Paradise Lost - The Robin Hood Hills Murders

Another thing that struck me when reading some of the notes in the back of the book is why didn't anyone consider Christopher Byers was being abused on a regular basis? The classic behavioral signs were there! That, along with the fact he is the one that received the most mutilation, raises a big red flag to me. Did it for any of you?

April hearing planned in new appeal of 1993 WM killing case
(By Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press, February 28, 2008)

An appeal by one of the men convicted as teenagers in the 1993 slayings of three 8-year-old West Memphis boys will go before a judge in April, the first hearing in nearly a decade to consider questions about the evidence that convicted him, his attorney said.

Dennis Riordan, a lawyer representing death-row inmate Damien Echols, said the hearing has been set by Circuit Judge David Burnett for April 14 in Craighead County Circuit Court at Jonesboro. The hearing, initially planned to examine all the evidence in Echols' wide-ranging appeal, likely will focus only on setting a schedule for the case.

However, Riordan said it had been a while since lawyers stood before a judge arguing over the case's evidence.

"It was not this century," Riordan said.

Echols, now 33, was sentenced to death for the slayings of Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore. Jason Baldwin, now 30, received a life sentence without parole, while Jessie Misskelley, now 32, received a life-plus-40-year sentence for the killings.

The three victims disappeared May 5, 1993, while riding bicycles in their quiet, tree-lined neighborhood. The bodies of the three Cub Scouts were found the next day in a watery ditch near their homes.

The Arkansas Supreme Court later upheld the convictions, but a documentary on the killings sparked interest across the Internet.

In October, Echols filed a new appeal claiming that DNA evidence newly able to be tested from the crime scene showed no trace of the three convicted in the killings. The appeal also included evidence from forensic experts saying the mutilation of one of the boys likely was performed by an animal after the boys were killed.

A federal judge ordered that the appeal first be heard in state courts. In the time since that order, attorneys have worked toward having a full evidentiary hearing in late spring. However, that proved impossible as prosecutors continue to work their way through Echols' nearly 200-page brief, Riordan said.

Echols' new appeal hasn't even been filed yet in the state court, Riordan said, in part because lawyers plan to include new evidence they recently gathered. He said other DNA tests have not been finished.

Riordan said lawyers for all the men and prosecutors agreed to file a statement to Burnett asking him to hold the April hearing regardless.

"The thrust of the statement is that there are still discovery motions and petitions we're talking about ... that have not been filed," Riordan said. "What makes sense is to appear April 14 to set out a schedule."

Judge schedules dates for West Memphis case
(BY KENNETH HEARD, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, April 16, 2008)

Attorneys representing three men convicted 14 years ago of killing three 8-year-old West Memphis boys can argue to allow new DNA evidence in the men's appeals hearings this fall, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Craighead County Circuit Judge David Burnett tentatively scheduled a three-week court session in September and October to hear the appeals filed by Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. The three were convicted in the May 5, 1993, slayings of Steven Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers.

None of the three defendants attended Tuesday's hearing.

Attorneys for Echols want to introduce new evidence involving DNA testing on hair ?- both human and animal ?- and fibers found on the victims.

Echols' attorney, Dennis Riordan of San Francisco, said in court Tuesday that the discovery of an animal hair on one of the victims provides evidence that animals injured the boys after their deaths, not the de- fendants.

Baldwin and Misskelley also intend to file Article 37 post-conviction appeals, which allow defendants an opportunity to prove they received inadequate legal counsel during their trials. The judge, who presided over the trial of the three men in 1994, ordered attorneys not to discuss the case with the media.

"I'm tired of reading about this case in the newspapers and seeing it on television," Burnett said as he took the court bench Tuesday morning.

"I'll find you in contempt of court if I see any news account that attributes [information ] to an attorney."

Second Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Brent Davis of Jonesboro, Riordan and John Philipsborn, who is representing Baldwin, all would not comment on the hearing, citing Burnett's order.

Burnett also expressed frustration Tuesday over the length of time the court proceedings have taken since the convictions.

"I want to wrap this up," Burnett said. "This has been going on for 15 years. I want to get it over with."

Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin were arrested in June 1993, a month after the bodies of the three youngsters were found in a water-filled ditch just south of interstates 40 and 55 in West Memphis.

The three boys had been beaten, and one was mutilated.

Prosecutors said the slayings were cult-related, saying Echols read of religious sacrifices and practiced witchcraft.

A Craighead County Circuit Court jury convicted Echols of three counts of capital murder and sentenced him to death by lethal injection in March 1994.

Baldwin was sentenced to life in prison in March 1994, and a month earlier, jurors in Clay County sentenced Misskelley to life plus 40 years in prison.

The case has since drawn national attention with the release of two movies and two books chronicling the case, and a Web site proclaiming the three's innocence. Performers such as Winona Ryder, Henry Rollins and Eddie Vedder have also voiced support for Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley.

Burnett gave Davis 45 days to review a 110-page motion Riordan filed last week seeking to allow the new DNA testing as evidence. Davis had asked for 60 days.

The judge also gave defense attorneys 30 days to file the Article 37 appeals for Baldwin and Misskelley.

"I want it all on the table by then," Burnett said. "Whatever you're going to file."

Burnett scheduled a meeting with attorneys for Aug. 20 to determine if the attorneys need more time before he hears the appeals.

About 20 supporters of Echols, Baldwin and Misskelly, known as the West Memphis Three, crowded into the courtroom for the 30-minute session. Lori Davis, a Little Rock landscape architect who married Echols in prison in December 1999, also attended.

No one from the families of the three slain boys was at the hearing. John Mark Byers, the stepfather of Christopher Byers, attended many of Echols' previous appeals hearings in Jonesboro.

Nancy Morris Cook of Helena-West Helena went to the hearing and wore a black T-shirt bearing the photographs of the three defendants and the words "Free the West Memphis Three."

"I just wanted to show support," she said. "I think [the convictions ] were based on ?'satanic panic.' I think people were horrified and shocked by this. And they should be. But the evidence is inconsistent, and I don't believe they did it."