West Memphis 3: modern day witch hunt?

[mastag]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_3

Very old news, I know, but, I just watched Paradise Lost and it spurred my interest. I reccommend that documentary to anyone, it is quite interesting and compelling. A fine example of how moral panic can totally **** up the justice system IMO.

 

[Raziaar]

Wow, that's a long wikipedia article. Any chance you can summarize and tell me what exactly about the case makes it like a modern day witch hunt?

I don't know anything about the case personally.

 

[mastag]

3 young boys found dead. No truly incriminating evidence linking the suspects, so the prosecution points to so called "satanic" drawings, writings, and attacked the music they listened to. One suspect is Wiccan, so they jumped all over that. 2 got life sentences, one got the death penalty.


Recently, one of the parents of the murdered boys, seen in Paradise Lost talking about how he wanted to kill the three suspects, has stated that he now believes they are innocent.

Also:

At this time, the DNA testing requested by all three is proceeding. Judge Burnett signed the Order for DNA Testing, which was filed June 2, 2004. Getting all parties to agree on what specifically would be tested, where it would be tested, etc., was a time-consuming process. According to the DNA Status Report filed on July 17, "none of the genetic material recovered at the scene of the crimes was attributable to Mr. Echols, Echols co-defendant, Jason Baldwin, or defendant Jessie Misskelley.

From wikipedia...