Judge buried hope of finding the real killer(s)
(Little Rock, AR- July 28, 2022) After two years of misleading and unnecessary delays by the Crittenden County prosecutor that prevented the West Memphis 3’s Damien Echols from conducting state-of-the-art DNA testing on the evidence in the murder of three children in 1993, a West Memphis Judge Tonya Alexander ruled that Echols did not have the right to test forensic evidence. Now, Damien Echols is appealing the judge’s decision.
On June 22, 2022, “In the Circuit Court of Crittenden County Arkansas, Sixth Division, Echols hereby appeals the order of the Crittenden County Court of June 28, 2022, denying his petition to seek further DNA testing pursuant to ACA § 16-112-201, et seq. The trial court denied the petition orally at a June 23, 2022, hearing.”
The prosecution had argued, and the judge agreed that according to the Arkansas statute, only those who were still incarcerated could test for DNA under Arkansas’ Habeas Corpus laws. This conclusion is based on the flawed assumption that the only consequence that matters from a conviction is its sentence. Hundreds of wrongfully convicted have sought relief after they were paroled and were “free.”
According to Arkansas’ DNA statute, “Except when direct appeal is available, a person convicted of a crime may make a motion for the performance of . . . DNA testing, or other tests which may become available through advances in technology to demonstrate the person’s actual innocence.” Ark Code Section 16-112-202
Echols attorneys have now filed their intention to appeal “Judge Alexander’s ruling as an erroneous exercise in statutory interpretation. The clear intention of the Legislature here, as stated by the Legislature itself in the Title of Act 1780, was “to provide methods for preserving DNA and other scientific evidence and to provide a remedy for innocent persons who may be exonerated by this evidence.” The Legislature, thus, intended to create a pathway to exoneration for individuals whose wrongful convictions might be established by newly available scientific evidence, like more advanced DNA testing. Such a restriction limits the effectiveness of the Legislative intention by removing an entire category of individuals – those who have been wrongfully convicted and completed their sentence.”
Damien Echols said, “We are extremely disappointed in the Judge’s decision which was based upon a narrow interpretation of the law and one that failed to allow justice to be served. All I asked for the right to seek to identify the DNA of the real killer (s). We are appealing that decision and are confident that the Arkansas Supreme Court will see it differently. The sad fact is that those responsible for the murders of three children in 1993 have breathed a sigh of relief now that the state of Arkansas is once again in their corner.”
Background
Although former Crittenden County Prosecutor, now Judge, Scott Ellington had agreed to allow the testing of DNA evidence in March 2020, utilizing state-of-the-art and FBI approved M-Vac technology, legal authorities misled Echols legal team about the condition, whereabouts and availability of forensic evidence that could potentially solve the child murders. After numerous legal motions filed over a two-year period to obtain the evidence in the murders, and reports from current Prosecutor Keith L. Chrestman and others that the evidence was destroyed, lost, or damaged, the State Court finally ordered the West Memphis Police to allow Echols’ attorney to review the state of the evidence in the case. What they discovered was a very organized, catalogued, and intact body of evidence.
Attorney Patrick Benca said, “We are pleased that the evidence is intact. We were planning to move ahead quickly to test this evidence using the latest DNA technology available to hopefully identify the real killer(s) of the three children in 1993, and exonerate Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley.”
M-Vac DNA testing technology has been used or is currently being utilized in several Arkansas cases, including for the Craighead County Sheriff’s office and the Marion, AR Police Department.
Echols was forced to submitted a FOIA request last year seeking all records relating to the missing evidence in the WM3 case. That FOIA request had gone unanswered in violation of Arkansas state law. After being informed that evidence in the West Memphis 3 case had been inexplicably lost or destroyed, Damien Echols, who was freed from Death row ten years ago and was seeking to perform new DNA tests on the evidence, filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Crittenden County asking the court to “declare that the WMPD violated its statutory obligation to respond to the FOIA request” and “direct the WMPD to respond to the FOIA request within three days.” See Motion for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
Contact: Lonnie Soury, Lsoury@soury.com, (917) 519.4521
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