After nearly 30 years, the Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled in favor of new DNA testing in the case of the 'West Memphis Three.' This decision overturns a previous denial by a circuit court and allows for further examination of evidence from the crime scene where three boys were found dead.
The request for DNA testing was made by Damien Echols, one of the teenagers convicted of the triple murder in 1994. Echols had been denied the testing in 2022 on the grounds that he was no longer in custody at the time of his request.
According to court documents, the 4-3 Supreme Court decision was based on the Arkansas Code Annotated Act 1780, which allows individuals convicted of a crime to request forensic DNA testing to demonstrate their actual innocence. Echols' defense team expressed gratitude for the ruling, stating that it opens up the possibility of using advanced technology to uncover the truth.
At trial, prosecutors had accused Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. of killing three 8-year-old Cub Scouts in West Memphis as part of a satanic ritual. The men were released in 2011 after serving 18 years in prison and signing Alford pleas.
Echols' attorneys filed a petition for new DNA testing in 2022, hoping to identify the real perpetrator(s) and bring justice to the case. The petition requested testing with the M-Vac wet vacuum system, a technology not available during previous examinations of the evidence.
The Arkansas Supreme Court's decision to allow the new DNA testing was met with dissent from some, who expressed concerns about the impact on finality in the criminal justice system. Attorney General Tim Griffin stated that the ruling undermines the closure of long-closed criminal cases and called for legislative action to address the issue.
