by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday (April 18) that advanced touch DNA testing can be done on evidence in the “West Memphis Three” case. The decision was a reversal of Crittenden County Circuit Court Judge Tonya Alexander who in 2022 denied a motion for the DNA testing of the ligatures that bound the victims in the case.

Alexander ruled that since Damien Echols was not in prison anymore he could not seek relief in the form of DNA testing. Majority opinion writer Judge Karen Baker said the statute does not require a person to be incarcerated to seek relief under its provisions.

“Here, the plain language in sections 16-112-201 and -202 unambiguously permits ‘a person convicted of a crime’ to petition for additional DNA testing to demonstrate the person’s actual innocence pursuant to Act 1780. This language imposes no requirement that a petitioner must be in state custody to seek relief pursuant to Act 1780, and we decline to CR-22-670 13 read such a requirement into the statutes,” Baker wrote.

Arkansas Supreme Court to allow touch DNA testing to move forward in West Memphis Three case