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Three 8-year-old boys murdered, three teens convicted. In the last 16 years, the West Memphis Three case has had many twists and turns.
Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin continue to fight for a new trial as new developments surface.
On Monday, we told you Echols' attorneys filed affidavits claiming they have new witnesses that claim they saw Terry Hobbs, one of the victim's stepfather's, with the three boys shortly before they disappeared. They also say a hair found links Hobbs to the crime scene.
On Tuesday, Hobbs' lawyer responded to those claims saying they are lies and that Echols defense team is concerned only with falsely accusing Hobbs to create an alternative suspect to help his convicted client.
Lorri Davis who has been married to Damien Echols for more than 10 years sits down with THV's Liz Massey on Today's THV at 6:30. She'll talk about these new developments plus she reacts to Hobbs' lawyer's statements which you can read in its entirety below.
Terry Hobbs and his attorney have declined an on-camera interview.
Statement by Terry Hobbs' attorney:
Today, in his latest attempt to free their convicted clients, Dennis Riordan has produced affidavits which, sixteen years later, falsely claim that Terry Hobbs was with the three victims of the crime between 5:30 and 6:30. The affidavits prove nothing.
This is the latest lie put forward by Dennis Riordan and the Damien Echols defense team. Dennis Riordan lied when he claimed in a press release that his Habeas filing included a chronology of events that implicated Terry Hobbs, when in fact the time of death stated in Riordan's own filings is consistent only with the innocence of Terry Hobbs. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about this false statement.
Dennis Riordan lied when he said in a press release that new evidence placed Hobbs at the scene of the crime, a statement which Riordan himself (and his DNA expert) contradicted in the Habeas petition and his November 1, 2007 press conference. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about these contradictions.
Dennis Riordan has also dishonestly withheld comment on other evidence that is consistent with the innocence of Terry Hobbs. The Memorandum In Support of Petition for Habeas Corpus filed by Riordan on October 1, 2007 states at pages 106-107: "Tony Anderson, the fingerprint evidence expert on the crime scene when the victims' bodies were discovered" a print was found at the scene "within five to ten feet of where the first body was located, and it was at an angle that made clear that it had been left by someone who had been in the water." Anderson compared the print to the convicted, the victims and every police officer on the scene, and found no match. The fingerprint is "powerful circumstantial evidence" that someone other than the three accused committed the charged murders, according to Dennis Riordan's own filing. This fingerprint does not match Terry Hobbs. The Arkansas State Police excluded Hobbs as the donor of this fingerprint. This evidence has not been publicly commented upon by Dennis Riordan because he is too busy with his dishonest attempts to create an alternative suspect. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about the fingerprint evidence.
Similarly, Dennis Riordan's DNA filing also includes a hair that was also found in the shoelace used to bind a victim that is inconsistent with Terry Hobbs, the victims, or the accused. Riordan has never mentioned this hair in a public statement.
Again, Dennis Riordan is concerned only with falsely accusing Terry Hobbs of this crime to create an alternative suspect to assist his convicted clients. Despite the press attention focused on this case, Riordan has never been questioned about the hair from which Terry Hobbs has been excluded as the donor.
