I have two comments about the video.
First, it is very well done. It would be a shame if the quality was so shoddy that it was a distraction to the prospective jurors. I am impressed with the quality.
Second, I think any trial lawyer should watch it. It is the first thing the jurors hear. Why would you not want to see what information they are getting? I say this because in my jurisdiction, the attorneys are not in the courtroom when the jurors watch the video.
You can watch the video here.
Bank of America is suing two businessmen who ran a West Memphis company in an attempt to collect $4.1 million.
Theodore M. Jenney of Holley, N.Y., and Stanley J. Chiras of Florida are the principals of Diaz Intermediates Corp., which produced chemicals that were supplied to Tetra Industries and other agriculture and pharmaceutical clients.
In September 2002, the company borrowed $6.5 million and eventually went out of business.
But Jenney and Chiras had each signed guarantees for half of the unpaid principal, plus any interest, court costs and other fees if Diaz defaulted on the loan. In January, the bank notified the two businessmen that the loan was in default. In May, BOA told Jenney and Chiras to pay off the loan, but they didn’t.
The bank has sued in U.S. District Court to collect the money.
The following is an excerpt from an ANB story by John Lyon:
If death row inmate Damien Echols were tried today in the 1993 killing of three West Memphis boys, he would be acquitted, attorneys for Echols told reporters Thursday.
“We are here today to discuss the evidence that establishes that no reasonable juror would convict Damien Echols, essentially knowing what we know today,” lead attorney Dennis Riordan said at a news conference at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock law school.
On Monday, Echols’ lawyers filed a motion in federal court to overturn Echols’ conviction based on new evidence that includes DNA test results showing that no genetic material from Echols – or two other men convicted in the killings – was found on the victims’ bodies.
A spokeswoman for 2nd District Prosecutor Brent Davis, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Thursday that Davis would not comment on the case or the defense attorneys’ remarks.
Evening Times has the whole story. The evidence portion of the story is below:
In July, a DNA testing status report filed by the defense stated that a hair found on a shoelace ligature on the body of Michael Moore matched DNA belonging to Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Stevie Branch.
Shoelaces, believed to have been taken from the boys’ shoes, were used to bind the boys arms and legs together.
Police said at the time of that report that Hobbs wasn’t a suspect and attributed the hair to secondary transfer evidence.
However, in Monday’s filing the defense states that a hair found at the root of a tree near where the boys’ bodies were found matches the DNA of David Jacoby, a friend of Terry Hobbs.
Further new evidence pointing to Echols’ innocence, the defense claims, are test results that show DNA from someone other than Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley was found on the penis of Stevie Branch.
Additionally, the filing states that forensic experts, among them, Dr. Michael Baden, former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, found that some of the wounds on the victims were caused by “animals at the crime scene – not by knives used by the perpetrators, as the prosecution claimed.”
Commercial Appeal: Related Story
While they won’t be stopping global warming, Paul Luker hopes that the proposed court will help deal more effectively with code enforcement. West Memphis Councilwoman, Ramona Taylor, believes that the current system is faulty because code violators are tried in the same court as criminal violators. Taylor says this makes the code violations look less serious by comparison.
In my experience, the only code violations I have seen come through the court are having an inoperable car on the premises or failing to mow the yard. While the code should be enforced, I want a court to treat those violators with much more leniency than more violent criminal offenders.
The local court’s current practice is to give the violator a week or two to correct the problem, i.e. move the car or mow the yard, or they receive a monetary penalty. I am not sure what else the proposed court would or should accomplish.
Local West Memphis physician, Dr. James Miller said he had never heard of the street drug concoction “purple drank” or “sizzurp” until a state investigator showed up asking why he was prescribing so much of its key ingredients. . .
. . . [T]he state physician licensing board thinks he should have known better. He now faces a December hearing to determine whether he should lose his medical license.
Read whole story here.
UPDATE: Trip Cook reported the following:
In August, Miller was the subject of an Emergency Order of Suspension by the board.
The board lifted the order of suspension in September, but voted to prohibit Miller’s use of his DEA permit until his hearing.
A DEA permit allows a physician to prescribe scheduled medications.
Trice said the reinstatement came from a request by Miller.
“He made a request of the board to permit him to treat his other patients if he could just give up his DEA permit during this period of time,” Trice said. “Since that is what the board was mad at him about, the board accepted his offer.”
The investigation included information from the West Memphis Police Department, a state pharmacy oversight group and reviews of medical records by physicians.
“We have evidence that has not been seen by investigators,” said Javier Bailey, the attorney representing the Farrow family. “There was evidence collected that night by neighbors. Also, there was still evidence under the tarp.”
The tarp Bailey referred to was placed over a makeshift memorial to Farrow that stayed in place for more than two months. It was removed last month when the street where Farrow was killed was renamed in his honor.
“Without telling you what it is, I’ll just say we have items we believe were in DeAuntae’s hands at the point he was shot,” said Bailey.
Fox 13’s story is here.
Special Prosecutor H.G. Foster told The Evening Times in West Memphis that this kind of news “pushes off resolution of the investigation.”
Marco McClendon, a West Memphis City Councilman, wants to implement a program to transition non-violent felons into society though a GED program, mentoring, drug testing, community service, and job placement. McClendon says the Second Chance program would last about four months.
Read more here.
The Evening Times reports that Jeffery McGee admits to throwing punches in a fight with Charles L. Williams III.
The article also quotes Marty Cooper, father of McGee’s co-defendant Bubba Cooper, as stating “Bubba is the one thats taken a beating over this.”
The elder Cooper also complained about the Crittenden Count Sheriff’s Office, “[t]he sheriff’s office refuses to investigate the incident. No one has been allowed to give their side of the story because the sheriff’s office wouldn’t do its job.”
