Copyright 1994, The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
February 25, 1994, Friday, Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 930 words
HEADLINE: Jury has 9 for trial of Echols, Baldwin
Misskelley mulls decision to testify
BYLINE: Bartholomew Sullivan, The Commercial Appeal
DATELINE: JONESBORO, Ark.
BODY:
Nine jurors have been selected for a second West Memphis triple
slaying trial, including eight Thursday, as it appeared Jessie Lloyd
Misskelley Jr. is still reviewing his decision about testifying
against Damien Wayne Echols and Charles Jason Baldwin.
A lawyer appointed to represent the court said Misskelley's
situation is ''still dynamic,'' after meeting with him for almost two
hours Wednesday night in the Craighead County jail. No new offer to
seek a reduction in his sentence of life plus 40 years has been made
since an undisclosed deal was floated and apparently rejected Tuesday
night, said Jonesboro attorney Phillip J. Wells.
Echols, 19, and Baldwin, 16, went on trial Tuesday on capital
murder charges in the May 5 deaths of West Memphis 8-year-olds
Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steve Branch.
Circuit Judge David Burnett acknowledged it has been much more
difficult to find a panel of impartial citizens in Jonesboro because
of news media attention to the case. He said, however, that he was
hopeful a jury of 12 plus some alternates could be completed by today.
Also Thursday, Burnett, who also presided over Misskelley's case
in Corning, ordered The Commercial Appeal to turn over a roll of film
taken in the courtroom. He later acknowledged that he had been
misinformed about its nature and said it would be returned.
A single frame of the film depicted the cover sheet of what
appeared to be a 40-page deposition by convicted murderer Misskelley,
made last week in the offices of Clay County Deputy Prosecutor C.
Joseph Calvin in Rector.
Burnett said he had been told the newspaper had photographed each
page of the document, which an official court reporter transcribing
the trial had left on her desk in open court Thursday. After the
misunderstanding was clarified, Burnett said the film would be
returned.
The film issue arose in the lethargy of a jury selection taking
place, for the most part, behind closed doors. So far, Burnett, four
defense lawyers and two prosecutors have selected six women and three
men: a nurse, two housewives, a building contractor, a factory worker,
an Air Force airman, a bookkeeper and two others.
The process will continue today. The court is also expected to
consider this afternoon a Freedom of Information Act request from The
Commercial Appeal seeking access to the police investigative file
involving murder charges that ended in Misskelley's conviction Feb. 4.
Burnett demanded the film after receiving a complaint from court
reporter Barbara J. Fisher of Paragould, who is transcribing the trial
preliminaries for the court record.
Craighead County Sheriff Larry Emison confiscated the entire roll
of already-processed film from photographer Lisa Waddell after Burnett
held an impromptu press conference during a break in jury selection.
In the press conference, Burnett said he was demanding that the
film be turned over.
''I want that film back. I don't want you to report anything that
was in it,'' Burnett said. ''I don't want you to report anything that
was in that transcript.''
Burnett said reporting the contents of the document ''could cause
a mistrial.'' He agreed to return the film after he learned the
contents of the deposition had not been photographed.
The controversy arose after a reporter noticed the document on the
court reporter's desk Thursday morning. The document, which purports
to be an undated deposition of Misskelley's statement in the presense
of Calvin, Second District Prosecuting Atty. Brent Davis and
Misskelley's defense lawyers Daniel T. Stidham and Gregory L. Crow,
was the subject of a daylong hearing Tuesday.
Defense lawyers asked Burnett to rule that prosecutors had engaged
in misconduct when they obtained the statement after returning
Misskelley, now serving a term of life plus 40 years, from the
Arkansas Department of Corrections diagnostic unit at Pine Bluff on
Feb. 17.
They also asked Burnett to suppress the statement Misskelley did
make and to call for a special prosecutor from outside the Second
Judicial District to investigate their allegations. Burnett denied
their requests and found prosecutors had not acted improperly in
seeking Misskelley's testimony as a witness against his co-defendants.
Misskelley held another evening meeting Wednesday with Stidham and
Wells, a lawyer appointed by Burnett to determine whether Misskelley
is fully aware of his options and the consequences of testifying with
a grant of use immunity. The immunity would make anything he says in
court inadmissible in any future legal proceedings, including an
appeal.
The state has not made a new offer to request a reduced sentence
in exchange for his testimony, Wells said. The state made an offer
Tuesday, but its details have not been revealed.
Also Thursday, a spokesman for the Geraldo tabloid television show
in New York said that Pam and Terry Hobbs, the mother and stepfather
of victim Steve Branch; Jackie Hicks, his grandfather; and former
WMC-TV Channel 5 reporter Paul Morrison were to be videotaped for an
edition of the show.
The show will air in March, said spokesman Jeff Erdel. It
''focuses on a major case that these people are involved in,'' said
Erdel, who noted that the show can't been viewed on a Memphis
television affiliate, but is available on cable on WGN.
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
February 25, 1994, Friday, Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 930 words
HEADLINE: Jury has 9 for trial of Echols, Baldwin
Misskelley mulls decision to testify
BYLINE: Bartholomew Sullivan, The Commercial Appeal
DATELINE: JONESBORO, Ark.
BODY:
Nine jurors have been selected for a second West Memphis triple
slaying trial, including eight Thursday, as it appeared Jessie Lloyd
Misskelley Jr. is still reviewing his decision about testifying
against Damien Wayne Echols and Charles Jason Baldwin.
A lawyer appointed to represent the court said Misskelley's
situation is ''still dynamic,'' after meeting with him for almost two
hours Wednesday night in the Craighead County jail. No new offer to
seek a reduction in his sentence of life plus 40 years has been made
since an undisclosed deal was floated and apparently rejected Tuesday
night, said Jonesboro attorney Phillip J. Wells.
Echols, 19, and Baldwin, 16, went on trial Tuesday on capital
murder charges in the May 5 deaths of West Memphis 8-year-olds
Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steve Branch.
Circuit Judge David Burnett acknowledged it has been much more
difficult to find a panel of impartial citizens in Jonesboro because
of news media attention to the case. He said, however, that he was
hopeful a jury of 12 plus some alternates could be completed by today.
Also Thursday, Burnett, who also presided over Misskelley's case
in Corning, ordered The Commercial Appeal to turn over a roll of film
taken in the courtroom. He later acknowledged that he had been
misinformed about its nature and said it would be returned.
A single frame of the film depicted the cover sheet of what
appeared to be a 40-page deposition by convicted murderer Misskelley,
made last week in the offices of Clay County Deputy Prosecutor C.
Joseph Calvin in Rector.
Burnett said he had been told the newspaper had photographed each
page of the document, which an official court reporter transcribing
the trial had left on her desk in open court Thursday. After the
misunderstanding was clarified, Burnett said the film would be
returned.
The film issue arose in the lethargy of a jury selection taking
place, for the most part, behind closed doors. So far, Burnett, four
defense lawyers and two prosecutors have selected six women and three
men: a nurse, two housewives, a building contractor, a factory worker,
an Air Force airman, a bookkeeper and two others.
The process will continue today. The court is also expected to
consider this afternoon a Freedom of Information Act request from The
Commercial Appeal seeking access to the police investigative file
involving murder charges that ended in Misskelley's conviction Feb. 4.
Burnett demanded the film after receiving a complaint from court
reporter Barbara J. Fisher of Paragould, who is transcribing the trial
preliminaries for the court record.
Craighead County Sheriff Larry Emison confiscated the entire roll
of already-processed film from photographer Lisa Waddell after Burnett
held an impromptu press conference during a break in jury selection.
In the press conference, Burnett said he was demanding that the
film be turned over.
''I want that film back. I don't want you to report anything that
was in it,'' Burnett said. ''I don't want you to report anything that
was in that transcript.''
Burnett said reporting the contents of the document ''could cause
a mistrial.'' He agreed to return the film after he learned the
contents of the deposition had not been photographed.
The controversy arose after a reporter noticed the document on the
court reporter's desk Thursday morning. The document, which purports
to be an undated deposition of Misskelley's statement in the presense
of Calvin, Second District Prosecuting Atty. Brent Davis and
Misskelley's defense lawyers Daniel T. Stidham and Gregory L. Crow,
was the subject of a daylong hearing Tuesday.
Defense lawyers asked Burnett to rule that prosecutors had engaged
in misconduct when they obtained the statement after returning
Misskelley, now serving a term of life plus 40 years, from the
Arkansas Department of Corrections diagnostic unit at Pine Bluff on
Feb. 17.
They also asked Burnett to suppress the statement Misskelley did
make and to call for a special prosecutor from outside the Second
Judicial District to investigate their allegations. Burnett denied
their requests and found prosecutors had not acted improperly in
seeking Misskelley's testimony as a witness against his co-defendants.
Misskelley held another evening meeting Wednesday with Stidham and
Wells, a lawyer appointed by Burnett to determine whether Misskelley
is fully aware of his options and the consequences of testifying with
a grant of use immunity. The immunity would make anything he says in
court inadmissible in any future legal proceedings, including an
appeal.
The state has not made a new offer to request a reduced sentence
in exchange for his testimony, Wells said. The state made an offer
Tuesday, but its details have not been revealed.
Also Thursday, a spokesman for the Geraldo tabloid television show
in New York said that Pam and Terry Hobbs, the mother and stepfather
of victim Steve Branch; Jackie Hicks, his grandfather; and former
WMC-TV Channel 5 reporter Paul Morrison were to be videotaped for an
edition of the show.
The show will air in March, said spokesman Jeff Erdel. It
''focuses on a major case that these people are involved in,'' said
Erdel, who noted that the show can't been viewed on a Memphis
television affiliate, but is available on cable on WGN.
