Judge tosses WM3 lawsuit

Asked for release of all evidence from prosecution

A judge in Crittenden County, Ark., has dismissed a lawsuit that asked for release of all evidence obtained by prosecutors in the West Memphis Three murder case, but the attorney for two parents of the murdered boys said his request already produced enough evidence to satisfy the parents.

Ken Swindle, attorney for Pam Hicks and John Mark Byers, said his request for the evidence under the state’s open records law did not produce all of the evidence he had sought, but it moved the prosecutor’s office to give him “limited access,” including an affidavit in which Swindle said four suspects were implicated in the murders.

Swindle said the records request also was intended to push the state to prosecute three men still considered suspects.

While the request was “thrown out” by the judge’s ruling, Swindle said the limited information he received showed that the prosecutor had conclusive evidence but failed to act on it.

“The people in East Arkansas should be absolutely outraged by this,” he said.

He said prosecutor Scott Ellington has had the evidence, including confessions from two men, for 13 months without acting. Attempts to contact Ellington Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Swindle, who said he has not seen the judge’s ruling, represents Hicks, the mother of victim Stevie Branch, and Byers, father of Christopher Byers.