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

[CubFanHere]

Wow, I bought a "Free The West Memphis 3" bumper sticker that is now planted on the back of my truck. I bought it after watching the "Paradise Lost" documentaries. So is he going to sue me too? I hope not because there is nothing there for him after the economy tanked.

People like Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Corey Taylor of Slipnot, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Jason Newstead of Metallica, and Trey Parker of South Park fame have all been photographed wearing "Free The West Memphis 3" t-shirts. Are they now targets too? Are the prosecutors targets as well as they have brought up the theory and suggestion that Mr. Hobbs could have been connected to the killings?

Give me a break, this guy is trying to make a quick buck off the murder of his son - that he may or may not have been involved in - how pathetic.

[AverageWhiteMan]

There is a difference between saying free someone and saying someone is a murderer. If you said Hobbs was a murderer, he might have a case against you et al.

[Ajita]

I'll go completely off-topic here and just say...I don't really listen to country music but Im kinda (still) in Iove with Natalie Maines.

[wkt20]

Their last album was so amazing! I love country. And the album has it's roots there, but anyone could get into it. It's FANTASTIC!

[Didderbops]

I lived in Memphis at the time of these killlings. West Memphis is a suburb of it. I always felt it was a place where religious fear had a strong hold on the community, where "good Christian folk" could escape the "evil" of Memphis proper. So I wasn't surprised that they would point to the boys that were different, to the ones that caused fear among the rest of the flock. I think watching Paradise Lost and its sequel, that while I'm not necessarily convinced of the step father's guilt (though to be sure there are some strange aspects about his relationship to the case), I am convinced of the 3 boys' (now men) innocence. Fear runs very strong in West Memphis and it was, at least in the early 90's when I lived there, a modern day version of Salem.

[LMPE]

By chance does this guy hate the fact that the Dixie Chicks had the nerve to speak out against Bush?

[Mikeeee]

Bingo.

[oldleftcoastdude]

Where's the DNA evidence? and what's the result, if any......j­ust the facts, please

[CubFanHere]

Try this link:

http://www.wm3.org/live/caseinfo/index.php

[justice4juveniles]

well, since the Judge denied a hearing on the DNA, we don't know the facts.

[janfernandez]

Freedom of speach?

[BowlingForRevenge]

Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks are the least of Hobbs worries. There are thousands of people that believe those boys got a raw deal. There are websites and blogs and books have been written.

There was the "black man covered in blood" seen the night of the murders who washed up in a fast food place, then the local police tracked blood and mud from the crime scene into that bathroom where the possible"suspect" had washed. the cops took the bodies out of the crime scene BEFORE the coroners arrived and on and on and on. A known child molester (who would have been a suspect) testified against the boys. There was testimonies recanted all over the place. It was a mess and the trials went on to close the case because the police had mangled it every way they could.

Another boys step father was a suspect from the get go but the 3 boys were accused mostly because they were supposed satanic worshipers many claimed it was a satanic offering .The police had an elaborate confession from one of the boys that no evidence corroborated.
It was a typical small town uneducated witch hunt.

The DNA evidence was Terry Hobbs hair that was caught in the rope that was used to bind the victims hands behind their backs.
I would say that Natalie Maines was just repeating that fact.

[dtownla]

Watch the documentary Paradise Lost. She's right. The father obviously did it and the kids are innocent. A bunch of toothless rednecks threw them in jail because they listened to heavy metal.

[Indubio]

The convicted deserve a new trial and not in Arkansas. Maines has a big mouth and should know better than to defame someone without proper evidence. If she doesn't this as a fine time for her to learn. No one is obviously guilty. Even a confession isn't always iron clad and you have no more clue what happened to the three children than anyone else does.

[revue]

Maines done nothing wrong.

Many people were there at the rally. If I could have been, I too would have been there.

[Ajita]

Right..the world knows about this because of the protests, not because of this high-profile defamation suit.

[QueenOfViolets]

People in the Bible Belt have a tendency to overestimate the probability of sexual abuse by strangers and underestimate the probability of sexual abuse within the family.

It's because of xenophobia and a strong emphasis on family values. They set so much store on family, it's hard for them to imagine sexual abuse inside the family.

[toypiano]

SO true, and not just in the Bible Belt. "Stranger danger" exists, but SA happens more often in families than from strangers.

That said, I have no idea about this story, it's the first I've heard of it. I'll try and track down the documentary.

[WowJones]

Bingo!

[AverageWhiteMan]

Do you have a miraculous insight into Bible Belt mentality, or just like to spout off generalizations ?

[hereinmiami]

ok, could you not use expressions like "bunch of toothless rednecks"? is that group stereotyping really any better than thinking that teenage boys who listen to heavy metal music are thugs? I find the way in which so many Americans openly sneer at (poor white) Southerners to be a. startlingly prejudiced, and b. total projection; you think racism, homophobia, and religious fundamentalism do not abound in the "blue" states? Its class prejudice cloaked in political disagreement. No wonder there's a culture war.

[alwaysthere]

oh yeah
And this just in
Anyone else with balls
Will be castrated in America

I love these gals, im just not into they're music
bought a cd tho
just to say thanks
for havin a pair

[hrhkat29]

blah blah blah, it will get thrown out, its called free speech, but if its in the south, I guess maybe not. She will get off, this guy is just looking for money in a bad economy. If Brad and Angelina sued for everything bad said about them and won they would be worth 50billion.­...enough to adopt half of africa, and ofcourse me.

[giselleascott]

That is so incredibly heartbreaking about the boys. Although I really wonder why Ms. Maines is the poster-girl for this whole thing. As for Ms. Maines, this is just disappointing. I mean I know she has a habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, but come on. Regardless if anything being claimed could be true, why would she attract such negative attention to herself (AGAIN) given her record? Didn't she learn the first time around?

[benjamincj]

Yes, she learned the first time that not speaking out again would be another nail in liberty's coffin. Death threats over stating an opinion? Give me liberty or give me more death threats. The people that act out when someone speaks the truth gain nothing but encouragement when they manage to cow someone into never taking a stand out of fear of reprisal. It would be best if more people learn that lesson and stand up.

[erinker]

"Learn" what? To keep her mouth shut when she sees an injustice just to save her hide?? I hope she never "learns" that lesson! In fact, we could all use a little more of the courage Ms. Maines displays and we should all worry about our own hides a little less.

Talk hard, Natalie!

[ladyv]

How is it negative attention? She stated a fact. A hair was discovered tangled in the rope used to bind one of the boys. The DNA was analyzed, and shown to belong to Terry Hobbs. Therefore, new DNA evidence *has* linked Hobbs to the crime.

It wasn't the wrong thing to say, and it wasn't the wrong time to say it.

[MathIsTruth]

A habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time?

Are you referring to her comment that George W Bush made her feel embarrassed about being from Texas? That surely was not the wrong thing to say. And is there EVER a bad time to speak out against one's government? (Assuming, of course, we are talking about the government of a country that cherishes liberty.)

[Liberalrep1980]

My details on this case are fuzzy since it was so long ago. I am confused. The person who is suing, was found guilty or innocent? Didn't they confess to the murders as well? How is it defamation if it's true?

[rektruax]

The person suing was never on trial or a suspect. He is (was?) the step-father of one of the slain boys.

[MathIsTruth]

"I want people to know I haven't done nothing wrong," Hobbs said.

Well, you did just murder the English language. So there's that.

[Clare53]

math, funny.

[greendream]

Can we get her to say something about Leonard Peltier while she's at it?

[Kenji]

He was using the double negative on purpose, the clever b@stard.