Merged Remember the West Memphis 3?

[John Jones]

Deal could lead to release of West Memphis Three

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/18/plea-deal-release-west-memphis-three/

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are working out a deal that could result in the release of the West Memphis Three murder defendants as early as Friday, according to legal sources and relatives of victims.

"It's a high probability," said Jackie Byers, 44, wife of John Mark Byers, whose son was one of three 8-year-old boys found nude and hog-tied in 1993 in a watery ditch in West Memphis. "We've been asked not to say anything until after tomorrow."

A source close to the case said the pending deal involves the immediate release of defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley in return for pleas to lesser charges. All three were convicted of capital murder in 1994. Echols was sentenced to death, while Baldwin and Misskelley are serving life terms

 

[lionking]

I suppose the three will accept the bargain, even though they they would be accepting guilt of some sort.

 

[sgtbaker]

I suppose the three will accept the bargain, even though they they would be accepting guilt of some sort.

What really stinks about that is the prosecution wouldn't even be open to a deal, after so long, if there weren't questioning the original conviction. Rather than admit they were wrong, they dangle a deal, to good to pass up, in their faces.

 

[Rolfe]

From what I've read of it, this is another "railroad job from hell". It sucks that people have to accept some sort of guilt in order to get out from under capital charges, when the evidence for them being involved at all simply doesn't stack up.

Rolfe.

 

[Aepervius]

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

Interresting. It indeed looks like the prosecution is trying to compensate flaw with with a deal.

 

[nvidiot]

Isn't there some kind of ethics or professional conduct rules that would prevent a prosecutor who knows someone isn't guilty from prosecuting a deal?

 

[Rolfe]

These people seldom if ever "know" the person they are persecuting isn't guilty. Prosecutors are as prone to delusion as anybody else. Once a belief has taken hold in a human brain, logic and evidence are poor tools for getting it out.

Rolfe.

 

[Allecher]

So it was an "Alford plea": http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2011/08/19/flash-west-memphis-3-freed-in-plea-bargain-on-1993-murders

This may be the first time in this country that inmates sentenced to life — much less one sentenced to death — have been removed from their prisons in shackles and handcuffs and freed within 24 hours based on a plea agreement.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

These people seldom if ever "know" the person they are persecuting isn't guilty. Prosecutors are as prone to delusion as anybody else. Once a belief has taken hold in a human brain, logic and evidence are poor tools for getting it out.

Rolfe.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

So the CTers got it wrong.

We were told the WM3 didn't do it, they are innocent!

Apparently not, as they plead guilty to the crimes today.

 

[Babbylonian]

So the CTers got it wrong.

We were told the WM3 didn't do it, they are innocent!

Apparently not, as they plead guilty to the crimes today.

Arkansas must figure they're rehabilitated. That's the only reason they'd release murderers despite a guilty plea. No state could be so cynical as to force guilty pleas on innocent people as a condition of release from prison in an attempt to avoid lawsuits...right?

 

[Allecher]

...and to prevent the WM3 from getting rich on the book and movie rights.

 

[I Ratant]

Isn't there some kind of ethics or professional conduct rules that would prevent a prosecutor who knows someone isn't guilty from prosecuting a deal?

.
That's the funniest post today!
"Ethics" and "prosecutor who knows someone isn't guilty" in the same sentence.

 

[I Ratant]

...and to prevent the WM3 from getting rich on the book and movie rights.

.
Fine print in the plea agreement.."The state receives 50% of all media income"

 

[Mark6]

Isn't there some kind of ethics or professional conduct rules that would prevent a prosecutor who knows someone isn't guilty from prosecuting a deal?

There is.

In theory.

Sometimes prosecutors even follow it -- when they are no up for re-election, or their re-election is assured.

In case you had not figured it out, I think making prosecutors an elective office is the single biggest mistake US Founding Fathers made. Talk about conflict of interest!

.
Fine print in the plea agreement.."The state receives 50% of all media income"

Is it true, or did you just make this up?

I actually would not be surprised if it is true.

 

[I Ratant]

The Georgia state prosecutor on this case rode the conviction of an innocent into the governorship of the state.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Frank

 

[jimtron]

So they had to agree that there is evidence against them. Does anyone know what that evidence is?

An Alford plea allows defendants to assert their innocence, while conceding that the state has enough evidence to convict them.

 

[Schrodinger's Cat]

So the CTers got it wrong.

We were told the WM3 didn't do it, they are innocent!

Apparently not, as they plead guilty to the crimes today.

I should preface this by saying that I don't have much familiarity with the case and thus have no strong opinion on it, but this is from the AP report:

The defendants, known by their supporters as the West Memphis 3, agreed to a legal maneuver that lets them maintain their innocence while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence against them.

"I am innocent of these charges but I am entering an Alford guilty plea," Echols told the judge. Baldwin and Miskelley also reasserted their innocence.

"Although I am innocent, this plea is in my best interest," Misskelley said....

After the hearings, Baldwin told reporters that he had been reluctant to plead guilty to crimes he maintains he didn't commit, but that they agreed to the deal because they had to get Echols off death row.

"That's not justice, however you look at it," he said.

Echols thanked Baldwin and called his release "overwhelming."

"It's not perfect," he said of the deal. "It's not perfect by any means. But it at least brings closure to some areas and some aspects."

He said the West Memphis Three would continue to work to clear their names

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...3MCCcQ?docId=e94b345d04af4b1ba4257eb03a03d698

 

[Babbylonian]

So they had to agree that there is evidence against them. Does anyone know what that evidence is?

I don't know, but I suspect that they were told by their lawyer(s) that they could either get out today or roll the dice on their DNA hearing (scheduled for December) and possible subsequent retrial - and there was no guarantee that they'd get the latter. After 17 years in prison (half these guys' lives), I know I'd sign whatever they stuck in front of me if it meant I could get out.

 

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Arkansas must figure they're rehabilitated. That's the only reason they'd release murderers despite a guilty plea. No state could be so cynical as to force guilty pleas on innocent people as a condition of release from prison in an attempt to avoid lawsuits...right?

While I again admit I know too little about this case to have any kind of informed opinion, on the face of it, I have a hard time believing the prosecution would agree to a deal that would allow a heinous murderer of 3 small children to get out in just 17 years when he was slated to get the death penalty if they actually believed the accused was guilty of the crime. That to me does seem like a move one would make to try and avoid subsequent litigation for false convicton.

It's pretty understandable why men in the position of the West Memphis 3 would agree to enter such a plea even if they weren't guilty - because it gets them out of prison and keeps one of them from execution. That's a pretty understandable response.

But it seems a bit incredulous to me that the opposite would be true - that prosecutors would allow such early release of violent child murderers if they were actually still convinced of their guilt.