More than three years after the Crittenden County Circuit Court denied a petition for additional DNA testing — and more than a year after the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed that decision — the West Memphis Three are one step closer to getting some answers they hope might clear their names.

A hearing in Crittenden County Circuit Court Friday morning lasted less than 10 minutes and was fairly uneventful. Prosecuting attorney Sonia Hagood and attorneys for Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley signed an agreed order for DNA testing, and Hagood presented the order to Circuit Judge Tonya Alexander. Baldwin was in attendance, but Echols and Misskelley were not, having been excused at their request.

The men have long sought DNA testing of evidence from their 1994 conviction un

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