Damien Echols

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Damien Echols testifying in the HBO-produced documentary Paradise Lost, 1994.

Damien Wayne Echols (born Michael Wayne Hutcheson on December 11, 1974) is one of the 3 members of the West Memphis 3, a group convicted of committing a triple homicide in West Memphis, Arkansas. Echols was convicted of murder by a jury and sentenced to die by lethal injection. His conviction and sentence have been upheld by the Arkansas Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court declined to review the matter. Echols was arrested on June 3, 1993, and has been in prison ever since.

The case has received considerable attention. Many critics charge that the arrests and convictions were a miscarriage of justice inspired by a misguided moral panic, and that the defendants were wrongfully convicted during a period of intense media scrutiny and so-called "Satanic panic".

The HBO documentary films Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, and a book on the convictions, Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt, all make the case that the convictions were wrongfully obtained and three innocent men are in prison. Another sequel, Paradise Lost 3, is currently being filmed. A second book, written earlier than Mara Leveritt's is less supportive. That book, Blood of Innocents by Guy Reel Marc and Perrusquia, examines both sides of the case without coming to any definitive conclusion. In light of the DNA tests completed in 2007 that demonstrate that Echols was not at the crime scene, Perrusquia has joined those who publicly doubt whether the convictions were just. ^[1]

Echols' case has seen significant support from numerous rock and pop musicians, who have popularized the case by staging fund-raisers including benefit CDs and an art auction with some of his own work.

Echols co-wrote the lyrics to the song "Army Reserve", on Pearl Jam's self-titled album.^[2] Punk musician Michale Graves, formerly of The Misfits ("Resurrection" Line-up) has been writing music to coincide with Echols's poetry. Echols and Graves worked together on an album "illusions", released October 2007.

He has published his memoirs, Almost Home: My Life Story Vol. 1. His poetry has appeared in the Porcupine Literary Arts magazine (Volume 8, Issue 2), and he has written non-fiction for the Arkansas Literary Forum. ^[3]

Echols is currently seeking new trial with the results of a DNA Status Report filed on July 17, 2007, which concluded "none of the genetic material recovered at the scene of the crimes was attributable to Mr. Echols, Echols co-defendant, Jason Baldwin, or defendant Jessie Misskelley. . . . [a]lthough most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it cannot be attributed to either the victims or the defendants." [DNA Status Report, July 17, 2007]"^[4]

Advanced DNA and other strong scientific evidence - combined with additional evidence from several different witnesses and experts - released in October 2007 has significantly strengthened the case for Mr. Echols' innocence. A hearing on a his petition for a writ of habeas corpus is pending in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=41551