New Evidence

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Cappuccino

Cappuccino

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I'm surprised nobody's posted this yet...

In another twist of the West Memphis Three case, defense attorneys said Thursday new testing excludes the only crime scene evidence prosecutors had to convict defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley in 1994 — a series of tiny clothing fibers.

Testing completed in May by three experts — including a former FBI crime lab scientist — found serious flaws in government's fiber testing conducted in 1993-94, Baldwin's attorney, John T. Philipsborn, wrote in a letter to Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.

"What is … disturbing and clearly indicative of the problematic evidence that the State introduced in the Baldwin/Echols trial, is the clear evidence that the State's fiber evidence was flawed,'' Philipsborn says in the letter dated Aug. 28. The letter says evidence linking fibers found at the crime scene to clothing seized in Echols' and Baldwins' homes "is demonstrably unreliable and incorrect.''
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http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/aug/30/new-tests-on-crime-scene-fibers-produce-no-link/

So there goes the fibre "evidence".
 
When the West Memphis Three got released, they and their defense lawyers said straight away that their release would not stop them from seeking new evidence. Of course, those who didn't know any better sneeringly compared them to OJ Simpson, and I suppose people will always make mistakes like that.

Three penniless teenagers from the local trailer park, arrested in the middle of a rumour panic about Satanic cults, and dependent on public defenders - in some people's minds that's totally comparable to a rich and famous footballer, supported by many and being tried by a largely black jury against a backdrop of hostility among the black community towards the LAPD.

Any sensible person should see straight away that there is no comparison. Furthermore, Jason Baldwin's defense has now produced forensic evidence which debunks the only physical evidence ever produced against the wm3 at trial - the fibre evidence.

<modsnip>
 
The FBI files released to Echols' lawyers have been posted on the Callahan's site. Many thanks to Compassionate Reader for summarising their contents, (because I never would have had the stamina to plough through them).

Not much we didn't already know, but a few interesting details....for example, there were soil samples taken from the crime scene sent to the FBI's lab for comparison to soil on the defendants' shoes. Surprise, surprise, they didn't match.

http://callahan.8k.com/braga_fbi/braga_fbi_12_1_exh_a_s.pdf
 
Another interesting snippet - scroll right down to the end of this link and there's a handwritten letter from Damien Echols to the FBI pleading with them to investigate the murders for which he's been convicted. Its dated October 1994....

http://callahan.8k.com/braga_fbi/braga_fbi_12_1_exh_t_5.pdf

Evidence of nothing I know, but how many guilty people write to the FBI asking them to investigate a crime they've committed?
 
So to summarise the new evidence...

1) Michael Carson has recanted

2) The fibres from the crime scene do not match anything from the defendants' homes

3) The soil doesn't either, (although the prosecution knew that all along)

4) There are canine and feline hairs on the victims' bodies

There are further fibre and hair tests ongoing, and further investigations into alibi witnesses and alternative suspects.

This isn't finished yet...
 
The cat didn't get my tongue. I just don't find any of this compelling. Honestly, I find even thinking about the three convicted murderers and the idiotic Hollywood fools that support them distasteful.

Money and PR. I wish they would just quit. If not for their crime, no one would have heard of them. The way Echols flaunts his emo self around sickens me.
 
OK, let me spell it out for you:

1) Since Carson's testimony against Jason was supposedly extremely incriminating, the fact that he has recanted kinda takes away that li'l piece of faux evidence.

2) Since, according to Fogleman (or was it Davis?), fiber evidence is stronger than hair evidence, the fact that the fibers that jo3eph goes into ecstasy over cannot be linked to any of the innocent men, that li'l ol' bit of faux evidence has been thoroughly discounted (as I've been saying all along it would be when the testing came back).

3) Since the soil from Damien's boots didn't match any of the soil samples that the wmpd collected from every imaginable spot of the discovery ditch, that kinda rules out those boots as having been where the bodies were If the boots weren't there, then neither was Damien.

4) Since there were canine and feline hairs found under the bodies, it kinda makes Jessie's "stories" null and void as he mentioned no dogs or cats. It supports the defense experts' assertion of animal predation, even Dr. Spitz, who specifically mentioned canines.

So, what's left? I know no one wants to think about this anymore, especially someone who has hitched their wagon to the wrong star, but three men have been falsely convicted of murder. Yes, they are freed from incarceration, but they aren't really free, and won't be until they are exonerated. That's why all this is important, and that's why I will continue to fight for exoneration for the falsely convicted and investigation, arrest, trial and incarceration for the real killer of Stevie, Michael and Chris.
 
they are not at present fasely convicted of anything, they chose to plead guilty to murder, nobody made them do it although Jason was pressured into it and as I opined at the time and do so now I do feel he has come to regret it,

until the state decrees they are innocent and removes the murder convictions from them they all 3 are admitted murderers no matter how many times they and other opine upon there innocence,

for now they are not innocent in the eyes of the law,

and I am glad to see that the case and the evidence is still being examined,
 
They were falsely convicted in 1994. Yes, those verdicts were vacated in order to accept the Alford plea because, as I understand it, a judge cannot rule on a case that has already been adjudicated unless he first vacates the original verdict. Judge Laser, after vacating the original verdicts, accepted the Alford pleas and sentenced them to time served. How can you have a sentence without a conviction?

I, too, am glad that the defense is continuing to present evidence to Ellington. I just wish he would look at it instead of campaigning for that Congressional seat! From what I've heard, Ellington hasn't even looked at all of the original materials, let alone the new evidence presented by the defense team. I guess, after he loses the election, he'll find the time. I'm afraid that, if he wins the election, we'll have to start all over again.
 
Thank you Compassionate Reader and Cappuccino for bringing this new evidence to the forums. There are many who believe they were railroaded and falsely convicted/charged. I also believe that no matter WHAT evidence is brought to pass, some people will never relinquish their belief that they are murderers because then they would have to admit they were wrong.
 
Before we start talking about new evidence, we should really make sure all the existing evidence is there...

Two parents of children murdered in West Memphis in 1993 still have not been granted access to evidence relating to those murders, despite a lawsuit against local officials and state claims that the case is closed. Now, Pam Hicks and John Mark Byers have amended their lawsuit to include as a defendant Scott Ellington, the district&#8217;s prosecuting attorney, who is also a candidate for Congress.
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http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/09/12/ellington-added-to-west-memphis-3-foi-case
 
Compassionate Reader said:
Lucky because, as innocent men, they were able, through the help of others, to get (finally) some great attorneys who uncovered and made known the truth. Not all innocent people are that lucky.
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I think she is implying that they are guilty and lucky.. not innocent and lucky.. tho i disagree with her opinion
 
Compassionate Reader said:
Lucky because, as innocent men, they were able, through the help of others, to get (finally) some great attorneys who uncovered and made known the truth. Not all innocent people are that lucky.
Click to expand...

Their lawyers didn't "uncover" anything - that's not their job. They did what lawyers do; they figured out a way to get their clients out of prison.

But if they had "...uncovered and made known the truth," Terry Hobbs would be in jail.
 
Fishee said:
Their lawyers didn't "uncover" anything - that's not their job. They did what lawyers do; they figured out a way to get their clients out of prison.

But if they had "...uncovered and made known the truth," Terry Hobbs would be in jail.
Click to expand...

The problem is that Ellington won't act! Maybe, if he loses the election, we'll get some action. There's so much going on right now with Damien's book just coming out and West of Memphis in the news, I don't think he can evade the information much longer. We'll have to wait and see ...
 
I have a question about the hair that is supposed to belong to Terry Hobbs. There was no root, correct? So, the evidence is MtDNA as opposed to nuclear DNA. Is it true that MtDNA is not as conclusive as the nuclear DNA?

Also, regarding the predatory damage (from cats, canines and snapping turtles) - I wonder how those animals got to the bodies (?). The bodies were found lying face down in the water - so, I'm not understanding how the animals got to the underside of the bodies to do all of that damage. Additionally, the bodies weren't in the water, really, for a very long time - what, maybe 15 hours or so before they were found? What drew the animals to the bodies? If the blood was all in the water - would the canines and felines have been able to smell it? I mean - what made them come around and attack so savagely?
 
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