Copyright 1993, The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
October 12, 1993, Tuesday,
Correction Appended FINAL EDITION
SECTION: METRO, Pg. B1
LENGTH: 503 words
HEADLINE: BLOCK TEEN ACCOUNT OF 3 SLAYINGS, LAWYER SAYS
BYLINE: Marc Perrusquia; The Commercial Appeal
BODY:
A defense attorney wants to suppress a key witness statement that police used to arrest three teenage defendants in the West Memphis triple slaying case.
Prosecutors on Monday received a defense motion that seeks to exclude from evidence the statement of defendant Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18. Misskelley told police in a tape-recorded statement June 3 that he watched co- defendants Damien Wayne Echols, 18, and Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, kill three 8-year-old boys in a woods off Interstate 40. Misskelley said in his statement that he was a member of a cult that ate dogs and participated in sex orgies. After Misskelley made his statement, he was arrested with Echols and Baldwin, and each was charged with three counts of capital murder.
A motion by defense attorney Daniel T. Stidham seeks to block the statement from evidence, claiming that police violated Misskelley's constitutional rights. The motion claims, among other things, that Misskelley did not voluntarily waive his right against self-incrimination and that police ''wrongfully refused his right to counsel'' after Misskelley was in custody.
Stidham said he mailed his motion to the Circuit Court clerk in Marion, Ark., late last week.
Deputy Pros. John N. Fogleman, who said he received a copy of Stidham's motion Monday, declined comment. Police Insp. Gary Gitchell also declined comment.
Stidham mailed a second motion that seeks to have the charges against Misskelley removed to juvenile court. Misskelley was 17 at the time of the murders.
Circuit Judge David Burnett last month denied motions to suppress evidence police obtained while making searches of the defendants' homes. Police made those searches after taking Misskelley's statement.
Stidham said Monday that Burnett's ruling applies only to Baldwin and Echols and that he has not yet argued to block evidence seized from Misskelley's home.
Stidham declined to discuss details of his motions, saying he will present specifics to the court at a later date.
The next hearing in the murder case is scheduled for Oct. 19 in Jonesboro.
Stidham's claims are the latest in a series of accusations by defense attorneys who claim that police mishandled the case against Baldwin, Misskelley and Echols.
Baldwin's attorney, Paul N. Ford, alleged police misconduct in a Sept. 22 letter to Gitchell. In his letter, Ford said police detective Bryn Ridge attempted to coerce a confession out of Baldwin when the defendant recently had blood and hair samples taken from him.
In his letter, which Ford also placed in the court file, Ford alleged that Ridge told Baldwin his attorney ''didn't care about him'' and ''could not be trusted.''
''He also told my client that I would not do a good job for him and that I would ultimately sell him out,'' Ford said in his letter. ''He then tried to get my client to come clean, confess, and that he could be trusted to take care of him.''
Ford asked Gitchell to place a copy of his letter in Ridge's personnel file.
CORRECTION-DATE: October 13, 1993, Wednesday
CORRECTION:
The next hearing in the West Memphis triple murder case will be Oct. 19 in Jonesboro, Ark. A wrong date was listed in some editions Tuesday.
