Billy Sanders, recently arrested
Recent Additions
The page
describing the entangled saga of the Lake Knife has been updated to
include recent information as to its relevancy. Beginning with the
grapefruit demonstration.
In his closing
arguments, Fogleman used a grapefruit to perform a dramatic
demonstration of the pattern of wounds made by the Lake Knife.
Fogleman:
. . . a knife like this [the Lake Knife]--not like that other knife,
but a knife like this, with this serration pattern caused the
injuries--some of the injuries to Chris Byers.
The defense objected.
Ford:
... that grapefruit is not in evidence. This demonstration is not in
evidence. It's not scientific, it's not reliable. [snip] That's
improper Your Honor, that's a demonstration and experiment.
Burnett: Well I'm gonna allow it.
This demonstration became part of the appeals. "We had a representative
of the State hold up a grapefruit as an analog to human flesh. Our
filing in federal court says that the analog of a grapefruit to human
flesh being cut is like comparing cutting chalk to cutting cheese. It's
a fraud. It can't be done. [snip] It's a classic instance of
prosecutorial misconduct, in attempting to inform a jury of facts that
are unbased in the evidence. It is a federal Sixth Amendment right
violation, it is a critical claim in front of the federal court right
now." [Dennis Riordan, Damien Echols Legal Defense Team Press
Conference - November 1, 2007] Forensic odontologist Dr. Richard
Souviron was equally vehement. "That is the most ridiculous statement
that I've ever heard anybody make. And to sell that to a jury is
unconscionable, in my opinion." [Dr. Souviron, ibid]
A recent twist in the saga of the lake knife has appeared in the recent
court filings. In the 2008 Writ of Coram Error Nobim by the
attorneys for Jason Baldwin, they state "... post-conviction
investigation has revealed that at least two witnesses [Domini Teer and
Garrett Schwarting] told the police that they were aware that a large
knife was thrown into the lake before the murders. Also, one of the law
enforcement dive team has indicated the officers were given precise
directions on where to find the knife." In this writ, the attorneys for
the defendant argue that witholding this evidence comprised
prosecutorial misconduct.
Was there ever a knife?
As part of their re-examination of evidence in
the appeal of this case, the defense team of Echols and Baldwin have
brought together a formidable collection of medical forensic experts
with decades of experience, authors of the standard textbooks in the
field of forensic pathology. This group included forensic pathologist
Drs. Werner Spitz, Michael Baden, Vincent Di Maio, Richard Souviron,
Terry Haddix and Robert Wood. "The consensus reached by all of those
experts was again, that most of the injuries to the skin of the
victims, including the severe genital injury to Christopher Byers, were
not caused by the use of a knife but by animal predation that occurred
after death." [November 1, 2007 Legal Defense Team Press Conference.]
Dr. Spitz was more emphatic. "None of the injuries were caused during
life, and none were caused by a serrated knife, or any knife for that
matter. These are not sharp injuries that have characteristics, and
those characteristics are not identifiable or synonymous with a knife
or any other sharp force type injury. . . I couldn't understand what
this issue was all about because it was so obvious that these are
animal product." [Dr. Werner Spitz, ibid]
Recent developments regarding the jailhouse snitch, Michael Carson.
The page called "The Case for Innocence, Jason Baldwin" has been
amended to include the recently acquired information regarding Michael
Carson. Michael Carson, a jailhouse snitch, said Jason Baldwin
confessed to him. It was the most powerful evidence against Jason
Baldwin, virtually the only evidence. In his closing argument,
the prosecutor only named two items as evidence against Jason, a single
fiber and Michael Carson. "In regard to Jason, the red fiber, and what
Michael Carson said." [Brent Davis, Echols/Baldwin trial]
In Baldwin's recent appeal, it is noted the
defense investigators tracked down and "interviewed all available staff
or detainees who were in the facility with Baldwin and Carson (a total
of approximately 10 persons), none could corroborate Carson's
story. . . .[The former unit supervisor, Joyce Cureton] has
reported that she was actually told by law enforcement personnel to
leave town at or near the time that she might have been called as a
witness for the defense." [Writ of Error Coram Nobis, Charles
Jason Baldwin, filed May 29, 2008] Furthermore, when Cureton was
asked to speak on the behalf of Baldwin during sentencing, she "was
told by the sheriff that she should not be in court." [Petition for
Writ of Habeas Corpus and Motion for New Trial, Jason Baldwin, May 30,
2008, p. 68]
Ms. Cureton went into more detail, stating
"that when Baldwin was delivered to her facility, the sheriff 'told her
that Petitioner should never be let out of his room.' While Cureton did
not obey that directive during [Baldwin's] pre-trial incarceration,
[Baldwin] was carefully watched when he was outside of his room. . ."
[snip] "There were regularly kept records that among other things,
allowed staff members to document observations of juveniles." [snip]
There was only one log entry of Baldwin and Carson being together and
this was under staff observation." [ibid, p.67-68]. One of the
correctional officers, Sue Weaver, says she would have noted if a "new
person" interacted with Baldwin. [ibid, p.70]
The logs for Carson's time in jail have been
scrutinized. He arrived on September 1, 1993. There is a note that he
had a card game with Jason Baldwin in the evening of September 4. The
game was observed by staffmember Ann Tate. [ibid, p.73-74] The other
members of the card game were identified as Jason Baldwin, Jason Duncan
and Daniel Biddle. These players were interviewed. Although Carson said
they played spades, Biddle stated he never played spades while
incarcerated. [ibid, p.77]
Carson continued to have problems with the law
and continued to ply his services as a jailhouse snitch. "Carson moved
out of Arkansas, and lived in California where he continued his
involvement in criminal behavior according to his record in California.
He also allegedly continued to work for local law enforcement agencies
as an informant, and reportedly continued fabricating information until
he was discarded as an informant after continuing to be arrested."
[ibid, p. 84]
The recent revelations that the injuries to
the penis were the result of animal predation also call into question
Carson's claims.
Steve Jones's recent comments
Steve Jones, Jason Baldwin's probation officer and
the discoverer of the bodies, has recently expressed his doubts about
Baldwin's involvement in Satanism or the crimes. The following
quote was added to Baldwin's case for innocence
page. The
trial proceeded with little evidence directed towards Baldwin. Although
Damien Echols had artifacts of cult material and books, Baldwin had
none of these. Baldwin's probation officer, Steve Jones, has recently
spoken on record that he "cannot, in retrospect, accurately attribute
to Petitioner Baldwin any professed interest in or assocation with the
occult or satanism. [Jones] now acknowledges that he does not
believe that Baldwin was involved in the homicides." [p. 167, Jessie
Misskelley, Habeas Petition.]
Recent information regarding Officer Billy Sanders.
Sanders was one of the police attendees of the
discovery scene. As had been noted earlier, he spent a curious
morning, visiting the area where the bikes were discovered, where the
children had gone missing and the business next door to where the
bodies were discovered - all before the discoveries were known.
He has recently been arrested for crimes against minors. The following has been added to the Day of Discovery page.
On September 11, 2008 Billy Sanders resigned from
the West Memphis police department due to pending charges of "sexual
indecency with a child, furnishing alcohol to minors, and terroristic
threatening." [WMC-TV, Memphis, October 30, 2008]. He is alleged
to have used his police-issued cell phone to send messages to a 14-year
old girl demanding money and sex. "Sanders is also accused of writing
very graphic sexual things he wanted the girl to do." [ibid] Sanders
has been charged with threatening to kill the 14-year old's boyfriend.
[Memphis Commercial Appeal, October 30, 2008]
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