The silence of the governor
'Paradise Lost' stirs dispute.
By Mara Leveritt
March 31, 2000
The lawyer representing Damien Echols, a death row inmate convicted of the 1993 murders of three West Memphis children, says that a statement about DNA evidence in that case, which apparently was e-mailed from the office of Gov. Mike Huckabee last week, is false.
For the past two weeks, the governor's website has received hundreds of e-mail messages about the West Memphis case. The flurry of interest corresponds to the repeated airing on HBO this month of "Paradise Lost: Revelations," the second of two films the network has shown about the case. Most of the letters, which may be read on the governor's site, express viewers' concern that Echols and two other young men convicted of the murders may be innocent.
Last week, Johnny Bratton, Jr, a viewer from Cabot, contacted the site asking that Huckabee "look into this case." On Mar. 23, Bratton received a reply from "teena.watkins@gov.state.ar.us." Teena L. Watkins is Huckabee's liaison for criminal justice affairs. The message began: "The Governor has received your e-mail and has asked me to respond. As the Chief of the Executive Branch of government, the Governor has no investigative authority. He cannot re-open the case nor have any investigation done.
"I do want to assure you that DNA testing was done, and that a match was found among the men convicted. I am sure you realize that Paradise Lost and it's [sic] sequel are fictionalized accounts based upon a true story. These shows are not documentaries or news stories."
The Times placed several phone calls to Watkins, attempting to confirm that she had sent the message, but the calls were not returned. The Times then contacted Rex Nelson, the governor's spokesman, for a response. He said that he would check, but the following day, another member of the governor's staff reported that Nelson "never got answers" from Watkins, either.
Bruce Sinofsky, one of the producers of "Paradise Lost," reported that he did get through to Watkins at the governor's office. But Sinofsky said that when he asked Watkins if she had e-mailed the statement, "She said, 'I can't comment on that,' and then she hung up on me."
The part of the message drawing the most fire concerns the statement that, "DNA testing was done and that a match was found among the men convicted." Edward Mallett of Houston, Texas, who is representing Echols in his appeals, says categorically, "That statement is false." Mallett contends that "no match was found" linking "any of the defendants and any evidence found at the scene or on the persons of any of the little boys."
Brent Davis, the prosecutor for Arkansas's Second Judicial District who is representing the state in the high-profile case, refused to comment on the allegation. He added, however, that he did not know where the governor's office might have gotten its information.
According to trial records, four pieces of evidence were submitted to laboratories for DNA testing. They were a necklace, a knife, a swatch of material from a pair of blue jeans worn by one of the victims, and shoelaces with which the victims were bound. All three defendants volunteered to have samples of their DNA taken. In their trials, no testimony was presented establishing a link between their DNA and DNA discovered on any of the items tested.
The second point at issue is the statement that the HBO films "are fictionalized accounts" and "not documentaries." The films' makers dispute that contention. They point out that HBO bills the films as documentaries, reviewers internationally have regarded them as such, and that the first film, which contained actual footage from the trials, received an Emmy in the category "Outstanding Achievement in Informational Programming." Joe Berlinger, who made the films with Sinofsky, criticized the statement from the governor's office as "shocking" and "emblematic of the corruption of truth that has epitomized this case."
'Paradise Lost' stirs dispute.
By Mara Leveritt
March 31, 2000
The lawyer representing Damien Echols, a death row inmate convicted of the 1993 murders of three West Memphis children, says that a statement about DNA evidence in that case, which apparently was e-mailed from the office of Gov. Mike Huckabee last week, is false.
For the past two weeks, the governor's website has received hundreds of e-mail messages about the West Memphis case. The flurry of interest corresponds to the repeated airing on HBO this month of "Paradise Lost: Revelations," the second of two films the network has shown about the case. Most of the letters, which may be read on the governor's site, express viewers' concern that Echols and two other young men convicted of the murders may be innocent.
Last week, Johnny Bratton, Jr, a viewer from Cabot, contacted the site asking that Huckabee "look into this case." On Mar. 23, Bratton received a reply from "teena.watkins@gov.state.ar.us." Teena L. Watkins is Huckabee's liaison for criminal justice affairs. The message began: "The Governor has received your e-mail and has asked me to respond. As the Chief of the Executive Branch of government, the Governor has no investigative authority. He cannot re-open the case nor have any investigation done.
"I do want to assure you that DNA testing was done, and that a match was found among the men convicted. I am sure you realize that Paradise Lost and it's [sic] sequel are fictionalized accounts based upon a true story. These shows are not documentaries or news stories."
The Times placed several phone calls to Watkins, attempting to confirm that she had sent the message, but the calls were not returned. The Times then contacted Rex Nelson, the governor's spokesman, for a response. He said that he would check, but the following day, another member of the governor's staff reported that Nelson "never got answers" from Watkins, either.
Bruce Sinofsky, one of the producers of "Paradise Lost," reported that he did get through to Watkins at the governor's office. But Sinofsky said that when he asked Watkins if she had e-mailed the statement, "She said, 'I can't comment on that,' and then she hung up on me."
The part of the message drawing the most fire concerns the statement that, "DNA testing was done and that a match was found among the men convicted." Edward Mallett of Houston, Texas, who is representing Echols in his appeals, says categorically, "That statement is false." Mallett contends that "no match was found" linking "any of the defendants and any evidence found at the scene or on the persons of any of the little boys."
Brent Davis, the prosecutor for Arkansas's Second Judicial District who is representing the state in the high-profile case, refused to comment on the allegation. He added, however, that he did not know where the governor's office might have gotten its information.
According to trial records, four pieces of evidence were submitted to laboratories for DNA testing. They were a necklace, a knife, a swatch of material from a pair of blue jeans worn by one of the victims, and shoelaces with which the victims were bound. All three defendants volunteered to have samples of their DNA taken. In their trials, no testimony was presented establishing a link between their DNA and DNA discovered on any of the items tested.
The second point at issue is the statement that the HBO films "are fictionalized accounts" and "not documentaries." The films' makers dispute that contention. They point out that HBO bills the films as documentaries, reviewers internationally have regarded them as such, and that the first film, which contained actual footage from the trials, received an Emmy in the category "Outstanding Achievement in Informational Programming." Joe Berlinger, who made the films with Sinofsky, criticized the statement from the governor's office as "shocking" and "emblematic of the corruption of truth that has epitomized this case."
