Devil's Knot Page #7

(CLEARS THROAT)

Your Honor, I think they

are going to try to cross-examine him

from the Oceanside police report,

and we submit that it's irrelevant.

My understanding was that

this young man retracted his statement.

We want to question Mr. Morgan to suggest

that the police case was far from certain.

Why would his testimony be relevant?

FORD:
Your Honor, we all want to question

witnesses that the police viewed as suspects

before narrowing their focus on the accused.

I'm not gonna allow you to

drag in every possible suspect

unless you've got something that tie those

persons to some event in this case.

Judge Burnett, don't you think

a confession suffices as a tie-in?

Your Honor, they could just talk to anybody

on the street and they could say,

-"Do you admit doing these murders?"

- Come on!

This is not just anybody off the street.

This was the Oceanside PD

questioning him at the request

of the West Memphis PD.

All right. All right.

I'm gonna begin the hearing. Anything else?

Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to need

to conduct a hearing in camera so

- I'm gonna ask you...

- What?

...to go back to the jury room.

JUDGE:
Bailiff,

will you clear the courtroom, please?

FORD:
Your Honor...

All right, folks.

All spectators, members of the press,

please leave the courtroom.

You, too, Mr. Lax.

I don't believe you're an officer of the court.

Mr. Morgan, please step

forward to be sworn in.

PAM:
Why are they

questioning Chris Morgan?

And why aren't we allowed

to hear what he says?

Bobby DeAngelo asked for a picture of my

son and brought Chris Morgan into my home.

I have a right to hear what he says.

Yes, you do, Mrs. Hobbs. We all do.

FORD:
On May 17th, 1993, were

you questioned in Oceanside, California...

CHRIS:
Yes.

FORD:
And in a videotaped statement...

WOMAN:
We are going to be all right.

Justice is gonna be sewed, and we love you,

and we are just thinking of you and just

praying for you constantly, okay?

(WOMAN TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

So you said it just to get out?

Yeah, after 17 hours I believe anybody would.

Now, before you made

the statements in question,

did you tell the officers in a state of anger that

"if you want me to lie to you,

I'll lie to you and tell you that I did it"?

- Yes.

- Uh-huh.

And immediately after that,

did you again deny any knowledge

-of involvement in these murders?

- Yes.

All right. Anything else?

Jessie Misskelley denied that he did it,

admitted he did it, then denied it again

and he's in prison!

This man did the same thing.

And we are asking you to allow

us to present this testimony to the...

No.

We are entitled to raise reasonable doubt.

That's what we're trying to do

with this testimony.

Raise it or create it?

FORD:
Both!

FORD:
Burnett wouldn't let him testify.

GLORI:
it was so important

to get that kid on the stand

-to show how arbitrary it's been.

- I know.

But the judge says that's not relevant

because Morgan told the cops

he was gonna lie.

Besides, Fogleman says there's

no tape for the part

-of the interview where Morgan confesses.

- What? No, that's bullshit.

You can't see part of the tape

because Morgan put a tissue across the lens.

I saw it. I watched the whole thing.

But you can see it when he confesses.

PRICE:
Yeah, but Fogleman said...

The audio's there for all of it, even when the

lens is covered. You tell them that?

You guys even watch the

entire six hours of tape?

- We have a synopsis from the Oceanside PD.

- A synopsis?

Since when do we depend on police reports?

Ron, we did not have enough time or money.

But you should have told Burnett...

I should have told him what?

Now, you want to try these cases, Ron?

Maybe you should have gone to law school.

You let us do our job

and you focus on doing yours.

I'm... I'm sorry, Ron. But we...

We are overwhelmed.

Fogleman is burying us in materials.

13,000 documents from the

police investigation alone.

We don't have enough time.

We don't have enough manpower. Money.

And frankly? Burnett?

He's just not giving us a chance.

PAM'. That's all right, you

That's all right, Mama

Just anyway you do

That's all right

That's all right

Well, that's all right, Mama

That's all right with you

Anyway you do

Anyway you do

That's all right

MAN ON TV:
And what a challenge that was

to persevere...

Jason, the prosecutor's

office wants to offer you a deal.

If you agree to testify against Damien,

they'll only seek a sentence of 20 years.

Not death.

Now, you could be out

in 10 years, maybe less.

That's still a long time, though.

In 10 years you'll be what? 26 years old?

You'll have your whole life ahead of you.

The case against you is weak.

But they're going to do everything they can

to tie you to Damien and his beliefs,

the things he said and done.

And despite the lack

of evidence, it is very possible

that Damien will go down for this.

And if he does,

there's a good chance he's

gonna drag you down with him.

I can't do it. I can't tell a lie about him.

It ain't right.

I can't.

When you were at the softball field,

did you hear somebody say

something about the murders?

Yes, sir. I heard, um, Damien Echols

say that he killed the three boys.

GIRL:
I heard Damien Echols

say he killed all three of those little boys.

And before he turned himself in,

he was gonna kill two more.

And he already had one of them picked out.

Is the person who made that

statement present in this courtroom?

Yes, sir.

Would you point that person out for the jury?

Right there.

May the record reflect that the witness

has identified Damien Echols.

If anybody else is in this courtroom, who was

present when that statement was made,

would you point that person out for the jury?

Your Honor, may the record reflect

the witness has identified

the other defendant,

Jason Baldwin.

KING:
Sir, are you all right?

After that I called the police.

And by the time Officer Meek came to the

drive-through, the man was already gone.

And the next day, uh, after

the bodies were found, and, uh,

Detective Ridge and Allen came

over and took a report.

They came over straight from the crime scene,

and one of them asked me, he said,

"Did the black man appear

to have muddy feet?

"Like me, because we've been out there all

morning long in the water and mud."

PRICE:
Okay. And when you

looked at him, what did you say?

Um, I said, "Yes, sir."

'Cause his pants and shoes

were muddy and wet up to the knees.

"Just like you."

PRICE:
Detective Ridge, on May 6th, 1993,

you went to the Bojangles Restaurant.

Did you take blood scrapings

from inside the women's restroom?

Yes, sir. I found trace remains in the

ladies' bathroom of the Bojangles.

PRICE:
Detective, what is the date you sent

the scrapings to the crime lab to be analyzed?

They were never sent.

All right. Where are the

samples at this time, Detective?

I don't know, sir. They were lost.

PAM:
What?

PRICE:
You mean blood evidence

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