West Memphis three

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

Normally I am in favor of the death penalty.... but I always assumed that they needed some sort of evidence to convict someone... even made up evidence. ZERO evidence was presented in this case.

So read it and tell me what you think... im not just being a bleeding heart on this one am I?

Justice For The West Memphis Three!

by Andrew Freund

In 1996, the Emmy Award-winning documentary Paradise Lost exposed the many injustices in the 1993 "Satanic ritual" murder trial that convicted the West Memphis Three - Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin. The documentary revealed the gross misconduct of police, prosecutors and judges in the case of three teenage boys who were wrongfully accused of a grisly triple murder of three 8-year-old boys.

In March 2000, Paradise Lost 2: New Revelations aired on HBO, making an even stronger case that West Memphis police botched evidence, ignored the obvious primary suspect and did everything they could to target Damien Echols as the supposed ringleader of a "cult" whose members didn't even know each other before the day of the killings.

Yet Echols now sits on Arkansas' death row, waiting for his case to be heard by the state supreme court.

The case of the West Memphis Three is filled with injustices (see www.wm3.org for more details). Police extracted a false confession from Misskelley, a mentally handicapped boy. Misskelley was polygraphed and interrogated by police for more than 12 hours with no access to his father or legal counsel. Yet police recorded only the final 20 minutes of the interrogation to capture a "confession."

No physical evidence linked either Echols, Misskelley or Baldwin to the crime, and bite marks on one of the victims didn't match any of the three. Plus, the obvious main suspect, the stepfather of one of the victims, presented documentary filmmakers with a knife stained with blood that matched the type of one of the victims! Even the father of one of the victims said, "I believe the wrong people are in prison for this crime."

An Internet support campaign has grown up around Damien's case, and a number of entertainers have spoken out - from Metallica to Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam to Trey Parker, the creator of "South Park."

for a more complete story and more info see the following sites or watch the two documentaries made about them.

http://www.wm3.org/splash.php

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murd...is/index_1.html

(especially pages 8 and up)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three

more and different info

[kellygrrrrrl]

I saw both films covering the case.

I do not think they are guilty.

BUT....It's a tough call.

Did you see the films?

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

I saw the first film and have the other being netflixed <smile>

I dont know if they are guilty or not, but I could not have convicted them without any evidence... I am shocked at how little the Juries understand the system and laws in tartville.

[Paper Hearts]

I guess that's one of the main arguements against death penaltys. When it's your ass they have on the stand for a crime you did not commit, the difference between life in prison and execution will seem pretty important.

[Blackmail]

Which is why I propose a new law, if a prosecutor puts an innocent person in prison or on death row and it is later found that the person is 100% innocent, the prosecutor has to serve the same sentence. The Judge too. :grin

[Paper Hearts]

^I want to say hell yes...

But thinking about it, that still wouldn't guarentee that all criminals executed are guilty...or that all lawyers or judges executed for destroying innocent citizens were not actually correct. I think if you leave people alive and behind bars it's a decent enough failsafe.

[sinmantyx]

I've always strongly opposed the death penalty for three reasons:

1) You will NEVER have a perfect justice system and the death sentence has been used as state sanctioned lynching in the past (and present). If they are not-guilty at the very least there is a chance of release.

2) If someone commits a crime so horrible that the public cannot comprehend it, that person would do better spending his or her life in a mental institution and being studied by mental health professionals for new insights into human behavior that may be of benefit to everyone. At least some good can come of it. (Where do you think Manson is right now?)

3) The death penalty is not a deterant. In fact according to Freakanomics, it actually increases the number of murders in states where it is enacted. This is most likely due to the "learn by example" mechanism, where the state sets the example that killing someone is a reasonable answer to a problem.

I'm not a "bleeding heart" I'm a pragmatist. I have never heard any argument for the death penalty that wasn't flawed in a practical way. Most arguments I hear are fueled by emotion and anger.

This case may very well be a case of my number one reason showing itself yet again.

If you are really interested in this topic, follow the story of Gov. George Ryan of Illinois giving blanket clemency to 156 inmates on death row (meaning they would not be killed, but would still stay in prison). The events started when a few death row inmates were exonerated due to a SCHOOL PROJECT at a university.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

I think these 3 could be exhonorated by a couple of gradeschool kids from a state that requires kids to actually attend school.... after watching the documentaries, I am shocked that the whole town doesnt drown each time it rains due to staring at the sky with their mouths open.

[Blackmail]

^I want to say hell yes...

But thinking about it, that still wouldn't guarentee that all criminals executed are guilty...or that all lawyers or judges executed for destroying innocent citizens were not actually correct. I think if you leave people alive and behind bars it's a decent enough failsafe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah i was sort of joking. But being innocent and behind bars sucks hard too. I would imagine.

[BrassFusion]

Yeah i was sort of joking.  But being innocent and behind bars sucks hard too.  I would imagine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Of course it would suck, but I'm sure most jailed innocents would prefer a life sentence to being executed.

Unless they want to die. Then it morphs into the assisted suicide issue- you know, I'm really surprised they don't allow convicts to pursue assisted suicides.

[Hellion]

:devil I'll take death before instead of prison IMO.

having to worry about being assaulted every hour of the day would suck.especially if you were falsely accused of something you did not do.

The evils of assumming.

[BrassFusion]

:devil  I'll take death before instead of prison IMO.

having to worry about being assaulted every hour of the day would suck.especially if you were falsely accused of something you did not do.

The evils of assumming.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd probably prefer life in prison, partly because I'm a woman and partly because I'm not a naturally paranoid person.

[sinmantyx]

:devil  I'll take death before instead of prison IMO.

having to worry about being assaulted every hour of the day would suck.especially if you were falsely accused of something you did not do.

The evils of assumming.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not all prisons are the same. I swear most of the talk of sexual assault (not that I think it doesn't happen at all) is just exaggerated to scare kids straight.

Reguardless, I hope justice will prevail in this particular case.