LITTLE ROCK, AR - The prosecutor reviewing new claims by attorneys representing Damien Echols says he is unsure whether or not he will take action on the information.
The statement from prosecutor Scott Ellington came after supporters of the West Memphis 3 showed a new documentary to members of the Little Rock media on Monday.
The key takeaway from the new "West of Memphis" documentary is witness accounts from friends of Michael Hobbs Jr, the nephew of Terry Hobbs.
Each say the nephew told them his uncle killed three West Memphis boys in 1993.
Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers were found murdered in a watery ditch not far from their homes in West Memphis. Hobbs is the stepfather of Branch.
The claims originally surfaced in a press release from the defense team on January 20th, the same day the documentary debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Hobbs denied the claims through his attorney Ross Samspon at that time.
"This isn't actually evidence,” Sampson said. “Evidence is something you can present in court. From what I'm reading, none of this would be admissible against anybody on planet earth."
But Patrick Benca, Echols defense attorney in Arkansas, gave those statements to prosecutor Scott Ellington and allowed him to view the new documentary.
"I'll give him as much space as he possibly needs in order to make a decision that is best suited for him,” Benca said Monday. “Hopefully it will be in favor of Damien, Jason and Jessie."
Ellington told FOX16 News he has not made a final decision yet on what he will do with the new information.
"At this instant I would hesitate to do a whole lot with what I've been given without more," Ellington says. “I believe its substantive value is not as strong as what some of the defense team, or at least the supporters feel it should be."
Capi Peck with Arkansas Take Action, the local grassroots support team for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley thinks the information carries weight.
"I think that if Scott Ellington sits down, delves into those boxes of information and looks at the documentary, reopens the case, then truly exoneration will happen," Peck says.
But when or if the case is ever re-opened is still very much an unanswered question.
Ellington added he certainly has no intention of reopening an 18 year old murder investigation without at least having a good basis to do that. Right now, he's trying to assess whether or not that basis exists.
Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley entered alford pleas last August that allowed them to maintain their innocence, get out of prison but plead guilty to killing the three boys.
Echols defense team says if prosecutors don't take action on their new information, they will move forward with applying for a pardon.
West Memphis 3 supporters say the "West of Memphis" documentary does not have a distributor yet but is set for theatrical release in September.
