WEST MEMPHIS THREE WERE FREED IN JAIL UNDER ALFORD PLEA

The West Memphis Three whose real names are Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr., have been released from Arkansas prison today after they pleaded guilty under Alford plea.

Alford plea also called as Kennedy plea,   is a plea where the defendant admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Alford guilty plea and Alford doctrine, under the law of the United States, it is a guilty plea in criminal court where the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence.   

In 1994, the three were convicted of triple Murder after killing 3 eight  year old boys by means of satanic ritual sometime in 1993. Baldwin and Misskelley had been sentenced to life imprisonment while Echols was on a death row.

The controversial case of West Memphis Three was made famous by the HBO documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and was  made as a national story for many years. Reports said,  the three were wrongfully convicted of the crime they did not commit and DNA results prove their innocence. The DNA test failed to show of any evidence to prove the guilt  of the three accused beyond reasonable doubt. 

/Verity