Famous Quote

[Anonymous]

Everyone will pay because everyone is too stupid to open their eyes. This is the final time and I am the new messiah. My body is changing but that medicine is making it happen a lot more slowly than normal. I am outgrowing my skin. I am eating packs of sugar and Kool-Aid to give my body extra energy it needs to make its change. Soon people will be able to know I am the Christ. I always knew I was different from other children

- Damien Echols, Death Row Inmate

[Ursus]

Wrongfully incarcerated.  Egregiously so.

http://www.wm3.org/

[Anonymous]

http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/gwoods.html

[Ursus]

They even got Dr. Richard Ofshe (of Synanon and Margaret Singer fame) to testify for defendant Misskelley.  Jessie Misskelley, Jr.  â€“ in the words of Dan Stidman – "was operating at  the level of a five year old child. His reading level was severely retarded, and his overall IQ was in the range of 72, which indicates that he is borderline mentally retarded."

a. Richard Ofshe:

1. Ron Lax told us about Dr. Richard Ofshe. An attorney friend of Ron's in California recommended Ofshe to Ron for use in Damien's trial as an expert on the occult. Ofshe won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the Synanon Cult in California. Ofshe has a second area of expertise, False Confessions, and Ron suggested we talk to Dr. Ofshe. I called Ofshe, at the University of California in Berkeley, and explained that I thought Jessie had falsely confessed to the homicides. I further explained that I was appointed by the Court and had no money with which to pay him. This did not deter Ofshe. He asked about evidence against Jessie, independent of the confession, and I informed him there was none. He agreed to look over the transcript of the confession, which I Fed-Exed him that day.

About a week later, Ofshe phoned me and informed me that Jessie's confession was the worst false confession that he had ever seen, and that he felt Jessie was innocent. Ofshe's testimony is part of the trial transcript and is very, very compelling evidence of Jessie's innocence. Ofshe, like myself is absolutely convinced of Jessie's innocence.

From almost the beginning, I wanted to have the polygraph test Jessie had on June 3, 1993, looked over by another expert. The lawyer in me was hesitant though because I was afraid I might not like the results of the independent analysis. When I discussed this with Dr. Ofshe, he told me, "Don't be afraid, Dan, your client is innocent." That's when I called Warren Holmes in Miami.

b. Warren Holmes

1. I read about Warren Holmes in a Florida case I was researching regarding recordation of interrogations. The case cited Mr. Holmes tremendous experience in the area of polygraphs which includes the following:

a. Mr. Holmes is a consultant to the FBI, the Texas Rangers, the Royal Mounted Canadian Police.

b. Mr. Holmes conducted polygraph examinations in the assassination of JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as Watergate.

c. Mr. Holmes worked on the William Kennedy Smith case, the Boston Strangler case, and the Hampton Case from Louisiana.

d. He has over 39 years experience as a homicide detective and a polygraph examiner.

2. When I called Mr. Holmes, I explained to him that I had been appointed to represent an indigent kid in Arkansas charged with killing three boys. I explained to him that I had no money to pay him, but that I really needed his help because I felt my client was innocent. Mr. Holmes finally agreed to look over the polygraph charts from Jessie's polygraph.

3. About a week later, Mr. Holmes phoned me and told me that Jessie had only showed signs of deception on one question. The drug question. Jessie had passed all the questions about the homicides, showing no signs of deception on the charts. It was clear that Officer Durham had lied to Jessie, and that Jessie had falsely confessed in large part because he thought the W. Memphis police had this machine that was telling him "his brain was lying to them." This altered Jessie dim view of reality, and he felt that the only way he could get away from his interrogators was to tell them what they wanted to hear.

4. Mr. Holmes has never been paid for help in our case. The State Of Arkansas reimbursed him the two thousand dollars or so of his personal funds spent flying to Arkansas to testify.

5. Dr. Ofshe did receive some reimbursement of his travel expenses. This did not even come close to reimbursing him for all his expenses.

H. What the jury was not allowed to hear

1. Testimony of Dr. Richard Ofshe

a. The Trial judge refused to allow Dr. Ofshe to give all of his opinions with regard to Jessie's case. In short, he was not allowed to tell the jury that, in his opinion, Jessie's confession was a product of police coercion. This despite Dr. Ofshe being allowed to testify to the same issue in Courts around the Country. We made a proffer of what his anticipated testimony would have been, so the Arkansas Supreme Court will be able to determine its admissibility on appeal. Click here to read Dr. Ofshe's testimony.

2. Testimony of Warren Holmes

a. The trial judge refused to allow Mr. Holmes to testify in front of the jury about the results of Jessie's polygraph exam, stating that it was inadmissible. The Court did permit him to testify about  interrogation techniques in general which he did. Click here to read Warren Holmes' testimony.

This testimony was crucial to an acquittal for Jessie.

This testimony of both these experts was absolutely crucial to Jessie's defense. When the Judge refused to allow the jury to hear this, it crippled our defense severely. I am convinced that had the jury heard this testimony, Jessie would have been acquitted.

My belief is based on the following:

1. After both Holmes and Ofshe testified at trial, members of the media, and other spectators told Greg and I that they felt we had won the case because their testimony was so compelling. Just think what their reaction might have been had they known everything.

2. We learned, after the trial, that the first vote the jury took in the jury room was 8 for conviction, 4 for acquittal. Despite the limitation the Court imposed on us, we were able to convince 4 jurors he was innocent. We only needed one strong willed juror for a hung-jury and ultimate mistrial, which would have been the next best thing to an acquittal. The 8 wore down the 4, however, and they reached a compromise verdict. Although, we didn't get an acquittal, we were fortunate enough to avoid a capital murder conviction, and thus the death penalty.

We are still hopeful on appeal.
http://www.wm3.org/live/caseintroductio ... is_dan.php[/list]
See also case synopsis by Burk Sauls.  It is easier to read for those unfamiliar to the case...
http://www.wm3.org/live/caseintroductio ... s_burk.php