It appears we've finally made some headway.
I say "we" only as one of many who has bought the benefit CDs, T shirts, stickers, and wristbands, attended benefit concerts, read the books, watched the films, lectured friends, shed tears, etc all regarding Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin, collectively known as the West Memphis Three. By now, anyone who knows me, knows their plight.
For the uninitiated, here's the skinny (courtesy of http://www.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 ever 14 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.
I heard about the case in mid 2002 via Henry Rollins. A few months later, he was in the studio with the Mother Superior, Iggy Pop, Keith Morris, Lemmy, Tom Araya, Ice T, Exene Cervenka, Hank III, Chuck Dukowski, et al to record a benefit album of Black Flag songs. A subsequent tour with Mother Superior and O.G. Black Flag and Circe Jerks singer Keith Morris hit the United States and Japan. In addition to raising awarness for the plight of the WM3, the purpose of the album and tour was to raise funds for DNA testing which would prove, once and for all, the guilt or innocence of Damien, Jessie, and Jason. The record was great, and the tour was even better. I was so excited, that before the tour hit Denver, I got Black Flag bars tattoed on my forearm.
Years went by, and I heard nothing. I rarely even heard Rollins talk about it at his spoken word gigs or on his radio show. And then this week, the motherfucking bomb dropped. As all appeals had long been exhausted, the WM3 had but one hope: a new law that allowed for an appeal in cases in which new technology, which could possibly exonerte the convicted, had been developed since the trial in which they were convicted.
On Tuesday, a Second Amended Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (http://www.wm3.org/live/wm3memo.doc) was filed by Damien's lawyers. Simply put, it states that the DNA test results show that Damien, Jessie, and Jason were not at the crime scene. Period. It is my understanding that it's impossible not to leave DNA everywhere you go. Furthermore, the DNA of one of the murdered boy's stepfather was found at the scene.
Now here's the twist. Anyone who's read Mara Leveritt's Devi''s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743417593/freethewestmemph/)
or watched the second HBO documentary on the case, Paradise Lost: Revelations (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MKOU/freethewestmemph/) is automatically thinking right now that John Mark Byers, stepfather of one of the victims, is the one who's DNA showed up at the scene. Let's be fair, the guy had a dubious police record, and on film, painted a fairly psychotic portrait of himself. Surprisingly though, it's not Byers, but Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Stevie Branch who showed up in the DNA tests. In an even stranger twist, Byers, easily the most vocal of the WM3's opponents, when presented with the recent exonerating evidence, has now come out in their support.
To be fair, I'll not pass judgement on Mr. Hobbs until after the courts do. That said, these are the same courts that have so far stolen 13 years away from three innocent young men.
Another developement the defense has since presented was that the apparent mutilation of the three victims was not caused by a serated knife blade as the prosecution's half-baked case stated, but post mortem, by animals in the woods where the bodies were found.
To paraphrase Jello Biafra, "It could have been me. It could have been you." For that very reason, this case has weighed heavily on me, as it has on thousands of others who were misfits in their youth. Hell, I still am a misfit.
If you that witch hunts ended with McCarthy, think again.
Due to the bullshit of our legal system, they still have a long way to go, perhaps even years. If you think that the state of Arkansas will merely roll over and release Damien, Jessie, and Jason, think again. The pigs who put them behind bars will do everything they can to save face, regardless of the evidence, and they have taxpayers' dollars with which to fight.
All the WM3 have are us.
I beg of you, when payday hits, please pay a visit to www.wm3.org, and throw some money their way, either directly or by purchasing a t shirt, wrist band or sticker (very affordable) or by picking up the aformentioned CD.
If you've endured this much, please check out an ABC news broadcast on the case: http://www.abcnews.go.com/wn. I don't know how long this link will be up, so hit it ASAP, or try to find it via the good folks at http://www.wm3.org.
Thanks to the ever hip and alert purveyor of all things urgent, brother Tim Napalm for bringing this to my attention via a blog of his on Tuesday.
Rise Above!
I say "we" only as one of many who has bought the benefit CDs, T shirts, stickers, and wristbands, attended benefit concerts, read the books, watched the films, lectured friends, shed tears, etc all regarding Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin, collectively known as the West Memphis Three. By now, anyone who knows me, knows their plight.
For the uninitiated, here's the skinny (courtesy of http://www.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 ever 14 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.
I heard about the case in mid 2002 via Henry Rollins. A few months later, he was in the studio with the Mother Superior, Iggy Pop, Keith Morris, Lemmy, Tom Araya, Ice T, Exene Cervenka, Hank III, Chuck Dukowski, et al to record a benefit album of Black Flag songs. A subsequent tour with Mother Superior and O.G. Black Flag and Circe Jerks singer Keith Morris hit the United States and Japan. In addition to raising awarness for the plight of the WM3, the purpose of the album and tour was to raise funds for DNA testing which would prove, once and for all, the guilt or innocence of Damien, Jessie, and Jason. The record was great, and the tour was even better. I was so excited, that before the tour hit Denver, I got Black Flag bars tattoed on my forearm.
Years went by, and I heard nothing. I rarely even heard Rollins talk about it at his spoken word gigs or on his radio show. And then this week, the motherfucking bomb dropped. As all appeals had long been exhausted, the WM3 had but one hope: a new law that allowed for an appeal in cases in which new technology, which could possibly exonerte the convicted, had been developed since the trial in which they were convicted.
On Tuesday, a Second Amended Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus (http://www.wm3.org/live/wm3memo.doc) was filed by Damien's lawyers. Simply put, it states that the DNA test results show that Damien, Jessie, and Jason were not at the crime scene. Period. It is my understanding that it's impossible not to leave DNA everywhere you go. Furthermore, the DNA of one of the murdered boy's stepfather was found at the scene.
Now here's the twist. Anyone who's read Mara Leveritt's Devi''s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743417593/freethewestmemph/)
or watched the second HBO documentary on the case, Paradise Lost: Revelations (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MKOU/freethewestmemph/) is automatically thinking right now that John Mark Byers, stepfather of one of the victims, is the one who's DNA showed up at the scene. Let's be fair, the guy had a dubious police record, and on film, painted a fairly psychotic portrait of himself. Surprisingly though, it's not Byers, but Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Stevie Branch who showed up in the DNA tests. In an even stranger twist, Byers, easily the most vocal of the WM3's opponents, when presented with the recent exonerating evidence, has now come out in their support.
To be fair, I'll not pass judgement on Mr. Hobbs until after the courts do. That said, these are the same courts that have so far stolen 13 years away from three innocent young men.
Another developement the defense has since presented was that the apparent mutilation of the three victims was not caused by a serated knife blade as the prosecution's half-baked case stated, but post mortem, by animals in the woods where the bodies were found.
To paraphrase Jello Biafra, "It could have been me. It could have been you." For that very reason, this case has weighed heavily on me, as it has on thousands of others who were misfits in their youth. Hell, I still am a misfit.
If you that witch hunts ended with McCarthy, think again.
Due to the bullshit of our legal system, they still have a long way to go, perhaps even years. If you think that the state of Arkansas will merely roll over and release Damien, Jessie, and Jason, think again. The pigs who put them behind bars will do everything they can to save face, regardless of the evidence, and they have taxpayers' dollars with which to fight.
All the WM3 have are us.
I beg of you, when payday hits, please pay a visit to www.wm3.org, and throw some money their way, either directly or by purchasing a t shirt, wrist band or sticker (very affordable) or by picking up the aformentioned CD.
If you've endured this much, please check out an ABC news broadcast on the case: http://www.abcnews.go.com/wn. I don't know how long this link will be up, so hit it ASAP, or try to find it via the good folks at http://www.wm3.org.
Thanks to the ever hip and alert purveyor of all things urgent, brother Tim Napalm for bringing this to my attention via a blog of his on Tuesday.
Rise Above!