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Judge rejects request to see interview clips
By Kathleen Burt
Evening Times Staff Writer

JONESBORO -- Clips of a documentary shot by a New York film crew will not be available for viewing by prosecutors before trials for two of the defendants begins next week.

Circuit Court Judge David Burnett heard testimony in the Craighead County Courthouse Wednesday on whether a videotaped interview with Charles Jason Baldwin, done by a New York film crew for Home Box Office, will be seen by prosecutors in the case.

The interview was done in November, months after Baldwin was arrested for his connection with the deaths of three 8-year-old boys May 5.

Attorneys for Damien Wayne Echols, 19, also wanted to see clips from the work, specifically an interview with Mark Byers, father of one of the murder victimes.

An 8-year-old boy who has been called as a witness told police he saw Byers at the scene when the boys were killed.

Byers said on the day his son's body was found he had walked within 15 to 20 feet of where the boy's bodies were eventually found on May 5, night his son, Chris, was reported missing. Family members and friends of the victims searched that evening.

Byers has been interviewed by the film crew several times. Echols' attorneys wanted to see an interview he gave relating to an incident which happened to him at age 19.

Burnett denied that request, also.

Jury selection in the trial of Baldwin, 16, and Echols, 19, will begin Tuesday in the Craighead County Courthouse.

Prosecutors said although they wanted to see the Baldwin interview, they expected no revelations to come out of it.

"The interview is very innocuous," filmmaker Joe Berlinger said.

The crew from Creative Thinking has been in the process of making a documentary film about the murders since June. The film is expected to air on HBO in 1995.

Another development in the twisting and turning circumstances surrounding the case, was the discovery Wednesday of a 3 1/2 to 4-foot long red painted stick at a trailer where Echols lived at the time of his arrest last June.

Police were called to the Echols' former residence at 2706 Grove St., at 5:40 p.m. The current resident of the trailer told police she found the stick in a closet in the trailer.

Department spokesman Gary Gitchell said this morning could not comment on reports that hair and a colored substance that appeared to be blood were found on the stick, but he did say the item was en route to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for analysis.

"We'll see what comes of it," he said.

In the meantime, Craighead County sheriff's deputies are making preparations for tight securtiy in the upcoming trial.

The trial was moved Monday from the federal courts building to the county courthouse because of necessary security precautions and the amount of time the trial is expected to last, Burnett said.

Davis estimated the trial may last four to six weeks. Thus far, the state has subpoenaed 102 witnesses to appear at the trial beginning Feb. 28.

Baldwin's defense attorney, Paul Ford, filed a motion last week in which he reserved the right to call any withness which appears on the state's list or Echol's witness list. He also listed 24 witnesses who will be subpoenaed on Baldwin's behalf.

The potential witness list submitted by Echols' defense attorney, Val Price of Jonesboro is expected today or Thursday.