THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
JUDGE DENIES SEPARATE TRIALS FOR 2 TEENS IN BOYS' SLAYING
Date: Tuesday, September 28, 1993
Section: News
Page: A1
Illustration: photo (2)
Source: By Bartholomew Sullivan The Commercial Appeal
Dateline:
Edition: Final
Two defendants in the West Memphis triple-slaying case will be tried together and at least one trial will be held in Jonesboro in February, a circuit judge ruled Monday.
Circuit Judge David Burnett denied defense motions to try each of the three defendants separately. Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18, Damien Wayne Echols, 18, and Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, are charged in the May 5 slayings of three West Memphis 8-year-olds.
Burnett also denied defense requests to suppress evidence seized from the defendants' homes on the night of their arrests, saying the search was reasonable in the circumstances.
Among other highlights in more than six hours of testimony and argument were that:
-- A police detective said Misskelley listed other members of a satanic cult of which he, Echols and Baldwin were members. This is the first time satanic cult participation related to the case has come out in open court.
-- The same detective confirmed that one of the victims was partially castrated, while another detective said they were tied up with shoestrings.
-- A defense lawyer for Baldwin said a witness told police that Echols's girlfriend, Domini Teer, was seen with Echols near the crime scene on the night of the slayings.
-- Police seeking search warrants told a municipal judge that they would be looking for satanic reading material when they searched the defendants' trailer homes.
Burnett gave state prosecutors 10 days to decide which of the defendants they want to try first. None of the three has waived his right to a speedy trial, and Deputy Prosecutor John N. Fogleman said that means the trials must be held by early March.
In his request for a change of venue, Misskelley's lawyer Daniel Stidham said his client's family has received death threats. "People say we don't need a trial, we need a lynching."
Burnett said he has reserved a courtroom in Jonesboro's federal courthouse for three weeks starting Feb. 21. But he said he might schedule a trial for
December if the defendants stand by their speedy trial requests.
Misskelley was granted a separate trial at a hearing Aug. 4 based on a statement he gave police that implicated both Baldwin and Echols.
Paul N. Ford of Jonesboro, in an effort to win a separate trial for the much younger Baldwin, said the state has evidence that will place Domini Teer, Echols's girlfriend, on the access road at the Blue Beacon truck wash at about 9 p.m. on the date of the slayings, near where the 8-year-olds' bodies were later found.
At the time of the slayings, both Baldwin and Teer had long light-colored hair. A lawyer appointed to represent Teer when investigators sought to speak with her under oath earlier this month, Gerald Coleman, said Teer was not a target of the investigation. Fogleman said: "I can't say a thing about Domini."
Ford's motion to seal the court file was not considered in court Monday.
But for the first time in open court, a police detective described some of the injuries done to victims Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore.
West Memphis Police detective Bryn Ridge testified that he broke down and cried when Misskelley began describing the events, including the partial castration of one of the youths.
Ridge also testified that Municipal Judge William P. Rainey advised police in their request for a search warrant. But Rainey denied giving police any advice when he was called Monday as a prosecution witness.
The testimony was elicited by Baldwin lawyer George Robin Wadley Jr., who attempted to establish that statements made by police to support a nighttime search of the defendants' homes were inaccurate. Defense lawyer Val P. Price of Jonesboro, representing Echols, argued that Rainey was not sufficiently independent and detached to rule on the search warrant request.
Police used Misskelley's statement that the boys were tied with "brown rope" to obtain the search warrants even though they knew the victims had been tied with black and white shoelaces, Wadley said.
Burnett denied the motion to suppress evidence, saying Rainey found there was probable cause for a nighttime search and that he was sufficiently detached.
The first hour of the hearing at the Crittenden County Courthouse was taken up with money. County officials maintain the legal defense of the three, represented by two-man teams of lawyers, should be borne by the state because they were appointed when state law on who was responsible was in flux.
Arkansas Asst. Atty. Gen. Sarah H. Harberg maintained the state was responsible for the legal bill only from the time of the lawyers' appointment in early June until July 1, when a new state law took effect making counties liable for the defense of indigents.
Burnett said he would take the issue under advisement but might not make a ruling until the last of the trials is over.
The next hearing in the case will be Oct. 19 in Jonesboro.
JUDGE DENIES SEPARATE TRIALS FOR 2 TEENS IN BOYS' SLAYING
Date: Tuesday, September 28, 1993
Section: News
Page: A1
Illustration: photo (2)
Source: By Bartholomew Sullivan The Commercial Appeal
Dateline:
Edition: Final
Two defendants in the West Memphis triple-slaying case will be tried together and at least one trial will be held in Jonesboro in February, a circuit judge ruled Monday.
Circuit Judge David Burnett denied defense motions to try each of the three defendants separately. Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr., 18, Damien Wayne Echols, 18, and Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, are charged in the May 5 slayings of three West Memphis 8-year-olds.
Burnett also denied defense requests to suppress evidence seized from the defendants' homes on the night of their arrests, saying the search was reasonable in the circumstances.
Among other highlights in more than six hours of testimony and argument were that:
-- A police detective said Misskelley listed other members of a satanic cult of which he, Echols and Baldwin were members. This is the first time satanic cult participation related to the case has come out in open court.
-- The same detective confirmed that one of the victims was partially castrated, while another detective said they were tied up with shoestrings.
-- A defense lawyer for Baldwin said a witness told police that Echols's girlfriend, Domini Teer, was seen with Echols near the crime scene on the night of the slayings.
-- Police seeking search warrants told a municipal judge that they would be looking for satanic reading material when they searched the defendants' trailer homes.
Burnett gave state prosecutors 10 days to decide which of the defendants they want to try first. None of the three has waived his right to a speedy trial, and Deputy Prosecutor John N. Fogleman said that means the trials must be held by early March.
In his request for a change of venue, Misskelley's lawyer Daniel Stidham said his client's family has received death threats. "People say we don't need a trial, we need a lynching."
Burnett said he has reserved a courtroom in Jonesboro's federal courthouse for three weeks starting Feb. 21. But he said he might schedule a trial for
December if the defendants stand by their speedy trial requests.
Misskelley was granted a separate trial at a hearing Aug. 4 based on a statement he gave police that implicated both Baldwin and Echols.
Paul N. Ford of Jonesboro, in an effort to win a separate trial for the much younger Baldwin, said the state has evidence that will place Domini Teer, Echols's girlfriend, on the access road at the Blue Beacon truck wash at about 9 p.m. on the date of the slayings, near where the 8-year-olds' bodies were later found.
At the time of the slayings, both Baldwin and Teer had long light-colored hair. A lawyer appointed to represent Teer when investigators sought to speak with her under oath earlier this month, Gerald Coleman, said Teer was not a target of the investigation. Fogleman said: "I can't say a thing about Domini."
Ford's motion to seal the court file was not considered in court Monday.
But for the first time in open court, a police detective described some of the injuries done to victims Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore.
West Memphis Police detective Bryn Ridge testified that he broke down and cried when Misskelley began describing the events, including the partial castration of one of the youths.
Ridge also testified that Municipal Judge William P. Rainey advised police in their request for a search warrant. But Rainey denied giving police any advice when he was called Monday as a prosecution witness.
The testimony was elicited by Baldwin lawyer George Robin Wadley Jr., who attempted to establish that statements made by police to support a nighttime search of the defendants' homes were inaccurate. Defense lawyer Val P. Price of Jonesboro, representing Echols, argued that Rainey was not sufficiently independent and detached to rule on the search warrant request.
Police used Misskelley's statement that the boys were tied with "brown rope" to obtain the search warrants even though they knew the victims had been tied with black and white shoelaces, Wadley said.
Burnett denied the motion to suppress evidence, saying Rainey found there was probable cause for a nighttime search and that he was sufficiently detached.
The first hour of the hearing at the Crittenden County Courthouse was taken up with money. County officials maintain the legal defense of the three, represented by two-man teams of lawyers, should be borne by the state because they were appointed when state law on who was responsible was in flux.
Arkansas Asst. Atty. Gen. Sarah H. Harberg maintained the state was responsible for the legal bill only from the time of the lawyers' appointment in early June until July 1, when a new state law took effect making counties liable for the defense of indigents.
Burnett said he would take the issue under advisement but might not make a ruling until the last of the trials is over.
The next hearing in the case will be Oct. 19 in Jonesboro.
