Lysbeth
07-08-2003, 11:03 PM
Echols' lawyers face Aug. deadline to have new DNA tests finished
By James Jefferson, The Associated Press
July 8, 2003
LITTLE ROCK - Lawyers for condemned child killer Damien Echols face an end-of-August deadline to complete new DNA testing that has delayed the appeal of his death sentence for nearly a year.
The Arkansas Supreme Court on June 19 granted Echols's 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 did not return a call to his office seeking comment.
Echols has maintained he was innocent in the bludgeoning deaths of second-graders Steven Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers.
Echols's 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 that were accused and convicted, that would be very strong evidence of their innocence," Owen said.
The lawyers also want new tests on a blood-stained knife to examine the possible involvement of one victim's parent. Previous DNA testing on the knife that Christopher Byers' stepfather, Mark Byers, gave a cameraman during Echols's trial revealed the blood type on the knife matched both that of Byers and his deceased son. Byers testified the blood got on the knife after he cut himself.
Defense experts have testified 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.
The boys disappeared May 5, 1993, while riding their bicycles. Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted.Echols was sentenced to death. Baldwin is serving life without parole and Misskelley was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years.
By James Jefferson, The Associated Press
July 8, 2003
LITTLE ROCK - Lawyers for condemned child killer Damien Echols face an end-of-August deadline to complete new DNA testing that has delayed the appeal of his death sentence for nearly a year.
The Arkansas Supreme Court on June 19 granted Echols's 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 did not return a call to his office seeking comment.
Echols has maintained he was innocent in the bludgeoning deaths of second-graders Steven Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers.
Echols's 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 that were accused and convicted, that would be very strong evidence of their innocence," Owen said.
The lawyers also want new tests on a blood-stained knife to examine the possible involvement of one victim's parent. Previous DNA testing on the knife that Christopher Byers' stepfather, Mark Byers, gave a cameraman during Echols's trial revealed the blood type on the knife matched both that of Byers and his deceased son. Byers testified the blood got on the knife after he cut himself.
Defense experts have testified 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.
The boys disappeared May 5, 1993, while riding their bicycles. Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted.Echols was sentenced to death. Baldwin is serving life without parole and Misskelley was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years.