LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday said a judge wrongly denied a request for new genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the killing of three boys nearly 30 years ago.
In a 4-3 decision, the court reversed the 2022 ruling denying the request to test evidence from the 1993 crime scene where three 8-year-old boys were found brutally slain in a drainage ditch near West Memphis. The additional testing was sought by Damien Echols, one of the three men convicted in the slayings.
Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley were convicted in 1994 but released in 2011 under a rarely used plea agreement that allowed them to maintain their innocence yet plead guilty in exchange for 18-year sentences and credit for time served.
“We appreciate the (Arkansas Supreme Court) giving this ruling and hope we can now once and for all solve this case, clear our names and find the person responsible for carrying out these horrendous crimes,” Echols said in a statement. “This is monumental.”
REVEALED: NBC 'plans to put heart
'Major logistics exercise' to deliver humanitarian aid from NZ to Gaza
Green Party activist puts forward radical manifesto in leadership bid
Police treat painting over of Auckland's K' Road rainbow crossing as hate crime
Chinese TV authorities move to curb obsessive fan culture
‘Easter is a time to remember . . . to remember, amid all the distractions of life’
Screening of Hong Kong Poly U siege documentary slammed by pro
Cancer patients' travel funding boost: 'Important no one falling through the gap'