QUOTES OF THE DAY: "Soon after, the three were convicted — Echols sentenced to death, Misskelley and Baldwin to life in prison. Some have compared their case to the Salem witch trials. “And the same thing happened in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 with all this satanic panic that was going on in the country," said Dan Stidham, Arkansas' 17th Judicial District judge and the original attorney representing Misskelley."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The three men got a big break last year when the Arkansas Supreme Court approved new DNA testing in their case. The evidence was recently sent to Bode Laboratories in Virginia for testing — but there’s a catch: the evidence may be destroyed in the process, a possibility the West Memphis Three are aware of. “It was important to obtain their consent and make sure they understood that if we go forward with the retesting that this could be the end of the road as far as future retesting," Stidham said. "None of them hesitated at all."
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"STORY: "Evidence sent for new DNA testing as West Memphis Three seek exoneration," by Andrew Mobley, published by KATV, on November 14, 2025.
PHOTO CAPTION: " were convicted in 1994 for the murders of three little boys in West Memphis — but in the years since, many have become convinced they were innocent and themselves the victims of a gross miscarriage of justice. "
GIST: Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin were convicted in 1994 for the murders of three little boys in West Memphis — but in the years since, many have become convinced they were innocent and themselves the victims of a gross miscarriage of justice.
In his search for exoneration, Echols has petitioned the state of Arkansas to get advanced DNA testing done on evidence that West Memphis police at one point said was lost. After more than five years of petitioning, that evidence has been sent off for new DNA testing.
The murders of 8-year-olds Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore in 1993 shook the country.
The little boys’ bodies were found naked and hogtied in a watery ditch.
Despite a lack of evidence, police arrested and accused Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin — teenagers at the time — of committing the heinous crime as part of a satanic ritual.
Soon after, the three were convicted — Echols sentenced to death, Misskelley and Baldwin to life in prison. Some have compared their case to the Salem witch trials.
“And the same thing happened in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 with all this satanic panic that was going on in the country," said Dan Stidham, Arkansas' 17th Judicial District judge and the original attorney representing Misskelley.
The West Memphis Three case happened during the infancy of DNA technology, and much of the evidence that could have changed the outcome of the trials went untested until years later.
“The group of which I was a part took over the case, 25 years ago now, went to the West Memphis Police Department and saw that there was a bunch of stuff that had not been tested," said Jeff Rosenzweig, a current member of Jessie Misskelley's legal team.
DNA tests in the early 2000s did not connect the three convicted men to the crime scene.
“There is no evidence linking the West Memphis Three to this case — no DNA, no biological evidence, nothing. But there is biological evidence linking someone else, and whoever that someone else is, is responsible — not the West Memphis Three," Stidham told KATV.
The three were released from prison in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, which didn’t clear their names but spared the state from what may have been an embarrassing retrial that seemed imminent after evidence was produced pointing to their innocence and revelations about alleged mishandling of the case by police and the court system.
The three men got a big break last year when the Arkansas Supreme Court approved new DNA testing in their case.
The evidence was recently sent to Bode Laboratories in Virginia for testing — but there’s a catch: the evidence may be destroyed in the process, a possibility the West Memphis Three are aware of.
“It was important to obtain their consent and make sure they understood that if we go forward with the retesting that this could be the end of the road as far as future retesting," Stidham said. "None of them hesitated at all.""
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
