Dixie Chicks Singer Sued For Defamation

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines is the target of a defamation lawsuit by the stepfather of one of three 8-year-old boys slain in 1993.

Maines spoke out for three people convicted of the slayings and alleged the stepfather was instead involved in the killings.

Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, who was killed in 1993 with Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 25. The suit names all three members of the Dixie Chicks, but focuses on Maines.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Hobbs claims he suffered loss of income, injury to his reputation and emotional distress.

Maines attended a Dec. 19 rally in Little Rock, where she claimed Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley _ known to sympathizers as the "West Memphis Three" _ were innocent and that supposed new evidence pointed to Hobbs. Her comments echoed a Nov. 26, 2007, letter that was still on the Dixie Chicks' Web site on Thursday, in which she claimed that new DNA testing of hair from the crime scene linked Hobbs to the killings and that his behavior after the slayings indicated his guilt.

The lawsuit says the claim is false.

Hobbs told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a Feb. 1 interview that his reputation was in tatters and he wanted to clear his name.

"I want people to know I haven't done nothing wrong," Hobbs said. "I want them to hear it from me."

No lawyer for Maines was listed in court filings and a publicist didn't immediately return a call for comment. Hobbs' attorney, J. Cody Hiland, didn't immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

The lawsuit says Maines' statements were "so extreme in degree as to be beyond the pale of decency and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society."

Assertions similar to those made by Maines were also made by lawyers seeking new trials for the three convicts.

The boys' bodies were found by police a day after they vanished from their quiet, tree-lined neighborhood May 5, 1993. Police arrested the three after a confession by Misskelley in which he described how he watched Baldwin and Echols sexually assault and beat two of the boys as he ran down another trying to escape. A jury gave Misskelley a life-plus-40-year sentence for the killings. A later jury gave Baldwin a life sentence without parole. Echols, then 19, the oldest of the three, received the death penalty.

The Arkansas Supreme Court later upheld the convictions, but a later documentary sparked interest across the Internet, as well as among celebrities, including Maines, who felt the teens were railroaded by police for their interest in heavy metal music and the occult. Supporters say they raised more than $1 million for a legal defense fund for the three, enough to pay for lawyers, new DNA testing and a second federal appeal on behalf of Echols.

A judge has since denied defense motions for a new trial.

Comments

[chafinlw]

Well, ummmm, no. His suit, his burden. And justice is seldom swift.

[Ty90]

It's just a bad idea for celebrities to involve themselves in the law.

[LULUTWO]

I agree with you, but I'm still so torn, A confession and DNA - Hummm. How could a step parent's DNA possibly get on the step child and then at a crime scene. I know and that's why I vacuum my dog everyday. We live in the same house, sit on the same furniture, and sometimes he jumps on my bed. I don't want my DNA showing up if he goes nuts and kills my neighbors cat and they decide to call the police....­....... duh......

[Raleigh Dave]

If he's innocent, then he will have no problem supplying his DNA.

If you can be sued for defamation of character, then Sean Hannity probably owes Natalie Maines about 1 billion dollars. He spent months attacking the Dixie Chicks because Natalie expressed her right to free speech.

How many of us are really proud of GWB now.

[Mysticalsister]

Natalie Maines has a strong sense of justice and I applaud her for it.
i hope the publicity results in a fair trial for the boys. They were railroaded by bigots.

[myangeldog1]

This is the first time I have really paid attention to the WM3. After reading this article I looked to youtube for more informatio­n....there is plenty....­.including a recent a interview with Hobbs (very telling). I've come to the conclusion­....Hobbs is as guilty as sin....eve­n I, an armchair detective can see this as plain as day. I'd also be looking into Byers and Jacoby.

[scc322]

Can someone clarify this for me? I've been searching all morning for the instance where Natalie called out this man's name in public, and all I could find is a letter on the Dixie Chicks' website stating the evidence against him, and a video where she didn't mention him at all.

Is she being sued for the letter? His claim was that her words were "beyond the pale," but it sounds to me like she was only quoting police evidence.

[LAcarlito]

Last I checked, free speech (and the right to dissent) is a protected right in our Constituti­on...

you know, that document that has been put on ice for the last 8 years.

[blondecuban]

Not all speech is protected. Hate speech, riot inducing speech... for example, are not. There is the issue of defamation. It's whether what she said was true. She has the right to speak it, but is liable if she perpetrates a lie that damages another.

[ChimpNchief]

But only if it has not already been stated earlier from a different source, publically. In this case, the attorneys have already said that the thought Hobbs was guilty. I think if it's already been made public it doesn't count as slander. It also doesn't protect public figures. You can pretty much say anything you want to about Michael Jackson, for instance.

[LAcarlito]

BTW, when this genius Hobbs says, "I haven't done nothing wrong" that is a classic double-negative, implying that he is admitting guilt. So how is Natalie saying anything that he isn't saying?

Just some food for thought...

[mairs]

You mean Palin broke the law during her rallies?

(Just a momentary side-trip.­)

[Tituba]

Good point Blonde. But there's one thing we're all forgetting. What Natalie said is exactly what the kids lawyers said before. So there's not much chance that his suit will proceed as he expects. On the other hand, why is the Arkansas Supreme Court afraid of allowing another trial? If the prosecutor did a good job the first time, it should hold again on a second time....sh­ouldn't it?

[redneckliberalpostbush]

Well, we all know that once a lawyer and judges F things up- they will do anything to hide their screw up! We see that time and time again in Texas.

[ChimpNchief]

You wouldn't be talking about Bush would you?

[Betterdedthanred]

Hmmm... I posted several comments outlining reasons why I thought this article was remiss for not mentioning the very valid reasons for Maines' comments and they all vanished within minutes. All my info was from Wikipedia's entry on "west Memphis 3" so please read that article and consider Maines' comments in light of the facts. That's a context the jury was certainly denied. The prosecution's entire case rested entirely on coerced, recanted, testimony and an unconstitutional plea to religious bigotry in bringing up the boys' interest in Wicca. There was no evidence, NONE, whatsoever. At least not that implicated the boys. Hobbs would have had some tough questions to answer had a competent and honest police force been investigating.

[Betterdedthanred]

* During a polygraph examination, [Echols] denied any involvement, but the polygraph examiner claimed that Echols' chart indicated deception. When asked to produce the record of the examination, he indicated that he had no written record.

* Misskelley, whose IQ was reported to be 72 (making him borderline mentally retarded), was questioned alone... for roughly twelve hours; only two segments, totaling 46 minutes, were recorded. Misskelley quickly recanted his confession, citing intimidation, coercion, fatigue, and veiled threats from police. During Misskelley's trial, Dr. Richard Ofshe, an expert on false confessions and police coercion, testified that the brief recording of Misskelley's interrogation was a "classic example" of police coercion.

* James Martin Sr., a new resident in the area and a known child molester..­. has often been thought to be the leading suspect, especially early on in the case. Why he was removed from the suspect list eludes many people. In addition to failing the polygraph test, he also described the crime in great detail, with much information that had not been released to the public at the time of his interview.

* In 2007, DNA collected from the crime scene was tested. None was found to match DNA from the boys. In addition, a hair from Terry Hobbs, stepfather to Stevie Branch, was found tied into the knots used to bind the victims. The prosecutors, conceding that no DNA evidence ties the accused to the crime scene, has said that, "The State stands behind its convictions of Echols and his

[ChimpNchief]

Polygraphs don't matter. It's like a mood ring for coming up with proof of guilt.

[Betterdedthanred]

This article (and nearly every other mass media discussion of this case) is deplorable for not mentioning any of the relevant facts of this case. Maines' comments aren't just the ramblings of an activist celebrity; they are an attempt to call attention to something that is obviously, objectively WRONG. The West Memphis 3 case was not a miscarriage of justice; it was an forced partial-birth abortion of justice with the fetus impaled on a pike and set aflame in the public square. And nobody in the state of Arkansas judiciary is willing to lift a finger to set it right. Consider these facts: (source: Wikipedia; many others available with a simple Google search)

* A status report jointly issued by the State and the Defense team on July 17 states, "Although most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it cannot be attributed to either the victims or the defendants­."

* Police repeatedly failed to investigate leads and contaminated scenes they examined, lost evidence, destroyed evidence and failed to file consistent or timely reports, in many cases, simply not documenting anything in writing that they would later testify to in court.

* Police refused an unsolicited offer of aid and consultation from the violent crimes experts of the Arkansas State Police, and critics suggested this was due to the WMPD being investigated by the Arkansas State Police for suspected theft from the Crittenden County drug task force.

[Gasparilla]

She needs to demand a deposition from him and get him on the record.

[lou1958]

You betcha! those boys should be set free! I'm from Memphis, Tn. Lived in Houston for the last 20 yrs. Been following this story for a while. My mother still lives in Memphis, reads the "Commercial Appeal" every day. I believe that that newspaper has convinced her that these guys are guilty. I asked her a while back to send me any articles on the wmt, and she has. Other old friends in Tn are sending me info as they find it. This is how I found you. We've got to get them out! I'll be happy to help in any way that I can. Lou

[ifly4food]

I respect Natalie Maines. She bucks her country "kin" and does such audacious things as criticize the president. Here in the South, this is a rare find. She should become a regular blogger here at HuffPost.

[Swedishgal]

Agreed. She (Maines) is a brave soul.

[tmo7734]

I hope that southern pea picker has a big ole sack a loot cause that's what it gonna take to push forward that frivolous suit. Better do a hole ("whole" southern style) lot a pray'in buddy!