This article is (c) 1997- The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal
MOM OF SLAIN W. MEMPHIS BOY SUES FILMMAKERS, CITES GRAPHIC SCENES
Date: June 5, 1997
Section: News
Page: A16
Source: The Associated Press
Dateline: JONESBORO, Ark.
Edition: Final
The mother of one of three 8-year-old boys murdered in 1993 has filed a $10 million lawsuit against producers of a television documentary.
The lawsuit said that Creative Thinking, which produced a documentary for HBO, breached an agreement that no graphic material would be shown in the film.
The suit was filed by Pamela Marie Hobbs of Memphis in U.S. District Court. She was the mother of Steven Branch.
Steven, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were last seen alive on their bikes May 5, 1993. Their bodies were found the next day in a drainage ditch near their West Memphis homes. Damien Wayne Echols, Charles Jason Baldwin and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr. were convicted of the crimes. Echols faces a death sentence. Misskelley and Baldwin are in the state prison.
The lawsuit says that HBO and Creative Thinking employees, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, breached an agreement in the making of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of Robinhood Hills.
The movie was shown on HBO a year ago and was recently released on videotape.
Among other things, the suit said Mrs. Hobbs was asked to sign a waiver of rights Feb. 2, 1994, shortly after she viewed gruesome crime scene photos of her son during Misskelley's trial.
Sinosky and Berlinger said the charge that they asked Mrs. Hobbs to sign the release on that day was false.
The suit said Mrs. Hobbs was extremely upset and shocked by the graphic photographs and was not competent to enter into a contract.
The suit also said Mrs. Hobbs suffered severe emotional distress when she learned that the movie contained graphic scenes that would be viewed by mass audiences.
Creative Thinking is working on an addition to the movie. The film crew plans to be in the West Memphis area this week, Berlinger and Sinosky said.
The Commercial Appeal
MOM OF SLAIN W. MEMPHIS BOY SUES FILMMAKERS, CITES GRAPHIC SCENES
Date: June 5, 1997
Section: News
Page: A16
Source: The Associated Press
Dateline: JONESBORO, Ark.
Edition: Final
The mother of one of three 8-year-old boys murdered in 1993 has filed a $10 million lawsuit against producers of a television documentary.
The lawsuit said that Creative Thinking, which produced a documentary for HBO, breached an agreement that no graphic material would be shown in the film.
The suit was filed by Pamela Marie Hobbs of Memphis in U.S. District Court. She was the mother of Steven Branch.
Steven, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore were last seen alive on their bikes May 5, 1993. Their bodies were found the next day in a drainage ditch near their West Memphis homes. Damien Wayne Echols, Charles Jason Baldwin and Jessie Lloyd Misskelley Jr. were convicted of the crimes. Echols faces a death sentence. Misskelley and Baldwin are in the state prison.
The lawsuit says that HBO and Creative Thinking employees, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, breached an agreement in the making of Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of Robinhood Hills.
The movie was shown on HBO a year ago and was recently released on videotape.
Among other things, the suit said Mrs. Hobbs was asked to sign a waiver of rights Feb. 2, 1994, shortly after she viewed gruesome crime scene photos of her son during Misskelley's trial.
Sinosky and Berlinger said the charge that they asked Mrs. Hobbs to sign the release on that day was false.
The suit said Mrs. Hobbs was extremely upset and shocked by the graphic photographs and was not competent to enter into a contract.
The suit also said Mrs. Hobbs suffered severe emotional distress when she learned that the movie contained graphic scenes that would be viewed by mass audiences.
Creative Thinking is working on an addition to the movie. The film crew plans to be in the West Memphis area this week, Berlinger and Sinosky said.
