I don't know if anyone here is familiar of this case but it involved three teenagers from West Memphis who were arrested and charged with killing three kids in '93 in basically what as a modern day witch trial. Because they wore black and listened to heavy metal they were dubbed devil worshipers and were arrested for the murders. One of the three who is mentally disabled confessed to police but many believe he was forced into a false confession and later he recanted.
Personally, I think the step father of one of the victims did it. One of his hairs was found at the crime scene and I think it's more than a coincidence that his teeth 'fell out' before bite marks on the victims were discovered. Even the father of one of the victims believes the three did not do it.
The Following User Says Thank You to Inferno For This Useful Post:
After watching the documentary and doing some research on my own out of fascination many years ago, I don't understand how these guys were ever convicted. It is a shame that they had to plead guilty to get their freedom.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
Any pro-death penalty people care to comment? Here we have yet another example of a prisoner on death row having his or her conviction overturned and being released prior to execution. Juries never make mistakes in death penalty cases and only ever convict people who are absolutely 100% guilty though, right?
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to MarchHare For This Useful Post:
That has got to be bittersweet for the three men to have to agree to live with a murder conviction in exchange for their freedom. I never believed they should have been charged in the first place.
What kind of perverted "justice" is this? You can plead guilty but maintain your innocence? The state can hold your freedom at ransom to allow it to close its files and not undertake further investigation into the deaths of 3 children? Not only that, but the admission that the state had enough evidence to proceed would seem to be designed to counter any civil claim the wrongfully convicted might make.
That's all actually quite disgusting.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to flylock shox For This Useful Post:
Disturbed actually wrote a song about the case called '3'. All proceeds went to the Damien Echols Fund.
There were actually a lot of bands and artists that released music to benefit the WM3.
Henry Rollins spearheaded a cd back in early 2000's with many artists like Lemmy, Iggy pop, Chuck D, Rancid, Corey Taylor, Rancid etc..
I think Eddie Vedder and the supersuckers released a song together for the WM3 as well..
There have been a lot of people behind getting these guys released, I think Eddie Vedder and Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks) even went to the courthouse when the 3 were released.
If anyone doesn't know much about this case, there are some good documentaries out there called Paradise lost. It got some attention because it was the first time Metallica allowed their music to be used in a movie way back when it was made.
That said, it's sad that they had to confess to get released.
Any pro-death penalty people care to comment? Here we have yet another example of a prisoner on death row having his or her conviction overturned and being released prior to execution. Juries never make mistakes in death penalty cases and only ever convict people who are absolutely 100% guilty though, right?
considering how many innocent people have been freed from death row after DNA evidence exonerated them, imagine how many more were put to death before DNA became an acceptable science? the death penalty is nothing more than state sponsored murder in many cases with how corrupt police and prosecutors can be in getting a conviction
What kind of perverted "justice" is this? You can plead guilty but maintain your innocence? The state can hold your freedom at ransom to allow it to close its files and not undertake further investigation into the deaths of 3 children? Not only that, but the admission that the state had enough evidence to proceed would seem to be designed to counter any civil claim the wrongfully convicted might make.
That's all actually quite disgusting.
It was essentially a deal accepted as a means of getting out today, as opposed to rolling the dice on another trial. They likely would have been found not guilty at a subsequent trial, the state had all but said as much, but it's not a 100% guarantee. Accepting this deal meant they walked free today without any risk. The state also admitted that accepting the plea served as a means to counter a civil claim. The 3 had the option to go forward with a new trial (assuming it would have been granted without the plea, which was very likely) but chose the risk free option. I don't really like it, but I don't see how you can really avoid the result at this point without making exceptions, and to be honest a system that employs exceptions to rules isn't feasible.
The real injustice is that this allows the case to be considered closed, it adds further insult to the deaths of those 3 boys.
The Following User Says Thank You to valo403 For This Useful Post:
Maybe the law is different down there, but the proper course of action should be to reopen the case with a new trial, then stay the proceedings. For the state to take the position it has in this case... ugh. Up here we speak of the "honour of the Crown" and I'm pretty sure Her Majesty would not approve.
Maybe the law is different down there, but the proper course of action should be to reopen the case with a new trial, then stay the proceedings. For the state to take the position it has in this case... ugh. Up here we speak of the "honour of the Crown" and I'm pretty sure Her Majesty would not approve.
The case was reopened with a new trial, the guilty plea was then followed by a sentence of time served.
It got some attention because it was the first time Metallica allowed their music to be used in a movie way back when it was made.
That's how I first heard of it. A discussion on it came up on the MetClub message boards when I first joined back in 04. I never managed to watch the documentaries in their entirety until this weekend when I watched the first one but read enough to believe that they're innocent.
West Memphis 3 Freed After Alford Plea
