] 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.