BOGUS EVIDENCE/TESTIMONY?CORRUPT JUDICIAL SYSTEM? INJUSTICE?

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Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:40 pm
BOGUS EVIDENCE/TESTIMONY?CORRUPT JUDICIAL SYSTEM? INJUSTICE? Rumors and Confessions. West Memphis has a population of 30,000. In spite of this, names and places recur often in this case. The same families often played multiple roles, unlikely connections being made between witnesses, investigators and suspects. This section, in which rumors are traced, includes a large number of names, each person a link in the story. Unlike the group of children in Marked Tree who said they overheard Echols confess, the source of other rumors was often elusive. Debra O'Tinger testified as to seeing the missing children outside her house at 1309 Goodwin Avenue just before 6:00 pm. She said she and her husband had to wait as the children passed behind her truck before they could back out of their driveway on their way to her mother's for dinner. O'Tinger's mother, Mae Beshires, lived across town at 506 Balfour along with Debra's fourteen-year-old brother, Craig Beshires. Craig gave a statement about how he and a friend John Graham had, two years ago, seen two men in their late twenties or early thirties with red, white and black paint on their faces dancing in Robin Hood Hills. In his statement, John Graham did not mention dancing and said it was three men in make-up carrying guns. The police used such statements as evidence of a cult gathering near the site of the murders. Next door to the Beshires, at 504 Balfour, was the residence of Ricky and Debbie McKay. Together with Officer Diane Hester, Ricky McKay would haul off the discovered bicycles. The McKays' daughter, Meredith, would give Damien Echols an alibi for the evening of the fifth. She stated she saw Damien Echols and his family drive up to her cousin's house across the street at 505 Balfour at 7 pm on May the fifth. Her cousin, Stacy Sanders was with her at the time and testified in court to seeing Echols. Jennifer Sanders was at the house at 505 Balfour and testified that Damien and his family had visited. The Sanders had known the Hutchisons and Echols for a long time - years ago they had lived together. If Echols was indeed there, O'Tinger was having her supper across the street from him. Four houses down the street at 408 Balfour was the home of Richard Simpson. LG Hollingsworth said he spent the evening of the fifth with Simpson, although Simpson denied it. Photography and the William Jones confession Karen McAteer [née Beshires] lived at 515 Belvedere, just off of Balfour. She reported her eleven year old daughter, Jessica Bryant, and friend, eight-year-old Heather Smith, had seen Echols photographing them. In her interview, Jessica Bryant said she saw Damien squatting behind a bush looking at them out of the corner of his eyes. He had black under his eyes and "something like" a rabbit's foot in his hair. She did not see a camera. He ran off in the direction of Balfour. There is no statement from Heather Smith. On May 26, 1993, eighteen-year-old William Jones spoke to the police stating Damien Echols had confessed to him. A transcription of his statement became one of the few documents included as support for the search warrants. Jones stated Damien was a satan worshipper - but did not explain how he knew this. Jones went on to say that late in the evening on the previous Friday (May 21st) he questioned Damien about his rumored involvement in the murders. ". . .everybody want me to ask him, so I asked him, and he said, that he cut them and that, you know, had sex with them, molested them." [William Jones statement, May 26, 1993] Damien allegedly went on to say he sodomized the victims and cut them with what was described as a ten to twelve inch knife. Jones said he talked to Damien about the confession the next day and at that time Damien denied it. Jones's aunt, Shari Gilbert, placed this confession earlier. "Approximately 2 days after the boys were discovered my nephew William Jones and I were watching TV and William told me that a boy named Damien told him that him and Jason Baldwin and a third unknown person were the ones that killed the boys." [Shari Gilbert, handwritten note, June 7, 1993] In undated notes, Detective Shane Griffin wrote: "He stated Damien is a devil worshipper and he is dangerous and he William Jones is afraid of Damien." This contrasted with his taped interview. Ridge: But, you don't want to go to the police department? Jones: No sir Ridge: Because you're scared of Damian? Jones: Naw, I am not scared of Damian. Ridge: What are you scared of? Jones: I've been in trouble before and I just try to stay away I guess, not really you all, you know, but Crittenden County, I try to stay away. They don't like me. [William Jones statement, May 26, 1993] This echoed Misskelley's confession. Ridge: Why did you not come forward with this information? Misskelley: Cause I was scared Ridge: Scared of Damien? or scared of the police? Misskelley: Scared of the police. [Misskelley confession, June 3, 1993] When interviewed by Ron Lax, the investigator for Echols defense team, Jones retracted his statement, saying he just made up something he thought the police wanted to hear. Ridge was unsatisfied with this retraction and suspected Jones might be afraid of satanists. In a taped conversation with Joneses mother one week before the jury was to be selected for the Echols/Baldwin trial, Ridge asked whether Lax had threatened or intimidated Jones. Ridge: Even if it's not a direct threat. Kind of like, well, well you, do you really know what you're doing? Testifying against somebody supposedly involved in this Satan worshipping and what they might do to you. Remember what they did to those little kids? [Ridge phone conversation with Dequita Dunham, February 15, 1994] In contrast, Joneses mother gave a different characterization of the conversation with Lax. Dequita Dunham: When he was talking to William he was just talking to him more or less as a teacher would or someone. He was understanding, you know. And, he did tell him several times, all I want is the truth. You know, it doesn't matter what the truth is, 'cause I need the truth. [ibid] Jones did not testify at the trials. According to The Blood of Innocents, Fogleman and Davis asked for a hearing in chambers, where they alleged an investigator for the defense had been improperly interfering with witnesses. Ronald L. Lax, a Memphis private investigator, videotaped Jones the day before saying, "I just up and said something that I didn't know nothing about." [BOI, page 289] The specific accusation was: "Your Honor, there's some information to indicate that this Lax may be intimidating witnesses. . ." [BOI, page 290]. An investigation was launched. In a court hearing on February 25, 1994 investigating officer Bobby Stabbs said that the sole complaint of intimidation referred was in regards to the West Memphis Police and not Lax. The Skating Rink Girls Jennifer Ball lived at 907 Preston, near where it intersected with Balfour. On March 1, 1993 she made a complaint to the police. While talking to a friend Amanda Lancaster, a stranger stood outside Ball's window and threatened her. She described the stranger as 5' 10", 120 lbs and wearing all black. At the time of her police report, she said she was unable to identify the stranger. She described other incidents in which a neighbor Michael Beshears* (sic) had also been threatening her. In June, after the arrest of Echols, she identified the stranger at the window as Damien Echols. She went on to elaborate that Amanda Lancaster had warned her Michael "was going to blow my house up." She also stated that a Mark Beshires (sic) and Damien Echols were spying on them. *The city directory lists the next door neighbors of Jennifer Ball as Michael W. and Heather Beshires. There were both Beshears and Beshires living in West Memphis. In her interview, Jennifer Ball said she had heard that Damien Echols was going to kill two more virgins. She also described an encounter at the skating rink in which Damien followed her with his eyes. Then, While we were walking out of the blue Amanda started saying shut up shut up. I looked at her & asked her wat was wrong. She said that she could hear Damien in her mind saying "Bitch you're gonna die, you know to much." (Last year Amanda had P.E. w/Damien. She said he would sit there & enter her mind. It really freaked her out.) [Jennifer Ball, June 10, 1993] Amanda Lancaster confirmed being on the other end of the phone call when the stranger appeared at Jennifer's window. Amanda went on to say "Jennifer Harrison had said that she thought Damean had done it cause he new way to much, and he went around Horseshoe the same day the murders had happened, and had dog intestents around his neck." [Amanda Lancaster statement, June 10, 1993] Amanda Lancaster's cousin, Heather Cliett, was dating Jason Baldwin. The skating rink was the site of several other stories surrounding Damien Echols. Joni Brown, aged 14, said she was at the skating rink on Friday, May 14th, 1993. She said her friend Whitney Nix told her she overheard Robert Burch say he and Damien Echols murdered the three victims and were going to kill two more. Brown also said Toni Cissell had overheard Damien confess. In turn, fifteen-year-old Toni Cissell stated she had heard this story from Jennifer Ashley and Crystal Hensley. Whitney Nix, 12 years old, stated she had heard this from a friend Nicol Bumbaugh. And here the story ends, for now, inasmuch as Ashley, Bumbaugh and Hensley documents are unavailable to follow this to its ultimate source. Nix went on to relate this story about Echols. My friend Natalie told me that he went to her Church one night and it was a lord super and he droped the brade and he would not drinke the o jushe. [Nix statement, June 15, 1993] Twelve year old Brandy Wilson said she overheard Echols talking about the victims at the skating rink on the Friday night after the murders. Damien was sitting with Jason and Domini when he allegedly made this ambiguous statement. He said that he had something to do with these three boys and him and Jason just started giggling and laughing. [Brandy Wilson, June 16, 1993 interview] Brandy's mother confirmed the night although her account was even less incriminating than "something to do with these three boys." Cummings: Will the girls did say something about it the night that we came home but they didn't nothing the kids or nothing like that just like there was some weird boys there and a couple of other things went on but no I we all really didn't talk about it [until after the arrests] [Penny Cummings, June 16, 1993 interview] The Softball Girls Shortly after the arrests, the police received information that a Jenni Deacon, aged 13, had overheard Echols confess. Jenni Deacon stated she had been at J.W. Rich Girls Club softball field on the first of June but that it was her friend Rachael Myers who had told her that she (Myers) had overheard the confession. According to notes from Detective Ridge, Rachel Myers had said a "Shelly Wolf" (correctly, Wolfe) had overheard Damien confess while at a softball park. Ridge interviewed Wolfe who said she had heard this from Shannon Boals. Shannon Boals, aged fourteen, described it a bit differently. Around May 21, 93 [6:30 or 7:00 written above line] I was at the Girls Club in West Memphis at my softball game and this girl name Michelle Carter told me that Damien Echols came up to her and said that he killed those boys and I just said really and she said yes. [Shannon Boals, September 7, 1993] Returning the favor, Michelle Carter (age unknown) said she was told by Shannon Boals. "About 2 weeks ago at my ballgame at the Girls Club I was told by Shannon Boals from Marion that there was a boy named Damien that said he killed the boys and he didn't cut their thing off he bite it off." [Michelle Carter, June 9, 1993] Trey Boals [15 y.o.], Shannon's brother, said he and David Smith heard a David Way state he had overheard Echols confess. David Way [18 y.o.] said he heard this from David Smith. There are no notes regarding David Smith's version. The Wolfes lived at 406 Balfour (next door to Richard Simpson), however, Ridge described going to take Wolfe's statement at 504 Balfour. This was the residence, yet again, of the same Ricky McKay who helped Detective Hester collect the bicycles, whose family was part of Damien's alibi, and whose next door neighbor was O'Tinger's mother. While conducting the interview with Wolfe, Detective Ridge encountered Katie LaFoy. Thirteen-year-old Katie LaFoy said she was present at the softball field at the Girl's Club (on Shoppingway, near Balfour) on the first of June, when Damien spoke to a group of girls including a "Jody Medford." Although Katie said she missed the beginning of the conversation, she did hear Damien say, "yea that I’m going to do it to some more people too." She said she had heard enough to know he was referring to the homicide. Damien then went on to threaten them so they would not talk. Katie said Jason Baldwin was there. In a June 7th statement, 14 year-old Jodee Medford said during the week of May 24th, she had overheard Damien Echols talking to a group of five or six people at the Girl's Club. She did not recognize the people, but Jason was not among them that night - although she said he was there the next night. She said she heard Damien say "that he had killed the 3 little boys and that before he turned himself in - he was going to kill 2 more and that he already had one picked out." She said Jackie Medford and Christy Van Vickle were with her. In a June 11th statement she changed this, saying Damien had said this to a group including Jason Baldwin and Heather Cliett. Her sister, ten-year-old Jackie Medford, confirmed part of the story, saying she was there with her best friend Christy and her sister Jodee when she heard Echols say he killed the three little boys. She did not recognize any of the people to whom Echols was talking. Although not mentioned as being there in her sisters' or mother's statements, twelve-year-old Jessica Medford said she was sitting with her mother when her cousin, Katie Hindrix (Hendrix) asked Echols a question and Jessica overheard Echols answer he killed the three boys. Donna Medford, the mother of the Medford girls, said she drove a carload of the children home after the ball game including her daughters Jodee and Jackie, Christy Van Vickle and Katie Hendrix. Noticeably absent from her account was Jessica Medford. "They all started talking at once telling me about what the wierd black haired boy had said that night. The all said they heard him say that he had killed those 3 little boys." [Donna Medford, June 7, 1993] According to Donna, Katie Hendrix went on to say ". . . he had said he was going to bite her titties off. When he left she yelled 'Did you really kill those 3 boys & he yelled 'yes'." [ibid] Donna Medford said she did not overhear Echols say anything, but she did see him there that night. Katie Hendrix does not have an interview folder. Eleven-year-old Christy Van Vickle in a June 11th statement said two weeks ago she was with Jackee Medford at Girls Club. She said she saw Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin talking to a lot of people. "I heard him say that he killed the three boys. It scared me so I walked away. I didn't hear him say any thing else." [Christy VanVickle, June 11, 1993] The statements of Christy VanVickle and Jodee Medford were each one short paragraph. They were called as witnesses. Jodee Medford: Um - I heard Damien Echols say that he killed the three little boys and before he turned himself in, that he was gonna kill 2 more and he already had one of 'em picked out. [Jodee Medford testimony, Echols/Baldwin trial] Jodee Medford elaborated her account during testimony. They arrived about 5:00 p.m. Her sisters, Jackee and Jessica had early games, she was waiting for her game to start. At about 6:30 pm she walked around the corner of a concession stand and saw Damien Echols about 25 feet away. Echols was talking to a group of six or seven people. Jason Baldwin was nearby and his girlfriend, Heather, was standing next to him. In contrast to her June 7th statement, she said Jackee and Christy were not with her. Fogleman: Ok. And uh - where - were you with your sister Jackie at that time? Medford: No sir. [snip] ...cross examination, Scott Davidson. Davidson: Ok. Did - when you say you heard this conversation, did you see, uh - Christy? Medford: Uh uh. Davidson: She wasn't around? Medford: No sir. Jodee said after she heard this she told her mother. Her mother said it was in the car heading home, so this would have been after Jodee's game. They didn't inform the police or authorities for two weeks. Jodee testified she had never seen Echols before and did not know who he was until after the arrests when she saw him on television. Christy VanVickle did not add much to her statement during testimony. She said she was with Jackie Medford when she overheard Echols confess. Davidson: Ok. And were - who were you with at the ballpark? VanVickle: Um - Jackie Medford. Davidson: Jackie Medford? VanVickle: Um hmm. Davidson: And anybody else? VanVickle: No sir. [VanVickle testimony, Echols/Baldwin trial] In contrast Jackie Medford had stated Jodee Medford was with them and in her testimony Jodee Medford had stated she was alone. VanVickle did not quote Echols words, just that "I heard, um - Damien Echols say that he killed the three boys." [ibid] Christy could not provide any details about the context or tone of the confession. Among the twelve instances when she answered she didn't know or couldn't remember: Davidson: Don't remember when it was, what day of the week was it on? VanVickle: I don't know. [snip] . . . . . Davidson: Did - what did he say before you say that he said he killed those three boys, what did he say before that? VanVickle: I don't know. Davidson: What did he say after that? VanVickle: I don't know. Davidson: And how close were you to him? VanVickle: I wasn't close. Davidson: You weren't close. Did he scream it? VanVickle: I don't know. [ibid] Like all of the softball girls, Christy VanVickle only came forward after the arrests. The one adult who claimed to overhear a confession was the cult doctor, Dale Griffis. In a statement that would one-up that of the softball girls, he said: When he [Echols] got done testifying, what you didn’t see on television, what you didn’t see in the movie 'Paradise Lost,' was the fact that Damien Echols said, 'I got three, I had 10 more to go for my coven, but that damn cop from Ohio stopped me.' [Dale Griffis interview with Zachary Petit, Tiffin Advertiser Tribune, March 11, 2007] There were many rumors of confessions, almost exclusively from children and teenagers. Often the ultimate source of the rumors could not be pinpointed. In the case of the softball girls, there were several witnesses who gave contradictory stories that Echols had confessed at the Girl's Club on multiple nights under multiple circumstances, in front of a crowd or not, with Jason present or not, with Damien either making a short declaration or else answering questions. The names of the girl's friends who were with them at the time also conflicted between accounts. From the many claims of casually overheard confessions, two made it to trial, two young children were left to accuse Damien Echols. The Softball Girl Lineup Leadoff: Jenni Deacon said Rachel Myers had overheard Echols confess at ballpark. Third base: Rachel Myers said she overheard this Shelly Wolfe. Tinkers to Evers to Chance to Evers: Shelly Wolfe said she heard this from Shannon Boals. Shannon Boals said she heard this from Michelle Carter. Michelle Carter said she heard this from Shannon Boals. Out in left field: Katie LaFoy said she heard Echols confess at ballpark on the first of June. She said also present was Jodee Medford. No other statements, including Jodee Medford's mentions her presence. Centerfield: Jodee Medford said she heard Echols confess during the week of May 24. In her June 7, 1993 statement she said her sister Jackie Medford and Christy Van Vickle were there. In her testimony she said Jackie and Christy were not with her. Bench warmer: Jackie Medford said she was with Jodee Medford and Christy Van Vickle when she heard Echols confess. Backup out in left fielder: Jessica Medford said she overheard Katie Hendrix ask Echols if he killed the children. Jodee, Jackie and Christy not mentioned as present. Injured reserve: Katie Hendrix - No interview is available. Clean-up hitter: Christy VanVickle said she was with Jackie Medford when she heard Echols confess. Team doctor: Dale Griffis. Coach: Donna Medford said the kids discussed the incident in the car afterwards and later during their Memorial Day trip. http://www.jivepuppi.com/rumors.html West Memphis, AR, including the victim's neighborhood and the softball park. Satellite view of Balfour Road. 506 - Mae Beshires, 504 - Ricky McKay, 505 the Sanders, 408 Richard Simpson, 406 Shelly Wolfe. The bush where Jessica Bryant said Echols was spying on her. Police photo and markup. Taken from place where Jessica was. Last edited by Obscuregawdess on Sat May 31, 2008 4:14 pm; edited 1 time in total		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:54 pm
More of Judge Burnett's BS... Testimony by Brent Turvey and Val Price. I talked to a reporter from the local NBC affiliate. She admitted that she didn't really know all that much about the case, but that she'd "heard" that there was "overwhelming evidence" against the West Memphis Three. Trying to be polite, I respond, "If there was ANY evidence, I wouldn't be here." She smiled, and seemed to be honestly trying to hear me out as opposed to simply thinking that I was a cult member or something. Sitting quietly in our nice suits, we were the picture of obedient citizenry, but the bailiff finally approached us and said, "The judge has asked that you remove those patches or go outside." The sound of our "Free The WM3" lapel stickers being ripped off of various articles of clothing was heard several times throughout the courtroom. I felt a little "naughty" as if I'd worn a Marilyn Manson T-shirt to junior high. Brent Turvey, the forensic scientist/profiler was scheduled to testify, but unfortunately time did not permit him to. His testimony will have to wait until September 2-4 in Marion, Arkansas. There was also talk of Damien taking the stand, but this too, will have to wait until September. Mallett opened the proceedings in his polite and careful manner, presenting the court with documents relating to the previous hearing. Brent Davis (wearing a snappy Grizzly Bear necktie) made objections to the relevancy of several of Mallett's arguments, as he went over the items. Mallett tried again, unsuccessfully, to request that Judge Burnett excuse himself. "I hope you're not taking this personally," he said. "No, I'm not taking it personally. I'm on the horse and I'm gonna ride it!" Burnett said in his weary, irritated drawl. His delivery bears a remarkable resemblance to that of an exhausted father scolding a chronically disobedient child. Finally, Val Price took the stand (and remained there for almost the entire duration of the two day hearing). He was carefully questioned by Mallett about the contract that he signed with CTI (Creative Thinking International - the HBO filmmakers), the money that he received from them, and the money that was supposed to be put into a trust fund for Damien's son. It was revealed that Val Price and his partner Scott Davidson partially reimbursed themselves for their expenses from this fund without consent from Damien. The fund was quickly reduced to zero. Price was questioned about his reasons for not fighting for a better change of venue, and for having the trial so soon after the Misskelley trial (only two weeks had passed). It was suggested that these decisions were made to better facilitate the making of the film PARADISE LOST. It was also revealed that at least one scene in the film had been at least partially "staged." That is, a conversation which had already occurred, was reenacted for the CTI cameras. Price stated "HBO still owes us (meaning Damien) $2,500." Price was questioned about jury selection. It was suggested that prejudicial questions were asked during the voir dire, and that certain potential jurors may not have been excused despite their knowledge of the case from media reports. Mallett's main argument seems to be that the Defense didn't push hard enough for a more effective change of venue. During a recess, a reporter asked Pam Echols (Damien's mom) if Damien was still able to stay in contact with his "cult." She responded flatly that Damien had never been a member of a cult and that it was the news media that had started those stupid rumors in the first place. I spoke with a reporter from the Commercial Appeal, which is the Memphis newspaper notorious in certain circles for publishing excerpts from Jessie's "confession" before his trial. It seemed like he was trying his best to redeem his paper for their indiscretion in 1993, by abandoning the sensational "Satanic" angle that the Commercial Appeal seems so fond of in favor of a more rational approach. The facts of this case are so much more interesting and sordid than any fictional Satanic cult could ever be. After the recess, Val Price was still on the stand. He was questioned more about the jury selection process, and the HBO contract. It was revealed that the contract had been signed on March 15th, 1994 (the trial started on February 22, 1994). Price seemed to be suggesting that he felt that the deal with HBO would provide better financial resources for their case than a request for additional funds from Judge Burnett would have. "You decided to go to HBO instead of Judge Burnett for funding?" Mallett asked. "Yes sir," Price responded. Mallett returned to the issue of "staging" scenes for the film. He brought up the celebrity status of attorneys like F. Lee Bailey and Barry Scheck, and suggested that perhaps Price had this in mind when he was making his deals with the filmmakers. "Did you ever think that the media coverage would impact on your fame because of this trial?" Mallett asked. "I might have thought about it," Price said reluctantly. The judge was asked about his own involvement with the film, and he said, "I didn't know that it was going to be a commercial venture of that nature." Mallett brought up John Mark Byers (stepfather of victim, Christopher Byers) and asked Price if there might have been a conflict of interest concerning his suspicion of Byers, due to the fact that at the time of the Robin Hood Hills murder trial, Byers was also on trial for breaking into a jewelry store. Davis objected, and once again used his favorite saying "Mr. Mallett is going on a fishing expedition with this conflict of interest thing..." Burnett sustained the objection, "Let's move on," he said. Davis objected to his objections being ignored. He complained that Mallett has a tendency to continue a line of questioning despite it being successfully objected to. Mallett was finally forced to drop an entire line of questioning and "reorganize." "I have to be in Hot Springs tomorrow, so we'll have to end this soon..." the Judge said in reference to the next days' schedule. Day one ends at 4:10 pm. We rushed back to the hotel to watch the evening news, which surprisingly seems to be growing more and more "friendly" as time passes, and more information becomes available. A large group of supporters, now including our pal "VeryScaryCarnival," Sara and others hit the road in a small convoy for dinner at an Italian restaurant. Everyone obediently drew pictures on the paper tablecloth with their crayons. Kathy made good on her claim that she can draw any breed of dog that anyone can name. Soon, there were multicolored dogs everywhere. That night, we all congregated in one of the larger hotel rooms and discussed (guess what) the case. Bruce Sinofsky offered an amazing collection of bizarre anecdotes about the filming of PARADISE LOST... and then all of a sudden it was 2 am. http://www.wm3.org/live/trialshearings/burk37details.php?chronology_Id=98&page=2		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:57 pm
Corruption In Arkansas FBI chief touts investigation into West Memphis corruption Posted by Mara on Friday November 10, 2006 A high-ranking FBI agent in Arkansas recently cited his office’s work in combating public corruption in the West Memphis area. In announcing the creation of a new FBI hot line for reports of public corruption, Bill Temple, the agent in charge of the Little Rock office, noted that several police officers there had been convicted of crimes. Temple said evidence of the illegal activity was uncovered in an FBI sting called “Operation Gold Road.” In recent years, officers for the West Memphis Police Department and the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office have been tried on charges relating to the illicit confiscation of drugs, money and other property during traffic stops on the highways that intersect West Memphis. Temple said public corruption is, by nature, “a hidden crime,” because it may involve a closed circle of subjects. He said that anyone with knowledge of public corruption could call the Little Rock FBI office at (501) 221-8200, or report it online at FBI.gov, and remain anonymous. “The vast majority of public officials in Arkansas are honest, and they serve their communities well,” Temple said. “But even a small percentage of corrupton at any level of government is unacceptable and is damaging to our public institutions. http://www.maraleveritt.com/news/FBI%20chief%20touts%20investigation%20into%20West%20Memphis%20corruption		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:02 pm
A Skeptical View of the Judicial System (one message from a board) http://www.centerforinquiry.net/forums/viewthread/2555/ Then there’s the issue of nonsense itself, not being tried, but being used to try cases. Those interested are referred to the two excellent, and frightening, documentaries about the West Memphis Three. Then teens, the three were accused of murdering three little boys by a creek in West Memphis in Arkansas. After 10 hours of grilling, the police squeezed a confession out of one of the teens, who also happens to be border-line retarded. A prosecution witness, whose correspondence courses in satanic rituals qualified him as an “expert,” testified that, “Yep, these are just the kind of godless, teenage heavy metal fans who would commit murders like that.” Of course it was off to death row and life terms for the teens, who have now spent half a lifetime fighting for their lives. This miscarriage of justice was also notable for the sociopathic step-father of one of the murdered boys who had all his teeth pulled before they could be matched to the bite marks on his dead step-son. He was never even questioned. The bites did not match the dental patterns of any of the WM3. We could go into the absurdity of lifetime appointments for judges; the conflicts of interest in the processes to remove crooked lawyers and incompetent judges; the lack of penalties for over-zealous proscutors and lazy defense attorneys; the contradictions in sentencing guidelines… But you get the idea. The judicial system seems long overdue for some skeptical inquiry and reform.		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:12 pm
‘They messed with my words’ http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=2707a60b-b5d2-42d3-999e-0577590f8a9a Today, Aaron Hutcheson isn’t sure what he saw. Tim Hackler Updated: 10/7/2004 Aaron Hutcheson has suffered from nightmares for most of the 11 years that have passed since his two best friends were killed in West Memphis. He recently joined the Army and hopes this will help him get his life on track. What, exactly, Hutcheson told police officers in his first interviews will never be known. The whole affair began as a result of a coincidence. Vicki Hutcheson was scheduled to report to the Marion police station on the afternoon of May 6, the day after the murders, but before the three bodies had been discovered. (Hutcheson had taken a lie detector test after employers at the truck stop where she worked believed she might be responsible for overcharge on a credit card. She was reporting to the police department to learn the outcome of the investigation. She was cleared, but also fired.) Hutcheson brought Aaron with her to the police station. When a police officer learned that two of the missing boys were Aaron’s best friends, he began to ask Aaron questions. According to the officer, Donald Bray, who talked to Aaron when his mother wasn’t present, Aaron told him things about the murder scene that only someone who had been there would know. This included the fact that two of the boys had drowned. Is this accurate? Today, 11 years later, Aaron can no longer be sure he actually witnessed the murders. There’s no doubt that after several interviews he told police that he did, but after daily sessions with therapists, nightly bad dreams and the passage of 11 years, he says he simply no longer knows whether he was at the scene or whether, in his shock at the brutal slayings of his best friends, he only thought he had been at the scene. There are many inconsistencies among Aaron’s versions of what happened, leaving no doubt that he imagined or made up at least part of the story. But was he at the murder scene? Hutcheson said Bray told her that Aaron knew the boys had been hog-tied, and that only someone at the scene could have known that. Yet, in his first tape-recorded interview with police, on August 25, there was the following exchange. First, Detective Bryn Ridge asks Aaron if any of his friends have told him what they think happened. Aaron: Uh-h (no). Ridge: Nobody has told you? Aaron: Un-un (no) nobody even knows that … that I know what really happened. … What I think happened. Ridge: Do you know what really happened? Aaron: I know most of it. Ridge: Okay. Aaron: I think they went down there, they uh, the man the men seen them, and that white tank top man, that had on the white tank top, he told the rest of the men to hold them or something and probably did it. Ridge did not seem to pick up on the fact that Aaron was no longer sure he had actually seen the murders. Aaron says he knows what happened – "what I think happened." He says he "thinks" the boys "went down there" and were discovered, and that the man in the white tank top "probably" killed them. Eventually, Aaron gives an explanation for his knowledge of the case that the police choose to overlook – news media. Ridge asks Aaron what he thinks should be done to the murderers when they are caught. Aaron: I told my mom, that the police should do what they did to Michael, Chris and Steve. Ridge: Oh. Aaron: ’Cause I … they shouldn’t really even do it to kids that age. Ridge: Oh, what did you hear got done to the boys? Aaron: They got rap … they got raped and they got beaten to death, and they got drowned. Ridge: Oh. Aaron: See they hogged tied them and then put bricks on them so they wouldn’t float. [Note: The boys’ bodies were held down by sticks, not bricks.] Ridge: Oh. Aaron: That’s what I think, that’s what I heard that said. Ridge: Who told you that? Aaron: Nobody. I just, I heard that from the news. Ridge: Oh. Aaron: And um, Diane … Diane, Michael’s mom, said that she seen his face and it had knife stabs on it. Ridge: Oh. Aaron: On him. Ridge: Okay, you said that they were hogged tied, now how … how do you think hogged tied is? Aaron: They put their feet together and their arms together like that, ’cause I been took [to the] rodeo. They have kids and hog and if you tie a hog you get two dollars. I … I always know how to do that. In this exchange, Aaron not only makes it clear that he, like many others in the area, had heard rumors that spread like wildfire about the case, he made a revealing mistake about the evidence. It was his description of how the boys were hog-tied. He made the assumption most children or adults would make if they heard that someone had been hog-tied. He assumed the murderers had "put their feet together and their arms together…." It would seem that the terrible way that the boys were actually tied up would make a lasting impression on anyone. In fact, each boy was bound with his back bowed, left wrist tied to left ankle, and right wrist to right ankle. 'Happy in hell' Aaron, who is now 19, is convinced the three boys were killed by Christopher Byers’ stepfather, Mark Byers. West Memphis officials have acknowledged that Byers, a former drug informant, once was considered a suspect. He was never charged. Aaron contends Mark Byers hated kids. Aaron is sure he told the police in the first interviews about Mark Byers. His mother also recalls that, but adds there were so many interviews that she can’t remember details from them all. But she remembers one interview in particular. She says Detective Gary Gitchell had both her and Marion police officer Donald Bray sign an "affidavit of silence" pledging themselves never to mention that Aaron had named Mark Byers. At the trial of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, Echols’ attorney, Val Price of Jonesboro, said in court that Aaron had identified Mark Byers as one of the killers. But Gitchell told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal the next day, on Feb. 18, 1994, that Aaron had never implicated Byers. Aaron is also sure he could not have identified Jessie Misskelley as being one of the killers, because he and Misskelley had been friends and he would have noticed if Misskelley had been a participant in the slayings. ( So did Misskelley know the three boys that were killed? Hmmm...) Vicki Hutcheson says shortly after the deaths a bulletin came on television before she could turn it off, saying that three boys had been arrested, including Jessie Misskelley. ("They showed Jessie’s picture and Aaron screamed to the top of his lungs, fell in the floor and said, ‘Jessie did not do that.’ I mean he was screaming. I had to call Judy Hicks [his therapist]. She had to administer a shot to him. No one knows the hell Aaron went through.") Aaron says he had never seen Damien Echols or Jason Baldwin before, and that the only reason he identified them was to please the police officers interviewing him. In addition, Victoria Hutcheson says she saw the photo "lineup" police showed Aaron. "I wasn’t allowed in the room but when the door came open for Aaron to leave I saw the photos. They were on a poster board like you have in school. The picture of Damien was in the middle of the others, and it was much larger than the others. So of course Aaron ‘identified’ Damien. He just wanted to say whatever the police wanted him to say." Understanding of how easily police can coerce statements, even confessions, from children has grown since 1994. Since 1999 a large number of studies and articles have been published on the subject, and state and federal courts around the country have thrown out convictions based on such statements or confessions. The detectives failed to ask Aaron the questions that could have verified whether he had actually witnessed the slayings. In his interview on June 8, Aaron told police he was in a tree and badly injured his back when he fell. "I could hardly walk or get up," he said. In the version he gave police the next day, the killers hurt Aaron with a rock. The detectives neither asked Aaron about this discrepancy, nor asked him to show them the spots on his back or leg where he had been injured. Nor did they check his wrists to see if there was any evidence of the ropes Aaron said the killers used to tie him up. The police, then, chose to believe an eight-year-old boy’s story that he watched five men kill and mutilate three other eight-year-olds; that the killers knew Aaron saw the killings, whereupon they grabbed him and tied him up, but he was then able to untie himself and outrun five adult killers. With each police interview Aaron’s story became more dramatic and less consistent. In a version Aaron gave police after the Misskelley trial had started, he said he himself had been forced to dismember the body of his friend, Christopher. In an interview with Mara Leveritt, which she reported in her 2003 book "Devil’s Knot," Circuit Judge John Fogleman, who was the prosecutor in Misskelley’s trial, admitted that Aaron’s story was not credible. "I had some police officers that were absolutely convinced of his story," he told Leveritt, "and I talked to him a couple of times. "The first time, I was a little bit believing him. The last time, I guess when he started talking about draining the blood into a bucket, or whatever it was he said, it was so inconsistent and stuff that I got real concerned." As a result, Fogleman did not subpoena Aaron for testimony. At the time of the killings, Aaron was also sure that one of the five people he saw was a black man. The boy mentioned a black man with yellow teeth in a maroon-colored car in his very first interview with police. Police and prosecutors ignored the statements, despite the fact that, at around 8 p.m. on the night the boys disappeared, a black man had entered a Bojangles Restaurant a mile from what would later be discovered to be the crime scene. According to the restaurant’s manager, the man was covered in blood and mud, and his trousers were soaked with water up to his knees. He entered the women’s restroom where he stayed a considerable time. The manager called the West Memphis police, but the officer who responded took a perfunctory report from the drive-through window and never entered the restaurant. Though employees at Bojangles cleaned up the mess later that night, West Memphis police did find blood samples when they finally investigated a few days later. That evidence, however, was lost by the West Memphis Police Department. Now a young man with intense, dark brown eyes, Aaron Hutcheson says today that he would like to become a lawyer so he could help people avoid the injustice he saw in West Memphis as an eight-year-old child. He especially resents all the "corrections" the police made when he tried to explain what happened. "It was like, ‘Naw, are you sure about that Aaron?’ They messed with my words a lot."		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:25 pm
The Death Penalty Debate And Letter To Former Governor http://deathpenalty3.proboards103.com/index.cgi?board=disciples&action=display&thread=960 On the afternoon of 6 May 1993, West Memphis was rocked by the news of the discovery of the mutilated bodies of three eight-year-old boys. Rumours regarding the nature of the murders spread like wildfire through the town. It was soon well known that the boys had been cut with a knife, raped and at least one of the boy’s genitals had been cut, many of these rumours were based on inaccurate police assumptions. By 12.00 p.m. the next day, police were questioning their first suspect, Damien Echols. Several weeks later Jessie Misskelley, an associate of Echols, confessed to the murders, implicating Damien Echols and another friend, Jason Baldwin. Soon after, following a confession by Misskelley, the three teenagers were arrested and charged with the murders of James M. Moore, Steven E. Branch and Christopher M. Byers. The citizens of West Memphis were relieved that the monsters that had committed these heinous crimes had been apprehended and justice would be served. There was a great deal of anger in the community directed towards these three adolescents, supposedly involved in Satanic cults, who were accused of killing three innocent boys as part of a Satanic ritual. Rumors of Satanic groups had abounded in this dominantly Baptist community for decades. Details of their exploits were well known although there was never any proof of any murders actually having been performed in the past. From the time the arrests were made until they were tried, local papers fed the community’s blood-lust, with stories of Satanic abominations appearing on a regular basis. On Wednesday 19 January 1994, Jessie Misskelley was sent to trial after an attempt to have his confession suppressed was denied. Two weeks later, he was found guilty on one count of first degree capital murder and two counts of second degree capital murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole. He was seventeen years old. The trial of Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols began on Tuesday 4 February 1994. On Monday 18 April 1994, they were both found guilty on three counts of capital murder. The next day Jason, just sixteen, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of forty years. Eighteen-year-old Damien Echols was sentenced to death by lethal injection. More than five years after these sentences were handed down the three young men continue to proclaim their innocence and are persevering in their attempts to have new trials granted. This in itself is not unusual. There are many guilty men who have succeeded in tying up the legal system in the process of appeals for as many as fifteen years. What is unusual in this case is that they are not alone in proclaiming their innocence. Thousands of American citizens are convinced that Jessie, Jason and Damien were wrongly tried and convicted and are now lending their support to the fight for justice. Everyday this support is growing and now includes many criminal and legal experts who are throwing the weight of their knowledge and experience behind the three boys. Damien Echols claims that he was found guilty long before the trial began because he was considered weird by many in the community, having practiced the Wicca religion and listened to the music of supposedly Satanic groups such as "Metallica." Jason believes he was found guilty by association. Jessie claims that his confession was coerced, claiming he had told police whatever they had wanted him to so that they would let him go. Under question in this case is not merely whether Jessie, Jason and Damien are guilty or innocent, but whether the correct legal processes were upheld to secure their convictions. Was the basic tenet of the American legal system, the presumption of innocence, discarded in order to satisfy a community’s call for the revenge of the dreadful murders of three innocent children? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 6th, 2004 Arkansas Governor’s Office State Capitol Room 250 Little Rock, AR 72201 Dear Governor Huckabee, The process by which a police department conducts an investigation is an ever-changing one. Though years of police academy training and examples provided in the books of written law can offer structure, quite often police investigations are subject to exceptions to the rules. As mentioned in our last letter, the investigation of John Mark Byers, stepfather of victim Christopher Byers, leaves a lot to be desired. Because Christopher sustained more concentrated injuries than victims Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, one would assume his family and close relations would be interrogated with a more scrutinizing eye. However, it is our opinion that this did not happen. John Mark Byers worked as a drug informant for the West Memphis Police. This could be the very reason the details to follow about Byers may have been glossed over, both before and after the trials of the West Memphis Three: Byers has a history of inflicting physical abuse (specifically, “spankings”) on Christopher[1]; a restraining order was obtained against Byers after he was accused of spanking his neighbor’s five-year-old son[2]; Byers was arrested and charged with terrorist threatening of his first wife; Byers was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor when he forced two teenage boys to engage in a physical fight allegedly at gun point, one of them using a knife provided by Byers[3]; Byers was charged with stealing twenty thousand dollars worth of property from a neighbor’s house; at one point after the West Memphis Three trials, the West Memphis Police Department had thirteen outstanding warrants for Byers’ arrest for passing bad checks; Byers has been diagnosed as having a multitude of psychiatric problems by his doctor[4]; in June of 1999, Byers was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to sell prescription drugs to an undercover narcotics officer; John Mark Byers has been concurrently prescribed Xanax, Zoloft, Sinequan, Haldol, and Depakote[5]; Byers has been a victim of abuse and can be quoted as saying [in reference to the crime against his son] that when he heard what had happened to Christopher, it was “like they were reading off what had happened to me, except I had survived it”[6]; Byers said in a lie detector test (years after the murders) that he didn’t steal, didn’t have altercations with police, and only experimented with drugs in college, though he had been arrested on drugs and weapons charges in 1992[7]. When bite mark evidence was introduced into an appeal hearing for Damien Echols, Byers was mysteriously ready and willing to comply with any requests for dental impressions that might be made. John Mark Byers, though, has no teeth. He has said his teeth were knocked out in fights, or that they had fallen out as a result of a side effect from taking Tegritol (for an alleged brain tumor; this, however, is not a known side effect of Tegritol)[8]. Byers’ dental records show that his teeth had been extracted by an oral surgeon in April of 1997 for reasons undisclosed. Byers has also claimed to have suffered from the following ailments (though not all can be confirmed): brain tumor, epilepsy, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, manic depression, anxiety and/or panic attacks, and hallucinations. John Mark Byers’ wife, Melissa, died suddenly in 1996 as the two lay in their home to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon. The cause of death remains undetermined, as the medical examiner for one reason or another was unable to decide whether the death was a suicide or a homicide. The list of “gray area” surrounding Byers goes on and on and on. While we contend that he was never given equal consideration as a suspect, the West Memphis Police Department has produced documents that prove they considered Byers a possible suspect at various points throughout the case. What caused them to give up on their suspicions is where we remain confused. The real question at hand is, if the police had to give up on Byers because they were somehow unable to establish enough evidence against him, why were they able to arrest Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., whose characters were relatively innocent? Sincerely, Jenn Onofrio Paul Rhyand		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:31 pm
NEWS & LETTERS, June 2004 West Memphis Three In this day and age, "Salem Witch Trial evidence" should not be admissible in a court of law. Such is the evidence by which Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of the murder of three eight-year-old boys. These murders were committed in Robin Hood Hills in West Memphis, Ark. The local "good old boys" methods of obtaining crime scene evidence left much to the imagination and speculation of the local police investigator, Gary Gitchell. In his efforts to solve these heinous crimes under his watch, he grasped at straws as to who might be a likely suspect by enlisting the speculation provided by a juvenile probation officer who happened to be present at the crime scene. On this flimsy evidence Damien Echols, a loner who liked heavy metal music and the occult, was blamed for it. His friend Jessie Misskelley, 17, was coerced into a confession even though a lie detector test proved that he was innocent. Through a tearful confession of more than five hours the police concluded that this young man, whose IQ was 72, was guilty as well. Jason Baldwin was found guilty for no other reason than merely being associated with them. The evidence, what little of it was available, was so contaminated the conclusions were ineffectual. Powerful media hype added to the paranoia surrounding the three young teens. No other suspects were even considered nor investigated and DNA evidence was not pursued. The victims did not appear to have died where they were found in the wooded area. Lack of blood evidence at the crime scene confirmed the murder probably did not occur there. The supposed "crime scene" had no notable footprints even though the ground had been saturated with rain. Further evidence revealed the bite marks on the children did not match those of the defendant's teeth. Furthermore, 24 hours had passed before a report was investigated about a bleeding and muddy man who was spotted at a short distance from the crime scene. The bible-belt satanic paranoia in Arkansas influences the fanatics who wish to blame people that do not fall into their strict ideals of Christian traditions. This idea of satanic blame comforts the local population into the belief that all will be right as soon as the devil worshippers are brought to trail. Paranoia and media hype combine to distort and invent clues as well as obscure the truth from being revealed. Since these murders occurred in the early 1990s in a small town, the science of gathering evidence and information were somewhat limited. Important evidence and clues were not followed through because the police in charge of this case saw three easy suspects. Henry Rollins, Lemmy Kilmister and other musicians are in the process of raising money to get the DNA evidence necessary to clear them. --Mike M. http://www.newsandletters.org/Issues/2004/June/Memphis_June2004.htm		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:35 pm
Vicki Hutcheson Testimony http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/vickih.html MR. FOGLEMAN: We call Vickie Hutcheson. MR. CROW: Your Honor, may we approach the bench? (THE FOLLOWING CONFERENCE WAS HELD AT THE BENCH OUT OF THE HEARING OF THE JURY) MR. CROW: I may be anticipating what they are going to try to elicit from this witness but I anticipate she’s going to testify that she saw him at some alleged cult meeting after the murders. If she wants to testify that she saw him with Damien, that’s fine, but all this cult stuff - - I don’t think there’s been a proper foundation laid for it. It is prejudicial and we would strongly object. THE COURT: After - - is that what you’re going to do - - MR. FOGLEMAN: Between the murders and the arrests. THE COURT: But after the event. MR. FOGLEMAN: That’s correct. MR. STIDHAM: Just because he was somewhere drinking and carrying on with somebody doesn’t mean he’s satanic - - (p. 961) THE COURT: I’m reminded of the Strobbe objection, the first trial - - it wasn’t Strobbe - - it was the biscuit man - - where y’all persuaded me to let in some evidence that happened after the time of the charge that indicated either criminal activity or wrongdoing and the Court said you couldn’t do that - - the Ridling trial. Is there any difference in what you’re trying to do here? MR. FOGLEMAN: In this particular case the defendant in his confession talked about this cult activity. We contend that the proof is going to show that within maybe a couple weeks after the murders she got Jessie to introduce her to Damien, and Damien invited her to an Esbat, some kind of witch or satan worship deal. Damien and Jessie took her there. And while there she observed the kids. Some of them have their faces painted black, they begin to have sex. She asked to leave and Damien took her home and Jessie stayed. MR. STIDHAM: We have already brought out in cross examination why the police were looking - - why they picked up Jessie that morning, and this is highly prejudicial in that it occurred after the murders if it occurred at all, and I think any probative value is surely outweighed by the prejudicial effect of this. (p. 962) MR. DAVIS: Judge, one thing that you need to remember - - in their entire cross examination of the officers yesterday they kept asking, “Do you have any evidence that Jessie was involved in cult activity? What evidence do you have?” MR. CROW: It has already been discussed. MR. DAVIS: We can put on witnesses to show what evidence they have. MR. FOGLEMAN: And they were the ones in their examination of the officers who asked about, “Where did you get this information about Jessie being involved in with this cult stuff with Damien?” THE COURT: I’m going to take a recess and think about it. (RETURN TO OPEN COURT) THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, you may take a ten minute recess at this time with the usual admonition not to discuss the case. (RECESS) (THE FOLLOWING CONFERENCE TOOK PLACE IN CHAMBERS) THE COURT: Let the record reflect that is a hearing out of the presence of the jury. All right, gentlemen, the Court is considering the testimony of Vickie Hutcheson. State for the Court what your theory and notion of relevance is to this testimony. (p. 963) MR. FOGLEMAN: Your Honor, we expect that the witness would testify that approximately two weeks after the murders - - two to three weeks after the murders - - she was introduced to the co-defendant Damien Echols by the defendant and after being introduced she kind of played detective and got Damien or led Damien to believe that she was interested in occult activity and Damien invited her to an Esbat, which I understand is some kind of witch of satanic meeting. That Damien and the defendant took her to this meeting and that at this meeting a group of young people were there. They had their faces painted black and began to take off all their clothes and have sex with each other. Let me back up. I don’t think she’s - - I think she’s going to say she left before that actually took place. They began to touch each other is what I think she said. Then she asked to leave and Damien took her home and the defendant stayed. The theory of relevance is that the defendant in his confession stated that he had been engaged in cult activities with Damien Echols, and there were orgies that took place and the defense has taken the position that we would not be able to prove any of (p. 964) these cult activities or any connection with any cult, and this is offered to corroborate what the defendant said as far as his involvement in these activities which the defendant in his statement relates to the murders by his statement that there was a photograph of the little boys that was passed around at one of these meetings. MR. CROW: Your Honor, first, the prejudicial effect of this type of testimony in front of your average American juror is obvious. Very few members of American society are anything but Judeo-Christian ethic. This activity allegedly occurred two weeks after the murders. There’s no alleged connection between this event and the murders. There’s nothing been put forth so far in the prosecution’s case or anything I’m aware they’re going to put on saying the actual murders were cult related other than the fact that these guys may have been in a cult together. Jessie doesn’t say in his statement it was a cult killing. There’s no physical evidence to my knowledge, on the scene making it cult related. And the effect this thing is going to have on the jury is very substantial and the probative value for something that happened two weeks after the murder is (p. 965) so limited. THE COURT: I’m not going to let you do it. MR. FOGLEMAN: You’re preventing us from being able to corroborate the things he says in his statement and - - I am not arguing with the Court. THE COURT: The last time I did it I restricted the defense and the Court reversed saying that I - - but the issue there was entrapment and it was conduct of the police that they wanted to demonstrate afterwards. MR. FOGLEMAN: That’s correct. THE COURT: This is a little different situation, frankly. The conduct is conduct of the defendant. MR. STIDHAM: But it’s after the murders. THE COURT: The issue is whether or not that portrayal of him involved in cult activities with the co-defendant would so prejudice the jury against him that it would outweigh any probative value, that is, the corroboration of his statement. MR. STIDHAM: Your Honor, would you consider this? We are not here to determine whether or not Jessie was in a cult meeting in Turrell. We’re here to determine whether or not he was involved in a homicide. THE COURT: It’s relevant inasmuch as you’re (p. 966) questioning and have since the outset of the trial the statement itself made by Misskelley. You are alleging that it was contrived, that it’s false and it is simply not true. So - - and basically that is the only evidence that ties Misskelley directly to the commission of a crime is his own statement. So it is extremely important and relevant that the jury be provided all evidence necessary to decide whether or not that statement was voluntarily given and whether it was truthful at the outset. So I certainly understand the State’s position. I’m trying to balance the thing. MR. FOGLEMAN: Your Honor if - - if you want to - - THE COURT: I’m more concerned about all of the fact and details that occurred at the - - MR. FOGLEMAN: Do you want us to ask her not to say about what they were doing? THE COURT: What took place. I think I’m inclined to let her testify that she attended, whatever you called it, occult activity with Jessie Misskelley and Damien Echols. MR. STIDHAM: That’s the prejudicial part that we are objecting to. THE COURT: You’re not objecting to black painted faces and sex? (p. 967) MR. CROW: We’re objecting to that, too. THE COURT: I think it is relevant, and they’re entitled to show that it’s true that there were cult activities, based upon at least this witness’ representation. But I’m more concerned about all the details and circumstances that the witness would be prepared to testify to. Those to me are more prejudicial than the fact that he went to a cult activity. MR. STIDHAM: Your Honor, the State is required to corroborate the homicides, not corroborate that maybe he was at a meeting - - MR. CROW: - - two weeks after the murder. MR. STIDHAM: - - with teenagers drinking and having an orgy - - MR. CROW: - - two weeks after the murder. MR. STIDHAM: He’s here on a homicide. That is why we are here before the Court is to determine if he was involved in a homicide. MR. CROW: If they want to prove that he was at some cult activity prior to the homicides as he says he said in his statement, that’s one thing. But proving he was at cult activity after the homicide - - something he didn’t discuss in his statement - - is totally out of bounds. (p. 968) MR. FOGLEMAN: If we were talking about three months after, I could see the point about - - but we are only talking about a few weeks. And, really if y’all were not arguing false confession, we wouldn’t be in a position like we are because all we would have to do is corroborate that the crime occurred. But with you arguing false confession, we feel compelled to try to corroborate as many details as we can. In fact I think your expert says that some of the things that are important is whether or not you are able to corroborate details unrelated that he says in his statement. MR. CROW: Corroborating with stuff - - his activity prior to the crime, which is things he talked about, is one thing. Maybe he said he was a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan and saying he went to a St. Louis Cardinals game after the crime - - I just don’t see the - - obviously that is not prejudicial. MR. STIDHAM: That’s why they are wanting to hang this boy and that is why the newspapers have been splashing this cult stuff and that’s why everybody’s got their mind made up about his guilt or innocence because they are so petrified and horrified by this cult stuff. Mr. Crow made a good point that people - - THE COURT: Everything they’ve just said are (p. 969) certainly subject matters of cross examination if he takes the stand. There’s no question about that. I’m going to let them develop from the witness that she went with Jessie and Damien to a cult activity and that - - to that extent, basically. Don’t go into all the circumstances of what was seen and what was done and that sort of thing. I think the fact that you are challenging both the police activity - - overreaching of the defendant in taking a confession - - the fact that the confession is false, that is a fabrication on the part of Jessie Misskelley, that the State should be given some latitude to prove that this is not false. These are the underlying facts that support the truthfulness of the statement. I think just basic fairness allows him to do that. On the other hand, I’m trying to balance the harmful effect by - - I agree to some extent if they went in there and started telling about black painted faces and children having sex in the woods with devil signs around and all of those sorts of things, that would be prejudicial to some extent. But whether or not that prejudice would outweigh its probative value, I’m not certain. I frankly think that maybe fairness would allow (p. 970) it to all go in to show the circumstances immediately after the crime. But I’m going to limit it to the fact that she did attend with them some kind of cult activity without allowing her to go into all the details. MR. CROW: Note our objection. (RETURN TO OPEN COURT) (p. 970) VICTORIA HUTCHESON having been first duly sworn to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. FOGLEMAN: Q: Will you please state your name and the address where you lived in May of 1993? A: My name is Victoria Hutcheson, and at that time I lived in Highland Park in a trailer there. Q: Where did you live before you moved to Highland Park? A: I lived at 1502 East Barton in West Memphis. Q: Do you have children? A: Yes, I do. I have two boys. Q: How old are they? A: I have one that just turned eleven and one that’s eight. Q: Your eight-year-old - - was he acquainted with Mike or Steve or Chris? A: Yes, he was really good friends with Chris and Mike and (p. 971) Steve, and they ran together, but Steve more or less ran with my older boy. Q: Did they go to the same school? A: Steve and Aaron and Chris were all in the same class together. Q: And Aaron is your eight-year-old? A: My eight-year-old, yes. Q: When did you move to Highland Park in relation to the murders, approximately? A: Approximately April. Like the second week of April. Q: After you moved to the Highland Park area, did you become acquainted with the defendant? A: Yes, I did. Q: And how did you become acquainted with him? A: Jessie and I became really close friends. Q: After the murders, were you also friends with the families of any of the victims? A: Todd Moore, who is the Cub Scout - - leader over the Cub Scouts - - both of my boys were in the Cub Scouts troop. Q: You were acquainted with - - A: With Todd. Q: At some point after the murders, did you decide that you wanted to play detective? A: I thought I would play detective. Q: And in the course of that, and without saying what you had (p. 972) heard, had you heard some things about Damien Echols? A: I heard a lot of things about Damien Echols. Q: What did you do to try to learn more about this person? A: I had Jessie Misskelley, Junior introduce us. Q: Are you referring to the defendant? A: Yes, sir. Q: After he introduced you to Damien, did you do any particular things to try to gain Damien’s confidence? A: I had went to the library. Don Bray, the police at Marion, had given me his card to check out some satanic books because they can’t be checked out just by normal - - Q: All right. You said Don Bray of the Marion Police Department? A: Marion Police Department. Q: At this time was the West Memphis Police Department aware of what you were doing? A: West Memphis knew nothing. Q: After these books were obtained, what did you do with them? A: I just like spread them out on my coffee table like it was everyday reading. Q: For what purpose? A: If he was into witchcraft - - Q: Who? A: Damien. Q: Okay. (p. 973) A: If Damien were into witchcraft, naturally he’s going to be curious why I have all this stuff, I thought. Q: At some point did Damien invite you to go to some meeting? A: He did. On a Wednesday night, an Esbat. Q: Is that E-S-B-A-T? A: Uh-huh. Q: Did you learn what that - - A: I had to look it up but it was in one of the witch books and it’s an occult satanic meeting. Q: Okay. And did you go with him to this? A: Yes. Q: Who went with you? A: Jessie. Q: What did y’all go in, what vehicle? A: A red Escort. Q: Who was driving? A: Damien. Q: And about how many people were there? A: Approximately at a distance I would say ten, twelve, even fifteen. Q: After a period of time as things developed, did you ask to leave? A: I did. Q: And when you asked to leave, did somebody take you home? A: Yes. (p. 974) Q: Who was that? A: Mr. Echols. Q: What did the defendant do? A: Um, stayed. Q: Are you familiar with - - or aware of this tape that’s been played in court with the voice? A: Yes, sir, I am. Q: Do you know who that voice is? A: That’s my child. Q: Was the defendant acquainted with your child? A: Yes, he was. Q: Had the defendant spent time where you were living? A: Jessie and I - - I thought were very close and good friends, and so he did spend quite a bit of time with us. Q: At the time that you asked the defendant to introduce you to Damien, did you have any reason to believe that he was involved in the murders? A: Never. CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. STIDHAM: Q: Miss Hutcheson, you say that you asked Jessie to introduce you to Damien? A: Yes, sir. Q: Did he tell you that he knew him? A: He had told me on several occasions that he knew him. (p. 975) Q: Knew who he was from school? A: He was a friend of his. Q: Why did Don Bray, the officer from the Marion Police Department, give you his library card? A: Don -- Q: Let me ask you this way: How did you come in contact with Mr. Bray? A: Through a Delta situation, which I’m not going to elaborate on, but ah - - Q: I want you to elaborate on it. A: Would you like for me to elaborate on it? Q: Yes, ma’am. A: There was a credit card mess up, and I was working during the time that this happened and another boy. And it was a two hundred dollar transaction that had been done without - - I don’t really know the particulars of the credit card, but there was an investigation. All charges were dropped. Q: Why did you go see Don Bray that day? A: For that. Q: Did you go for a specific reason, to take a test or anything? A: I did take a lie detector test. Q: A lie detector test was conducted? A: Yes, sir. Q: And all charges were dropped, you say? (p. 976) A: I have the file. Q: Have you ever been convicted of writing bad checks in this state? A: Yes. In Arkansas I have. Q: Mr. Fogleman asked you if you at some point wanted to play detective? A: Mr. Fogleman? Q: Um-hum. A: I had never met Mr. Fogleman until like a month or - - about two months ago. Q: You testified that you were going to play detective in this case? A: I decided that on my own. Those boys I loved, and I wanted their killers caught. Q: Did that thirty thousand dollar reward have anything to do with your decision? A: No. It had nothing to do with it. Q: Did you ever tell anybody that you were going to get that reward? A: Not to my knowledge, no. Q: Mr. Fogleman asked you if you had anything to do with this at the time you went to this so-called meeting? A: No one mentioned Jessie Misskelley’s name to me whatsoever until he was arrested and on TV. Q: Fact is he spent the night with you the night before he was (p. 977) arrested? A: Exactly. To protect me. Q: To protect you from a prowler? A: From a prowler. REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. FOGLEMAN: Q: This Delta situation - - were you ever charged? A: No, I was not. Q: In fact the day that you were in Mr. Bray’s office - - is that the day - - which day was that in relation to when the boys - - A: The boys were still missing at the time I was sitting in his office, and he asked me - - I was obviously upset, and he asked my why I was upset. Q: It was the day the boys were found? A: Yes, they were found Thursday. Q: It was that same day? A: Yes. (WITNESS EXCUSED)		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky



Obscuregawdess Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 5:47 pm
Complete Fabrication A crucial witness says her testimony in the West Memphis Three case wasn't true, but a product of police pressure to get results in the death of three children. A woman who provided crucial testimony in the West Memphis 3 case now says her testimony was a complete fabrication. Victoria (Vicki) Hutcheson says she was told what to say by West Memphis Police Department detectives, and that if she did not testify as instructed they could take her child away from her and implicate her in the slayings. She also says the police hid her from defense attorneys after she testified in the first of the case's two trials, and that she knows of at least one piece of evidence destroyed by police. Hutcheson's son Aaron, who was 8 years old at the time of the slayings and a close friend of two of the three little boys who were brutally murdered in 1993, is also recanting statements he made shortly after the murders. Aaron, now 18, says police "tricked" him and led him to say things that were not true. Aaron's interviews with the West Memphis police were used to back up their theory that the slayings were related to the occult and to tie the teen-agers - now famously known as the West Memphis 3 - to the killings. Assistant Police Chief Mike Allen dismisses Hutcheson's account. "It appears that Vicki Hutcheson is trying to get her 15 minutes of fame," he said. Allen noted that she'd testified under oath in the trial of one of the three - Jessie Misskelly Jr. - and that the defense had a chance to cross-examine her. "I don't know anything about Vicki Hutcheson or her motives for over 11 years later coming out and lying about the events of 1993, but I can say that the case gets more bizarre everyday." Hutcheson testified only in Misskelley's trial. Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin were tried together later. Misskelley and Baldwin are serving life sentences. Echols was sentenced to die. All three are appealing. Mara Leveritt, a Times contributor and author of a book, "Devil's Knot," about the case, puts Hutcheson's significance this way: Hutcheson's interviews with police gave them a theory to build a case around. With that theory, and a confession from the 17-year-old Misskelley, whose IQ was subnormal, police had what they needed to arrest Damien Echols, 18, and Jason Baldwin, 16. The prosecutor had little else in the way of solid evidence and Misskelley soon recanted his confession. Nonetheless, the confession was leaked to a Memphis newspaper, which put it on the front page, and it was raised by the prosecution in the trial of Echols and Baldwin. Dan Stidham, defense attorney for Misskelley, said that Hutcheson's testimony in Misskelley's trial was critical in all three convictions. "Vicki Hutcheson's testimony was crucial to the prosecution because it was the only real corroboration that they had for Misskelley's ridiculous statement to the police. Even though she did not testify in the next trial of Echols and Baldwin just two weeks after Misskelley's trial, everyone on the jury in Jonesboro knew about Misskelley's statement and Hutcheson's testimony. "Hutcheson's recantation of her trial testimony was not all that shocking to me in that I have always known that she was lying. The real shocking thing to me about her recantation is the level of misconduct on the part of the West Memphis police. It obviously knew no boundaries." Stidham, a district judge in Paragould, no longer works on the case, but follows it closely. On May 5, 1993, three 8-year-old boys - Michael Moore, Stevie Branch and Christopher Byers - were savagely murdered in a wooded area near Interstate 40 in West Memphis. One of the boys was sexually mutilated. After a month passed with no promising leads, police turned to three local teen-aged boys - Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley - and charged them with the murders. To establish a motive, the police and prosecutor said the three were devil worshippers and had killed the three younger boys as part of an occult ceremony. In four recent interviews, Hutcheson said she has been carrying the burden of putting three innocent boys in the penitentiary and can no longer keep the truth bottled up. "I lied, instead of trusting in God," she says. "I was raised in a Pentecostal home and I knew to do right but instead I let the West Memphis Police Department scare me to death." Hutcheson became linked to the case on May 6 - the day after the boys had gone missing, but before their bodies had been found - when she and Aaron were at the Marion Police Department on unrelated business. Marion police officer Donald Bray tried to strike up a conversation with Aaron, who at first wouldn't talk or make eye contact. But eventually Aaron warmed up to Bray and told him two of the boys missing in West Memphis were his best friends. The children's bodies were found while Hutcheson and Aaron were still in Bray's office. After talking with Aaron alone, Bray notified the West Memphis police that the child had told him he witnessed the murders. But in a recent interview, Aaron said he is no longer sure whether he actually witnessed the murders or whether his mind was playing tricks on him during a traumatic period. The West Memphis police paid little attention to the changing and contradictory accounts he told or to the possibility that he could have gotten his version of events from news reports and neighborhood gossip. (See sidebar.) Bray met with Vicki and Aaron Hutcheson again a week later. He told her he suspected the killings were somehow linked to the occult or devil worshippers. At this point, Hutcheson decided to "play detective," to try to determine if a boy mentioned by Bray - Damien Echols - was guilty. Hutcheson denies accusations she was offered a reward to help the police. Bray, who might have known whether a reward was a factor, suffered a debilitating stroke shortly after the trials. The 'lost' recording When Hutcheson learned that a 17-year-old neighbor named Jessie Misskelley knew Damien, she asked Jessie to introduce her to him. Jessie did so and the three of them met in Hutcheson's trailer one evening. She reported on the meeting to the West Memphis police the next morning. The police encouraged Hutcheson to bring Damien back to her trailer, and obtained her permission for them to install a listening device under her bed, with the microphone attached to a lamp in the living room area. "They put the recorder under the bed," she says. "It was a fancy one with several reels of tape so that one would begin when the other was filled." Police suggested she tell Damien she was interested in becoming a witch, and that she check out books on witchcraft from the library to leave in prominent places in the trailer. (She didn't have a library card, so one of the detectives lent her his.) Hutcheson turned the recorder on when Damien showed up a few days later. Hutcheson says he just laughed when she said she wanted to become a witch. She told him she had heard that he liked to suck blood. Damien said he encouraged such stories as a "mechanism" to keep people from prying into his life. "What's a mechanism?" she asked. She says Damien replied, "It means leave me the fuck alone." Damien never said anything incriminating during the conversation, Hutcheson says. The police retrieved the tapes the next morning, and asked her the following day to come to the police station to listen to portions of them. "They would play parts of the tape and then stop it and ask me a question like, " 'Well what did he mean by that?' " She said West Memphis Det. Bryn Ridge changed the tapes while Gary Gitchell, the department's chief detective, asked the questions. "The quality of the tape was excellent," says Hutcheson. "You could hear Jessie, you could hear me, you could hear my roommate Christy. You could hear Damien excellent because he was sitting right next to the lamp." But, according to the West Memphis police, the tape was of such poor quality it was not usable. Later, the police said they lost the tape. Today, assistant chief Allen says he'd listened to the tape and it was not intelligible. "I also asked several other individuals about what I remembered about the tape and they remembered the same thing - that there was loud music playing in the background and you couldn't hear what was said." Hutcheson says that on the day she was called in to review the tape, she noticed that photos of Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin had been put above Gitchell's desk and were being used as a dart board. "I said that was absolutely uncalled for and Gitchell laughed. And he thought that was funny that I would take that personally. ... They already had their minds made up." Playing detective In Misskelley's trial, Hutcheson testified that she had personal knowledge that Misskelley, Echols, and Baldwin were involved with the occult. Lacking solid evidence or leads and under intense public pressure, the police decided to pursue the "occult" angle. For that, they needed some shard of evidence to persuade the jury. According to Hutcheson, they chose her for the dirty work. The highlight of Hutcheson's testimony was her description of a witches' meeting she said she'd been taken to by Damien Echols, with Misskelley along for the ride. "Every word of it," she now says, "was a lie." Hutcheson says she first thought it would be fun to cooperate with the police and "play detective." Within a few weeks, though, she had become enmeshed in a web she'd never imagined. Hutcheson's testimony was a repetition of a statement she made to Detective Ridge on May 28. In this statement Hutcheson appears to tell the police without prompting that she attended an "esbat" (a witches' meeting) and that Damien Echols took her there. She said Misskelley went along. Hutcheson says this May 28 statement followed a number of earlier interviews, of which there are no records. In those earlier interviews, she says, police told her what to say. "It was like this: I was either going to say exactly what they needed - or else. 'We're going to make this easy on you, Victoria, and you're just going to say exactly what we need or things can get rough on you. You could be implicated in this murder. You could lose your son.' " Hutcheson was susceptible to police pressure at that point in her life. She had been a suspect in another crime. "I was just … I didn't know what to do," she remembers. In 1992, Hutcheson and her second husband moved from Fayetteville, where she'd worked as a legal secretary, to West Memphis. They moved into a comfortable three-bedroom home. But then, she says, her husband walked out on the family, and Hutcheson and her two sons had to move into a house trailer. She describes her situation this way: "My husband had just left me. I'm in a town I don't know. I have no money, a truck about ready to break down and a job on the line. I've got a child that's ADD. I'm paying $90 for his medications. "There were times that I got down on my knees and said 'God, what is it? What have I done to deserve this?' " The witches' meeting Hutcheson said the "witches' meeting" was dreamed up by Jerry Driver, a county juvenile officer, at a meeting detectives held at Bray's storage facility in Marion. (Hutcheson says that such meetings were part of a pattern. Rather than at police headquarters, they interviewed her either at a commercial storage facility owned by Bray, or at the Crittenden County Drug Task Force office, several blocks from police headquarters.) Driver considered himself an expert on the occult, and had been watching Echols, whom he considered suspicious, for years. Gitchell and Bray were also at the meeting, Hutcheson says. "Well, we were sitting there and he [Driver] goes, 'Okay, what really needs doing here is, I guess that maybe Victoria goes to one of those meetings they have - an esbat.' "I'm not stupid, I knew what they wanted me to do. But I had no idea what an esbat meeting was, so he defined it for me." Hutcheson says that when detectives tape recorded interviews with her, "they would shut the tape off, and tell me, 'No, that's not how it happened, Victoria. You come up with something better.' " She says she believed their threat to implicate her in the murders if she did not agree to lie on the stand. "Gitchell said to me, 'Don't you understand you could be the link between the two? On the one hand, you knew Michael and Christopher. And on the other hand, you know Jessie, and you've had Damien over to your house.' "Of course, Damien was at my house for the police, but now they've got me as knowing Damien." Even when she agreed to comply, Hutcheson says, the detectives were worried that she might flub the testimony. When the Misskelley trial began in January 1994, Hutcheson says she was still so nervous she did not know if she would be able to pull it off either, though she'd been prescribed Valium. On the day she was to testify, she says, she was kept in the judge's chambers while the trial proceeded. "Gitchell and Ridge came back from time to time and they would ask, 'Are you sure you're going to be okay, do you need to take some more medication?' " At one point she told them she did, so one of the detectives went to the spectators' area in the courtroom and solicited Valium tablets from the mother of one of the victims. "We were all given the same thing, you know. We all went to East Arkansas Mental Health Clinic." Hutcheson added that Brent Davis, one of the prosecuting attorneys, "would come back to check on me and say 'remember you're going to say this or that.' " She also claims that assistant chief Allen, then a West Memphis detective, told her officials would arrange for her to leave town after the first trial, because they did not want her or Aaron available to defense attorneys in the second trial. "They told me I would have to go to a place where defense attorneys couldn't find me - and I was all for that!" She says she was given directions to a motel in Memphis where she and Aaron stayed during the second trial. Today Allen says, "I never had any knowledge of Vicki Hutcheson being placed in a motel." He also says he never saw Jerry Driver at the police department during the investigation. He was a juvenile officer in Marion and had "very little" to do with the case. A question of motives If Hutcheson lied in 1994, why should she be believed today? And what moved her to come forth now, 10 years after the trials? There are reasons why Hutcheson might be better off by remaining silent. Since the 1993 murders, Hutcheson has been to prison four times, for using drugs and writing hot checks. She is still on parole. It is unlikely her coming forward now will make her popular with the law enforcement communities that have so much control over her life. Hutcheson says she is speaking out now because of the ministry she encountered in prison. "I learned some principles in my life," she says. "And I learned, in order for God to forgive me, I had to clear my conscience." In April, Hutcheson was talking with her Fayetteville attorney, Mima Cazort, about a Social Security issue. Cazort was questioning Hutcheson about her health when Hutcheson broke down and said she had been carrying around a secret that she thought had taken a toll on her health. Hutcheson told Cazort her story, and said she wanted to do what she could to free three innocent boys from prison. Cazort asked Hutcheson if she wanted to go public with her story, and she replied that she did. "Jerry Driver planted those boys … And I guess I implicated Jessie, because I said I know Jessie and Jessie knows Damien ... "I guess I'm the whole reason Jessie is locked up. And that makes me very, very - I can't tell you what it does to me. "And that's why I'm doing this now. I have to clear my conscience not just for me but for God. And I can't live like this anymore, with this on my shoulders. "I know what I did was wrong, and I should have stood up to the police and done what was right no matter what. "They had me so scared, and I seen what they were doing. "I seen 'em set up three boys for murder, and not just one murder but three. And getting by with it. "And who was I? They were going to put me right in the middle of it. "I was scared. I mean I was scared to death." Tim Hackler is a writer who lives in Fayetteville. http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=52a9822c-d0bf-464a-bef2-c5b8013254ec		"Bratty Mama Leci" Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 11754 Location: Kentucky