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Damien Echols

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Damien Wayne Echols
Born
Michael Wayne Hutchison

(1974-12-11) December 11, 1974 (age 49)
West Memphis, Arkansas
Criminal statusAwaiting execution
SpouseLorri Davis
Children1 son
Conviction(s)3 counts capital murder
Criminal penaltyDeath

Damien Wayne Echols (born 11 December 1974) is one of the three men, known as the West Memphis 3, who were convicted in the killing of eight-year-olds Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore at Robin Hood Hills, West Memphis, Arkansas, on 5 May 1993.

Crimes

Damien Echols was convicted of murder by a jury and sentenced to death by lethal injection.He sits on death row under 23 hours per day lockdown at the Varner Supermax.[1]

Media response

The case has received considerable attention. Many critics charge that the arrests and convictions were a miscarriage of justice inspired by a misguided moral panic, and that the defendants were wrongfully convicted during a period of intense media scrutiny and Satanic panic.

The HBO documentary films Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, and a book on the convictions, Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt, all make the case that the convictions were wrongfully obtained and three innocent men are in prison. Another sequel, Paradise Lost 3, is currently being filmed. A second book, written earlier than Mara Leveritt's is less supportive. That book, Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel, Marc Perrusquia and Bartholomew Sullivan, examines both sides of the case without coming to any definitive conclusion. In light of the DNA tests completed in 2007 that excluded the defendants as contributors, Perrusquia has joined those who publicly doubt whether the convictions were just. [2]

Echols' case has seen significant support from numerous rock and pop musicians, who have popularized the case by staging fund-raisers including benefit CDs and an art auction with some of his own work. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks are among high profile celebrities actively seeking Echols's release. They appeared on a segment of Larry King Live in August 2010, to discuss the case, along with Echols's wife Lorri Davis.

Echols co-wrote the lyrics to the song "Army Reserve", on Pearl Jam's self-titled album.[3] Punk musician Michale Graves, formerly of The Misfits has been writing music to coincide with Echols' poetry. Echols and Graves worked together on an album, illusions, released October 2007.

Later life

Echols has published his memoirs, Almost Home: My Life Story Vol. 1. His poetry has appeared in the Porcupine Literary Arts magazine (Volume 8, Issue 2), and he has written non-fiction for the Arkansas Literary Forum.[4]

Echols is currently seeking to overturn his conviction based on trial error including juror misconduct, as well as with the results of a DNA Status Report filed on July 17, 2007, which concluded "none of the genetic material recovered at the scene of the crimes was attributable to Mr. Echols, Echols' co-defendant, Jason Baldwin, or defendant Jessie Misskelley. . . . [a]lthough most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it cannot be attributed to either the victims or the defendants."[5]

Advanced DNA and other scientific evidence — combined with additional evidence from several different witnesses and experts — released in October 2007 has thrown the original ruling into question. A hearing on his petition for a writ of habeas corpus is pending in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.[6]

He is married to Lorri Davis.

As of 2010 he is incarcerated in the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) Varner Unit Supermax.[7][8] Echols, ADC# 000931, entered the system on March 19, 1994.[8]

On November 4, 2010 the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered a lower-court judge to examine whether the three inmates should be exonerated in light of new DNA evidence. DNA from the crime scene was tested in 2007, and the results of the test "conclusively excluded Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley as the source of the DNA evidence tested," the Supreme Court wrote in its ruling. The justices also said the lower court must examine claims of misconduct by the jurors who sentenced Damien Echols to death and Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin to life in prison. The Justices also ordered new evidentiary hearings for Miskelley and Baldwin.[9]

See also

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References

  1. ^ Lundin, Leigh (2010-11-14). "Not-so-cold Old Cases". Capital Punishment. Orlando: Criminal Brief.
  2. ^ National Public Radio Interview
  3. ^ "ECHOLS CONTRIBUTES TO NEW PEARL JAM ALBUM". wm3.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  4. ^ Arkansas Literary Forum
  5. ^ "DNA TESTING CONCLUDES". wm3.org. Archived from the original on 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  6. ^ American Chronicle | Echols' Attorneys File New Motion Claiming Wrongful Conviction In 'West Memphis Three' Case
  7. ^ Feyerick, Deborah and Stephanie Chen. "Echols of West Memphis 3 talks about appeal, death row." CNN. September 29, 2010. Retrieved on September 29, 2010.
  8. ^ a b "Echols , Damien." Arkansas Department of Correction. Retrieved on November 25, 2010.
  9. ^ Bleed, Jill Zeman (November 4, 2010). "New hearing ordered for 3 in Ark. scout deaths". The Associated Press. Retrieved November 10, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
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