Our friends over at the Paul and Spike Show recently broached the topic in their Googy Wave, about how things were so different in the world just ten years ago. They’re right, of course, but then again, unfortunately, some things are still as they were.
Last week, Johnny Depp spoke out once more against one such matter, which has gone unchanged for too long:
What’s it all About?
The West Memphis Three are still incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. On June 3, 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas, teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. were arrested in connection with the murder of three eight-year-old boys. Subsequently, all three were found guilty, resulting in Echols facing the death penalty, while Baldwin and Misskelley received prison sentences of life, and life plus 40 years, respectively. These facts have remained exactly as they were 16 years ago.
What relevance, other than as an unpleasant footnote in America’s history, does this case have today? It was a case, like countless others that have taken place in the past decade and a half. Criminals were apprehended after careful and meticulous investigation of the crime led police to the logical suspects. They were then tried in court, represented by competent legal counsel, and convicted by an unbiased jury of their peers, who carefully weighed the facts and evidence presented by a prosecution whose highest priority was justice. That’s how the criminal justice system works, and those procedures are for the most part universal and unchanging. Unfortunately for Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley, the events that led to their current status were nothing like that. The reality of the situation is not so much one unpleasant footnote as a parade of disturbing snapshots resulting in the ruination of not three, but six young Americans and their families, a parade that continues to this day.
How It Happened
On May 6, 1993, the bound and mutilated bodies of Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were found in the Robin Hood Hills. Little, if any, attempt was made by the police to preserve the scene of the recovery. In fact, the area was contaminated by unauthorized personnel and even the police themselves, who were unused to coping with this type of incident. While they were contaminating the crime scene, a juvenile probation officer and a police officer together decided that because the murders were so horrific, they must be the result of cult activity, and because he was the strangest kid in town, Damien Echols must be the leader of said cult. Incidentally, no actual evidence of cult activity was uncovered.
However, despite the lack of evidence, the mere mention of the idea was all it took for the satanic panic to kick in. Add to that an “occult expert,” one Dr. Dale W. Griffis, with his mail-order credential to back up his claims that wearing black t-shirts and dying one’s hair were unmistakable signs that one belonged to a cult, and a confession coerced from the mentally-handicapped Misskelley, and you’ve got one closed case and three convictions. Three more lives were destroyed despite there being not one piece of evidence that actually connected them to the crime.
In the years since the initial trials, the convictions have been upheld at appeals despite new evidence which should result in freedom for the Three. Among other facts, it has come to light that Kent Arnold, the jury foreman for the joint trial of Echols and Baldwin, discussed the case with Lloyd Warford, a former prosecutor prior to the verdict. According to Warford’s May 2008 affidavit, Arnold was predisposed to the defendants’ guilt, and since the State had presented such a weak case, “it would be up to him to obtain a conviction.” Vicki Hutcheson, who played a pivotal role in the arrests, gave an interview with the Arkansas Times in 2003, stating that under police coercion, every word of her testimony was a lie. According to Hutcheson, the police informed her that she would lose custody of her child if she did not perform and speak as directed.
John Mark Byers
Aside from the misconduct of those connected with the trials, new physical evidence has been introduced. Bite marks found on Steve Branch’s forehead have been analyzed and discovered to not match Echols, Baldwin, or Misskelley. Interestingly, John Mark Byers, adoptive father of Christopher, who is suspected by many of having actually committed or played a part in committing the murders, had his teeth removed shortly after the trials, and has given a variety of differing reasons for doing so. Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, is also suspected, as DNA analysis links a hair, found in the knots binding the body, to him. Furthermore, marks on the bodies which were originally thought to have been inflicted by a serrated blade have now been determined by experts to be the result of animal scavenging.
What Happens Now
Based on all of the above-mentioned pieces of evidence and more, a retrial for Damien Echols was requested and promptly denied by Circuit Court Judge David Burnett, who stated that the evidence was – can you guess? Inconclusive. Echols is now appealing to the Arkansas State Supreme Court, while Misskelley and Baldwin are currently awaiting conclusions of their own continuing hearings. It is the deepest wish of not only Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley and their families, but of every supporter who has heard of the case, for these upcoming proceedings to result in the convictions being overturned. Among those supporters are the families of the victims themselves, who are desperate for the true responsible parties to be brought to justice.
During the years that the West Memphis Three have spent in prison, many devoted people on the outside have worked diligently to raise awareness for the blasphemy against justice committed every day the Three are not free. Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, and Eddie Vedder (to name a very few) raise their voices not only in song, but in cries of outrage and pleas for support for the Three. Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and Winona Ryder add Free The West Memphis Three t-shirts to their familiar images. HBO has produced a series of documentaries, titled Paradise Lost, which cover the case from the very beginning. Devil’s Knot, by Mara Leveritt also chronicles the case and views the convictions with a jaundiced eye. Very recently, Alkaline Trio and Ozzy Osbourne have used their promotional merchandise to raise money for the WM3 Legal Defense Fund.
For the rest of us, we can also raise our voices and wear t-shirts. We can educate ourselves and others. We can send the message that as members of a free society, we will not tolerate misconduct and negligence where lives are at stake. We can remind our fellow citizens and our elected officials that we demand the right to freedom not only for ourselves, but for those we have never met. We will care for these strangers because we care for justice. We will care because if we wait until injustice reaches us personally, there may be no one left to care and fight for us.
For More Information
At http://www.wm3.org, you can learn more about the case, the victims, the evidence, and the Three. Transcripts of hearings, trial abstracts, evidence, and more are available. There, you can also donate to the defense fund and learn other ways to help.
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