The films are remarkable, and it is certainly an interesting - and troubling - case.
Bill Clinton
These boys didnt get a fair trial. They got picked for wearing black clothes and having long hair. I am fundamentally opposed to the death penalty, and as Lenny Bruce said, In the halls of justice, all the justice is in the halls. Perhaps, a jury is composed of twelve men and women of average ignorance. and a judge is a lawyer who once knew a politician. In our system of justice, the best client for a lawyer is a scared millionaire. The worst thing in our criminal justice system is to be broke or different.
Tom Waits
Until the West Memphis Three are free, none of us are free.
Margaret Cho
No one is really safe from this kind of persecution. You might think that it would never happen in America, but it does. Granted there are millions of other cases that are probably worthy of our attention, but you can't go after all of them. To me, the planet itself is going to be fine. Pollution is the solution to the problem that is man. But maybe we can at least get these kids out of jail.
Eddie Spaghetti (Lead Singer, Supersuckers)
Its such a music oriented issue. It seems to us that the injustices stemmed from the music these kids were listening to, and the solution may come from that as well.
Danny Bland (Manager, Supersuckers)
It could happen to me, it could happen to you.
Jello Biafra
I went and visited Damien in this little God-forsaken place, this prison, he's on death row, and everyone was treated like dirt there. ... I was ready for that, but the oppression's really heavy. And Damien's in there.
Eddie Vedder
I would hate to know I was an innocent man, and my life depended upon 12 people [a jury].
Mike Allen (Assistant Police Chief in West Memphis)
We would like to see Damien Jason and Jessie given new trials this time based on concrete evidence, actual facts and substance instead of rumors, prejudice, superstition and what amounts to a modern day witch hunt. We would like to see a real proper investigation to determine who really did kill those three children.
Winona Ryder
Everybody in the town and in the courtroom and on the jury are all blinded by their fantasies about satanic cults.
Roger Ebert
I am not covering a Black Flag song, but I would love to help the WM3 in any way I can, since I believe they are innocent. I would really like to paint the album cover, and I have suggested that.
Marilyn Manson (Who was NOT allowed to participate in the benefit album)
There was a lack of physical evidence to tie anyone or anything to the crime scene.
John Fogleman (prosecutor)
Whether you oppose the death penalty or not, I really am convinced that theyre not guilty of anything except being teen-agers and listening to Black Sabbath and wearing a lot of black and kind of having big mouths. Theres just too many weird things about that case. Its really horrible what happened, but I dont think those kids are guilty and I certainly dont think that the D.A. over there proved that they were guilty.
Steve Earle
This is a really f*cked up situation.
Jack Black (at the Hollywood Improv Comedy Benefit)
They were incarcerated through ignorance and a blindness that is as infuriating as it is horrifying. These three men have been locked away for many years, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley got life sentences and Damien Echols is on Death Row facing lethal injection. These three are innocent and to stand for the kind of insanity that convicted them is to align oneself with all that is bad.
Henry Rollins
That's the stupidest f*cking confession I've ever seen.
Dr. Richard Ofshe (Re: Misskelley's '93 statement)
FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE!
Trey Parker
Paradise Lost is a documentary film by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. Brother's Keeper was an earlier documentary they filmed on a case surrounding a peasant farmer (wrongly) accused of murdering his brother.
Though the making of this film (Paradise Lost) they formed a relationship with Metallica who did the soundtrack for the film (for free, saying that they'd seen "Brother's Keeper" and were impressed by the film) and they would later begin filming promotional material for Metallica's new album which would eventually be used for a film instead.
To give you an idea of how these guys work - Metallica not only allowed them to film very personal material surrounding the making of their new album (which went far beyond anything you'd use for promotional material); but they convinced Metiallica to buy the rights out so that they could release the material in film format, Metallica not only had enough confidence in them to fund the movie out of their own money - but they also left all the editing decisions to Joe and Bruce - Metallica: Some Kind of Monster was a very critically acclaimed documentary; though it should be noted its high quality is characteristic of the way Joe and Bruce work, and meets the standard of their previous works.
Paradise Lost tells an interesting story about a triple homicide that occurred in 1993 where all the victims were young boys, all aged 8. There was a lack of physical or forensic evidence at the scene (partly because the bodies were found naked and partly submerged in water in what is presumed by some to be a secondary-crime scene). It is indeed a baffling case; if it was a secondary crime scene then why did two of the three boys die at the scene (they drowned to death) - and if it was the primary crime scene then where did all the blood go?
What makes this a high-quality documentary is the fact that the case is presented from a neutral point of view. A lack of forensic evidence is by no means conclusive proof of innocence, and I think that a lot of people who've "followed" this case have forgotten that (just look at the Wikipedia article on the WM3; it is by far one of the most biased articles I've ever seen).
Currently on Death row now for 15 years, Echols, and Baldwin (serving life imprisonment) are now having their defence teams explore the possibility that the jury in their trial was biased by being exposed to information regarding Misskelly's trial.
Dan Stidham, Jessie Misskelly's court-appointed lawyer, so strongly believed in his client's innocence that he continued to work on the case for years - without remuneration - before eventually handing over to a new defence team when he became a Judge. He continues to take an interest in the case, and used to boast that he could have gotten Misskelly to confess to assassinating JFK. What he actually did, which convinced him of his client's innocence, was he coerced a false confession out of Jessie to a petty theft/robbery that had never actually taken place; he was not allowed to enter that information into evidence at the trial. But considering that the prosecution wasn't able to enter much real evidence of their own either (besides THEIR "coerced" confession).
The case is ongoing, and further information is at http://wm3.org/ (the website set up by and run by the support group for the WM3).
Bill Clinton
These boys didnt get a fair trial. They got picked for wearing black clothes and having long hair. I am fundamentally opposed to the death penalty, and as Lenny Bruce said, In the halls of justice, all the justice is in the halls. Perhaps, a jury is composed of twelve men and women of average ignorance. and a judge is a lawyer who once knew a politician. In our system of justice, the best client for a lawyer is a scared millionaire. The worst thing in our criminal justice system is to be broke or different.
Tom Waits
Until the West Memphis Three are free, none of us are free.
Margaret Cho
No one is really safe from this kind of persecution. You might think that it would never happen in America, but it does. Granted there are millions of other cases that are probably worthy of our attention, but you can't go after all of them. To me, the planet itself is going to be fine. Pollution is the solution to the problem that is man. But maybe we can at least get these kids out of jail.
Eddie Spaghetti (Lead Singer, Supersuckers)
Its such a music oriented issue. It seems to us that the injustices stemmed from the music these kids were listening to, and the solution may come from that as well.
Danny Bland (Manager, Supersuckers)
It could happen to me, it could happen to you.
Jello Biafra
I went and visited Damien in this little God-forsaken place, this prison, he's on death row, and everyone was treated like dirt there. ... I was ready for that, but the oppression's really heavy. And Damien's in there.
Eddie Vedder
I would hate to know I was an innocent man, and my life depended upon 12 people [a jury].
Mike Allen (Assistant Police Chief in West Memphis)
We would like to see Damien Jason and Jessie given new trials this time based on concrete evidence, actual facts and substance instead of rumors, prejudice, superstition and what amounts to a modern day witch hunt. We would like to see a real proper investigation to determine who really did kill those three children.
Winona Ryder
Everybody in the town and in the courtroom and on the jury are all blinded by their fantasies about satanic cults.
Roger Ebert
I am not covering a Black Flag song, but I would love to help the WM3 in any way I can, since I believe they are innocent. I would really like to paint the album cover, and I have suggested that.
Marilyn Manson (Who was NOT allowed to participate in the benefit album)
There was a lack of physical evidence to tie anyone or anything to the crime scene.
John Fogleman (prosecutor)
Whether you oppose the death penalty or not, I really am convinced that theyre not guilty of anything except being teen-agers and listening to Black Sabbath and wearing a lot of black and kind of having big mouths. Theres just too many weird things about that case. Its really horrible what happened, but I dont think those kids are guilty and I certainly dont think that the D.A. over there proved that they were guilty.
Steve Earle
This is a really f*cked up situation.
Jack Black (at the Hollywood Improv Comedy Benefit)
They were incarcerated through ignorance and a blindness that is as infuriating as it is horrifying. These three men have been locked away for many years, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley got life sentences and Damien Echols is on Death Row facing lethal injection. These three are innocent and to stand for the kind of insanity that convicted them is to align oneself with all that is bad.
Henry Rollins
That's the stupidest f*cking confession I've ever seen.
Dr. Richard Ofshe (Re: Misskelley's '93 statement)
FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE!
Trey Parker
Paradise Lost is a documentary film by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. Brother's Keeper was an earlier documentary they filmed on a case surrounding a peasant farmer (wrongly) accused of murdering his brother.
Though the making of this film (Paradise Lost) they formed a relationship with Metallica who did the soundtrack for the film (for free, saying that they'd seen "Brother's Keeper" and were impressed by the film) and they would later begin filming promotional material for Metallica's new album which would eventually be used for a film instead.
To give you an idea of how these guys work - Metallica not only allowed them to film very personal material surrounding the making of their new album (which went far beyond anything you'd use for promotional material); but they convinced Metiallica to buy the rights out so that they could release the material in film format, Metallica not only had enough confidence in them to fund the movie out of their own money - but they also left all the editing decisions to Joe and Bruce - Metallica: Some Kind of Monster was a very critically acclaimed documentary; though it should be noted its high quality is characteristic of the way Joe and Bruce work, and meets the standard of their previous works.
Paradise Lost tells an interesting story about a triple homicide that occurred in 1993 where all the victims were young boys, all aged 8. There was a lack of physical or forensic evidence at the scene (partly because the bodies were found naked and partly submerged in water in what is presumed by some to be a secondary-crime scene). It is indeed a baffling case; if it was a secondary crime scene then why did two of the three boys die at the scene (they drowned to death) - and if it was the primary crime scene then where did all the blood go?
What makes this a high-quality documentary is the fact that the case is presented from a neutral point of view. A lack of forensic evidence is by no means conclusive proof of innocence, and I think that a lot of people who've "followed" this case have forgotten that (just look at the Wikipedia article on the WM3; it is by far one of the most biased articles I've ever seen).
Currently on Death row now for 15 years, Echols, and Baldwin (serving life imprisonment) are now having their defence teams explore the possibility that the jury in their trial was biased by being exposed to information regarding Misskelly's trial.
Dan Stidham, Jessie Misskelly's court-appointed lawyer, so strongly believed in his client's innocence that he continued to work on the case for years - without remuneration - before eventually handing over to a new defence team when he became a Judge. He continues to take an interest in the case, and used to boast that he could have gotten Misskelly to confess to assassinating JFK. What he actually did, which convinced him of his client's innocence, was he coerced a false confession out of Jessie to a petty theft/robbery that had never actually taken place; he was not allowed to enter that information into evidence at the trial. But considering that the prosecution wasn't able to enter much real evidence of their own either (besides THEIR "coerced" confession).
The case is ongoing, and further information is at http://wm3.org/ (the website set up by and run by the support group for the WM3).
