of legal action taken by the state of Arkansas against Mr. Hobbs," Sampson said.

Defense attorneys want the state to overturn the conviction of Damien Echols, who is currently on death row, and his co-defendants.

The forensics experts, which include a defense attorney from San Francisco and a criminal profiler will be in Little Rock tomorrow for a news conference to detail all of the new evidence.

You can watch that news conference live on WMCTV.com at 10:00 a.m. [We will be posting the video on wm3.org soon].

Dennis Riordan

We will be posting the video of the press conference in its entirety as soon as it's converted. If you didn't get a chance to see it live be sure to watch it when it's available. Mind blowing. Stay tuned...

Attorneys seek to overturn the convictions of three young men who were found guilty of brutally killing three Cub Scouts in 1993.

By Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 30, 2007

Attorneys for a death row inmate found guilty of killing three 8-year-old boys in Arkansas in 1993 filed a motion in federal court to overturn his conviction based on new evidence, including DNA test results that found no genetic material on the victims' bodies from his client or two others convicted with him.

The sensational case in West Memphis concerned three Cub Scouts whose bodies were found submerged in a drainage ditch not far from their homes; one boy's body appeared to have been sexually mutilated. Two of the defendants frequently dressed in black and were described as "Goths." Accusations of satanic rituals were presented in court testimony.

In June 1993, three teenagers -- Damien Wayne Echols, 18 at the time of the killings, Charles "Jason" Baldwin, 16, and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 17 -- were arrested and charged with murder. They were convicted a year later. Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin received life without parole and Misskelley, who told prosecutors he saw Echols and Baldwin beat and assault the boys, got life with parole.

But skeptics have long doubted the guilt of the three young men. The case also has drawn the attention of documentary filmmakers and others.

Eddie Vedder, lead singer of the rock group Pearl Jam, performed at a benefit concert that helped fund the DNA tests and appellate work. Lorri Davis, a New York landscape architect who saw a film about the case in 1996 and became so interested that she moved to Little Rock, Ark., married Echols and took a key role in organizing post-trial investigations and appeals.

On Monday in Little Rock federal court, Echols' appellate attorney filed a habeas corpus petition, along with dozens of exhibits and affidavits, alleging that his client, along with the other two young men, had been wrongly convicted.

The brief states that DNA tests of items recovered at the crime scene show that no genetic material of three defendants was present on the victims' bodies.

"That is an exculpatory fact of great importance," according to the brief submitted by five attorneys led by Dennis P. Riordan and Donald M. Horgan of San Francisco. That, they said, undercut the confession of Misskelley, who said that he saw Echols and Baldwin beat and sexually attack Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and James Michael Moore.

In addition, an unidentified person's genetic material was found on the penis of one victim.

Tests also revealed that a hair containing DNA consistent with that of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the boys, was found on black-and-white shoelaces used to hog-tie another of the victims. Another hair found on a tree root at the crime scene contained the DNA of David Jacoby, who, according to court documents, was with his friend Hobbs in the hours before and after the victims disappeared.

The brief acknowledges that this evidence "does not establish guilt of Hobbs or Jacoby." Hobbs has said the hair on the shoelaces must have been innocently transferred from himself to one of the victims, who "played with our little boy regularly."

The new petition includes analyses done by seven forensic scientists, including Dr. Richard Souviron, chief forensic odontologist at the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department, who played a significant role in Florida's successful 1979 prosecution of serial killer Ted Bundy. All of them challenge prosecutors' claims that Christopher had been sexually mutilated with a knife.

The forensic pathologists and odontologists, who separately reviewed autopsy tests, photos and trial testimony, state that the evidence strongly indicates that after Christopher was killed by blunt-force blows, animals ate parts of his body.

The brief also states that some of the key testimony asserting that the teenagers were part of a satanic cult -- something they have denied -- was presented by a so-called witchcraft expert with "a fraudulent PhD" from a California school that was put out of business by state authorities.

Echols' attorneys maintain that members of the jury that convicted and sentenced him to death in Jonesboro, Ark., in 1994 made misleading statements about what they knew about the case when questioned during voir dire, and considered Misskelley's confession during their deliberations -- something that the trial judge specifically told them not to do.

Misskelley was tried first. His attorneys maintained that he was borderline mentally retarded, and that he had only made a statement to prosecutors in the hope of being rewarded.

He was convicted, but it was established in court that he had changed key aspects of his story more than once. He initially told police that he saw the crimes occur at a time at which it was established that the three victims and Baldwin were in school, Echols was at the doctor's and Misskelley was at work on a roofing job.

During voir dire for the separate trial of Echols and Baldwin, the judge learned that virtually all of the jurors had heard a lot about the case from newspaper and television accounts.

The judge specifically told the jury not to consider anything they might have heard about Misskelley's statement to the police. But in recent interviews, three jurors -- including the foreman -- said the statement was a factor they considered. "How could you not?" the foreman said, according to court documents. "It was a primary and deciding factor."

The jury's consideration of the statement alone violated Echols' right to a fair trial, according to his attorneys.

Chief prosecutor Brent Davis did not respond to a call and an e-mail seeking comment.

On Monday, Davis said she was hopeful that her husband and the other defendants would eventually be freed. "After all this time, you have a case that was built on a lot of hysteria and satanic panic. . . . The truth is finally seeing the light of day."

New York Times
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: October 30, 2007

ATLANTA, Oct. 29 — In 1994, three teenagers in the small city of West Memphis, Ark., were convicted of killing three 8-year-old boys in what prosecutors portrayed as a satanic sacrifice involving sexual abuse and genital mutilation. So shocking were the crimes that when the teenagers were led from the courthouse after their arrest, they were met by 200 local residents yelling, “Burn in hell.”

Damien W. Echols is challenging his conviction in the killing of three young Arkansas boys.

But according to long-awaited new evidence filed by the defense in federal court on Monday, there was no DNA from the three defendants found at the scene, the mutilation was actually the work of animals and at least one person other than the defendants may have been present at the crime scene.

Supporters of the defendants hope the legal filing will provide the defense with a breakthrough. Two of the men, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, are serving life in prison, while one, Damien W. Echols, is on death row. There was no physical evidence linking the teenagers, now known as the West Memphis 3, to the crime.

“This is the first time that the evidence has ever really been tested,” said Gerald Skahan, a member of the defense team. “The first trial was pretty much a witch hunt.”

Brent Davis, the local prosecutor, did not respond to requests for comment about the new evidence and the case, but in general prosecutors and investigators have continued to express confidence in their investigation.

The story the defendants’ supporters have presented — of three misfits whose fondness for heavy-metal music made them police targets — has won the men the support of celebrities like Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Marilyn Manson and the creators of “South Park.” Many learned of the case through an HBO documentary, “Paradise Lost,” and a sequel.

The prosecution hinged on a confession riddled with factual errors and a Satanic cult expert with a mail-order degree. Mr. Echols’s own lawyer called him “weird” and “not the all-American boy.”

Many viewers who watched the sequel, in fact, concluded that the police should have been investigating John Mark Byers, the stepfather of one of the children, who made seemingly drug-addled, messianic speeches on camera, gave the filmmakers a blood-stained knife, and had a history of violence and run-ins with the police. His child, Christopher Byers, was the most badly mutilated of the three.

But there was a surprise in the new forensic report filed by Mr. Echols’s lawyers: a hair found in one of the knots binding the children belonged most likely to the stepfather of another of the victims, not to Mr. Byers.

The three victims — Christopher, Steve Branch and James Michael Moore — were last seen riding their bikes on May 5, 1993. They were found the next day in a drainage ditch in Robin Hood Hills, near West Memphis, a low-rent town across the Mississippi River from Memphis. The boys were naked and hogtied with shoelaces.

The police quickly zeroed in on Mr. Echols, then 18, who was familiar to them because he was on probation for trying to run away with his girlfriend. They also believed he was involved in cult activities.

But they could find little evidence against him until Mr. Misskelley, mildly retarded and with a history of substance abuse, came in to speak with them. At the time there was a $30,000 reward.

After hours of questioning, Mr. Misskelley, 17, gave the police a taped statement that implicated himself, Mr. Baldwin, then 16, and Mr. Echols, then 19. Despite coaching by the investigators, Mr. Misskelley was incorrect in several significant details, including the time of the crime, the way the victims were tied and the manner of death. He said the children had been sodomized, an assertion that even the state medical examiner’s testimony appears to refute.

The team of forensic experts assembled by Mr. Echols’s lawyers, which included Dr. Michael Baden, the former medical examiner of New York City, also said there was no evidence of sexual abuse. Many of the wounds sustained by the victims were caused by animals, they said, including the castration of Christopher.

As for the stray hair, the West Memphis Police Department and the stepfather it appears to belong to, Terry Hobbs, have discounted the finding, saying it could easily have been picked up at home by his stepson, Steve Branch. But Dennis P. Riordan, a lawyer for Mr. Echols, said the hair was found in the shoelaces tying Michael Moore, not Steve Branch.

Further, Mr. Riordan said, a hair was found at the scene that most likely belongs to a friend of Mr. Hobbs who was with him for part of the evening.

The court filing also argues that jurors relied on the statement Mr. Misskelley gave the police to convict Mr. Echols and Mr. Baldwin, even though it was deemed inadmissible except in Mr. Misskelley’s trial. Several jurors have acknowledged that they knew about the confession before the trial, though they did not say so during jury selection.

The passing of time has not only allowed the defense to gather new information, but has also softened the public’s belief in the guilt of the convicted men, said Mara Leveritt, the author of “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.”

“What I’ve seen in the past 14 years has been not quite a 180-degree, but maybe a 170-degree turn,” Ms. Leveritt said. “It all comes down to, ‘Where’s the evidence?’”