EXHIBIT A-IOI - West Memphis Three Case - Document Archive

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Case 4:09-cv-00008-BSM Document 30-5 Filed 07/17/2009 Page 36 of 297 "··lexisNexis" SECTION: EYE; Pg. 5 LENGTH: 866 words Copyright 1996 San Jose Mercury News All Rights Reserved San Jose Mercury News (California) DECEMBER 6, 1996 Friday MORNING FINAL EDITION HEADLINE: WHEN INNOCENCE DIES A CAPTIVATING TRUE TALE OF LIVES LOST, LIVES WASTED BYLINE: STEPHEN WHITTY, Mercury News Film Writer BODY: IT IS an unspeakable crime and yet, tragically, it is not unimaginable. We have seen it too often on our front pages and late-night news for it to be that. A child disappears. A search is mounted. And when the hunt ends, it is because the police have found what no parent ever wants to see. That grimly familiar story was played out in triplicate in West Memphis, Ark., in 1993, when the corpses ofthree missing 8-year-old boys were found by the banks ofa muddy creek. The children had been bludgeoned and drowned. One had been sexually mutilated. The crimes shocked the tiny town. When police and prosecutors triumphantly announced a month later that they had filed murder charges against three suspects, they were greeted with applause. But then, suggests "Paradise Lost," another crime began. "Paradise Lost: the Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills," was directed by the terrific "Brother's Keeper" team ofJoe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. And it just may be the best documentary ofthe year. It is certainly one ofthe most chilling. Because "Paradise Lost" is willing to look at other nightmares beyond the horrors ofthe crime itself It's willing to examine the spectacle ofa justice system more interested in closure than killers. It's willing to indict a small town's fear ofthe unknown and its horror ofnon-conformity. In many ways, that's the theme underlying the film. West Memphis, Ark., was a close-knit, conservative, homogenous community. Because these murders didn't reflect the town's image ofitself, people seemed incapable ofbelieving the murderers would. Trying to make the facts fit, the police looked for suspects who didn't. They found them in three teenage boys. That the teens had never been in serious trouble before and had families who vouched for them didn't matter. The boys wore black T-shirts and listened to heavy metal; one boy was even called Darnien, like that kid in "The Omen," and spent his spare time doodling pentagrams. Obviously, they were members of a satanic cult, officials declared. After all, who else but a Satanist could have done such a thing? The stories ofother crimes prove that plenty ofpeople can, however. And slowly "Paradise Lost" begins to hint that someone else may have been at work here, as well. Berlinger and Sinofsky build their case carefully. We learn that, although the police knew a bloody stranger had been seen in town on the night ofthe murders, they never pursued the lead. We hear the suspects' parents trying to undo the demonization oftheir children ("Johnny Cash wears black, doesn't he?" one father protests weakly). And we see
Case 4:09-cv-00008-BSM Document 30-5 Filed 07/17/2009 Page 37 of 297 WHEN INNOCENCE DIES A, .2TIVATING TRUE TALE OF LIVES LOS1, .VES WASTED San Jose Mercury News (California) DECEMBER 6, 1996 Friday MORNING FINAL EDITION various parents ofthe murdered boys scream for vengeance, flirt for the camera and - in this true story's most amazing tum - join the list ofsuspects. Eventually, one ofthe boys - a 17-year-old with a 72 IQ - confesses and implicates the other two. Although he refuses to stick to his story in court (and later complains that his confession had been coerced), the three boys go to trial. And the movie - now switching from news reports and jailhouse interviews to courtroom coverage - picks up speed. Along with that increased pace comes a gathering feeling ofdoom. Just as it becomes clear that the state has no physical evidence at all, it grows even clearer that the prosecutors do not need it. They have anger on their side. They have fear. They also have Damien Echols. Longhaired, literate, vaguely effeminate - this oldest ofthe three defendants must have been a favorite target ofthe good 01' boys ofWest Memphis. How did he ever survive high school, you may wonder. How did he even make it to 18? On the stand, though, he moves beyond the taunts ofschoolyard bullies into real danger. It is partly a danger ofhis own making. Superior and smugly bored, Echols treats his accusers and their questions with elegant disdain; it is an attitude you can imagine he has worked hard to cultivate in this small town. Unfortunately, it is precisely the wrong face to wear in court. Because what Echols doesn't see is that his calm comes across as complicity; what he's incapable ofrealizing is that his little lectures on the true nature ofWicca only convince everyone that he worships Satan himself. Although Sinofsky and Berlinger are clearly convinced that these three teens did not get a fair trial, their film is fair to both sides. There are no staged re-enactments, or "ambush" interviews. There is no shortage ofbad behavior or suspicious attitudes on the part ofanyone. Even ifthe filmmakers have made up their minds, the film allows us to make up our own. There have been developments in the case since this film was first screened at festivals and shown on HBO. Both the victims' families and the defendants' have faced disasters and divorce. Arguments over the facts continue, and appeal efforts drag on. Reportedly, local feeling about the crimes still runs so high that, when supporters tried to set up a fund for the three teens, no Arkansas bank would accept the account. But two facts remain incontrovertible: Three lives were stolen in West Memphis in 1993. And three other lives were thrown away. NOTES: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (star)(star)(star)(star) * Rated: No MPAA rating (but might be R for gore, language, adult situations) * Directors: Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger * Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutesREVIEW GRAPHIC: Photos (5); PHOTO: The victims: Steven Branch, left, [961206 EY 7 1] PHOTO: Christopher Byers, [961206 EY 7 2] PHOTO: Michael Moore. [961206 EY 73] PHOTO: Authorities believe Damien Echols is a member ofa satanic cult. [961206 EY 6] o PHOTO: Damien Echols, shown in this police mug shot, is the oldest ofthree defendants in the brutal Arkansas murders ofthree 8-year-olds.
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EXHIBIT A-IOI - West Memphis Three Case - Document Archive

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