I blogged about Damiel Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin, known as the West Memphis Three, a little over a week ago in my Green Living category. I explained that this particular subject falls between pop culture and green living because celebrities have been involved trying to free these men but, it is also a case of social consciousness because a lot of people think they were railroaded into a conviction.
Now, director Peter Jackson, known for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the upcoming The Hobbit series, has come on board to try and bring true justice for the West Memphis Three. Johnny Depp, Natalie Maines, and Eddie Vedder helped get the three freed, but Jackson hopes to help get their names cleared.
The West Memphis Three copped a deal to get out of prison. They still had to plead guilty to the murders of the three small boys, but were allowed to maintain they were innocence. Personally, I think it was a case of Arkansas trying to cover itself for what everyone knows was a mishandling of justice.
The three accepted the deal to free themselves, but swore to continue to try to clear their names, only this time, they would be able to do it on the outside instead of the inside. Governor Mike Beebe has said there will be no pardon unless there is evidence found that someone else committed the murders. He said, “The state believes that this case is concluded by the convictions of the three individuals who committed these heinous murders.”
Jackson said this week that he and his wife Fran Walsh will help fund the continued search for evidence to clear the names of the West Memphis Three. Of the three’s release last week, Jackson said on Facebook, “Let’s not think for a second that justice was served today. Far from it.”
He went on to say, “All three men had to accept the conditions of the plea—if one refused, they would all stay in prison, probably for another 2 to 3 years, until their inevitable retrial, which would have almost certainly found them innocent” and “There’s also a triple child killer who has walked free for the last 18 years…seemingly an unimportant detail in today’s white-washing job.”
Jackson’s manager, Ken Kamins, promised EW that further investigations would work to prove the men innocent.