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

[LDnearthesea]

Natalie Maines is a hero of mine for speaking out against the Bushistas in the spring of 2003. They got banned from the phony mainstream C&W stations, while the alternative real C&W stations continued to play them, along with real C&W musicians like Steve Earle and James McMurtry, who've recorded protest songs about how Bush, his economic policies that have hurt the common working man and woman, and the illegal war in Iraq.

[myangeldog1]

Ha!! LOVE McMurtry!!

[goodneighbor420]

yep, how about country joe's protest songs?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0jxHB3E710 --vietnam song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEBQcqgcVE0&feature=related --support the troops

[anchorman119]

Maines is an expert at putting her foot in her own mouth.

[Ant]

Nah, some people are experts (mostly conservatives) at playing the victim card.

[TrooAmerican]

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

That sentence clearly indicates that he is publicly admitting that he has indeed, Done something wrong.
"I haven't done nothing" is a double negative Equaling the statement "i have done something"


Power to the Dixie Chicks and Down with every one of their critics.

[NCOak]

wtg einstein

[myangeldog1]

Can't argue with DNA evidence there....."einstein".

[ObjectiveRealist]

Best of luck to you, Natalie!

[MajorKong]

Silly Dixie Chicks! Don't they know that only right-wing entertainers like Ted Nugent and Chuck Norris are allowed to speak?

[Ty LaRue]

When opening your mouth goes wrong

[myangeldog1]

NO....when opening your eyes and heart goes RIGHT !!

[jeplanet]

Nice one.
:)

[lblondon]

my hero!:-)

[cariintexas]

The trolls have landed. You need to get over what Natalie said in London, which was she was ashamed Bush was from TX. Come to TX and see how many Texans agree.

[myangeldog1]

...and Missourians !

[jeplanet]

And Canadians !

[DMcMillan]

and Californians!

[McBushMcSame]

The trolls can't help it. Their ilk thought they would destroy Natalie for having a voice and an opinion back then, but now, the overwhelming majority of the country is ashamed of George W. Bush.

She was right all along. They can't admit that they were wrong.

[goodneighbor420]

and Montanans

[RoloTomassi]

Okay, just to get this on top and out in front of the discussion going on here--From the motions filed on behalf of the WM3 by their attorneys:

"In his initial motion, petitioner demonstrated one key exclusion in the form of evidence that from the scores of items subjected to DNA testing pursuant to this Court"s amended testing order, no biological material could be linked to petitioner or to co-petitioners Baldwin or Misskelley. At the same time, petitioner cited three DNA results representing additional, affirmative exclusions of all petitioners that likewise triggered the assessment of such results vis-a-vis all other case evidence for purposes of considering the new trial application under subsection 208(e)(3). That exclusion evidence includes:

(1) a foreign allele located on a penile swab of victim Steven Branch;
(2) a hair recovered from the ligature used to bind Michael Moore that is consistent with Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Steven Branch, but not with the hair of any of the petitioners; and
(3) a hair recovered from a tree stump at the crime scene very close to where one of the bodies was recovered, which hair was consistent with David Jacoby, a friend of Terry Hobbs whom Hobbs visited on the day the victims disappeared and, again, not with the hair of any petitioner."

The thrust of what Maines is accused of saying has been entered into the public record through the court.

[SillyGit]

In a defamation/libel suit, the plaintiff bears the burden of proof. He must prove that what she said was false, and that she knew it was false.

It does not appear that he will succeed.

Let him waste his money. Perhaps this might lead to getting the three that appear to have been railroaded a new trial.

IANAL and I do not play one on the intertubes.

[wolfgangmo]

This is the best posting on here about this.

She repeated public information that was filed with a court. He doesn't have a legal leg to stand on. This lawsuit is the legal representation of the sweat that must be trickling down this mans face as he realizes that the noose is tightening.

[HHarvey]

Thank you. That information was missing in this article and I was wondering how they came to the conclusion of Terry Hobbs. Now that the information has been presented as him not acting alone the case needs to be re-opened obviously.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Natalie is not a stupid woman. Im willing to believe she has strong evidence to support her beliefs.

[AfroLatina21]

I live in Arkansas and there's many here who believe that the men convicted of the crimes are innocent. There is strong evidence that points to the step-father being the culprit. I personally don't think he'll win this defamation lawsuit.

I hope the real truth comes out very soon. I suggest people who know nothing about the case look at the HBO documentary. My hope is that at least these three men get a new trial so they can present the new evidence.

[HHarvey]

Then what I want to know is why did Mikellasky (or whatever his name is) make some sort of confession? What's up with that? Sounds like damning evidence to me. I've heard of coersion before but if I knew I would be convicted of something like that I would be pretty vigilant about not implicating myself if I were truly not guilty.

[jeplanet]

He was a scared 16 year old, with a low IQ, questioned for 12 hours. Google "false confessions" and see how many hits you get. It's actually not that uncommon.
He refused to repeat that "confession" in the trial against the two other teens, even though it would have significantly reduced his own sentence.

[tkondaks]

Most of not all of my information on this case comes from watching the two excellent HBO documentaries on the case, but if they're to be believed those 3 kids are innocent AND the most likely killer is the stepfather of one of the boys (can't remember whether it was Byers' stepfather or one of the others). But the stepfather that is portrayed on the documentaries was also present when the mother of his slain stepson died mysteriously a few years later while living with him. And I say: where there's smoke, there's fire.

At the very least, the 3 need a new trial; at most they should be pardoned.

[brokenarrow]

Look at the cronies who raised millions for Scooter's trial....guess treason was in vogue at the time.

Natalie, continue to speak your truth, it's your right. Why would the judge want to stand in the way of a possibility to explore this more???? Something's rotten in the state of Denmark....er, TN.

[Babysnake]

This is going to be complicated.

Did she say those things in the state where the plaintiff lives?
Did she email these claims to him?
Is the website based in the home state of the plaintiff?
Is the website accessible in the plaintiffs state?
Does the "chick" live in plaintiffs state?
Was she repeating or saying something new?
Were her questions/statements based on facts?

I could go on and on.

Glad its her and not me.

[jtmoney]

It really doesn't have to be in the same state anymore. With the way information is readily available in an instant to anybody in the world it doesn't have to be.

[radicalcentrist44]

When I saw the headline I thought that she was being sued by Eric the Midget, because he has serious beef with her.

[mediamarv]

Why aren't the lawyers being sued for demation? They have made the same statement publicly.

Sounds like a publicity stunt, diverting the press away from the real issue.

Hopefully, the facts will come out in this case.
In any event, I go with her!! She was right about Bush while the media was still sucking on his whatchacallit!

[jtmoney]

Public servants are immune from tort or prosecution if they act in good faith.