The 14th Indie Memphis Film Festival ended with some unexpected drama last night during a question-and-answer session following the screening of Paradise Lost: Purgatory, the third installment of filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s documentary series about the “West Memphis 3” case.
By the time the screening ended, it probably wasn’t much of a surprise when the recently released Jason Baldwin, one of the “3” came onto the stage for a post-screening discussion. Baldwin’s likely appearance had been well-known to those around the festival for several days, but organizers had requested the information be kept under wraps for security reasons.
But a quiet interaction at the end of the question-and-answer session did appear to catch everyone off guard. Baldwin had been asked if he’s spoken to any of the victim’s families. After apparently citing minor interactions during the trial and subsequent court hearings, Baldwin suggested he hasn’t spoken to any relatives of the three murdered boys — Christopher Byers, Steve Branch, and Michael Moore — since his release.
Soon afterward, a young woman in the front row raised her hand and said she didn’t have a question but a comment. She identified herself as Amanda Hobbs — the younger sister of Branch, now apparently in her early 20s — and told Baldwin that she too wears black and loves Metallica and that while she used to believe that he, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were guilty she came to realize that “there were six victims, not just three.”
“I see now that none of us got justice,” Hobbs said. Baldwin, rather than speaking into the microphone, looked down at her and appeared to mouth “thank you.” After the event was over, one of Baldwin’s lawyers was seen tracking Hobbs down outside the screening and bringing her backstage, presumably to meet with Baldwin in private.
