Life for the West Memphis Three - Free After the Alford Plea

[claudicici]

SOme more interesting info about the movie premiere and all three of them together in New York
http://www.wfaa.com/news/national/131465718.html
Damien went to Disney World and lives in New York
Jessie got agitated at the News conference and left early.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Here's an interesting NY Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/magazine/a-death-row-love story.html?_r=2

ETA: Among other things it mentions that Damien and Lorri are living in Manhattan.

 

[animlzrule]

Not sure if this has been posted on another thread already:

Damien Echols Of The West Memphis 3 To Write A Memoir For Penguin

Roger Friedman reports that Damien Echols -- one of the men known as the West Memphis Three for his wrongful arrest in West Memphis, Arkansas -- has signed with Penguin to write a memoir due out September 2012.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/13/damien-echols-west-memphis-3-memoir_n_1009627.html?ir=Crime

 

[Compassionate Reader]

The link on the NY Times article appears to be broken. Here's where I first saw it:

http://wm3org.typepad.com/blog/2011/10/a-death-row-love-story-nytimescom.html

 

[claudicici]

http://wm3org.typepad.com/files/1011011502.jpg


Jessie added the hands on his clock

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I'm not sure if the information about Jason was in any of the above links, but I did read somewhere that he is living in Seattle and working construction. I've also read that Damien and Lorri are currently in New Zealand and Peter Jackson plans to give Damien some sort of role in his new movie, The Hobbit. Speculation as to what/who he would play abounds, but AFAIK no one knows anything definitely.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayl...e_west_memphis_three_to_appear_in_the_hobbit/

ETA: Here's a link to an HBO trailer for Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory. Be sure to let it fully load before you watch or it will continue to stop and restart.

[ame="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xldw06_hbo-documentary-films-paradise-lost-3-purgatory-trailer_shortfilms"]Dailymotion - HBO Documentary Films: Paradise Lost 3 Purgatory Trailer - a Film & TV video[/ame]

 

[Cappuccino]

I can't wait to see that film. One intriguing snippet I'm getting from the previews is that Jerry Driver and Dale Griffis were in contact with each other for up to a year before the murders.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I can't wait to see that film. One intriguing snippet I'm getting from the previews is that Jerry Driver and Dale Griffis were in contact with each other for up to a year before the murders.

Yep, I've seen that, too. From what I've read, it looks like Driver was plotting and planning to "get" Damien for over a year before the murders. I hope more on that situation is revealed in the documentary.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

Per Val Price, Echol's defense attorney during the trial had this to say after the release about Echols innocence:

"The whole tenor of everything has changed quite a bit,'' he said. Asked if he believed Echols was indeed innocent, Price squinted his eyes and shook his head again. "It's hard to say,'' he said.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/aug/19/notebook/?print=1

 

[Cazzie]

I don't have any eloquence to express how I feel.

I believe in Damien, despite whatever he did/said in his past. And, no, I do not believe that he murdered anyone, especially those young boys.

Saying something and doing something are very different things.

Who amongst us have not thought, said despicable things while venting?

I cannot wait for Damien's new book...I want to know what he went thru...all those years...not because of normal curiosity...but out of compassion, and to find a way to not let this happen ever again...

Damien.. Lori :blowkiss: :blowkiss:

 

[Compassionate Reader]

AFAIK, Val Price has not continued to be involved with the defense team. Therefore, he does not have all the information that he needs to make an informed decision about Damien's guilt or innocence. As a result, his opinion of Damien's guilt or innocence carries no more weight with me than the opinion of any other ordinary person. Given the way Damien acted back then, many small-minded people would have believed him to be guilty. IMO, that's part of the reason he got convicted back in 1994, just like Lindy Chamberlain in Australia. However, open-minded people who will study all of the information available on this case often have another opinion after such a study.

 

[LucyVino]

I'm not sure if the information about Jason was in any of the above links, but I did read somewhere that he is living in Seattle and working construction."


I just got back from Portland and I have it on good authority that Jason is in fact in Seattle working construction.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I'm not sure if the information about Jason was in any of the above links, but I did read somewhere that he is living in Seattle and working construction."


I just got back from Portland and I have it on good authority that Jason is in fact in Seattle working construction.

Damien and Lorri will settle in New York (for her job) when they return from New Zealand. Jessie is still living and working in the West Memphis/Marion area. It's funny, but in that interview right after the ASSC ordered an evidentiary hearing, Jessie said that he would leave Arkansas if he were ever freed. Now he's the only one still in Arkansas. Like I've said before, I hope that Susie can convince him to GTHO (get the hell out) soon. I'm sure that part of the reason he wants to stay is to be near his dad. Maybe Jessie, Sr. could move, too. JK.

 

[claudicici]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002831955764

Jessie and Susie in their awesome Halloween costumes.
I actually think Jessie is where he's supposed to be.He seems to have too many friends and family right there in West Memphis ,a huge support system.
I'm not sure he would be happy anywhere else.

 

[gitana1]

Agreed. Convicted felons aren't allowed to be attorneys.

Strangely, that's not true: http://www.ehow.com/facts_7420217_can-felon-become-lawyer_.html

I remember when I was in law school, reading about a convicted murderer who had been admitted to the bar. I was stunned.

In other news, on Damien's Facebook, there are links to some interviews he gave. Here's the first:
http://wm3org.typepad.com/blog/2011/10/katv-interviews-with-baldwin-echols.html

Part two: http://wm3org.typepad.com/blog/2011/11/part-2-echols-interview-with-heather-crawford-wm3.html

Part three: http://wm3org.typepad.com/blog/2011/11/pt-3-baldwin-echols-interview-with-katv-wm3.html

ETA: The last one is Jason Baldwin as well.

Thanks to everyone who has stayed on topic. I really want to be able to follow what these three are doing with their freedom. It makes me insane when this thread devloves into arguments about their guilt or innocence. No one is going to convince the other side. :crazy:

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Here's an article:

http://www.katv.com/story/15917619/wm3-echols-on-life-after-death-row

and video:

http://www.katv.com/video?clipId=6405232&autostart=true

of interest as well.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Jason went to the international documentary film festival in Amsterdam recently. This link shows an interview with him and Joe Berlinger, one of the film makers, at that festival. On the right, scroll down until you see November 24. Then click on it. The interview starts at about the 12 minute mark and lasts for about 20 minutes:

http://www.idfa.nl/nl/idfatv/idfa-2011/talkshows.aspx

 

[gitana1]

Wow. I am so glad Jason got see my mother's city! It is absolutely beautiful there. Good for him!

In the interview, he talks about how a warden was going to testify that the witness who testified that Baldwin confessed to him, could never have had contact with Baldwin at the jail. But the warden was banned from the county altogether and not allowed to testify. I had never heard that before.

Anyhow, Baldwin seems like a smart enough guy but I hope he continues with his education. He has lost a lot of time in prison.

 

[gitana1]

Oh, further on in the interview, Baldwin does say he is about to start college, is learning to drive and has a girlfriend. he also says his lawyers are continuing to fight to be allowed to test OTHER dna that they have not been allowed to test. I didn't know there was other evidence out there that had not been tested. Interesting.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

Oh, further on in the interview, Baldwin does say he is about to start college, is learning to drive and has a girlfriend. he also says his lawyers are continuing to fight to be allowed to test OTHER dna that they have not been allowed to test. I didn't know there was other evidence out there that had not been tested. Interesting.

The "other DNA" statement threw me for a loop, too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what surfaces. Hopefully, it will provide critical information.

As to the "warden" you mentioned, it was Joyce Cureton. She was a worker in the juvenile facility at the time Jason was there. She was prepared to testify that Jason was never alone with Michael Carson long enough for the "confession" Michael Carson claimed Jason made to him to have occurred. However, she was told to be unavailable at the trial. Later, IIRC, she was fired from her job and was then free to discuss this situation.

I though Jason looked great, too. I do hope that he goes to law school, completes the course, and does as he has mentioned in other interviews - spends his time working to get the falsely-convicted free.