The proceedings of August 14, 2009
conclude at BMHR 2457. The session of October 1, 2009, begins on that same
page]
[At the outset of the October 1, 2009 session, Mr. Holt informed the Court
that during the processing of the evidence prior to trial, Lisa Sakevicius had
looked at the 6 shoe laces that were the ligatures. The State had contacted Bode
Technologies, the DNA Lab agreed upon by the parties during post-conviction
litigation, who had been told that Echols’s lawyer Mr. Horgan had instructed Bode
to forward the ligatures to Micro Trace, some other Lab, which was outside the
agreement and Order for DNA testing.
The Court heard the offer of proof and ordered the ligatures returned to
Body Technologies. BMHR 2461. Counsel for Baldwin joined in expressing
concerns about the removal of evidence from a the Court ordered Lab, and joined
in the stipulation that the evidence should be returned. BMHR 2463
Counsel for Baldwin then asked for disclosure of material generated by the
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State, including any witness interviews, or information bearing on witness
credibility. The Court indicated that the State should be aware of its obligation to
make exculpatory evidence available. BMHR 2465]

MIKE ALLEN

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY KENT HOLT

I was employed as a Sergeant in the Criminal Investigation Division in 1993.
(BMHR 2466) I first heard of the disappearance of the boys on the morning of
May 6. I went out and looked through several neighborhoods.
[The testimony was interrupted by Mr. Holt’s observation that under the
Drymon case, trial records are part of the records of a Rule 37 proceeding. The
State wanted to make sure that maps of the area used in the trial were part of the
current record. There was no objection from Misskelley. BMHR 2468]
These maps show the area around the interstate and Ten Mile Bayou. State’s
Exhibit 16 is a photograph of that area. It shows a utility pipe and the area called
Robin Hood Hills or Woods. It was not a formally named area. RT 14-15.
Exhibit 17 shows the retention pond, and the Blue Beacon. You can see the
Interstate.
I had been searching around houses in the northeast ward, checking vacant
houses, when I heard from Crittenden Search and Rescue, asking that an officer
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respond. (BMHR 2475) Other agencies had also been enlisted in the search. I
drove to the dead-end and and looked in this ditch and I saw a tennis shoe that had
been located by Crittendon County Search and Rescue. Looking at State’s
Exhibits 19 and 23, you can see the area. I noticed that the bank of the ditch was
scuffed up, but it didn’t have a lot of leaf debris on it. (BMHR 2479) State Exhibit
22 shows the area in question, and the tress that were in it. I tried to cross the bank,
and fell into the water, and climbed back on the bank. I was in the process of
recovering the tennis show when I felt something in the water. The water was kind
of murky there. I felt the first body. The water was somewhere between my crotch
and knee area. By the time I arrived at the scene, I located no wild life. All of this
would have happened at roughly 1:30 PM (BMHR 2482)
The water in there was pretty calm. It’s more of a ditch, not a stream. I am
marking State’s Exhibit 26 with an ‘X’ where I found the tennis shoe. It was after
that I located the body of Michael Moore. (BMHR 2485) Detective Ridge then got
into the water. He located the two other bodies and walked the length of the ditch.
We actually then took the bodies out of the water and placed them on the bank.
Detective Ridge found some clothing that was down in the mud. (BMHR 2487)
The area was then sandbagged and drained. Screens were used on the pump
hoses. State Exhibits 20 and 25 show the bottom of the creek. I didn’t see any
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marine life in the bottom of that ditch.
We were out there from 1:30 to about 7 or 8 at night.
The next day there was a grid search of the area. It is not a big area. You can
see it depicted in State’s Exhibit 17. (BMHR 2494)

CROSS EXAMINATION BY BLAKE HENDRIX

When I first got to the wooded area, I was greeted by Denver Reid from
Search and Rescue and a juvenile officer named Steve Jones. Lt. Hester may have
been around as well. I was the first person to cross the ditch.
Exhibits 73 and 74 are crime scene diagrams and related notes. When I fell
into the water, I made a splash.
I started out in law enforcement in Johnson County for less than a year. I
then went to the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office and worked there on the radio
and as a jailer for about 3 years. I then became a criminal investigator in 1984.
That was the year I had done to the Training Academy. (BMHR 2508). At that
time, the Department had investigated approximately 10 to 12 homicides a year. I
had done some prior investigations and a lot of on the job training. I cannot recall
precisely my training. I had no training in homicides where bodies had been
recovered from water.
I recall Detectve Ridge being out there; Detective Bill Durham; Detective
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Tony Anderson, who was a retired officer; Detective Burch; Lt Hester; Captain
Miller. Shane Griffin was out here. There were probably about 10 people out at the
scene.
Only Detective Ridge and I assisted in removing the bodies from the water.
Both Captain Ridge and I were in the water when the victims were found. (BMHR
2512)
The second and third bodies were found downstream, towards Ten Mile
Bayou, from the first one. The bodies were located between 2:45 and approx. 3 pm,
but they were not removed right away. A decision was then made to sandbag the
ditch and pump it out. Utility workers came up to help out with that. The coroner
arrived at the scene just before 4, though I could not remember if the pumping had
started by that time.
I would say that about 50 yards of the area was cordoned off. Detective
Ridge placed the sandbags. The utility workers were throwing the bags down to
him. The pump they had was a generator type pump.
I had seen turtles and other animals in ditch backs before. It might not be
plausible, what with my falling in, and things, for there to have been marine like
here.
I also have no idea why our diagrams label this area Turtle Hill. (BMHR
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2524)
I was not aware that the Arkansas Crime Lab had identified animal hairs
being at the scene.
We never came across pieces of flesh out there.

CROSS EXAMINATON BY MICHAEL BURT

I do not recall my testimony at the Misskelley trial about how the grass on
the bank near the drainage ditch as being smushed down. My observation was that
the area had been kind of scruffed up, but I could not distinguish between animal
and human activity. (BMHR 2527)
I was unaware that the police log says that Detective Ridge was riding
around the area on his three wheeler that morning.
According to the log, I located the first body at about 1:30 or 1:45 pm,
though it was not removed until 2:45. From 1:45 to 2:45 Captain Ridge had been
in the water moving from north to south.
I was concerned about running into snakes in the water. I don’t recall seeing
any snapping turtles either. BMHR 2536 At first, when I was in the water, I could
not see beneath the surface. (BMHR 2537)

REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY KENT HOLT

I don’t recall seeing any type of fish in the ditch. I didn’t remember seeing
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any when I testified in the Echols Rule 37 hearing.
It was the southeast bank that was scuffed up. (BMHR 2539)