WMC-TV: News, Weather, Traffic, Radar, and Sports for Memphis, TN; WMCTV.com | Months-long delay yields no new DNA tests in West Memphis murder case

Months-long delay yields no new DNA tests in West Memphis murder case

Lawyers for condemned child killer Damien Echols face an end-of-August deadline with few details settled on planned new DNA testing that has delayed the appeal of Echols' death sentence for nearly a year. The Arkansas Supreme Court on June 19 granted Echols' lawyers a 70-day extension to get tests performed on items related to the May 1993 slayings of three 8-year-old West Memphis boys.

The high court said it would grant no more delays in appeal proceedings that were first halted Sept. 12 to allow Echols to pursue forensic tests that the court said were warranted in the interest of justice. "We're going to do our very best to comply" with the court deadline, Echols lawyer Robert Owen of Austin, Texas, said Monday. But after 10 months of delays, no decisions have been made about what items would be tested, when or where, he said. "We're still negotiating with the prosecuting attorney," Owen said.

Prosecutor Brent Davis of Jonesboro said an entourage of lawyers from around the country representing Echols and two co-defendants came to Arkansas last month to conduct an inventory of more than 1,000 items held at the West Memphis Police Department, the State Crime Lab and at the Supreme Court. Davis said lawyers and prosecutors likely would agree on some items for testing, but he said the lawyers' wish list likely would be longer than what prosecutors believe should be included. A judge would decide on the disputed items, he said. Echols has maintained he was innocent in the bludgeoning deaths of second-graders Steven Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers. Echols' lawyers say they hope that more sophisticated DNA testing than was available 10 years ago will produce evidence that someone else committed the crimes.

Few items were tested in 1993 and tests that were done were inconclusive, the lawyers said. Modern techniques can test much smaller samples, they said, and a newer test for mitochondrial DNA allows scientists to examine a hair shaft. Previous tests required a hair root for testing. "We've requested that all physical evidence in the case be given DNA testing for establishing the presence of unknown persons at the time and place of the murders," Echols lawyer Edward Mallett of Houston said. The victims' clothing and other material in the area where the bodies were discovered are among the items the lawyers want tested. "If the biological materials that were gathered at the scene where the children were murdered do not match any of the kids what were accused and convicted, that would be very strong evidence of their innocence," Owen said. The lawyers also want new tests on a bloodstained knife to examine the possible involvement of a parent of one of the victims in the murders. Previous DNA testing on the knife that Christopher Byers' stepfather, Mark Byers, gave a cameraman during Echols' trial revealed that the blood type on the knife matched both that of Byers and his deceased son. Byers testified that the blood got on the knife after he cut himself while preparing deer meat.

Defense experts have testified that a state medical examiner erred by not performing saliva tests on a possible bite mark on Branch. The state maintains that state Crime Lab officials did not consider the wound a human bite mark and, therefore, the swab tests were unwarranted. Joseph Cohen, a medical examiner and forensic pathologist for New York City, also testified at a hearing that the state medical examiner, Dr. Frank Peretti, may have wrongly concluded that wounds to Branch's genitals and mouth were caused by forced oral sex. Davis acknowledged that technology had dramatically improved, but said he doubted new testing would exonerate anyone. "Quite honestly, you still have to have certain types of evidence to reveal anything earthshaking," the prosecutor said. "Personally, I don't believe the type of evidence is there to lend itself to a smoking gun. I don't think it will be particularly revealing one way other the other."

The boys disappeared May 5, 1993, while riding their bicycles. Their bodies were found the next day in a watery ditch near their homes in a quiet tree-lined neighborhood. Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, all teenagers at the time, were convicted in the murders. Echols was the only one sentenced to death. Baldwin is serving life without parole and Misskelley was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years. Owen said Monday that he, Mallett and another of Echols' attorneys, Al Schay of Little Rock, were working in conjunction with lawyers for Baldwin and Misskelley. Supporters have established the West Memphis Three Legal Defense Fund to help pay for legal assistance.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)