• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Merged Remember the West Memphis 3?

Ladewig said:
...I.e., anyone the police have arrested is presumed to be guilty. Otherwise, why would they have arrested him?...
Click to expand...

Most people who are arrested are probably guilty. While a few are completely innocent. But there's no valid reason to put Damien Echols in this latter category.

Certainly no one has ever proven he wasn't involved in the murders of the three children in West Memphis.
.
.
 
lane99 said:
Most people who are arrested are probably guilty. While a few are completely innocent. But there's no valid reason to put Damien Echols in this latter category.

Certainly no one has ever proven he wasn't involved in the murders of the three children in West Memphis.
.
.
Click to expand...

No one has ever proved he was. The jurors who voted to convict were certainly guilty of misconduct. The police were corrupt and incompetent. The judge was incompetent and conducted inproper communications with the jury during deliberations. The defense attorneys were not competent to defend in a capital murder case - by their own admission.

I can't say who kill those eight-year olds, but the WM3 were railroaded.
 
lane99 said:
Most people who are arrested are probably guilty. While a few are completely innocent. But there's no valid reason to put Damien Echols in this latter category.

Certainly no one has ever proven he wasn't involved in the murders of the three children in West Memphis..
.
Click to expand...

are you new here? That kind of statement gets disregarded pretty quickly, as it should be.
 
Samson said:
Hmmm this an extract from that wiki

and that they interrogated the accused over the course of late evening and early morning hours to his physical and emotional detriment, a man already in a highly emotional state. Evans also stated in court that he was threatened with violence by the police, and it is likely that they coerced Evans to his false confession.

False confessions are a disaster, look at this one

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

There is no chance this poor sod had any part in this crime.
Click to expand...
Yeah, a bit of a patter there...
Evans almost certainly didn't even write his supposed "confession" given his learning disabilities.

Samson said:
More and more cases with multiple common elements leading to injustice. The Alford plea, the prisoner's dilemma. Show remorse for what you didn't do.
And the institutions seldom apologise.
Click to expand...
Hell yeah, the UK government attempted for years to deny Evans' innocence even proposing ludicrous theories about two murderers.
Similarly in Australia over the Chamberlain case.


lane99 said:
Most people who are arrested are probably guilty. While a few are completely innocent. But there's no valid reason to put Damien Echols in this latter category.

Certainly no one has ever proven he wasn't involved in the murders of the three children in West Memphis ..
Click to expand...
:rolleyes: It may interest you to know that in common law jurisdictions no-one is obliged to prove that they weren't involved in a crime; it's the job of the prosecuting authorities to demonstrate, beyond reasonable doubt that they are guilty. A task that was singularly neglected in this case.

There is no evidence beyond wild supposition, innuendo and demonstrably coerced confessions to support the opinion that Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., or Jason Baldwin committed any murder.
 
lane99 said:
Most people who are arrested are probably guilty. While a few are completely innocent. But there's no valid reason to put Damien Echols in this latter category.

Certainly no one has ever proven he wasn't involved in the murders of the three children in West Memphis.
.
.
Click to expand...

Well, I want to note that no one has ever proved that William Shatner wasn't involved in the murders of three children in West Memphis.

And while we are at it, no one has ever proven that Lane99 wasn't involved in the in the murders of three children in West Memphis. So, Lane 99, where were you on the night of May 5, 1993? Can you prove it to our satisfaction?
 
Ladewig said:
Well, I want to note that no one has ever proved that William Shatner wasn't involved in the murders of three children in West Memphis.

And while we are at it, no one has ever proven that Lane99 wasn't involved in the in the murders of three children in West Memphis. So, Lane 99, where were you on the night of May 5, 1993? Can you prove it to our satisfaction?
Click to expand...

That's an interesting point. :boxedin:
 
This seems to be a return to an argument put forward by a poster called Jharyn, perhaps in the previous thread to this one, discussing the application for a review of the case before the Alford Plea happened. He originally claimed that the appellants had to demonstrate 100% factual innocence or their appeals would fail (while at the same time claiming that in the USA, legal safeguards for defendants was the best in the world!)

He hadn't a clue what he was talking about, kept backtracking or going to his lawyer friend to ask more questions, and eventually got his backside handed to him. I don't think he's been back to the forum since.

Rolfe.
 
I'm watching West of Memphis here:

I forgot that Jessie Miskelly Jr had a pretty much iron-clad alibi. He was wrestling in an amateur competition a county away. He was seen, photgraphed, and injured wrestling at the time those cub scouts were murdered.

And his coerced confession was really all the evidence the police had.
 
Last edited:
John Jones said:
I'm watching West of Memphis here:

I forgot that Jessie Miskelly Jr had a pretty much iron-clad alibi. He was wrestling in an amateur competition a county away. He was seen, photgraphed, and injured wrestling at the time those cub scouts were murdered.

And his coerced confession was really all the evidence the police had.
Click to expand...



Actually his alibi fell apart. His wrestling match was another night and no wrestling matches were held the night of the murders. His friends lied for him.
 
Rolfe said:
...I think many trials are not conducted on the rinciple of innocent until proven guilty, for more or less that reason. The jury can't imagine that the police would have arrested someone unless there was good evidence...
Click to expand...

This is very true and everyone in the criminal justice system knows it. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys cite this question as an example:

"When someone is arrested by police, charged with a crime and brought to trial, do you think they must've done something to cause this?"

Repeatedly a majority of people will answer yes. This stands the entire justice system on its head.

Jurisdictions make a big difference too. Using police misconduct to explain why an innocent person has been charged with a crime they had no involvement in, works a lot better with an urban jury than with a suburban jury. Urbanites tend to have more interaction with police and are less willing to accept police evidence with an uncritical eye. Suburbanites tend to have less interaction with police and are much more willing to convict someone on the basis, "The police said they did it and I'm sure they know."
 
mojoe said:
Actually his alibi fell apart. His wrestling match was another night and no wrestling matches were held the night of the murders. His friends lied for him.
Click to expand...

Edify us with a link. As it stands, his coerced confession was really all the evidence the police had.
 
Last edited:
newyorkguy said:
This is very true and everyone in the criminal justice system knows it. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys cite this question as an example:

"When someone is arrested by police, charged with a crime and brought to trial, do you think they must've done something to cause this?"

Repeatedly a majority of people will answer yes. This stands the entire justice system on its head.

Jurisdictions make a big difference too. Using police misconduct to explain why an innocent person has been charged with a crime they had no involvement in, works a lot better with an urban jury than with a suburban jury. Urbanites tend to have more interaction with police and are less willing to accept police evidence with an uncritical eye. Suburbanites tend to have less interaction with police and are much more willing to convict someone on the basis, "The police said they did it and I'm sure they know."
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but I don't know how the term 'suburbanites' applies in this case. West Memphis, AR is demographically closer to Tobacco Row than to any urban or suburban center. It's a sad fact.
 
John Jones said:
Edify us with a link. As it stands, his coerced confession was really all the evidence the police had.
Click to expand...


Can't post links yet but try here: wm3truth.com.

It's also in the first HBO Documentary. Unless something changed in the last few years it is a fact that he had no alibi.
 
mojoe said:
Can't post links yet but try here: wm3truth.com.

It's also in the first HBO Documentary. Unless something changed in the last few years it is a fact that he had no alibi.
Click to expand...

I look forward to exploring the site. Not run by Peter and Peggy is it?
 
mojoe said:
Can't post links yet but try here: wm3truth.com.

It's also in the first HBO Documentary. Unless something changed in the last few years it is a fact that he had no alibi.
Click to expand...


Oh doG. I've read that whole site, as well as everything else I can read about the topic. Let me do this for you so you won't think I'm biased, Here is your link: wm3truth.com
 
Last edited:
Is that site wrong. They quote trial transcripts and interviews. Also as I said it was in the first HBO Documentary Paradise Lost. I've never seen pictures of him at a wrestling match that night or heard mention of any until you posted it. Maybe you could clear that up with a link.
 
I lost interest in the case since the plea deal. It's a shame we may never know the results of the DNA testing. it may have put this debate to rest.
 
mojoe said:
Is that site wrong. [...]
Click to expand...


If that was a question, then yes. The WM3 were railroaded. I have studied the evidence for 20 years.

Ask yourself why the state of Arkansas would ever let anyone on death row, and 2 lifers pack their bags, and walk free the next day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom