Arkansas Blog

Betsey Wright says in an e-mail, "Since he was in the neighborhood, I wish he had mentioned the Jonesboro wrongful conviction of Damien Echols-Posted by Warwick Sabin
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Maybe someone should explain to Ms. Wright that, until Mr. Echols' conviction is overturned on appeal - he has been rightfully convicted. He has had years to prove his innocence with creative films made in his honor and with accolades from Hollywood headline-chasers.

Prove he is not guilty and then you can whine about his wrongful conviction.

Oh, poor, poor Betsey. Don't you know that at least one Arkansas school superintendent will infer that you are a trouble maker supreme should you do anything to draw his ire? Why, that's what he thinks of Wendy Crow, not just because she is leading the charge in Watson Chapel's dress code brouhaha, but -- horrors! -- because she is working to save Damien Echols, et al.
Careful, Betsey. You might get a bad name around here.
Uh, you care, don't you?
Just mullygrubbin': funny thing was that I kinda thought Ms. Crow was the troublemaker before the supe's pronouncement. ("Girl, make that boy pull up his pants and send his butt to school with orders to behave and pay attention.")
Now I wonder how much the district's attorneys' fees are going to be just because the supe is a jerk who probably still doesn't realize easily and quickly this could have blown over. And folks this brilliant are responsible for teaching our children. Sigh.

And an aside to Mr. Keyhotey: surely one can be legally, but wrongfully, convicted. What about the handful of men who have been exonerated by DNA evidence after serving years for rape convictions?

What about the handful of men who have been exonerated by DNA evidence after serving years for rape convictions? - Posted by: Doigotta
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Doigotta - Yougotta re-read what I said. If these guys subsequently proved their innocence by DNA or anything else, then I would say they were wrongfully convicted and Ms. Betsy can properly describe them that way.
Until then, they are still rightfully convicted.

Doigotta 'splain this again?

No, they can be wrongfully convicted without later proving their innocence.

Whether they can prove they innocent or not, an innocent man is an innocent man and thus wrongfully convicted even if they are never exonerated.

Remember: The goal of a prosecuting attorney is to convict, not to free innocent people.

I learned at an early age that police and prosecuting attorneys can and will lie to get a conviction. That was in traffic court; I can imagine what happens when reelection and promotions are at stake.

Remember: The goal of a prosecuting attorney is to convict, not to free innocent people. . . I learned at an early age that police and prosecuting attorneys can and will lie to get a conviction. - Posted by: FormerlyKnownAs...
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Not quite - the charge to a prosecuting attorney is to pursue justice by convicting those that are guilty - and not to seek to free the innocent - but to avoid convicting the innocent -there is a difference! This is one reason why the prosecution must turn over all evidence to the defense, even if it works against the prosecution.

There are bad cops and bad prosecutors just as there are unscrupulous defense attorneys that will falsify evidence and come up with lying witnesses. Which side do you think has more motivation to lie - the salaried civil servant or the "Pay for your play" criminal defense attorney?

By the way, if you visit with inmates at Tucker or Cummins, you will find that almost all of them claim to be wrongfully convicted. Wah wah wah. . .

DK,
Research the West Memphis case, read "Devil's Knot," and see if you still think those boys were guilty. I followed the case from the beginning to end, shaking my head and rolling my eyes all the way.
John Mark Byers is one scary SOB, and just research the history when they moved to Sharp County.
Does anyone on the blog know where Byers is living right now?
DK, hope he doesn't live on your street, especially if you have little ones running around outside.

Wow! It is still hard to believe that people actually believe that Damien, Jessie and Jason were "rightfully" convicted. Yikes! Ignorance truly is bliss...

There would be so many folks on death row for the reasons that these three young men were convicted. Especially if their conviction stands alone on the ridiculous "evidence they have".

"Capital punishment turns the state into a murderer...."
Jesse Jackson

DK,
Research the West Memphis case, read "Devil's Knot," and see if you still think those boys were guilty. - Posted by: BlueRidge
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Authors and filmmakers create works that tend to be selective in their presentation. The goal is to express the artist's viewpoint and sell books and theater tickets. So keep that in mind as you read or watch.

If the case against these convicted killers is so bogus, and authors, filmmakers and Hollywood personalities are tripping over each other coming to their rescue, there should be plenty of money available to get the finest legal team on earth to get this injustice corrected.

So why hasn't that happened?

About this:
"Which side do you think has more motivation to lie - the salaried civil servant or the "Pay for your play" criminal defense attorney?"

It's hard to say, because there is the issue of a possible prosecutor that is very zealous and a true believer that certain people are guilty.

In fact, I woul think that there are times that money wouldn't motivate as much as "righteous indignation" would.

It seems to me that conservatives tend to think that the only real motivation for ANYTHING is a possible gain of money. That's why they often talk about it as though that is the main consideration in the way the world works.

From what I have seen, there are lots of other things that motivate people, to the point that, for some, money is totally irrelevant.

Dear Don Keyhotay,

Are you seriously that unfamiliar with the legal system?

1st off are you anywhere close to or from West Memphis? Do you understand the economics of this town alone?

2ndly, do you realize that attorney's are NOT cheap?
You must know VERY little about what it takes to operate in the legal system.

I am sure if you were in any of these three young men's place, regardless of your current economic situation you'd still struggle getting the best help possible.

Unless of course you are part of a group in which you may be protected by authority figures. Or you must come from a place where you had a silver spoon in your mouth since you were a baby.

Do you have hundreds of dollars to give an attorney per hour to do paperwork, talk on the phone, take messages, make copies and file paperwork as well as appear before a court of law for you? Do you have thousands of dollars to give to expert witnesses to prove something so ridiculous to begin with that a group of people can't get their heads out of the sand to see the light? If you do, good for you. But the likelihood of that is small.

These three young men have been in prison for more than 13 years. They were teenagers and not them nor their families have that kind of money.

Yes. There are some folks of national/international fame that are supporters of the WM3. They do all they can to help. They too (with all their money) cannot give the amount of money needed for such a case.

However, believe that there are those out there that do their best to help when they can. Sometimes their appearance at an event is enough. They do this for free when they'd be paid thousands to begin with. That is another way they give of themselves.

Do you realize there have been and are 100s of men and some women that have been exonerated for crimes they did not commit?

"Although the costs of incarceration are expensive (about $25,000 per year per inmate), that amounts to $750,000 to $1,000,000 depending on whether a person lives 30 or 40 years after his or her sentencing. The death penalty, on the other hand, costs an additional $2 million per execution."

This is old information so Don if you have this kind of money, I hope you use it wisely.

Rene- Just a few short responses:

(Are you seriously that unfamiliar with the legal system?)
No, I am intimately familiar with it.

(1st off are you anywhere close to or from West Memphis?)
-Nope. Don't live there- don't plan to either.

(2ndly, do you realize that attorney's are NOT cheap?)
- Some are, some aren't. How much justice can you afford?

(You must know VERY little about what it takes to operate in the legal system.)
- Wrong.

(I am sure if you were in any of these three young men's place, regardless of your current economic situation you'd still struggle getting the best help possible.)
- True.

(There are some folks of national/international fame that are supporters of the WM3. They do all they can to help. They too (with all their money) cannot give the amount of money needed for such a case.)
- If the Hollywood stars wanted more than publicity they could easily fund it. And if there is the remotest possibility of success, criminal defense lawyers love to take these cases for the high-profile publicity. If neither money nor firepower are stepping up to the plate, that should clue you in that there's a problem.

(Do you realize there have been and are 100s of men and some women that have been exonerated for crimes they did not commit?)
- Yes, and a like number (or more) of the guilty that were not convicted and walk the street to pillage again. Our system is weighted in favor of the accused because we would rather let the guilty walk free than convict an innocent person.

When their convictions are overturned, I will freely admit that they were wrongfully convicted.