JONESBORO — Attorneys for a West Memphis man sentenced to die for the 1993 slayings of three West Memphis boys have asked a judge to approve new evidence-testing in an effort to earn their client a new trial.
Damien Echols was convicted of capital murder in Craighead County Circuit Court in 1994 for the slayings of Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, all 8 years old. Two other defendants, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin, were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
The three boys’ bodies were found in a water-filled ditch along Interstate 30 in West Memphis. They had been bound and beaten, police said.
Echols is seeking a new trial, saying DNA testing and other forensic procedures have advanced since he was convicted.
Craighead County Circuit Judge David Laser of Paragould has scheduled a hearing Dec. 5-21 to determine whether Echols deserves a new trial on the basis of new evidence.
Stephen Braga, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing Echols, said he could not comment about the case because of a gag order. He referred questions to Lonnie Soury, the owner of a New York-based firm that acts as a spokesman for Echols and his wife, Lorri Davis, of Little Rock.
“We’re looking for the strongest evidence we can,” Soury said Thursday. “More DNA will certainly help with the truth.”
Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington of Jonesboro said he could not comment about the case, also citing the gag order.
In a motion filed Wednesday in Craighead County Circuit Court, Echols’ attorneys asked for materials held at the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock and forensic evidence at the West Memphis Police Department pertaining to the case.
Those items include:
all hair found at the crime scene.
victims’ clothing and shoes.
biological materials, including skin, taken from ligatures.
physical evidence from the crime scene, including the sheriff’s badge, the boys’ bicycles, cigarette packages and cigarette butts, a child’s wallet, a hook and rope, and wooden sticks.
wooden planks taken from a nearby tree fort where one victim’s underwear was found.
white sheets that covered the three victims’ bodies during transport to the state Crime Laboratory.
Attorneys also request the testing of a “green vegetable like material” taken from Stevie’s stomach during autopsy. In his motion, Braga said the testing of those stomach contents could help determine where the boy had been before he disappeared.
Pam Hobbs, Stevie’s mother, told police that she made a dinner of Salisbury steak and green beans on May 5, 1993,before she left for work. Terry Hobbs, Stevie’s stepfather, has testified that he hadn’t seen Stevie that evening, although three witnesses have said they saw them together. Police have never considered Hobbs a suspect.
If the stomach material is found to be green beans, Braga wrote in his motion, “then that fact would tend to confirm that Stevie did in fact return home ... as per the witness testimony.”
“We want to put out .. the latest DNA evidence and you make your own judgment,” Soury said. “This is the best legal thing for [Echols] in 17 years.”
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 04/01/2011