"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."

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Saturday, May 25 2013 @ 08:01 AM CDT

Have you forgot about the WM3?

News ArchiveSubmitted by supporters@wm3.org:

Shortly after three eight-year-old boys were found mutilated and murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, local newspapers stated the killers had been caught. The police assured the public that the three teenagers in custody were definitely responsible for these horrible crimes. Evidence?

The same police officers coerced an error-filled “confession” from Jessie Misskelley Jr., who is mentally handicapped. They subjected him to 12 hours of questioning without counsel or parental consent, audio-taping only two fragments totaling 46 minutes. Jessie recanted it that evening, but it was too late— Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were all arrested on June 3, 1993, and convicted of murder in early 1994.

Although there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution pathetically resorted to presenting black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as proof that the boys were sacrificed in a satanic cult ritual. Unfathomably, Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin received life without parole, and Misskelley got life plus 40.

For over 11 years, The West Memphis Three have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. Echols waits in solitary confinement for the lethal injection our tax dollars will pay for. They were all condemned by their poverty, incompetent defense, satanic panic and a rush to judgment.

But there’s still hope for them, and you can help.
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Have you forgot about the WM3? | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
comment Vlad
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, February 05 2005 @ 01:56 AM CST
They're not going to listen cause they
comment by kma367
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, October 15 2004 @ 09:05 AM CDT
Just because a website on the internet says something doesn\'t make it true, either.

However, I have more faith in the credibility of a state appellate court, which draws its information from the trial court records (which would contain the testimony and evidence presented at the original trials) than in individuals who live in California and sell tee-shirts and trinkets to \"get the word out\" about this case.

kma367
comment by Vlad
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, October 15 2004 @ 12:19 PM CDT
So they are killers in your mind as you refer to them as \"the three killers\" (perhaps, but youre just an armchair warrior yourself now arn\'t you)..... but for me all are political prisoners of the state. www.criticalresistance.org.
comment by kma367
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, October 14 2004 @ 05:27 PM CDT
The appellate decisions tell a different story:

http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/1996a/961223sc/cr94-928.html

http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/1996/cr94-848.html

Miskelley was only questioned for a period of a little more than 4 hours before he made an inculpatory admission. Subsequent to that admission, he was booked and his statements were taped. No further incriminating information was obtained from him after the 2nd statement ended at approximately 5:45 p.m. on June 3, 1993.

Garments in Echols\' and Baldwin\'s homes were found to be similar to fibers found on the victims\' clothing.

It\'s not unusual for murderers to target victims to whom they have no connection. Miskelley, however, was connected to the victims through their friend, Aaron Hutcheson, and it\'s possible that Miskelley knew at least two of the victims, if not all three. Additionally, Echols was acquainted with Steve Branch\'s family, according to his mother, Pamela Hobbs.

The occult dabblings of Echols were presented as a potential motive for the murders, not as proof of Echols\' guilt, or the guilt of Miskelley and Baldwin.

The 3 were not tried together. Miskelley\'s trial was severed from that of Echols and Baldwin. Additionally, the trials were not held in West Memphis where the crimes occurred, but in Corning and Jonesboro.

Opinions about the competence of the attorneys (each defendant had 2 attorneys appointed by the court to defend them) are just that - opinions. To date, no evidence of actual incompetence has been presented and many of the criticisms appear to be of the \"armchair quarterback\" variety.

Those who visit the site should be aware of the fact that donations to the \"Support Fund\" do not go to the 3 killers, or to their defense efforts. Additionally, while there is a \"Defense Fund,\" the State of Arkansas is still being asked by Echols to pay for his local counsel and his other non-Arkansas attorneys are all affiliated with the Innocence Project, which is a pro bono (free) organization.

kma367
comment by Satan's Cheerleaders
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, October 14 2004 @ 09:11 PM CDT
Kirsten, just cuz the appellate court said something doesn\'t make it true, ferchrissakes! You ought to know better than that...

For an alternative view of this case, see the really provocative documentaries *Paradise Lost* & *Paradise Lost 2: Revelations*.
comment by kma367
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, October 15 2004 @ 01:58 PM CDT
Vlad,

The correct term is \"armchair quarterback.\"

My belief in their guilt is based on the testimony and evidence admitted at the two trials, my personal research of the case at the West Memphis Police Department and the opinions of the Arkansas State Supreme Court in the direct appeals, which addresses nearly every issue cited by those at the WM3.org (a site which solicits donations to \"get the word out\" about the case).

In the absence of exculpatory evidence proving innocence, convicted murderers belong in jail - whether it\'s death row, or the general population.
comment by Vlad
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, October 15 2004 @ 04:27 PM CDT
Armchair general, warrior, quaterback, activist all used fairly regularly to denote the same meaning. Didnt know that your illuminating correction would serve to negate my comment.

If you have a problem with this web site a coherent critique would prove usefull as would a critique of the guilt of thw WM3 (granted youve superficially touched upon this) rather than your elitist tone in correction of terminology.

I still find them to be political prisoners of the state. As to the website, youve aroused my curiosity and i am going to look into it further. If you have any materials or links it would be appreciated. In Solidarity
comment by kma367
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, October 18 2004 @ 12:41 PM CDT
Vlad, I wasn\'t attempting to negate the comment. Just pointing out the correct terminology.

I pointed readers to the appellate decisions in order to provide information about evidence against the 3 killers (including fibers). Another informative site is www.callahan.8k.com, which has numerous case documents, trial transcripts, etc. without the editorial comment found on the WM3.org site.

I fail to see how convicted murderers who have not been exonerated by reliable evidence qualify as \"political\" prisoners. Care to enlighten me?

comment by Vlad
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, October 21 2004 @ 12:08 PM CDT
Your \"just pointing out the correct terminology\" aside,

\"I fail to see how convicted murderers who have not been exonerated by reliable evidence qualify as \"political\" prisoners. Care to enlighten me?\"

Sure.

First, your writing assumes guilt i.e. those convicted MUST be guilty. It begs that one accepts the legitimacy and authority of the State.

This is a logical fallacy and thus is contradiction. It begs the question (circular reasoning). Its a fallacious rhetoric device found/employed within formal language systems (usually a questionable debate tactic or often seen used by those trained as lawyers, judges, law enforcement etc.) You\'ll also find variations of this within computer programing, mathematics(think Godels theorum/principa mathmatica-Russel/Whithead for a good example of logical fallacy)...any formal language system. Thus your argument/question is inherently self-contradictory and self negating to begin with.

Aside from this, even if we choose to ignore it and carry this amount of cognitive dissonance....

They are prisoners of the State and the State is political. Prisons within the US statist context are a political institution.

As an anarchist I find the State to be an illigitimate form of authority. I have no faith in its myriad complex of \"law and order\" nor it\'s \"system of justice\". I advocate a different approach to \"crime\" and \"punishment\". I find the whole system and it\'s terminology to be loaded, begging and bankrupt. I will with all of my being oppose the State and the death penalty and will not condone, accept nor advocate any aspect of either. I find them blind, inneffective, tools of oppression, racist, sexist, heterosexist, classist, illigitimate and systemic. I find the death penelty abhorrent and immoral...sick and twisted.

I have enough first hand experience with this system to know better and enough second hand to know it wasnt just me and I am not alone.

So I ask you, exonerated by whom? Convicted by whom?

I\'m sorry you have this faith in the system and accept it as Just. You know, Goldman, Sacco, Vanzetti, Peltier, Mumia, Assata, Davis, Me, Friends of mine, Bari, Cherney etc. have been \"convicted\" and/or \"exonerated\" and it was niether Justice or legitimate. Materials are fabricated, words are twisted....lies...and it was for political purposes and it was for capitalism and it always will be in this context. All prisoners are political prisoners and are there as a byproduct of a bankrupt system and a trophy to its impotence of character, justice and good. A testement to its economic decadence and a gain to corporatism. A new form of slavery and the pillar that holds up our system for all to see in all its glory. Behold, freedom within a cage unless your in its cages. Human stacked upon human stacked upon human, hierarchy upon hierarchy, feeding off of one another and exploiting one another, slave upon slave in a never ending cycle unable to see our way out while those on top look down and manipulate the whole barbaric mess and reap most all the benifit. You know...I was looking at pictures of prisoners in Iraq and the dead strewn about the country and am so sick at my stomach. I sit here now out of that cage but within another with invisible walls abstract like everything in this fucking place; compartmentalized as I am coerced to go do work, school etc. under the threat of violence whether economic, political or physical but all tangible and real. As others starve or are still behind those bars you and I argue over the abstract about the guilt or innocence of these three and the legitmacy of the whole and I feel worse for it........

(Later)I think your argument about the website is possibly on par but the rest of your argument strikes me as though you, in a moment of emotion, argued from anger and spoke before you thought. I assume your an anarchist and youve posted here enough to know that this is an anarchist web site and I am surprised that youd use the legitimacy of the State as a basis for an argument. You could still argue the guilt or innocence without resorting to that. You seem passionate about the guilt of these three and I wonder if perhaps your passion isnt misplaced and youre actually upset at the way the web site is run, donations used and this case presented. That seems to be the flavor coming through. You could just say so if thats the case. For you and I to argue about the guilt or innocence of these people is how you say \"armchair quarterbacking\";)...and I wont partake in a fishing expedition.
Have you forgot about the WM3?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, October 03 2006 @ 08:23 PM CDT
I will never forget. I lived at Lake shore Trailer park at the time and knew all 3 guys. We use to hang out up at the store and watch people shot pool. West Memphis was and still is a bad place. It is full of bible beaters that have no idea what hell is, but the guys sure do.They have taken these sweet guys away from all of us. I moved back to FL because West Mwmphis was so bad. I had cops on me evey day about something. I was one of the so called Devil worshippers that was ran out of town. I was and still am Wicca and have never hurt any one and I go to church also so what do you think of that? Let me know at strawberry_bear_rasberry@yahoo.com