ARKANSAS AUTHORS: Lawyer for the West Memphis Three revisits the case in his book | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Dan Stidham was a young lawyer just starting out in Paragould when he took on the case that would change his life.

In June 1993, he accepted a request to represent 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr., who was charged along with 18-year-old Damien Echols and 17-year-old Jason Baldwin in the murders of three 8-year-old boys – Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers – in West Memphis. It was one of the most notorious criminal cases in Arkansas history.

Stidham had no idea then the turmoil it would cause in his life and the long, frustrating and hellish journey he would embark on. Now, more than 30 years later, he revisits his role in the case in his new book, “A Harvest of Innocence: The Untold Story of the West Memphis Three Murder Case.”

Co-authored with Tom McCarthy, the book is a true insider's look at the trial and its aftermath. Stidham also offers many new revelations, which is surprising given the number of documentaries and books already devoted to the case, and doesn't hold back when it comes to his opinions of Judge David Burnett, the West Memphis police and prosecutors.

Stidham, a Clay County district judge, will be at WordsWorth Books in Little Rock from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday to sign copies of the self-published book.

“I had no idea it would be such a long journey,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “But I wouldn't trade it for anything, the good, the bad or the ugly.”

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The boys' bodies were found in a ditch in the Robin Hood Hills area of ​​West Memphis on May 6, 1993. The age of the victims, who were best friends, and the particularly gruesome nature of their deaths caused a media frenzy, fueled by claims that the murders were part of a satanic ritual.

Misskelley, who is mentally disabled, confessed to the murders, which he later retracted after being questioned and directed by police for 12 hours without a parent or attorney present. Echols and Baldwin were subsequently arrested and also charged with the murders.

Their arrests sparked a wave of local and national media reports about the so-called “satanic panic.” While Misskelley, who was represented by Stidham and his partner Greg Crow, was tried alone, Baldwin and Echols were tried together.

Although there was no physical evidence that the teens were at the crime scene and Misskelley's confession was doubtful, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years. Baldwin and Echols were found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder; Baldwin received a life sentence and Echols was sentenced to death.

Stidham's account of the preparations for Misskelley's trial is riveting, as are his details of the trial itself and the appeals process, which are marked by one frustrating setback after another. He vents his anger at Burnett – who had opposed the jury hearing the testimony of an expert on coerced confessions – and others, but acknowledges his own inexperience.

Long after the trial, he continued to fight for Misskelley.

“I promised the boy I would get him out of prison,” he says. “When I said that, I knew it would be a gamble, but I never gave up.”

The national attention garnered by the 1996 HBO documentary “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” and its two sequels, as well as Mara Leveritt's 2002 book “Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” eventually attracted people like Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and other celebrities to the cause.

Different lawyers took on the case, and with a new judge appointed, hopes for a retrial were high. But on August 19, 2011, Misskelley, Echols and Baldwin entered an Alford plea, admitting guilt to the crimes but maintaining their innocence, and were released from prison after more than 18 years in prison. Stidham, who was not involved in the Alford plea, writes that it was a “Pyrrhic victory.”

“The West Memphis 3 were free, but they were still guilty before the law and, in my view, even more seriously, before the eyes of the State of Arkansas.”

(In April, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Echols could request a new DNA analysis of evidence collected at the crime scene.)

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Stidham says being involved in this case “was an uphill battle. I should have won the case at every stage of the process.”

It has affected him professionally and personally. Neighbors wondered why he was representing an alleged devil-worshipping child murderer, and at times he questioned his faith and the law. His first marriage ended in divorce; he writes about nightmares and says he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Even after all these years, the issue still has an impact. After an article about the book appeared in the Paragould Daily Press, he writes, he received threats and his mailbox was blown up with a small homemade bomb.

He says he was angry and bitter at times, but writing about his experiences helped him put things into perspective.

“I didn't want this to be a book about revenge,” he says. “There are no winners. There are three dead boys and three teenagers who are now middle-aged men and who have lost the best years of their lives in prison for something they didn't do.”

“But I finally got over my bitterness. I didn't want it to affect my storytelling skills. I'm not (angry) anymore. I actually accomplished my mission. I got my client out of jail. I still don't like how it happened, but he's where he should be.”

Book signing

• Author: Dan Stidham
• Where: WordsWorth Books, 5920 R St., Little Rock
• When: Saturday, 2-4 p.m.
• Admission free
• Information: (501) 663-9198;
• www.wordsworthbookstore.com