Copyright 1994, The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
February 20, 1994, Sunday, Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 696 words
HEADLINE: Prosecutors, Misskelley met without lawyers' OK
Judge allows immunity offer
BYLINE: Bartholomew Sullivan, The Commercial Appeal Staff reporter Marc Perrusquia contributed to this story.
BODY:
Convicted murderer Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr. was removed from a
prison diagnostic center in Pine Bluff, Ark., without his attorneys'
knowledge or consent and talked to prosecutors in Clay County before
his attorneys knew about it, one of them said Saturday.
If Misskelley is talking to prosecutors, it appears likely he will
be the state's principal witness in the trial of his co-defendants,
Charles Jason Baldwin, 16, and Damien Wayne Echols, 19, whose trial
begins Tuesday in Jonesboro.
Misskelley, 18, could repeat his June 3 statement to police that
he watched as Echols and Baldwin beat three West Memphis 8-year-olds
to death on May 5. The statement has been ruled inadmissible unless he
testifies.
Circuit Judge David Burnett, presiding in the case, confirmed
Saturday that he talked ''three or four times'' by phone Thursday with
prosecutors and defense lawyers arguing over whether the state could
take a statement from Misskelley over his attorneys' objections.
Burnett said the issue was complicated by the fact that
''Misskelley apparently wanted to make a statement.'' Burnett said he
authorized the state to offer Misskelley ''use immunity,'' meaning
that, if he testified in the second trial, those statements could not
be used against him in any future legal proceedings, including an
appeal.
Burnett said he told the lawyers to advise Misskelley that he had
a right not to talk to prosecutors and that, if he made a statement,
it was being made against his attorneys' advice.
''I do not know whether they've talked to him,'' Burnett said.
''They called three or four times fussing about it. How it came out, I
can't say.''
Misskelley's attorney, Daniel T. Stidham, said Saturday that he
spoke to his client Thursday somewhere in Clay County after learning
that he already was talking to prosecutors.
Craighead County deputies picked Misskelley up from Pine Bluff,
but Sheriff Larry Emison said he is not staying at the Craighead
detention center in Jonesboro.
Stidham said he planned to spend the weekend reviewing the
legality of Misskelley's removal from the Department of Correction and
conversations with prosecutors without his knowledge or consent.
Stidham declined to say what Misskelley told prosecutors or
whether they have promised to seek a reduction in his sentence in
exchange for his testimony. A reduction typically would be sought only
after he testified, and is solely up to Burnett.
Clay County Deputy Prosecuting Atty. Joseph Calvin said Saturday
that he could not comment on the transfer except to say it was made
pursuant to a court order. Clay County Sheriff Darvin Stow would not
comment.
Second Judicial Dist. Atty. Brent Davis and deputy prosecutor John
N. Fogleman could not be reached Saturday.
Misskelley was convicted Feb. 4 of first- and second-degree murder
in the deaths of 8-year-olds Steve Branch, Michael Moore and
Christopher Byers. He was sentenced to life plus 40 years.
Shelbia Misskelley, Misskelley's stepmother, said the family was
not aware in advance of any possible deal to get him to testify. The
family spoke with defense attorneys Friday night but learned little
about Misskelley's possible testimony.
''The prosecutors just got to him they just brainwashed him,''
she said. ''We haven't been able to see him. We don't know what's
going on.''
She said she hopes her stepson doesn't testify. ''It's the same as
saying he's guilty. And he's not guilty,'' in spite of the verdict,
she said.
If Misskelley agreed to repeat his tape-recorded confession of
June 3, he could be expected to say Baldwin and Echols lured the
victims into the woods, then subdued them with stout clubs and
sexually mutilated the Byers boy.
Misskelley told police he chased down an escaping Michael Moore
and returned him to Baldwin and Echols. Misskelley denied he did the
killing, but was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of
Moore and second-degree murder in the deaths of Byers and Branch.
GRAPHIC: (Color) Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr.
