thedailywhat:

Breaking News of the Day: After spending half their lives behind bars for a murder many believe they did not commit, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin — better known as the “West Memphis 3” — are free men today, having accepted a complicated deal that required them to plead guilty to the crime.

Echols, Misskelley, and Baldwin were convicted in 1993 of murdering and mutilating the bodies of Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers, supposedly as part of a satanic ritual (the moral panic du jour at the time). Echols received a death sentence, while Misskelley was sentenced to life in prison plus two 20-year sentences. Baldwin was sentenced to life.

Unrelenting high-profile support for the innocence of the WM3 from such celebrities as Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp spurred the re-examination of DNA evidence from the crime scene, which appeared to absolve the three men of any wrongdoing.

The confusing legal arrangement that allowed the WM3 to go free — known as an “Alford plea” — required them state that prosecution “could likely convince a judge or jury” that they were guilty, while permitting them to maintain innocence at the same time.

The were sentenced by Circuit Court Judge David Laser to 18 years with credit for time served and an additional 10-year suspended sentence. Steve Branch,  Stevie Branch’s father, objected to the plea deal, telling the judge “If you go through with this, you’re going to open Pandora’s Box.”

“It’s not perfect,” said Echols at the post-release press conference, referring to the deal, “but at least it brings closure to some aspects. We can still try to clear our names but now from the outside.”

[ca / wreg / @acarvin.]

(via pwnator)