Updated: Hearing scheduled for Dec 5-21

The evidentiary hearing dates have been scheduled, according to freethewestmemphis3.org. The hearing will begin Dec. 5 at 9:30 a.m. at the courthouse in Jonesboro. The hearing will last three continuous weeks, until Dec. 21. Following the hearing Judge David Laser will decide whether the trio should be granted a new trial.

Lorri Davis, Damien's wife released a statement saying she is pleased with the order for a hearing:

“We are very pleased that Judge David Laser has ordered a three-week continuous evidentiary hearing to review evidence of the innocence of Damien, Jason and Jessie. He clearly wants this case to move as expeditiously as possible. I am hopeful that upon a full review of the evidence there will finally be justice by years end. Every day in solitary confinement for Damien, and maximum-security imprisonment for Jason and Jessie, is a day in hell.”

Read the order here. But again, the PDF is posted upside down for some reason.

Evidentiary Hearing Dates

A Jonesboro court has scheduled the evidentiary hearing for the West Memphis Three, according to the Arkansas Times - the hearing will be held between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15 and will last up to three weeks.

Click here to read the Arkansas Times blog and view the Judge's order - although, be warned, for some reason the PDF is posted upside down. The order also contains an interesting letter from an Arkansas attorney expressing concern about waiting until the fall for the hearing.

New Photos from West Memphis

I uploaded some new photos taken in February at various West Memphis locations for my project to Flickr. Below is a slideshow of the photos. More will be available when I complete my project in the upcoming month (I can't believe it's almost graduation time!)

Social Media and Court Cases

Lauren Lee is a University of Memphis graduate student working on her master's project, which is an examination of the media's impact on the Noura Jackson case. Jackson was a Memphis teenager convicted in 2009 of stabbing her mother to death in their East Memphis home (pictured at right). I sit down with Lee to talk about social media, courts and crime.

Q1: What is the focus of your project?
LL: The focus of my project is how the media effects court cases. I looked specifically at the Noura Jackson case, which was about a girl who stabbed her mother over 50 times in 2005.

Q2: How did social media help you during the project?
LL: I used Facebook to contact some of Noura Jackson’s friends to see if they would let me interview them. I looked at friends that we had in common and that led me to one of my the valuable interviews for my project.

Q3: How has social media changed coverage of high-profile court cases in general?
LL: These days people are able to receive coverage on a moment’s notice. Reporters can now blog from the courtroom and that has allowed the public to have minute-by-minute access to what is happening during a trial.

Q4: How is blogging being used in relation to court cases?
LL: Blogging seems to be very beneficial in many ways. Some of the lawyers I spoke with for my project said that they used the blogs during trials they were working on to check with their notes. Also, I think it gives people who are not able to come to a trial the ability to still gain information on what happens in court.

Q5: What kinds of things would you like to see on a blog about court cases?
LL: I’d like to see as much information from the days proceedings as possible. Obviously reporters are never going to be able to type everything that they here and see in the courtroom, that would be impossible. However, I think that getting the information out to the public the best they can, and trying to remain unbiased in their reporting offers great insight to the public.

Q6: What cases do you follow in the media?
LL: I have continued to follow the Casey Anthony case. That is actually the case that led me to doing my project. I have remained intrigued with that case since the day the little girl went missing and it was in the news. I also keep up with the West Memphis 3 case, since it’s a local case that has gained so much national attention. I think that anytime a case receives a lot of media attention it is hard for me not to follow it, because I feel like I have to find out the outcome.

(Editor's note: I'll be posting a link when Lauren complete the project, as it will also be displayed on a website.)

Pamela Hobbs on MyFox Memphis

MyFox Memphis reported on the upcoming hearings last night with two packages featuring new interviews with Pam Hobbs. The reporting was a little random, since nothing new was said: they just reviewed the murders, mentioned the appeals, etc.

But what I found most interesting, again, is that Pam says she doesn't think Terry could have committed the murders - despite what she said in the Pasdar depositions.

The defense plans to point the finger at Terry Hobbs, Stevie Branch's step father and Pam Hobbs, ex-husband. They claim there are three eyewitnesses who saw Terry Hobbs with the three children shortly before their murder.

In the brief, the defense says it plans to call Pam Hobbs to testify about Terry's "extremely suspicious" actions the following days. But Pam Hobbs, despite her previous position, she doesn't think her ex-husband had anything to do with the murders.

"I don't think anyone needs to do what was done in the beginning and point fingers and say this one done it, voice our thoughts and theories, that's all they are," said Hobbs.

Here are both videos:

False Confessions and DNA: A case from Texas

When watching reruns of 48 Hours Investigates this weekend, I came across an episode which had remarkable similarities to the WM3 case (video posted at bottom of post!). In this case, two young men confessed two the heinous murders of four teenage girls. But DNA proved that the confessions were false and the product of police pressure. After nearly 10 years in prison, Robert Springsteen, who had been on death row for the crime, and Robert Scott were released from prison. The charges against them were eventually dropped.

While this in itself is remarkable, what was said during the telecast about false confessions reiterates what we've been hearing about false confessions:

It's still so hard to believe - even when you look at someone in the eye - even when he says that there was so much pressure to confess - it's still hard to understand why a normal guy who's in his mid-20s could be coerced into admitting something that horrific.

"48 Hours" collected sections of defendant Michael Scott’s confessions and showed them to Saul Kassin, distinguished professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Kassin was familiar with the case because he was once contacted by the defense.

Scott: I remember looking at this girl. I hear the gun go off. I only pulled the trigger once… I hear somebody get slapped.

"A good valid confession will look something just like this. But there are many false confessions that are known, proven false confessions, that also look just like this," Kassin explained.

According to Kassin, the problem is what you see on tape is just a fraction of the actual interview.

"You can't tell just by looking," he said.

I asked him, "But why would somebody confess to something they didn't do? What goes on in a person’s mind to say, 'Yeah, I was there. I was thinking this?'"

"One is, the person feels absolutely trapped," Kassin explained.

Detective: At some point, Maurice hands you that revolver. What does he say to you?

"The goal of interrogation, very explicitly, is to increase the anxiety associated with denial," Kassin said.

Detective: Let’s do it now. You went inside with those boys, didn’t you Michael?

"We know you did it. And we don't want to hear any lies," said Kassin.

Watch the episode below.

Thank-you Video at Largo Benefit

Below is a video message from Jason and Jessie which played at the Largo fundraising event in Los Angeles on Feb. 21. The event was sold out and had an amazing group of performers: comedians Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman, Paul F. Tompkins, Blaine Kapatch, Kyle Kinane, Matt Besser, Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, and musicians Aimee Mann and Michael Penn.


As a side note, I can't even imagine what 17 years, 8 months and 19 days in prison feels like. I watch Beyond Scared Straight on A&E and get uncomfortable.