Given the contamination of evidence, poor crime scene procedure, a coerced confession, shoddy detective and forensic work, and, as in many of these types of cases, an overzealous prosecutor desperate to pin the brutal murders of three young boys on anyone, it should come as no surprise that newfound DNA evidence does not support the convictions of teenagers Damian Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin, the infamous West Memphis Three, but rather Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the victims. The Arkansas Times reported that a hair consistent with Hobbs was found tied into the knots used to bind one of the victims.

As disturbing as the teen’s convictions and the eighteen years they served in prison appear to be, equally disturbing are the actions of the judge in the original trial, one David Burnett. There are allegations by Jessie Misskelley’s attorney of foreman and jury misconduct, and that Burnett made inappropriate remarks to the jurors. If true, any of these accusations should have led to an immediate mistrial.

Then, in September of 2008, Circuit Court Judge David Burnett denied Damian Echols’ request for a retrial, citing the DNA tests as inconclusive, and that the absence of evidence was not innocence. But as reported by John Brummett in the Arkansas News, the Arkansas Law Review contended that Burnett erred in denying Echols a new trial on evidence that there was no DNA linking him to the scene.

Burnett made this ruling while he was running for the state senate in direct violation of the state constitution, which says a sitting judge who seeks a non-judicial political office vacates the judgeship automatically when he files for the other office. One might conclude that ruling in favor of a Death Row inmate, might hurt a law and order judge’s chances of being elected to the senate.

Burnett retired from the law in 2009, but was subsequently appointed as a special judge responsible for post-conviction issues surrounding the West Memphis cases, though he later told a Sun reporter that he was sick and tired of it. He also said that he had regretted letting documentary filmmakers into the courtroom in 1994 because their “Paradise Lost” documentary was biased for the defendants. Both statements were obviously prejudicial and a bad sign for the three apparently innocent men sitting in prison. Burnett later apologized for his remarks, but never declined his appointment.

Fortunately for the West Memphis Three, in early December 2010, Circuit Court Judge David Laser was selected to replace David Burnett, and upon hearing the new evidence, released the three men from prison.

David Burnett is now a member of the Arkansas state senate, though I highly doubt his “judgment” has improved.