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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 21111
[Legal]
Date Posted:
9/4/2009
2:05:02 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 6,207
RSS: 14,872
Comments: 10
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Above The Law (WM3)
Author: Mara Leveritt Source: Arkansas Times (AR)
Title: ABOVE THE LAW
Add another cynical twist to the farce masquerading as justice in the case of the West Memphis Three. And jot up another reason to distrust Arkansas's Supreme Court.
As those who've followed the West Memphis case are aware, the high court ruled unanimously that there was nothing legally amiss in the two 1994 trials that led to the convictions of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin, who were 18, 17, and 16 years old at the time.
On the other hand, the justices dismissed defense arguments that the state had produced no weapon, no eyewitness, no sign of a satanic ritual, and no credible physical evidence linking the three to the murders.
Because of his death sentence, appeals for Echols have proceeded faster than for the other two. Affidavits filed earlier this year allege that serious juror misconduct occurred during the trial of Echols and Baldwin; specifically, that the foreman discussed the case outside of court, in violation of the judge's orders.
Judge David Burnett ordered the affidavits to be sealed.
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Community Thoughts: There are 10 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| HUH?? | Sep 7th. at 5:49:52 am EDT
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Thoreyadin (Randolph, Ohio) - Email Me
Arkansas is the "deep South"?? Ya got nothin to worry bout boy (Draken) unless y'all look the wrong way..Every state has their idiots!!! I grew up in the Ozarks and life there is not much different that in is in NE Ohio..There is good everywhere and there is bad everywhere...."Deep South" If you are worried that some will think you have a purty mouth boy,,You might just end up living a very sheltered life..And all of US Pagans are so open minded and caring? I am Heathen,, Nuff said!!
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| Oh Please, Wake Up! | Sep 6th. at 2:26:44 pm EDT
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Witchemom (Lemont, Illinois) - Email Me
Dranken, you state: "Every time I have to go through the Deep South, I Amtrak it and don't leave the train until I get to my destination"
Have you ever been to Arkansas? Or any southern state? I have & I have found that people are the same everywhere. Some good, some bad. So what?
To be honest, your statement applies to how I feel about NYC and I HAVE been there, more than once. But I am sure citizens of NYC can give me plenty of reasons why I shouldn't feel that way.
This case is a miscarriage of justice that could have occurred ANYWHERE. I have read cases just as heartbreaking in Chicago, LA, London, Tokyo, etc. It needs to be fixed not buried under the same sort of prejudice that put those boys in prison in the first place.
If we are going to play the 'us against them' game shouldn't we be BETTER than them? Not just more of the same?
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| ... | Sep 5th. at 8:44:17 am EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
Other "miscarriages" of justice in Arkansas...let's see...
Fire chief complains about how a local police force is too busy writing tickets to respond to calls - all seven cops on the force - and gets shot in the back for his trouble. IN THE COURTHOUSE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE JUDGE. [Web LINK]
Two prisoners in Arkansas escape while on work-release by putting on the uniforms of Corrections officers that their fellow prisoners made. [Web LINK]
Atheists not allowed to run for office in Arkansas. [Web LINK]
Arkansas bans Spongebob lighters. [Web LINK]
Virginia Beach also _looks_ pretty, but the laws and the people (not to mention Pat "Alzheimer's" Robertson's base of operations) there make it unliveable. Every time I have to go through the Deep South, I Amtrak it and don't leave the train until I get to my destination.
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| I Should Add . . . | Sep 4th. at 9:46:19 pm EDT
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me
That Arkansas IS one of the most beautiful places to visit in America. It truly is very rich in these vast, lovely parks, historic monuments, luscious 'natural' regions, waterways, etc. I do worry about the snakes. What can I say, I'm a pussy about them. People? They are crazy everwhere. Including me, obviously. If you haven't found them near you, well you must be incredibly lucky and apparently you are just not looking hard enough. Even here in Seattle, there is a very high crime rate in many regions (twice the national average) . The mentally ill stalk the streets downtown like live ghosts (they just let them out, seemingly at random, with no followthrough) . The WM3 would NEVER deter me from moving to Arkansas. I just don't have any permanent connections there, like I do here. But let me tell you about here. Over in Wenatchee, WA, there was a hysterical satanic panic about child rape and prostitution, etc., many years ago, and so of course 19 odd people ended going to prison based on errant and manipulated child testimony. On the worst possible charges, including this really nice pastor and his wife! It was insane, but it happened anyways. They were screams of dissent and outrage, and it stopped NOTHING. Eventually the opposition gained some momentum and they were let out, but only after spending a good deal of time sweating in out in prison, then plea-bargaining guilt for crimes DESPITE being thoroughly innocent! Ah, the smell of justice: 19 false convictions, in one of the most liberal states in America. You should be afraid of moving here. The WM3 just stands out because it's well-publicized. You can thank Metallica for shifting the momentum, but it probably still won't work. Judges and prosecutors dislike persecuting themselves, and that's the end of it. Look out for the next beginning, too.
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| It's Worst Than You Think | Sep 4th. at 9:33:28 pm EDT
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Ander s. Drake (hays, Kansas) - Email Me
After taking an American civil liberties class in which the students wrote a report over death pen cases. From the book i read for the class many people are wrongly convicted of capital offense crimes and some get out later. The system is highly inaccurate (more than half the time) because of mistakes made by court systems, often related to bias. A red flag should have went up when the police question a minor without his parents being there. From what i have read the police basically made this case up. The WM3 would have had better luck being tried by the judges in the Salem witch trails.
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| Totally Agreed | Sep 4th. at 9:10:53 pm EDT
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me
As if Arkansas's Supreme Court is the only one worth worrrying about! I wish. A travesty of justice is a common staple of our legal systems everywhere. Even the Napoleonic Code of Louisiana cannot offset the general trend of miscarriages. In fact, it's much worse, because corruption is so inset there. Humans are not fit to judge, apparently, anywhere or at any time. But what else can we do? Maybe those were better times, when 'we' just killed some people vigilante-style. A deterrent? The percentages (innocent to thoroughly guilty) must have been relatively close, compared to this modern garbage heaping where serial rapists get very short sentences, murderers are reprieved, lifers are brutalized within the system, etc. I'd rather just get hung regardless of innocence or guilt than associate with any of them, including the judge or attorney that might possibly try to save my life. They cannot be trusted, at all. Never could. It's just a game of procedures, devoid of human sensitivity or reasons that really count in a world of madness. The bright can't offset the ugliness, for they are greatly outnumbered. We are totally ***ed! Some are more ***ed than others, of course, because there is no guarantee of equality, either. That's right, the law can't save us equally, or *** us equally. A true game of chance for which you may possibly pay your way out. That does usually work. You couldn't pay your way out of vigilante justice, it just happened.
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| Prejudice Against Arkansas | Sep 4th. at 7:10:51 pm EDT
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foreverknightfan (Dardanelle, Arkansas) - Email Me
Living in Arkansas for more than 30 years, I feel the need to say a few things here.
First off, Arkansas is like every other state in America regarding people. You have good people and bad people.
Secondly, the WM3 case is not just about judiciary malfeasance, it is about how the " Satanic panic" and bad law enforcement investigation blended together to create an injustice for three dead boys and three young men in prison, one on death row.
That situation can happen ANYWHERE in America. I am getting rather annoyed that some here when the WM3 case comes up automatically diss Arkansas. People who haven't even been here for a visit think Arkansas is some backwater hick place. In FACT it is not.
The ISSUE in the WM3 case is the roadblocks against the three convicted of the murders and the law enforcement trying to deny they made mistakes. If Arkansas was as " backward" as some of you snobs claim, there would be no Arkansans speaking up for the WM3.
Mara Leverit wrote a book about the case, She is an Arkansan and the "Arkansas Times" is a weekly newspaper printed IN Arkansas. There is a contingent of Arkansans trying to HELP the WM3 as well as people from other states and countries.
The truth is coming out bit by bit. The female who claimed during the trial that she was with Echols and so forth in a " satanic ceremony" a few weeks ago decided she didn't want to risk perjury charges if she went on the stand about how she lied during the first trial ( the police threatened her with charges about her drug possession if she didn't say what they wanted her to say on the stand) .
Knee-jerk prejudice against a state is no different than when a Xian calls us satan worshipers or worse.
Be CONstructive, not DEstructive.
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| ... | Sep 4th. at 6:32:54 pm EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
Was it just me or did I hear "Dueling Banjos" every time I read something in that article regarding the bureaucrazy...err, bureaucracy?
Arkansas is on the top of the list of places I will NEVAR visit willingly.
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| "Getting To The Point" | Sep 4th. at 4:04:31 pm EDT
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Dana Corby (Anderson Island, Washington) - Email Me
Oh no. It's long since gotten-to and passed the point of ridiculousness, out-sped farce and is deeply embedded in tragedy. This situation has been a travesty from the beginning. The entire Arkansas judiciary is rotten and it's time for outside authorities, up to and including the National Guard if necessary, to step in and make them conform to modern standards of judicial conduct.
The WM3 should never have spent a day in jail; that they're still in prison is a disgrace not just upon Arkansas but on America.
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| I Could Understand Some Screwups | Sep 4th. at 3:32:31 pm EDT
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Athelwolfe (Garland, Texas) - Email Me
but it is really getting to the point where I'm really begining to wonder who they are protecting. This has gone beyond covering up for inadequate and non-existant police work and it is getting ridiculous to anyone who stops to think about it.
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