West Memphis Three - Appeals and New Evidence

Appeals and New Evidence

In May 1994, the three appealed their convictions. The convictions were upheld on direct appeal. In 2007, Echols petitioned for a retrial based on a statute permitting post-conviction testing of DNA evidence due to technological advances made since 1994 which might provide exoneration for the wrongfully convicted. However, the original trial judge, Judge David Burnett, disallowed presentation of this information in his court. This ruling was in turn thrown out by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

The knife of John Mark Byers (1993)

John Mark Byers, the adoptive father of victim Christopher Byers, gave a knife to cameraman Doug Cooper, who was working with documentary makers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky while they were filming the first Paradise Lost feature. The knife was a folding hunting knife, manufactured by Kershaw. According to the statements given by Berlinger and Sinofsky, Cooper informed them of his receipt of the knife on December 19, 1993. After the documentary crew returned to New York, Berlinger and Sinofsky reported to have discovered what appeared to be blood on the knife. HBO executives ordered them to return the knife to the West Memphis Police Department. The knife was not received at the West Memphis Police Department until January 8, 1994.

Byers initially claimed the knife had never been used. Blood was found on the knife and Byers then stated that he had used it only once, to cut deer meat. When told the blood matched both his and Chris' blood type, Byers said he had no idea how that blood might have gotten on the knife. During interrogation, West Memphis police suggested to Byers that he might have left the knife out accidentally, and Byers agreed with this. Byers later stated that he may have cut his thumb. Further testing on the knife produced inconclusive results, due in part to the rather small amount of blood, and because both John Mark Byers and Chris Byers had the same HLA-DQα genotype.

John Mark Byers agreed to, and subsequently passed, a polygraph test during the filming of Paradise Lost 2: Revelations in regard to the murders, but the documentary indicated that Byers was under the influence of several psychoactive prescription medications that could have affected the test results.

Possible teeth imprints

Following their convictions, Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin submitted imprints of their teeth that were compared to alleged bite-marks on Stevie Branch's forehead not mentioned in the original autopsy or trial. No matches were found. Byers had his teeth removed in 1997—after the first trial. He has offered apparently contradictory reasons for their removal: in one instance claiming that seizure medication he was taking caused periodontal disease, and in yet another claiming other kinds of dental problems which had troubled him for years.

After an expert examined autopsy photos and noted what he thought might be the imprint of a belt buckle on Byers' corpse, the elder Byers revealed to the police that he had spanked his stepson shortly before the boy disappeared.

Vicki Hutcheson recants

In October 2003, Vicki Hutcheson, who played a part in the arrests of Misskelley, Echols and Baldwin, but did not testify at the trial, gave an interview to the Arkansas Times in which she stated that every word she had given to the police was a fabrication. She further asserted that the police had insinuated if she did not cooperate with them they would take away her child. She noted that when she visited the police station they had photographs of Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley on the wall and were using them as dart targets. She also claims that an audio tape the police claimed was "unintelligible" (and eventually lost) was perfectly clear and contained no incriminating statements.

DNA testing and new physical evidence (2007–2010)

In 2007, DNA collected from the crime scene was tested. None was found to match DNA from Echols, Baldwin, nor Misskelley. In addition, a hair "not inconsistent with" Terry Hobbs, stepfather to Stevie Branch, was found tied into the knots used to bind one of the victims. The prosecutors, while conceding that no DNA evidence ties the accused to the crime scene, said that, "The State stands behind its convictions of Echols and his codefendants."

On October 29, 2007 papers were filed in federal court by Damien Echols' defense lawyers seeking a retrial or his immediate release from prison. The filing cited DNA evidence linking Terry Hobbs (stepfather of one of the victims) to the crime scene, and new statements from Hobbs' now ex-wife. Also presented in the filing was new expert testimony that the alleged knife marks on the victims were the result of animal predation after the bodies had been dumped. This included the injuries to Byers' genitals.

On September 10, 2008 Circuit Court Judge David Burnett denied the request for a retrial, citing the DNA tests as inconclusive. That ruling was appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case on September 30, 2010.

Foreman and jury misconduct (2008)

In July 2008, it was revealed that Kent Arnold, the jury foreman on the Echols/Baldwin trial, discussed the case with an attorney prior to the beginning of deliberations and advocated for the guilt of the West Memphis Three as a result of the inadmissible Jessie Misskelley statements. Legal experts have agreed that this issue has the strong potential to result in the reversal of the convictions of Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols.

In September 2008, Attorney (now Judge) Daniel Stidham, who represented Jessie Misskelley in 1994, testified at a postconviction relief hearing. Stidham testified under oath that, during the trial, Judge David Burnett erred by making an improper communication with the jury during its deliberations. Stidham overheard Judge Burnett discuss taking a lunch break with the jury foreman and the foreman reply the jury was almost finished. He testified Judge Burnett responded, "You'll need food for when you come back for sentencing", and that the foreman asked in return what would happen if the defendant was acquitted. Stidham said the Judge closed the door without answering. He testified that his own failure to put this incident on the court record and his failure to meet the minimum requirements in state law to represent a defendant in a capital murder case was evidence of ineffective assistance of counsel and that Misskelley's conviction should therefore be vacated.