From: Arkansas Take Action
Contact: Lonnie Soury – (212) 414-5857, (917) 519-4521, Lsoury@aol.com
freewm3media@gmail.com
For Immediate Release
Country’s Leading Forensic Experts to Testify on New Crime Scene and Forensic Evidence Exonerating West Memphis 3
Judge David Burnett”s Candidacy for Arkansas State Senate Raises Serious Ethics Concerns
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark. August 10, 2009) – Advanced DNA testing and other powerful forensic evidence disproving the prosecution”s case will be presented in hearings seeking a new trial for Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley in Jonesboro, Arkansas before Judge David Burnett, beginning August 10, 2009.
Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted in 1994 for a crime they did not commit, and have served 15 years in prison. There was no physical evidence, eyewitness testimony or motive tying the three local teens to the murders, only a coerced, false confession that was immediately disavowed. Damien Echols was sentenced to death; Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Dr. Werner Spitz, one of the country”s leading forensic pathologists; former chief medical examiner of NYC, Dr. Michael Baden; pediatric pathologist, Dr. Janice Ophoven; and odontologist, Dr. Richard Souviron are expected to testify in the hearings.
In an extensive review of the forensic evidence from the crime scene, all of the forensic specialists arrived at the same conclusion independently from one another – that the ”knife” wounds on the children were post-mortem animal bites. The experts also noted that there were no signs of sexual assault on any of the victims.
Arkansas Take Action, a prominent group of supporters of the West Memphis 3, will be at the hearings seeking to raise awareness of Judge Burnett”s actions in this case in which he has repeatedly ruled against these innocent young men. Also at issue is Judge Burnett”s decision to seek elective office in a run for State Senate.
Brent Peterson, spokesperson for Arkansas Take Action, said, “With all the new evidence of the innocence of Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley and Damien Echols, Judge Burnett should finally bury his deep seated biases and grant these young men a new trial. He should also be removed from the case as he is seriously ethically challenged by his decision to run for the Arkansas State Senate.”
Scientific analysis from some of the nation”s leading forensics experts, demonstrates that wounds on the victims were caused by animals at the crime scene – not by knives used by the perpetrators – as the prosecution claimed and was the centerpiece of the prosecution”s case. Evidence was presented that a knife recovered from a lake near one defendant”s home caused the wounds. The conclusive expert analysis showing that animals caused the wounds after the victims died also completely undercuts the testimony presented at the original trial, including thatof a discredited “expert” who testified that the knife wounds were part of a satanic ritual.
Dr. Werner U. Spitz, M.D. Considered the “Grandfather” of Forensic Science
Dr. Werner U. Spitz, M.D., one of this country”s most experienced and well-respected forensic pathologists, is Professor of Pathology at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan, Adjunct Professor of Pathology at the University of Windsor in Canada, and a forensic pathologist and toxicologist consultant. Dr. Spitz has published more than ninety scientific articles in medical journals, as well as a textbook that is considered to be the nation”s leading authority on forensic pathology. During his 52 years as a forensic pathologist, he has either performed or supervised nearly 60,000 autopsies.
Richard Rafael Souviron, D.D.S. Chief Forensic Odontologist, the Medical Examiner”s Office, Miami, Florida
Dr. Souviron”s extensive expertise in treating patients with bite disorders and TMJ disorders has afforded him great renown in the science of bite-mark evidence. Dr. Souviron came to the national forefront as the expert to bring conclusive evidence of guilt in the Ted Bundy murder case. In addition to assisting law enforcement agencies across the nation, Dr. Souviron has lectured extensively on forensic dentistry, the science of the human bite function, and interpretation of such evidence in criminal cases.
Dr. Janice Ophoven, M.D.
Dr. Janice Ophoven is a pediatric forensic pathologist with over thirty years of clinical, administrative and quality improvement experience. Dr. Ophoven is an internationally recognized and court-certified medical expert in pediatric forensic pathology. She has consulted and/or testified in civil and criminal cases in the U.S. and abroad for both defense and prosecution when injury or death to a child has occurred. For these cases, as a consultant to medical examiners/coroners, physicians, law enforcement, and legal professionals she has been asked to determine the cause and manner of a child”s injury or death.
Dr. Michael Baden, M.D.
Dr. Baden is the former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City and is presently the chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police. He received a B.S. degree from the City College of New York and an M.D. degree from New York University School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine and pathology at Bellevue Hospital Medical Center where he was intern, resident and chief resident. He has been a medical examiner for forty-five years and has performed more than 20,000 medico-legal autopsies. He has held professorial teaching appointments at Albert Einstein Medical School, Albany Medical College, New York University, New York Law School and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He has been a consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Veteran”s Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Drug Enforcement Agency; and the United States Department of Justice.