What have we learned in the case of the WM3?

[Cappuccino]

I've learnt that if you told some nons - not saying anybody here - that someone said Damien liked to hang out at the top of Mount Everest, they would believe it. Not only would they believe it, they would embrace any theory that says the murders were committed on top of Mt. Everest, and any objections from supporters along the lines of ...."Jessie neglected to mention that they climbed Mt. Everest" would be hand waved away.

 

[claudicici]

I have learned that sadly "feindbilder" still exist.This is what the Nazis made the Jews out to be in Nazi Germany.The only translation I can find is ironically "Boogeyman".
The Jews were compared to filthy creatures,capable of the most vile and disgusting actions.They were made out to be soulless creatures that deserve to die.
I thought we were beyond that way of thinking ,I thought history has taught how disgusting and despicable that way of thinking is.
But I guess I was wrong.

 

[Cappuccino]

One other important thing that I learned is that two people can read the same information and come to two totally opposite conclusions.

This is a very important lesson, I think. It explains so much about the world around us at the moment. For example, some muslims read the Qur'an and see it as a call to give lots to charity and live a peaceful, law abiding life. Others read exactly the same book and see it as a divine call to fly planes into buildings.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

I have learned that we may never know about the results of the 'new evidence' the convicted three claim to have. As of today we are still waiting. In this case it should be noted that they were never convicted on DNA evidence. Echols and Baldwin were convicted without Misskelleys testimony.


of Scott Ellington: he said he hoped for a crime lab analysis of so-far unidentified DNA evidence to see if it points to a suspect in the case. He encouraged those with evidence to see the defense team and said he'd consider "compelling" evidence.

http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2011/08/25/who-killed-the-west-memphis-children


In the Supreme Court opinions from November 2010, there is no compelling DNA evidence.

Echols
http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/WebLink8/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=50532&dbid=0

Baldwin
http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/WebLink8/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=50524&dbid=0

Misskelley
http://opinions.aoc.arkansas.gov/WebLink8/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=50543&&dbid=0

 

[Cappuccino]

I have learned that we may never know about the results of the 'new evidence' the convicted three claim to have. As of today we are still waiting.

Why in God's name are you still waiting? It was plastered all over You Tube about four years ago, so go google it. Whether or not you accept it is obviously your business, but to claim that you're still waiting for evidence produced in 2007 is just plain silly.

Echols and Baldwin were convicted without Misskelleys testimony.

I'm sure Scott Ellington wishes that were true. If it were true, all three of them would still be behind bars. Unfortunately, for both him and you, there was evidence of jury misconduct in the Echols/Baldwin trial. The jury defied the instructions of Judge Burnett and illegally considered Jessie's confessions as evidence.

So, any non supporters out there reading, you can all thank Kent Arnold heartily for the freedom of the West Memphis Three.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

The evidence from 2008 was tested by the request of Echols to be performed by Bode Technology Group. Below there is a link = go to the bottom of the doucment to view. It says that the DNA testing done on the victims cannot be reliable because the victims were nude and submerged in water 18 to 24 hours. The date of this letter is May 27, 2008. With all the money involved in the experts that the Defense have wouldn't they have already known this? That's what I mean by 'new evidence', there is none..

http://callahan.8k.com/pdf/de_state_response.pdf

 

[Compassionate Reader]

The evidence from 2008 was tested by the request of Echols to be performed by Bode Technology Group. Below there is a link = go to the bottom of the doucment to view. It says that the DNA testing done on the victims cannot be reliable because the victims were nude and submerged in water 18 to 24 hours. The date of this letter is May 27, 2008. With all the money involved in the experts that the Defense have wouldn't they have already known this? That's what I mean by 'new evidence', there is none..

http://callahan.8k.com/pdf/de_state_response.pdf

That's the State's response. Of course they're going to try to debunk the idea of anything that could shed additional light on the previously collected but retested evidence that might overturn their case. That is just their opinion. It doesn't prove anything.

The report mentioned the new technology (STR Minifiler Testing) that could be useful in obtaining more complete information from the samples. That testing was ordered in 2010 as part of the pre hearing testing in preparation for the evidentiary hearing. I have not seen the report on that new testing yet.

Alford Pleas, as is the case for most plea deals, are usually made before trial. Why would the State accept a plea deal for three men who were already in jail for life, one on death row? The fact of the situation is that the State accepted the Alford Plea for some reason, and I don't believe it was simply to avoid another trial.

I believe that some of the testing results that have not yet been made public just might reveal information that would, if not outright exonerate the WMFree, certainly cast serious doubt on their guilt. I believe that we may never know what that information is because it was an "under the table" condition of the whole thing. I hope I'm wrong and that everything will come out so that Damien, Jason and Jessie can be exonerated.

I pray that eventually we will know the results of all the testing conducted. However, the way politics work, it's entirely possible that, because of the massive political overtones of this case, we may never be made privy to everything. JMO

 

[h818]

I've learned that there are people out there who believe that saying you're homicidal, attempting to suck blood from your fellow patients at a mental health facility, and threatening to (kill and) eat your father are all completely normal. :waitasec:

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I've learned that apparently there are people who don't recognize teen angst and want to paint anyone who exhibits some of the more bizarre forms of it as being psychotic and/or schizophrenic.

 

[Cazzie]

I have learned that in this great country, the US of A, you might end up in jail or prison, for years, merely for being "different", merely for being unconservative, merely for expressing your individuality even within the laws.

Very frickin' scary.

People, pay attention. This could happen to someone you know and/or love.

How do we stop it?

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I have learned that in this great country, the US of A, you might end up in jail or prison, for years, merely for being "different", merely for being unconservative, merely for expressing your individuality even within the laws.

Very frickin' scary.

People, pay attention. This could happen to someone you know and/or love.

How do we stop it?

This (what I placed in bold type) is the scariest part of the whole thing, IMO. Like I said before, I'll never answer police questions without an attorney present. I don't know if we can stop it, because the "good ol' boy" network is pretty widespread. I think that the best we can do is call attention to these cases when they happen and hope that justice will eventually be done.

 

[deelytful1]

This (what I placed in bold type) is the scariest part of the whole thing, IMO. Like I said before, I'll never answer police questions without an attorney present. I don't know if we can stop it, because the "good ol' boy" network is pretty widespread. I think that the best we can do is call attention to these cases when they happen and hope that justice will eventually be done.

ITA. Like I said previously (I think it was this thread!) I've learned to teach my 12 year old son to NOT cooperate with police .. no matter what the situation (unless of course a mere traffic stop) AND to always ask for a lawyer... Sad, but true.

 

[madeleine]

what I've learned is that it got easier for defense lawyers to spin the evidence and that more and more criminals are being exonerated and cleared based on .....well,actually, NOTHING

 

[Compassionate Reader]

In this case, IMO, what I learned is that three teens were convicted on nothing. The "spinning" was done primarily by the prosecution. The defense is merely trying to correct a grave miscarriage of justice.

 

[Paige SC]

convicted on nothing perhaps if one suspends their commons sense - as was recently the case with Casey Anthony.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

I agree that "common sense" would tell the normally intelligent person that CA was in some way responsible for her daughter's death. However, IMO, that same "common sense" tells the normally intelligent person that three semi-drunk teenagers could not commit the murders described in JM's statements without leaving any physical evidence behind. Therefore, since there is no physical evidence that supports the notion that the WMFree are guilty of these murders, and there is physical evidence that points to one of the parents at the time, logic (or "common sense") tells me that it is much more likely that the person whose mtDNA was found under the ligature of one of the boys (not his step son) is a much more likely suspect in this case, especially since the WMPD didn't interview this person at the time.

 

[Paige SC]

common sense tells me just the opposite. with the murders near water it's not so far fetched that much was washed away - aside from the fact DNA collection wasn't as advanced as it is today. And with blood of two people on his necklace, well I don't know about you but my necklace doesn't have anyone's blood (including my own on it). I read a post recently that stated had Damien been a generation or so younger, no doubt he would have been the type to kill his classmates in a shooting spree like Columbine. I believe that, too. And death row hasn't softened him one little bit, imho.

 

[Compassionate Reader]

That must've been some pretty selective water, then. It washed away all of the DNA from the WMFree but left DNA on Chris' shoes and left the two hairs (one most probably from TH and the other most probably from DJ) that have been tested plus some other hairs that have not been identified except that they are not from any of the WMFree.

As to the assessment of Damien, I humbly disagree. I don't see Eric or Dylan in Damien at all. Eric liked to control people and force them to do things. There are no examples of Damien doing that kind of thing. Dylan was very introverted, really, and was led astray by Eric. That's certainly not Damien. He was introverted, yes, but I don't think he was easily influenced.

IIRC, the necklace only had blood from one person on it - and the DQ - Alpha 1 testing revealed that it could have been either Jason or Stevie. Although DQ - Alpha testing limits the source further than blood typing, it still cannot identify an individual. The testing revealed IIRC that there was a sequence of six markers (maybe alleles?) that were shared by Jason and Stevie. Six out of how many in a DNA sequence? Not a very strong match IMO. Unfortunately, the sample was all used up and cannot be sent for further testing, which could be done now and the actual DNA profile extracted if the sample had not been destroyed by the previous testing.

 

[UdbCrzy2]

I have learned that no matter what evidence is available even very negative information from the Defense attorney that some supporters will still be 'obsessed' with the notion that WM3 are innocent and were just ordinary teenagers. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are groupies of other high profile cases and that's just the way it is.

 

[wyome]

I have learned that one can butcher three children, be found guilty of said murders, admit to that guilt via the Alford Plea, and be set free.

For all that's "wrong" with our American Justice system, that one takes the cake.