Two of three WM3 to be freed tomorrow
pjcord
Posts: 78
Eddie should be in a good mood as we approach Alpine, although it's a bit bittersweet with how it has to happen (admission of guilt) ...
WREG-TV has learned an agreement has been reached to release two of the West Memphis 3.
Multiple sources, including the father of one of the victims, have confirmed this will be announced at a special hearing Friday. That hearing is scheduled to be held in Jonesboro, AR.
All three will admit guilt to the crime and two will be released with time served.
Steve Branch, the father of one of the victims tells us Damien Echols will be one of the men released.
Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were found murdered and mutilated in a wooded area in West Memphis, Arkansas in May 1993.
Recent tests on DNA evidence, including material from the crime scene, was found to not be a match to the defendants.
Many say Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were wrongly convicted because police needed a quick solution to the case.
Numerous celebrities have taken up the WM3 cause over the years.
WREG-TV has learned an agreement has been reached to release two of the West Memphis 3.
Multiple sources, including the father of one of the victims, have confirmed this will be announced at a special hearing Friday. That hearing is scheduled to be held in Jonesboro, AR.
All three will admit guilt to the crime and two will be released with time served.
Steve Branch, the father of one of the victims tells us Damien Echols will be one of the men released.
Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers were found murdered and mutilated in a wooded area in West Memphis, Arkansas in May 1993.
Recent tests on DNA evidence, including material from the crime scene, was found to not be a match to the defendants.
Many say Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were wrongly convicted because police needed a quick solution to the case.
Numerous celebrities have taken up the WM3 cause over the years.
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BREAKING: Surprise West Memphis 3 hearing tomorrow #wm3
Posted by Max Brantley on Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 10:40 AM
Big news is expected in circuit court in Jonesboro when Judge David Laser holds a hearing Friday morning — just announced today — on the West Memphis Three case. Families of defendants and victims are expected to be in court, suggesting far more than routine procedural matters are at hand.
None of the interested parties are talking (lawyers are gagged), beyond saying that those interested in the case will want to be present. But I began making calls early this morning when I received a tip from a local attorney predicting earth-shaking developments.
The facts are well-known. Damien Echols, who is on Death Row, and Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., who are serving life sentences, were convicted in the 1993 slaying of three West Memphis children — Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch and Michael Moore. The trials, though marred by bogus claims of Satanism and shoddy investigative tactics, had withstood appeals until recent developments allowed examination of DNA evidence. To date, none of the DNA gathered in the case has matched any of the defendants. That doesn't exonerate them, but it was powerful new evidence that they weren't involved in the crime. Strong new evidence also was introduced about potential jury misconduct, specifically improper consideration of a statement made by one of the defendants. All that prompted the Arkansas Supreme Court to order a new evidentiary hearing to see whether the defendants were entitled to a new trial. Judge Laser was assigned to hear the case. The previous judge, David Burnett, now is a state senator.
The evidentiary hearing was scheduled for December. The surprise hearing tomorrow alone suggests a major development is at hand. The buzz in the defense bar community is that the news is beyond major. Until now, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office has fought vigorously against new proceedings for the defendants and in support of their convictions. A development tomorrow in which he joined in a defense suggestion would be momentous, indeed. Freedom for the WM3? The speculation today includes that possibility, though questions are numerous about how you'd reach such an outcome and, if it were to happen, whether it would include pronouncements on guilt or innocence or state liability.
The judge's office released this statement about Friday's hearing:
The court will take up certain matters pertaining to the cases of defendants Baldwin, Echols and Misskelley on Friday, August 19. One session will be conducted out of public presence with all defendants present and another session will be conducted in open court. The session conducted in chambers will likely begin at 10 a.m. followed by a public session which will begin about 11 a.m. Space will be limited for the public session — first to the parties, counsel and court personnel, then to family members of the victims and family members of defendants with remaining seating to be occupied by media representatives and the public. There will be approximately 15 minutes between the chamber session and open session for media and public to be seated. Miss Stephanie Harris, Arkansas Supreme Court communication counsel, will be present on Friday to assist with implementation and will be the court's intermediary with public and press.
Mara Leveritt, our senior editor who's done groundbreaking reporting on the case and who wrote the book Devil's Knot about the case, will be in Jonesboro for tomorrow's hearing. She has a subscription website at her homepage for reporting on the case.
Don't you do it, too.
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
I'm confused by this as well. Why are they admitting they are guilty and still being released?
* Cincinnati, OH 6.24.2006 *
* Columbus, OH 5.6.2010 * Noblesville, IN 5.7.2010 *
* East Troy, MI 9.4.2011 * East Troy, MI 9.5.2011 *
* Pittsburgh, PA 10.11.2013 *
Sounds strange indeed. Maybe we should wait for what comes out of tomorrow.
Send my credentials to the house of detention
Tres Mts. Gramercy Theatre 3/26/11
*formerly manutd3581
* Cincinnati, OH 6.24.2006 *
* Columbus, OH 5.6.2010 * Noblesville, IN 5.7.2010 *
* East Troy, MI 9.4.2011 * East Troy, MI 9.5.2011 *
* Pittsburgh, PA 10.11.2013 *
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
If they do, but yeah thats gonna be a hard one to swallow
Tres Mts. Gramercy Theatre 3/26/11
*formerly manutd3581
Agreed. Or is this the way the State can say "case closed"? Will read more tomorrow.
DEGENERATE FUK
This place is dead
"THERE ARE NO CLIQUES, ONLY THOSE WHO DON'T JOIN THE FUN" - Empty circa 2015
"Kfsbho&$thncds" - F Me In the Brain - circa 2015
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
fade away...
I am at peace with my lust.....for Eddie.
It also means that they can never, ever be charged for this crime again, meaning if, for whatever reason, something goes south in the next few years, they cant be held (wrongly?) accountable again.
work = work + 1;
sleep = sleep - work * 10;}
else if (work >= 0) {
reality.equals(false);
work = work +1;
}system("pause");
return 0;}
Houston, B'ham, Nashville, Atlanta '03
Toledo, Grand Rapids '04
Kitchener, London '05
Camden x 2, D.C., Cincy, San Fran x 3 '06
Chicago '07
Columbia '08
MSG x 2 '10;
PJ 20 x 2 '11
Atlanta '12
Wrigley '13
St. Louis, Memphis '14
Lexington '15
Wrigley '16
Wrigley x 2 '18
Nashville '22
work = work + 1;
sleep = sleep - work * 10;}
else if (work >= 0) {
reality.equals(false);
work = work +1;
}system("pause");
return 0;}
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
They'll "admit" to committing a crime -- possibly one less heinous than the ones they were tried on -- and be released. That way, the state saves face and the defendants go free. Fair? No -- but it's the way of the system.
The curious part, to me, is that only 2 of the 3 will be let go. I wonder if one is refusing to agree to one of the state's (likely ridiculous) demands.
Don't you do it, too.
Rockin' In The Free World?
lulz.
* Cincinnati, OH 6.24.2006 *
* Columbus, OH 5.6.2010 * Noblesville, IN 5.7.2010 *
* East Troy, MI 9.4.2011 * East Troy, MI 9.5.2011 *
* Pittsburgh, PA 10.11.2013 *
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
"This deal is going to make everybody happy," said a source who asked not to be identified because of a gag order barring parties to the case from discussing it.
Byers said she, too, was told of the pleas. She said she's glad the three defendants will be released but is upset that they must plea to something she believes they didn't do.
"This means they will never be proven innocent," said Byers, who, like many other followers of the case have been persuaded of the three's innocence by new evidence, including DNA evidence, uncovered in recent years. "All of that (new evidence) might go down the toilet and be lost forever."
Recent DNA testing pointed a finger at a fourth, uncharged individual.
Send my credentials to the house of detention
Yeah, the report said all three left maximum security prisons earlier today with all their belongings. It doesn't make sense that only two would be released.
fade away...
I am at peace with my lust.....for Eddie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolo_contendere
Sounds likely that this is what they will go with - would seem a good deal for them, and is certainly not an admission of guilt, as being reported in some quarters
Send my credentials to the house of detention
http://maraleveritt.com/2011/08/judge-l ... -tomorrow/