West Memphis Three awareness day

[The STE]

6/3/07 is West Memphis Three Awareness Day, on the 14th anniversary of their arrest.
Shortly after three eight-year-old boys were found mutilated and murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, local newspapers stated the killers had been caught. The police assured the public that the three teenagers in custody were definitely responsible for these horrible crimes. Evidence?

The same police officers coerced an error-filled “confession” from Jessie Misskelley Jr., who is mentally handicapped. They subjected him to 12 hours of questioning without counsel or parental consent, audio-taping only two fragments totaling 46 minutes. Jessie recanted it that evening, but it was too late— Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were all arrested on June 3, 1993, and convicted of murder in early 1994.

Although there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution pathetically resorted to presenting black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as proof that the boys were sacrificed in a satanic cult ritual. Unfathomably, Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin received life without parole, and Misskelley got life plus 40.

For over 13 years, The West Memphis Three have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. Echols waits in solitary confinement for the lethal injection our tax dollars will pay for. They were all condemned by their poverty, incompetent defense, satanic panic and a rush to judgment.

But there’s still hope for them, and you can help.
http://www.wm3.org/

[The STE]

Hm. Figured there'd be at least one reply.

[The Mothman]

i watched Paradise Lost.
the documentary on it.

seems like they did it to me.

[The STE]

based on the "confession" that was factually incorrect on many accounts, the other possible suspects that nobody bothered to look into, or the lack of concrete evidence?

[The Mothman]

well i actually only finished the first half...theres prolly a shitload of stuf in there that i missed.

i doubt this will help though. worth a try i guess.

[The STE]

Did you get to the part where the people who said they heard Damien talk about the murders are cross-examined?

[The Mothman]

Originally Posted by The STE

Did you get to the part where the people who said they heard Damien talk about the murders are cross-examined?

no i believe i missed that. it was probably key, wasnt it?

[The STE]

They conveniently couldn't hear anything BUT him say "I killed them and will kill again" or whatever they said he said, and IIRC it was at a crowded event.

[stubbornforgey]

I just finished watching this recently.
I too found it amazing how those witnesses overheard all that in a noisy, crowded room.
It does paint a very grim picture for the accused but flaws can be found in most of the investigation.

[Despare]

I kind of believe in letting things take their course in a case like this. Sure they could be innocent but if by some chance they're guilty then it would be a shame to set them free wouldn't it? It's lose/lose unless we know what really happened.