Change of beliefs

[shadoworder]

The Prosecutor was just trying to save face. He was already practicing law in west memphis at the time of the first trial. I can guarantee you he knows the case backwards and forwards. He even said himself in an interview with GQ magazine that the Alford Plea was a "godsend" for him. And that he would've had his *advertiser censored* handed to him in a retrial.

 

[Userid]

JMK was held for 12 hours and confessed after 8. He was picked up at 9:45 AM and was not allowed to eat or use the bathroom till 6 PM. That being when they finished their interrogation. Also a Documentary cannot possibly include every bit of information about the case. The truth is that their was more kept out that was beneficial to the WM3, then for the prosecution. Nothing was said about Byers history of violence, The pedophile James Kenny Martin Sr, or those two kids who went to california and confessed, then recanted..etc. The filmmakers made it clear that they went in thinking that they were really guilty, and as time went on they released they were being railroaded. Also why did the prosecution take the Alford plea deal? They were the ones who told the defense to make an offer "to make this go away". Why didn't they insist on the retrial?? So you think they allowed three child killers to walk away free?

Okay, I agree with your overall point you're trying to make, but let's slow down here. There weren't "2 people" who confessed in California; it was one (Morgan), and, just like Miskelley, he did so after hours of interrogation -- and he did so in an obviously sarcastic manner. He said something like "You want me to say I killed them kids? Okay, fine -- I killed them kids..." (it's on Youtube, if you're so inclined). The cops in California used the same method, and didn't feed him for God knows how long (they eventually do feed him). That "confession" is even more irrelevant than JMK. I disagreed a lot with Burnett's conduct and rulings during this trial, but I completely understand why he wouldn't allow this witness (Morgan) and the so-called "confession" to be introduced, as it was blatantly obvious it was a b.s. statement.

Also, many people still believe in at least JMK's guilt because he confessed on 3 separate occasions. You're correct in saying he confessed after hours in his first confession, but the other 2 confessions occurred at the request of JMK, and weren't forced after hours of interrogation -- they were made on his own accord, against the wishes of his own attorney. Again, I agree with you overall, but these are facts that should not be left out of this equation.

According to the Prosecution, they took the Alford plea because they didn't want to go through a case that has been sitting for 20 years. In other words, they weren't sure they would win, so they took the plea. I agree: they wouldn't have taken the plea if they honestly believed these 3 committed the crime.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Just a word about JM, Jr.'s subsequent "confessions." Due to his low IQ, he would keep saying whatever he thought they wanted to hear because he wanted to go home. That's all he wanted from June 3, 1993 until August 19, 2011 - to go home. His reasoning process just isn't like people with normal IQ's. Yes, his attorneys didn't want him to make the statement, but he did because he thought he could go home if he continued to say what he thought they wanted him to say. After he was allowed to talk to his dad, he said that he wouldn't testify against DE and JB because his dad told him to tell the truth. IMO, that's pretty important. Although rumors abound that JM, Jr. continued to "confess" while in prison, there has been absolutely no corroboration for those statements. JM, Jr. has maintained his innocence since that so-called "second confession" (the "Hand on the Bible" statement to his attorney followed a few days later - and after, IMO, additional pressure from LE officials - the "second confession" to LE) and has never professed guilt again, well, except for the Alford plea in which he also maintained his innocence. So . . .

 

[Cappuccino]

Another thing to bear in mind about Jessie at that stage is that he might have believed that the other two were guilty. Jason and Damien had reason to believe that they were both innocent because they were together for part of the evening, but Jessie wasn't with them and everybody around Jessie was probably telling him that they were guilty. So looked at through Jessie's eyes, if the prosecution was going to give him a lighter sentence in return for testifying against two people who probably did it anyway, it looks like a good deal.

Thankfully he took his father's advice and just stuck to the truth instead of perjuring himself.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

It might be useful to read Mike Allen's notes from his original interview with Jessie - before any coercion occurred, which includes this statement.

"Heard about (Rumor's) that Damien & Robert Burch did it."

I find that very interesting to say the least!

Also, here are Ridge's interview notes, which say much the same thing.

I hate to rehash old material, but there are several newish posters that might find it useful. Here is the Burch police interview. At the end, he mentions two friends who might have been able to corroborate his story. I cannot find any mention of the police having interviewed these supposed friends for corroboration. I guess that RB was removed from the suspect list because the wmpd simply believed his story.

 

[Cappuccino]

It might be useful to read Mike Allen's notes from his original interview with Jessie - before any coercion occurred, which includes this statement.

"Heard about (Rumor's) that Damien & Robert Burch did it."

I find that very interesting to say the least!

Yes, exactly. Its easy to over look that apart from being one of the three convicted, Jessie was also a local resident at the time and had been exposed to all the same rumours about Damien and satanism and all the rest that were floating around at the time. I can well believe that at the age of 17-18 Jessie was plenty gullible enough to swallow those rumours whole, especially when they were told to him by people he trusted, eg, Vicky Hutchinson.