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From Los Angeles Times

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'West Memphis Three' freed in '93 slayings

New evidence had arisen to potentially challenge the convictions of the men, one of whom had been on death row, for the deaths of three young boys.

by Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times

August 19, 2011

Reporting from Atlanta

The men known as the "West Memphis Three," who served more than 18 years behind bars for the notorious 1993 murders of three young boys — and became a cause celebre among actors and musicians who doubted their guilt — won their freedom in an Arkansas courtroom Friday after new evidence arose to potentially challenge their convictions.

Their legal absolution, however, was not clear-cut. In an agreement with prosecutors, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley, both 36, and Jason Baldwin, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder charges but will also able to claim they are innocent, a rare arrangement known as an Alford plea.

"It's not perfect by any means," Echols, pale and in tinted shades, said at a news conference after the hearing. "But at least it brings closure.... We can still try to clear our names. The only difference is now we can do it from the outside."

Echols, the alleged ringleader, had been on death row. Baldwin and Misskelley were serving life sentences.

The gruesome slayings of the 8-year-old boys — Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore — terrified the small city of West Memphis, Ark., leading to rumors that a Satanic cult was responsible. After disappearing one afternoon in May 1993, the second-graders were found "naked, bound and in horrific condition, submerged in a creek in the woods," according to a court filing.

Later, the convicts' plight became an enduring issue among musicians and Hollywood actors who were concerned that the suspects, teenagers at the time, were persecuted for being different. Their black clothing and preference for heavy metal music had been presented by prosecutors as part of an argument that they were Satanists who had engaged in "an occult murder."

Singers Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, who had publicly called for a new trial, attended Friday's court hearing.

Scott Ellington, the prosecuting attorney in Jonesboro, Ark., said that with new revelations in the case, it was likely the men would have received new trials — and that it would have been "practically impossible" to put on a proper trial 18 years after the slayings. He noted that two of the victims' families had also decided over time that the men were wrongly accused.

After the slayings, West Memphis police interviewed Misskelley, who told them he watched as Baldwin, then 16, and Echols, then 19, killed the boys. One detective said Misskelley had also talked about being in a cult.

The three were convicted in 1994 but have been behind bars since their arrests shortly after the killings.

Supporters said Misskelley's confession was false and coerced, and have noted that he's mentally disabled. Misskelley later recanted the confession.

More recently, attorneys for the men raised other issues that would have likely been brought up in fresh trials. The Arkansas Supreme Court found that none of the recent DNA testing of material at the crime scene pointed to the convicted men. (There had been no such testing at the time of the trial.) The high court had ordered new hearings scheduled for December.

Attorneys for Echols, in a February filing, said that DNA testing of a hair on a cord used to bind one of the victims was consistent with the DNA of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of victim Steven Branch.

Hobbs has denied seeing the three victims on the day of their disappearance, but Echols' attorneys said they had found three eyewitnesses who said Hobbs was "the last adult seen with the victims" on the night they disappeared.

Hobbs told a local TV station that he had "done nothing wrong." The Times was unsuccessful in contacting him Friday.

Ellington, the prosecutor, said that Hobbs was not a suspect and that he considered the case closed.

"As far as the state's concerned ... there is no further investigation," he said in a phone interview, adding that he would consider compelling new information if it surfaced.

An Alford plea is so called because it derives from the 1970 Supreme Court case Alford vs. North Carolina, in which the court ruled that a valid guilty plea does not necessarily require admitting guilt. It is sometimes agreed upon when both defense and the prosecution have reasons for wishing to avoid a jury trial.

Judge David Laser had surprised followers of the case Thursday in scheduling the hearing. On Friday, celebrity supporters said they were shocked and relieved by the fast-moving turn of events.

James Hetfield of Metallica, interviewed by phone from Hawaii, called the outcome "amazing." He said the band became interested in the case — and agreed to let their music be used in an HBO documentary — because it seemed like a case of "judging the book by its cover."

"The way you dress, the things you listen to ... I can basically speak for myself, growing up, that that was just a sign of wanting to be creative and be different," he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-west-memphis-3-20110820,0,7456214,print.story

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From Google News

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White Teenager in Hate Crime Charged with Capital Murder

by IB Times Staff Reporter

A Mississippi teenager who intentionally ran over a black man in an apparent hate crime and bragged about the incident to a friend will be charged with capital murder, which can attract death sentence or life in prison.

Authorities on Friday upgraded the charge against him, noting that further evidence showed the murder was committed alongside felony robbery.

In Mississippi, capital murder is defined as a murder that takes place during the commission of another felony, the Associated Press has reported.

Jackson Police Detective Eric Smith did not reveal what was stolen from 49-year-old James Craig Anderson on the morning of June 26, when Deryl Dedmon ran him over with a Ford F-250 pickup truck.

A graphic video of the killing of the black man outside a hotel in Jackson had caused national outrage. The video, shot by a hotel security camera, showed the truck mowing down Anderson on the Ellis Avenue, AP report said. "The truck backs up and then lunges forward. Anderson's shirt is illuminated in the headlights before he disappears under the vehicle next to the curb," the report says.

According to Smith, the new finding that robbery was involved in the crime did not change the hate crime theory. "This does not change the theory of the case — that it's a racially-motivated killing," he said.

According to prosecutors, another teenager, John Aaron Rice, was involved in the assault on Anderson. He too will be charged with murder. Dedmon and Rice were with a group of teenagers that morning and went out looking for a random black person to assault, AP reported, citing the district attorney's office.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/201024/20110820/white-teenager-in-hate-crime-charged-with-capital-murder-john-aaron-rice-james-craig-anderson-deryl.htm

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Rescuer of kidnapped girl comes forward as undocumented immigrant

(CNN) -- A man credited with rescuing a 6-year-old girl from an alleged kidnapper came forward Friday to say he is an undocumented immigrant.

Antonio Diaz Chacon, 23, is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, and has been living illegally in the United States for four years, according to his wife, Martha, who is a U.S. citizen.

Martha Diaz, interpreting for her husband, said the couple are afraid of the consequences of coming forward with his immigration status, but "we know that if God put us there at the exact time to be able to save the little girl -- we know that he won't leave us by ourselves."

The kidnapping attempt occurred Monday night in southwest Albuquerque when the girl went to a neighbor's house to pick up a package of tostadas. After witnessing the attempted abduction, Diaz got in his truck and chased the van the kidnapper was driving.

Diaz chased the van for several miles before it crashed into a light pole, allowing him to catch up and rescue the girl, police said. He was hailed a hero.

Diaz says he was compelled to reveal his immigration status after facing questions from the media.

Martha Diaz said the couple had planned to apply for legal residency, but were told they would need an immigration lawyer.

"We put it off because we knew it would be a lot of money," she said, adding that mortgage payments and medical bills took priority.

Diaz said Wednesday that he's no hero.

His wife told CNN, "He says everybody is calling him a hero, but he feels he is just a normal person who did something for that little girl that anybody could or should have done."

Phillip Garcia, 29, has been charged with kidnapping and child abuse in the abduction attempt, according to police.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/19/new.mexico.kidnapping/

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