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Dixie Chick Maines Sued for Loud Mouth

Posted Dec 5th 2008 4:37AM by TMZ Staff

Dixie Chick Natalie Maines can't keep her mouth shut about a trio of murders in 1993 -- and now she's being hauled into court for allegedly placing the rap on a guy whose stepson was one of the victims.

The inveterate Bush-basher -- and her bandmates -- has been sued in Arkansas by Terry Hobbs, whose then-8-year-old stepson Steve Branch was killed back in 1993 along with two other boys. But, as reports say, Maines is singled out in court papers.

Hobbs has never been charged or implicated in the murders -- three other men were convicted -- but Maines has been outspoken in her belief Hobbs was involved.

Hobbs says in the suit he's lost income and reputation, and that Maines' claims are "so extreme in degree as to be ... atrocious and utterly intolerable." The band couldn't be reached for comment.

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(Page 6 of 6) Previous 15 Comments

76. The lawsuit couldn't happen to a more deserving person...at some point you learn to keep your mouth shut. The first amendment doesn't give her the right to accuse people of something that they have not been convicted of. As a former court stenographer and now a state corrections nurse, I know that people cannot just shoot off their mouth at their every whim and get away with it!

Posted at 1:02AM on Dec 6th 2008 by trishrn

77. Isn't Natalie Maines great? I love her. She's beautiful and smart, but she's also the best country music singer out there. She was right in her comments about Bush and the war. Thankfully, she was brave enough to stand her ground and tell people who gave her a hard time to just get lost. As far as this case is concerned, many people believe the wrong people are imprisoned right now, and they want justice to be served.

Posted at 1:21PM on Dec 6th 2008 by Mike S

78. At last someone who is running their mouth about someone without proof is being sued ! It is about time Maines was shut up by taking a few bucks out of her pocket. I still say she committed treason by running her mouth during war time about our President. I would never do that even about Obama or Clinton who I do not personally like because of their policies.

Posted at 8:12AM on Dec 7th 2008 by Shadowwolf

79. What is the so called evidence against Terry Hobbs? I keep looking for things that tell me that Echols and his tag alongs are innocent but nothing is convincing me!!! Miskelley was not pressured and he is to "dumb" to make up a confession soooo detailed. He knew specific details about the deaths that noone would no but him. Shame on Natalie Maines and her big mouth.

Posted at 4:29PM on Dec 6th 2008 by Amy

80. Sorry, TMZ, you are way off on your criticism of Natalie Maines on this one. Terry Hobbs has, in fact, been implicated in the murders and there is sufficient reason for suspicion (at least).

And as a legal matter, his suit is ridiculous. He will not be able to prove Maines has caused him damage because there are loads of people who think he committed the murders... and the reason they think so is because of his statements and his actions, not because of what Maines has said.

If Maines can be successfully sued for defamation on these facts, then TMZ is screwed. She has a better factual basis than 90% of your posts.

Posted at 6:36PM on Dec 6th 2008 by Tony

81. TMZ needs to keep their mouths shut until they know what they are talking about. Terry Hobbs HAS been implicated by DNA. Yes, three men are in prison for the murders already, but anyone who knows JACK about the case knows that the murderer(s) of these kids is/ are still walking around free.

Hobbs' DNA was in a compromising location. His own ex wife (the mother of the victim) thinks he did it.

Natalie Maines did nothing wrong. Truth is an absolute defense to defamation.

Idiots.

Posted at 5:15AM on Dec 7th 2008 by RM

82. #11: You hope a child murderer gets millions just because you don't like the Dixie Chicks? That's great. Our country needs more great people like you. In case you didn't figure it out yet, that was SARCASM.

The child killer should get NOTHING. No, wait, he should get a long, sad life in a prison cell.

Posted at 5:15AM on Dec 7th 2008 by RM

83. #49: You are entitled to your opinion, but to lie about it to try to sway others is DISGUSTING.

Posted at 5:15AM on Dec 7th 2008 by RM

84. Have him come sue me! I have been saying from the beginning he did it. Interesting that these boys were all bitten during the murder, and the stepdad lost his dentures the same week. By court he had a new set. His wife is sick for standing by him.
He is a jealous, murdering pedifile.

Posted at 2:59PM on Dec 7th 2008 by Sam Simmons

85. WM3areGuilty: "What a joke. All three murderers confessed, two of them, Echols and Misskelley, multiple times. YOU need to get your facts straight."

I highly recommend you Google the terms "false confession" and "juvenile defendants." Also the case of Tyler Edmonds.

Posted at 4:05PM on Dec 8th 2008 by Bamabunny

86. Actually, Mr. Hobbs' DNA was found at the crime scene. A hair was found in one of the knots in the shoelaces used to tie the boys, and DNA confirmed that the hair was Mr. Hobbs'. Mr. Hobbs also waited about 5 hours before he informed her that son was missing. Maybe he didn't want her to come home until he had time to clean up after himself.

Posted at 4:37PM on Dec 9th 2008 by Brent

87. i dont like her, but she is right.
http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=f1b058c2-82ac-455c-b193-83cfce18215d

Posted at 8:25AM on Jan 1st 2009 by pennys world

88. First and foremost, the step-father whose teeth had been removed was not Terry Hobbs, it was John Mark Byers, the step-father of Christopher Byers.
Second, the statements Natalie made are false, hence the suit.
The DNA she claims is Terry Hobbs, is only consistent with him, with 1.5% of the population being the possible donor of the hair. Which by the way was found underneath the ligature (not tied into it) and the boys were tied with the shoelaces, but no one knows who was tied with whose shoelaces. So the hair could easily be secondary transfer. This has even been stated by the defense experts as very weak evidence.

As for Jessie being pressured into confessing, okay maybe that is possible on the first one, but what about the two after he was convicted. You know the one where his attorney was present, and he cleared up the inconsistencies even stating that he mislead the police during the first one on purpose. He also stated they would find a Evan Williams bottle under a underpass, and guess what they found the bottle.

Fibers found on the boys that match items found in Damien and Jason's house. Blood found on pendant belonging to Damien that matched not only Jason but one of the victims. Blood found on Jessie's shirt (that he was wearing the day the boys disappeared) that not only matched himself, but Michael Moore. (the one in his confession he said he was hitting).
All three confessed in one form or another.

Oh the last thing, the DNA sample obtained to test the against the hair. Was taken from a cigarette butt in Terry Hobb's front yard. Gee, if you smoke don't throw your cigarettes down, or let anyone you know throw them in your yard. You might be accused of murder.

Posted at 12:36PM on Jan 5th 2009 by Sunnyone

89. First and foremost, the step-father whose teeth had been removed was not Terry Hobbs, it was John Mark Byers, the step-father of Christopher Byers.
Second, the statements Natalie made are false, hence the suit.
The DNA she claims is Terry Hobbs, is only consistent with him, with 1.5% of the population being the possible donor of the hair. Which by the way was found underneath the ligature (not tied into it) and the boys were tied with the shoelaces, but no one knows who was tied with whose shoelaces. So the hair could easily be secondary transfer. This has even been stated by the defense experts as very weak evidence.

As for Jessie being pressured into confessing, okay maybe that is possible on the first one, but what about the two after he was convicted. You know the one where his attorney was present, and he cleared up the inconsistencies even stating that he mislead the police during the first one on purpose. He also stated they would find a Evan Williams bottle under a underpass, and guess what they found the bottle.

Fibers found on the boys that match items found in Damien and Jason's house. Blood found on pendant belonging to Damien that matched not only Jason but one of the victims. Blood found on Jessie's shirt (that he was wearing the day the boys disappeared) that not only matched himself, but Michael Moore. (the one in his confession he said he was hitting).
All three confessed in one form or another.

Oh the last thing, the DNA sample obtained to test the against the hair. Was taken from a cigarette butt in Terry Hobb's front yard. Gee, if you smoke don't throw your cigarettes down, or let anyone you know throw them in your yard. You might be accused of murder.

Posted at 12:36PM on Jan 5th 2009 by Sunnyone

Oh dear....
1st and foremost, Terry Hobbs also removed his teeth. Partial dentures were found along with his knife collection and
turned over by his ex-wife.

Second, it would be only your opinion the statements were false. Nothing more.

Third: Yes, Jessie's confessions. Multiple or not, the boy claimed the three boys were raped, strangled and beaten before
their hands being tied up with brown rope. Read the autopsy reports along with several experts in forensics.
NO rape occurred, NO strangulation occurred, NO blood was found on the boys' clothing, NOR semen as you "nons" love to
spread rumors about. Their hands and feet were tied with their own shoelaces. NOT brown rope. It amazes me to think
that those with intelligence and have reading abilities, put weight on these confessions. No matter how many times the
police tried to get him to confess right, he couldn't. BECAUSE he wasn't there. Christopher Morgan also confessed. He
also stated the boys were found in a ditch feet apart from each other. Morgan's friend said he heard the boys were tied
left wrist to left ankle, right wrist to right ankle. He also failed a polygraph as did his friend. Gee..... So in one breath, an
innocent person doesn't confess, yet in another, Christopher Morgan gets a walk away free card. Why? he and his buddy
knew more than Jessie ever did, even when trying to get it right over and over and over again.

Fibers that were found were not conclusive to ANYONE, even the fiber expert at the time insists so. So please don't try
misinforming people that because fibers from a red bath robe and a gerranimals shirt were consistent with those that were
found, this was damning evidence. Take a look at how the police collected the evidence and stacked them on top of each other, etc. before claiming any type of consistency with fibers.

The blood on the necklace was never introduced as evidence, the t-shirt was found to have the same blood type, not same
DNA, so please don't try pulling that BS. Jessie said his t-shirt was white. The T-shirt with the blood was gray. Perhaps
they need to do further testing to rule it out in order to convince you that DNA is far different from being the same blood type.?
It's about as relevant as Chris Byers and John Byers having the same type on a kershaw knife.

And lastly, you are full of SH** Sonnyboy.

Posted at 1:10PM on Jan 24th 2009 by innocent

90. Innocent:

In reference to the teeth, that was brought up by a previous poster confusing John Mark Byers and Terry Hobbs, if you would care to read the posts you might have got that.

Not my opinion about the statements being false, they are false. I notice you didn't bother to refute the DNA evidence that I stated. That's because you can't, those are from the defense experts themselves.

As for the "confessions" and the brown rope, once again Jessie cleared up that inconsistency in his confession after his conviction where he himself stated he did this to mislead the police.
Explain to everyone how Jessie described the marks behind the boys ears? (unless he was there)
Explain the whiskey bottle, that was found by his attorney and the prosecutors exactly where Jessie said it would be.
Explain how Jessie knew which boy was cut on the face, and which boy was virtually castrated?
Explain why Jessie made Jason the worst offender, or even better why he implicated Jason at all, when he went to the police station saying he had heard Burch and Echols had done it.

Care to show me Morgan's confession?
Or the rest of that you implied? I just re-read all their (it's Morgan and Holland by the way) reports and files available. The only one you come close to is Holland stating they were tied hand to foot, but no specifics.
So I still say Jessie knew more than them. Anyone reading their reports will agree.

I stated the fibers matched.. I never said conclusively. How does stacking the clothes on top of one another change the fibers? If your talking about the photos that have been released of the evidence, you might want to look at the date. (hint those photographs were taken after the items went to the crime lab).

Blood on pendant, never said it was introduced into evidence.
Blood on shirt, I never mentioned DNA as no DNA test has been performed on the shirt. Wonder why the defense didn't test that one. hmmm...

As for you last comment, I will only say this, if you have to stoop to calling names, then most will gather that your not very secure in your beliefs or "facts".

This isn't about whether you believe they are innocent, or I believe they are guilty. It's about Natalie stating things that are not factual. Since you can't refute the DNA evidence of the hair that is only consistent with Terry Hobbs and 1.5% of the population, how is Natalie going to refute it?