Did the ”West Memphis Three” get hoodwinked again?
From the moment I first saw the HBO special Paradise Lost, the whole case seemed flimsy and I thought the story was bogus. A heinous murder of three little all American apple pie kids and SOMEONE had to pay for it. Who do you pick? The strange goth-like kids who are said to have ties to Satanism. On top of getting 18 years of their life literally stolen they were extorted out of a confession so the state can skip out of paying them any settlement for botching the case. Isn’t that like bending them over and giving it to them twice?
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I understand what you are saying, @Hypocrisy_Central, but it was their decision to enter the Alford plea instead of a new trial.
It was their decision. They basically had to agree that the prosecution has enough evidence that it would be likely for them to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but in my opinion the only reason that’s the case is that there’s no evidence that anyone else committed the crime. I’ve been behind the West Memphis Three since I heard of the case. Yeah, the Alford plea wasn’t the best outcome, but it lets these three men go free after almost twenty years in prison. Better than nothing.
Interesting aside: The third installment of Paradise Lost will be shown at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival next month. Now that the Three have been released, the filmmakers are working to shoot a new ending for the film. You can read about it here.
@Seelix They basically had to agree that the prosecution has enough evidence that it would be likely for them to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, From what I heard it was the lax of any physical evidence that gave rise to this bogus deal. So how wouls a retrial produce evidence of guilt beyond all reasonable doubt when there is not to start with? They just rushed to judgment, gaffed up the “odd ball kids” got the “slower one” to confess after more than half a day of battering him with questions with no lawyer or parents present. Maybe those guys should have worked over Casey Anthony, they would have got what they wanted.
@Hypocrisy_Central – I’m just going by what the definition of the Alford plea is. They admit that, based on the evidence that the prosecution does have, and based on the fact that there isn’t any evidence to say that someone else committed the crime, that prosecution would likely be able to convince a jury. It’s not admitting guilt, by any means. I totally agree about the case itself and that it was a great injustice – I don’t think they did it. The plea they gave yesterday was, unfortunately, probably the only way they could be released.
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