Fresh DNA evidence boosts defense in 1993 Arkansas slayings

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Newly tested DNA evidence in the 1993 killings of three 8-year-old Cub Scouts in Arkansas has failed to link the crimes to the men convicted in the murders, including one on Death Row, advocates for the men said on Wednesday.

The DNA, including materials from the crime scene, instead matched three unidentified people, furthering supporters' claims that the so-called West Memphis Three are innocent, the advocates told Reuters.

There were no DNA matches for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr, who were convicted of the crime, said Capi Peck, a co-founder of Arkansas Take Action, a civic group working to free the trio.

"This newly discovered DNA evidence that excludes Damien, Jason and Jessie, combined with all other evidence of their innocence, will hopefully lead to a new trial," she said.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/28/us-crime-dna-arkansas-idUSTRE76R0D920110728

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I know this is a few days old, but I did't see this in the archives, so I figure it got mixed in with all the debt crisis hysteria. This is big news, and hopefully it will lead to a new trial for three kids who were not fairly tried almost two decades ago.

How did they get convicted in the first place?

You can read about the whole case here
http://callahan.8k.com/

A confession riddled with errors and inaccuracies, including getting the facts of the deaths wrong, changing the time they happened several times from a range of 9 AM to 8 PM, and which was basically fed to him by the police. He was 17 at the time, developmentally disabled, and has an IQ of 72. The confession was allowed in court by the judge despite this, and despite the fact that the police had not properly mirandized the boy.

And that confession was the evidence that sent three teenage boys to prison for life sentences, of which they've now served eighteen years.

You can start to understand why some folks have an issue with this whole case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three

Here is the appeal, he has many, many errors listed, but they ruled against him
http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/1996/cr94-848.html

K&R!

Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton talked about the book they wrote with Erin Torneo, Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption (St. Martin's Press; March 3, 2009). The book recounts how an innocent man came to be convicted and the legal struggle to free him. It also recounts how a friendship developed between a rape victim and the man she incorrectly identified. Jennifer Thompson was raped at knife point by a man who broke into her apartment while she slept. She was led to identify Ronald Cotton as her attacker. The Innocence Project was able to use DNA evidence to overturn the rape conviction. Two years after he was released after serving more than a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit, the two met face to face and joined as advocates for judicial reform. Ms. Thompson-Cannino talked about the crime and the legal processes that led to the wrongful conviction. Mr. Cotton talked about his time in prison and the process of obtaining his freedom. They responded to questions from members of the audience, many of whom were also exonerated prisoners. This event in Joe Green Auditorium was the keynote of the opening plenary session of the 2009 Innocence Network Conference hosted by The Innocence Project of Texas at the South Texas College of Law. This program contains language that some find objectionable.

1 hour, 6 minutes

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/CottoI

release them all ready! it's obvious they aren't guilty.

Guess not. I remember that Huckabee was asked to review the case when he was Governor but he refused to intervene, most likely because the men hadn't embraced Christianity while locked up. This case is a perfect example of how justice is perverted by bigots with power. I hope they get their new trials soon.

When Montag eventually escapes to the edge of the city, the police find, and execute, an innocent oddball walking at night, just for the theater of having "caught the criminal".

It happens depressingly often in real life.

I don't recall the title, but it was clear that the documentarians had zeroed in on their own suspect: a self-absorbed step-father of one of the victims who inserted himself deeply in the investigation and the film, and who cheerleaded the results of the kangaroo court.