Devil's Knot_ The True Story of the West Memphis Three - Mara Leveritt [208]
263. Fogleman never did directly explain why the state had had to rely on “negative evidence” in the case, other than to suggest that almost all other evidence that might have existed, including fingerprints, blood, and possible DNA, had been washed away by the water.
264. “Two of them were pushing bikes, one was carrying a skateboard, and one was just walking,” witness Bryan Woody said. When one of the defense lawyers asked Woody if the West Memphis police had ever shown him pictures of other children, or asked him to help identify the fourth boy, Woody said that they had not.
265. Reporters also noted the significance of the move to call Bryan Woody, who testified that he saw four boys enter the woods. “If Woody’s testimony is accurate,” theJonesboro Sun explained, “it would support a statement that Aaron Hutcheson…gave to West Memphis police…. While attorneys in the case refuse to discuss Hutcheson’s claim, speculation has grown that the child could be an eyewitness to the crime.” The paper noted that Aaron had not testified at Jessie’s trial, and citing unattributed “reports,” it added that it was “unclear” whether he would take the stand in the current trial “because of his mental state from recurring nightmares about the boys’ murders.”
266. Price told Burnett, “It’s our position, Judge, that within two or three days after the murders, the West Memphis Police Department was alleging that this is a cult-related killing. That is the reason they went after my client, Damien Echols. They’re trying to link him in what they thought was a cult-related killing.”
267. Peretti’s reference to Christopher’s “neck injuries” in the same breath as his mention of the horrendous injuries Christopher had suffered to his head and genital area appeared to exaggerate the findings Peretti had noted in his own autopsy report, which had listed “no fractures” and “no hemorrhages” and only “a few scattered abrasions” on the left side of his neck. The reference may have carried weight with the jury, however, in light of Jessie’s statement that the children had been strangled.
268. Author interview, April 2001.
269. Jason’s attorney Paul Ford confirmed that the offers were made, though he said he could not remember the exact terms. “I know they [the prosecutors] made some offers,” Ford said. “And I know they got better. My most specific recollection is that Jason wasn’t interested.”
270. The attorney was state senator Mike Everett of Marked Tree, Arkansas.
271. Author interview, April 2001.
272. Jason’s lawyer raised yet another issue, regarding the prior juvenile history of the prosecution witness Michael Carson, which Burnett had ruled inadmissible and which the jury did not get to hear. “It is the opinion of Jason Baldwin that if they are going to be able to use the juvenile file of Damien Echols to show that he had a belief and that he acted in conformity with that belief,” Ford said, “we should have been able to inquire as to the LSD dependence of Michael Carson, which is contained in his juvenile file, to question his credibility because he has a drug dependence on a hallucinogenic.”
273. The prosecutors’ decision to introduce books, fashions, and beliefs into the proceedings provoked a smattering of opposition. TheJonesboro Sun also reported that “a group of teenagers” had shown up at the trial “wearing mostly black,” and that “one of the males wore a necklace with a pentagram attached to it.”
274. This witness was Christy Van Vickle.
275. This witness was Jody Medford.
276. Bob Lancaster of theArkansas Times.
277. The quotation, while from Shakespeare, is in fact fromMacbeth.
278. Bob Lancaster.
279. Gitchell explained that his detectives had “talked with several hundred people in regards to this investigation” and that “it was not possible