GOOD NEWS!!!!

[Obscuregawdess]

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT ORDERS JUDGE BURNETT TO TURN OVER NEW EVIDENCE IN DAMIEN ECHOLS’S APPEAL FOR NEW TRIAL

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Breaking News in WM3 case


Affidavit States Foreman Urged Jurors to Convict Echols Based Upon False Confession



Denies Attorney General McDaniel’s Efforts to Keep Evidence From Court





(Little Rock AR, June 29, 2009) – The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Craighead County Circuit Court and Judge David Burnett to “correct supplemented record on appeal,” requiring the lower court to include a sworn affidavit by a prominent Arkansas attorney that alleges extraordinary juror misconduct in Damien Echols’s original trial. Legal scholars believe the juror’s actions led to a wrongful conviction of Echols and Jason Baldwin. The Supreme Court’s action turned back efforts by District Attorney Dustin McDaniel to keep the exculpatory new evidence from the justices’ consideration. McDaniel had asked the Supreme Court to deny Echols’s request to include the affidavit, originally filed in May 2008.



Known as Baldwin exhibit 76, because it is concurrently under consideration in Jason Baldwin’s hearing for a new trial in Jonesboro, the sworn affidavit reveals shocking details of improper conversations that the jury foreman, Kent Arnold, conducted with the attorney while the original trial was in progress, clearly violating the law and the rights of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin to a fair and impartial trial. In those conversations, Arnold indicates that he had prejudged Echols’s guilt and was trying to convince other jurors to convict based upon news reports of the so-called confession of Jessie Misskelley, which was barred from admission at the Echols-Baldwin trial. In essence, the jury foreman introduced Misskelley’s “false confession” into jury deliberations.



Capi Peck, spokesperson for Arkansas Take Action, a Little Rock-based advocacy group seeking a new trial for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskel1ey, said, “The Craighead County Circuit Court and the Attorney General’s office have done everything they possibly could to prevent this important new evidence from reaching the Supreme Court. A year has gone by and the circuit court has yet to include the affidavit in its record, and there is no reasonable reason why the Attorney General would try to keep this important new evidence from the higher court’s consideration.”



In addition to the juror misconduct, new evidence includes DNA and forensic findings that link others to the crime scene, and not Damien, Jason Baldwin or Jesse Misskelley.



The Arkansas Supreme Court has given Judge David Burnett 30 days to complete the record. It will likely take another 30 to 60 days before the Court is ready to review the new evidence.








Lonnie Soury
Soury Communications, Inc.
150 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 414 5857
(917) 519 4521






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[Hannie]

Great !!! Thanks OG!

[AC]

Good, OG...thanks for the post!

[Obscuregawdess]

You're welcome... It's about time some progress gets made here! I haven't heard much good news lately. This helps remain optimistic!

[pax]

Good. There's no question in my mind there was juror misconduct and prosecutorial misconduct. Anyone remember the notes from the jury proceedings? They didn't follow instructions or have rational deliberation. The WM3 did not get fair trials. It was a pig circus. For the sake of justice, especially for the murder victims, all three convictions should be overturned.

[Obscuregawdess]

Very well said, Pax... It also scares me, in the name of justice, that this could happen to me or anyone else who is innocent... and then be given a death sentence or life in prison and have to deal with the kinds of obstacles these poor guys have had to deal with. Allegedly, Bill Clinto has "had their back"... and I believe this occurred right after he was no longer governor. I wonder if things would have been different with him in office? Who knows... but hopefully something good happens and quickly! They have been suffering long enough at the hands of careless and irresponsible jurors and authorities.

[Fishy]

Woohoo OG! Thanks for the update and that is indeed wonderful news! I hope it's the first of many good news updates,

[Obscuregawdess]

Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Letter from Tucker Max - Charles Jason Baldwin
Letter from Tucker Max
Jul 15, 2009 at 9:29 AM



Jason Baldwin

Arkansas Times

Mara Leveritt has forwarded to me a letter from Jason Baldwin, one of three teens convicted in the so-called West Memphis Three slayings 16 years ago.
He'll be going to court soon for another round of hearings aimed at winning his freedom.
He maintains his innocence in the case.
Read on for his letter.
Hi, my name is Charles Jason Baldwin and 16 years ago I was convicted for a crime I did not commit. I was a 16-year-old boy then, today I am a 32-year-old man and next month I’ll be leaving prison for the Craighead County Jail for two weeks worth of Rule 37 hearings.

Every day life offers us choices—most are mundane, like whether or not I’ll take sugar in my coffee, or tuning into KSSN 96 vs. The Edge 100.3—these are easy choices based simply on personal preference, neither right or wrong, nor life changing, simply life affirming. When I was just 16 I was forced to make a choice the results of which wouldn’t be so innocuous.

On my last day of school for the 10th grade I was taken into custody. For the next 289 days I would not be allowed to hug my mom or my little brothers. The only people I came into contact with seemed powerless to help me as I told them the truth of my innocence. To say I was under pressure would be an understatement.

One day I was offered a choice. I was told the only hope in the world I had was to turn “state” against Damien Echols and testify under oath that he murdered those three boys. The problem with this choice was the fact that I did not know who murdered those boys. For the life of me I did not believe Damien did—and even if I had a “belief” as to who could have done the murders, the simple fact remained that I did not know who committed them. Many people have found themselves in similar situations and chose a different path than the one I did, but 16 years later I do not regret my choice. The one time my choice counted for something real I made the right one—I chose to protect innocent life.

Our worldly and wise forefathers knew very well the dangers and imperfections in any justice system—even and especially ours. Innocent people can fall victim to the fell clutch of circumstance, so safeguards were put into place. Next month I pray those safeguards will perform their duty and that I’ll at last be freed. Tonight I rest easy knowing that when I was confronted with the choice to protect innocent life, I made the right one.

Charles Jason Baldwin

http://wm3.vox.com/library/post/letter- ... =feed-atom

[Fishy]

Wow OG, that gave me chill bumps

[Obscuregawdess]

Jason and Damien really both now how to make me cry... but perhaps it is their sincerity and good hearts after all they have been through. Even Jessie is a little better spoken now. I am so excited for this new evidentiary hearing to take place... and Damien says they have TONS that the public is not even aware of yet. I think they are getting closer to home!

[adrienne37]

Thanks again obscure for all of your posts. After reading his letter, I'm so impressed with Jason. I can't believe that he can maintain such a positive attitude in the face of such tragedy. Hopefully, God willing, they will all be able to come home very soon.

I'm also glad to know that the supreme court is ordering Burnett to turn over the new evidence. So based on what the article says, he has 30 days to comply and then possibly another 30-60 days for the case to be reheard? I can hardly wait. It will be so good to see them walk out of prison free men.

[adrienne37]

I also just listened to Pamela Hobbs interview with Fox/Memphis and it is so good to hear her say that she thinks the boys are innocent and that she has a theory about Cindy Hobbs possibly being involved. I thought that was very interesting.

[Obscuregawdess]

Adrienne,

I thought so, too. Even though it is just speculation, it verifies for me some of the bad things I have heard about Terry Hobbs' family. The evidentiary hearing will be happening within the next month or two... and Burnett is gone for good! He's in the Senate now, so he has no say over anything "WM3"-related anymore, thank goodness! Fogleman and Davis are judges in the circuit where the hearing will be held, but they will have to recuse themselves. I know that the defense would like to move straight on to a new trial instead of essentially footing the bill for two trials, since an evidentiary hearing is like a mini trial. I doubt that will happen, but I really think it would be a good idea. There's no way that, even those who still feel that they are guilty, could say with what we know that there is not enough for a new trial. They are also still holding some cards close to the vest that we, the public, do not know. I predict some jailhouse snitches will say Jessie has confessed to them. I predict they will try to have experts refute the animal predation evidence, but there's no way that a judge or jury could not see it for what it is. I think it is looking very good for the three, and I am so glad so many people are still interested and on board!

[yankee-in-france]

OG, I think that you have done a spectacular job with this forum.

It is now January. Has there been any news about the new hearing or trial. Do you think that they can get a fair trial there?

Again, OG, thanks for all of your efforts here.

[Obscuregawdess]

Sorry, just realized I had not responded. Thank you, Yif! The new judge wants to get this done ASAP. I do think they can certainly get a fair trial, and I have no doubt that a new trial will happen. With all of the new DNA testing that the defense wants done (although the State does not), as well as other circumstances, the evidentiary hearings might be in October.

[yankee-in-france]

Thanks for the update, OG.

[Obscuregawdess]

You're quite welcome! I am an admin on the Blackboard (for the WM3 case) and have been working and "schooling" a lot, in addition to moving into our new house. It has been hard keeping up, but I try. I will keep trying to remember to come here and deliver news.