WEST MEMPHIS -- Damien Echols pledged to continue his fight for exoneration after a judge on Thursday denied his petition to retest evidence for DNA from the crime scene of the heinous murders of three boys whose bodies were found in a ditch near this city of about 25,000 almost three decades ago.
Known as the West Memphis Three, Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted a year after the 1993 slayings of the 8-year-olds. The trio spent years in prison, including Echols who was on death row, until their release in 2011 after agreeing to a deal known as an Alford Plea.
The plea granted them immediate freedom and allowed them to maintain their innocence, but they remained convicted in the murders.
During Thursday's hearing in West Memphis District Court, Circuit Judge Tonya Alexander denied Echols' request, citing an Arkansas statute that requires those petitioning for new DNA testing to still be incarcerated.
Echols attorneys said they would appeal.
Echols, wearing a long, black tunic, black pants and dark glasses, attended the hearing with his wife, Lorri Davis. Baldwin was also present.
"The court cannot carve out an exception [to the law]," Alexander said. "The court can do nothing. The court understands the ability to want to be free completely.
"This court deals with case law and statutes. Not existential reason."
Patrick Benca, a Little Rock-based attorney representing Echols, argued that though his client may no longer be in prison his freedom is still limited because the conviction remains on his record.
While Echols can "buy a hamburger," Benca said, "he is still suffering the consequences under that sentence. I believe we have met the standards [of the statute]."
Such consequences include a dearth of employment opportunities and restrictions on travel, Benca said.
"He is not a free man under any circumstances," Benca said, adding that he believes the law is unconstitutional.
Benca promised to exhaust all possible options, including taking the case to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
For nearly two years, Echols' legal team has been seeking access to evidence from the killings, including ligatures used to tie the children and articles of clothing. They believe more advanced genetic testing equipment could reveal the real killer.
Echols' legal team brought a forensic expert to testify Thursday on the efficacy of the more advanced DNA testing technology, called M-Vac wet-vacuum.
That testimony did not happen because the petition did not meet legal requirements, which permit retesting of evidence that meets certain criteria, including that the convicted individual still be in state custody.
The judge said the statute is the only one in Arkansas that deals with forensic retesting. There is no precedent for genetic retesting involving an individual who remains convicted but is no longer in prison.
The ligatures have "nine knots that contain the information of the real killer," Benca said. "This is about justice. This is about finding out who actually did it. There is not a person in this room who believes Damien Echols' [DNA] will be in those ligatures."
"This is a court of law. I don't follow emotions or public opinion," Alexander shot back in response. "I am not an emotional person. I follow case law."
She added that she invited media to attend the hearing to prevent misinformation about what transpired.
"Someone will make a statement that I denied justice, but all I did was follow the law," she said. "The court cannot carve out an exception."
No DNA evidence ever linked the three men, who were teenagers at the time, to the murders. They have maintained their innocence since.
After learning the evidence might have been lost or destroyed, Benca and a forensic expert visited the West Memphis Police Department in December where they found most of the evidence intact.
Benca said during the hearing that he had numerous conversations with Crittenden County officials who said testing would be permitted. The judge said such conversations were not relevant.
Those exchanges, according to Benca, included Crittenden County prosecutor Keith Chrestman, who opposed Echols' requests to send the evidence to a lab for analysis. Chrestman instead instructed attorneys to file a petition in court, according to attorneys.
Chrestman cited three primary ways Echols' petition failed to meet the legal requirements: It's filed in the wrong county, Echols is no longer a state prisoner and the petition was filed more than three years after his conviction, according to court documents.
During the hearing, Chrestman agreed with the judge's interpretation.
"Just because someone suffered the consequences of having a felony on their record, they are free as far as the law is concerned," Chrestman said.
After the roughly 45-minute hearing, Echols and Benca emerged to dozens of supporters waiting in sweltering heat to hear what transpired. The West Memphis Three garnered international attention with fans around the country and world joining the crusade of exoneration.
Some wore T-shirts supporting the men while others brandished homemade signs proclaiming their innocence. They took photos with Echols and Baldwin, hugged them and asked for autographs. Baldwin wore a hat given to him by the lead singer of the band Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, who he said he lived with for a while.
Baldwin now lives in Austin, Texas; Echols and his wife reside in New York City.
"It just felt like, to me, we got screwed on a technicality," Echols said outside. "It felt like they would rather nitpick at aspects of the law than find the actual killer of these children."
Echols added he would regroup with his team and continue his fight, despite the setback.
"The reason this case is where it is right now is because of the public caring about it," he said. "That is the only reason I am not dead and am standing here today is because people all over the world cared about this case, and those are the same people who today want to see this DNA tested."
Damien Echols (right) leaves the West Memphis District Courthouse on Thursday with his lawyer, Patrick Benca, after a bid for new DNA testing in the 1993 slayings of three West Memphis boys was denied. More photos at arkansasonline.com/624wm3/. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)
