[sunnykerr]

The West Memphis Three.

In 1993, three eight-year-olds went missing. Their bodies were found together, naked, hogtied and their bodies mutilated (including their private parts) in a creek ditch.

Naturally, public sentiment was rapidly enflamed. There was talk of devil worship and such having played a part in the murders (despite evidence that the boys may have been molested).

Anyway, three teenagers were arrested, Jessie Misskelley Jr., Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols. Baldwin was a good student, but the other two were drop outs who were "known" to police for behavioural issues. Baldwin and Echols were good friends, Misskelley was an acquaintance.

The primary reason of their arrest seems to have been that two of them were known trouble-makers, somewhat anti-social and that they wore goth clothes.

Then Misskelley, who was 17 and had a very low IQ, was questioned without the presence of an attorney or his parents for 12 hours. And he confessed, implicated the other two as well.

On the strenght of that confession and conjectures and false evidence, which many (even at the time) believed had been coerced, the three were found guilty of murder. Misskelley was sentenced to 40 years, Baldwin was sentenced to life in prison and Echols (who was the oldest and, according to the prosecution, the ringleader) was sentenced to death.

The appeals court found them guilty.

Over the years, the verdicts were questioned, due to mismanagement of the crime scene, the evidence, the investigations and because the teens had been tried not so much for the crimes as for their general trouble-making pasts.

To the point where the parents of the three victims (or, most of them) also came to doubt the validity of the verdicts.

There were a lot of celebrities involved in trying to free them. Documentaries were made. Johnny Depp, Peter Jackson, Natalie Maines, Eddie Vedder, Metallica, etc. They had a lot of financial support, too, since Echolls specifically came from a poor family.

In 2011, they entered an Alford plea wherein they admitted that another trial would probably find them guilty, but they maintained their innocence. (Basically, they were released but could not ever sue for false imprisonment.)

Baldwin objected a long time to the Alford plea deal but, considering Echols was on death row, was eventually convinced to take the plea.

So they were freed 18 years after the fact.

And whomever actually killed those three boys will likely never be found.

I'm sorry. That was very long.

I just have a lot of empathy for people who were targeted essentially for not fitting in.

[Logan]

Jury in loud music trial reaches verdict on 4 counts, undecided on 5th - CNN.com

Michael Dunn trial in the case of killing tennager in a SUV ,when he felt his life was in danger .

(CNN) -- The jurors weighing the fate of Michael Dunn -- the white man who shot into a SUV with black teens after he had asked them to turn down their music -- have reached a verdict on four counts, but not on the fifth and most severe one, a judge said Saturday. Judge Russell Healey announced around 4:45 p.m. that the 12 jurors had sent a note saying they'd decided on four of the five counts that Dunn faces. But they haven't unanimously reached a verdict "on count 1 or any of the lesser included offenses related to it." Count 1 is first-degree murder for the shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis. Jurors could decide not to convict Dunn on that charge but instead find him guilty on lesser charges such as manslaughter. Their heads bowed, members of Davis' family held each other tight inside the packed courtroom as the judge detailed the unanimity on some counts but the discord over the one involving Davis himself. Healey then told the jury to continue its deliberations in hopes of a breakthrough on this crucial count. "I want you to go back into the jury room, then taking turns tell each of the other jurors about any weaknesses of your own position," the judge told the jurors, several of whom looked down and nodded as he spoke. "You should not interrupt each other or comment on each other's views until each of you has had a chance to talk." Michael Dunn trial is in jury's hands Closing arguments wrap up Dunn trial Dunn: 'It was life or death' Michael Dunn: I was fighting for my life If they still can't decide after some length of time -- perhaps a few more hours or days -- a hung jury on this count is possible. To that point, Healey said, "If you simply cannot reach a verdict, then return to the courtroom, and I will declare this case mistried as to that count and will discharge you with my sincere appreciation for your services." Earlier Saturday, the same judge had acknowledged that the jury of four white women, two black women, four white men, an Asian woman and a Hispanic man was "struggling, obviously." Healey answered their questions at this point -- including "self-defense and justifiable use of deadly force applies separately to each count." "But it's not for want of trying to reconcile all of this," he said then. "I think we've got some analytical people in there who are trying to do just that -- trying to analyze this from every possible angle." It was November 23, 2012, when Michael Dunn pulled into a gas station in Jacksonville, parking next to a red SUV full of teenagers. Loud music was coming from that car, and Dunn expressed his displeasure. What came next is a subject of dispute. Clearly, there were words exchanged. And without doubt, Dunn ended up opening fire on the vehicle, killing Davis. But did one of the teens flash a gun? Dunn says so, but prosecutors say that's not true -- pointing to the fact the teens were unarmed. And was the defendant acting in self-defense? Again, the two sides come to opposite conclusions.

[quaist]

Thanks Sunny, that's been a superb quick-fix

I'm stunned that so many renowned personalities got involved in this issue and I still hadn't heard about it, though.

[Logan]

Update The Fla jury has returned a verdict on 4 out of the 5 counts ..

The Florida jury in the case of Michael Dunn has found him guilty on four charges, including three for second-degree attempted murder.
But they were unable to reach a verdict on a fifth count of first-degree murder. The judge -- who moments before had said that the jury had reached a verdict on all counts -- declared a mistrial on this count alone.

[The Survivor]

I'm convinced. System in FL is way out there.

How the **** can you not come back with a not guilty verdict? I mean its I'm glad the other guilty verdicts came in but not the main one?

[sunnykerr]

Christina Well, the celebrity campaigning was also very much behind the scenes.

They raised money to pay for legal fees, for instance. There were fundraising concerts.

And, of course, the three documentaries.

Survivor It's a really depressing fact to have sink in, I find.

But I have to agree.

It's apparently alright to shoot a black kid to death in Florida.

[The Survivor]

Apparently it is.

I guess I can find solace in the fact at least this one is going to jail.

You can call me James by the way.

[☆♥~Buffyverse_Lover16~♥☆]

It is ridiculous to join a cult to kill and mutilate people, and to shoot someone just because they have their music up loud. I once heard a former policeman shooting a man on his birthday over texting

It doesn't make sense to label someone not guilty especially when the person is clearly guilty.

I am glad these idiots are thrown in jail. They deserve it.

Why make a law that says it is OK to shoot a black kid?

[sunnykerr]

Well, of course, they don't literally have a law that says it's okay to kill black kids. But it's two very high profile cases in a row now where unarmed black teens have been murdered and their killers get away with it because they somehow felt "their lives were threatened" and managed to convince a jury of that.

So, in the end, the result is the same. You can kill a black kid in Florida and get away with it if you say it was because he scared you.

The texting thing was also in Florida, wasn't it?

And, yeah, the jury found the guy who killed the black kid guilty of the second-degree murder counts, because he shot up that car but good. And there were other people in that car, so there were also counts of attempted murder.

He got a sentence wherein he shouldn't be eligible for parole for 60 years.

So there's that.

Still...

[quaist]

I haven't gotten round to follow US news much lately, so it's the first time I read about the Dunn case.

Is this 'stand your ground' all over again?

[sunnykerr]

I haven't followed this story much either.

But, yeah, I believe it was a "stand your ground" nonsense.

Except there's something about the number of times Mr Dunn shot at the car (3 separate "volleys," whatever those are, for a total of 10 bullets actually hitting the vehicle) that, again, make it seem like the very last thing that could have possibly gone through Mr Dunn's mind is that he was in fear for his life.

It'd be easier for me to believe that he got some sort of adrenaline poisoning thing and went on an anger-fuelled rampage than to believe that, out of fear, he shot a car (that wasn't coming towards him in any way) three separate "times."

I suppose this is why he was found guilty on several counts (well, at least two) of attempted murder.

[sunnykerr]

Elderly nun sentenced over US nuclear site break-in An elderly Catholic nun has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for damage caused while breaking into a US nuclear defence site. Sister Megan Rice, 84, and two other protesters cut fences and entered the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, facility, which processes and stores uranium. The other two, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed, were sentenced to more than five years in prison. The July 2012 incident prompted security changes at the Y-12 site. "Please have no leniency with me," Sister Megan told the court at Tuesday's hearing in Knoxville. "To remain in prison for the rest of my life would be the greatest gift you could give me." During the trial Sister Megan, from Washington DC, said her only regret was waiting so long to take action. 'Displays of ineptitude' The peace activists, members of the group Transform Now Plowshares, had initially faced up to 20 years in prison after their conviction last May. Walli and Boertje-Obed received tougher sentences because they had longer criminal histories. The trio were also found guilty of causing more than $1,000 (£643) of damage to government property. After cutting a fence to enter the site, the three walked around, spray-painted graffiti, strung out crime-scene tape and chipped a wall with hammers. They spent two hours inside. The trio also sprayed the exterior of the complex with baby bottles containing human blood. When a guard approached, they offered him food and started singing. US lawmakers and the Department of Energy later launched an inquiry and uncovered "troubling displays of ineptitude" at the facility. Top officials were reassigned, including at the National Nuclear Security Administration. WSI, the company providing security at the site, was dismissed and other officers were sacked, demoted or suspended.

I hope I have this sort of pizzazz when I'm 84.

I'm not one to condone criminal acts, even include damage to private/corporate property.

But this came out on the heels of another man getting away with murder in Florida (though, of course, he's going to prison on other counts).

So three years in prison for graffiti, a cut fence and some general mayhem at a nuclear facility deemed to be disturbingly inept... It feels a bit like overkill to me.

Then again, I don't suppose a nun would mind the confinements of prison.

[sunnykerr]

Israel police shoot dead US killer Sheinbein in prison Israeli special forces have shot dead an American-Israeli prisoner - jailed for a brutal murder in the US - after he opened fire on prison guards. A police spokesman said Samuel Sheinbein had shot three security officers, critically injuring one, and barricaded himself the compound. Sheinbein was serving a 24-year sentence for a 1997 murder in Maryland. He fled to Israel shortly after the killing, in a case that briefly soured US-Israeli relations. It led to a change in Israel's extradition laws. Dispute Sunday's shoot-out happened at Rimonim prison north of Tel Aviv. Israel media reports said Sheinbein holed himself up in a room and fired at prison guards and special forces officers, who returned fire, shooting him dead. It is not clear how Sheinbein got hold of the weapon. Hospital officials said one of the wounded guards was fighting for his life on Sunday, according to Reuters. In 1999, a court in Tel Aviv found Sheinbein, then aged 19, guilty of killing and dismembering Alfredo Enrique Tello in the US state of Maryland two years earlier. Sheinbein had fled to Israel shortly after the body was found. He had never lived in Israel but claimed citizenship because his father had been born in 1944 in what was then British-ruled Palestine. Israel's refusal to extradite the teenager to the US - where he would have faced a harsher penalty - outraged US authorities. Some legislators threatened to cut aid to Israel. The dispute was smoothed over when Israel changed its law, which now requires proof of residency before Israelis can claim immunity from extradition.

How in the world did he get his hands on a firearm inside a prison?

If I was into conspiracy theories, which I'm not, I'd almost believe that they made it so he could get his hands on it so that they could kill him.

Of course, that implies that prison guards would be sacrificed, which is part of why I don't buy into it.

It's just that weird.

[sunnykerr]

Hong Kong: Ex-Ming Pao editor Kevin Lau attacked The former chief editor of prominent Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao is in a critical condition after being attacked with a cleaver, officials say. Kevin Lau was attacked in Hong Kong by two men on Wednesday morning, police said. He suffered three wounds. The attackers reportedly fled by motorbike. Mr Lau was recently replaced by a Malaysian editor viewed as pro-Beijing, sparking fears among staff that the paper's independence was under threat. Ming Pao is a popular, credible Chinese-language newspaper, the BBC's Juliana Liu in Hong Kong reports. Mr Lau's colleagues called the move to replace him an attempt to muzzle independent-thinking journalists, our correspondent adds. 'Growing attacks' Police are searching for two men in connection with the attack. "One of them alighted from the motorcycle and used a chopper to attack the victim," police spokesman Simon Kwan told reporters. "He suffered three wounds, one in his back and two in his legs," Mr Kwan said, adding that the back wound was deep. In a statement, Ming Pao said it "strongly condemned the savage act". It added: "We are deeply angry that the assailants dared to conduct an attack in broad daylight." Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung said he was "extremely concerned" and "outraged" by the attack. "Hong Kong is a society ruled by law, and we will not allow this kind of violence," he said, adding that the police would conduct a full investigation. The attacked was condemned by the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC). "The growing number of attacks against members of the press in Hong Kong needs to be taken seriously by the local administration," the FCC said in a statement. "Hong Kong's reputation as a free and international city will suffer if such crimes go unsolved and unpunished," it added. Since being replaced, Mr Lau has been working in an online subsidiary of Ming Pao's parent company. On Sunday, thousands in the city marched on the streets calling for press freedom.

I just wonder why they would even bother attacking him since he's been replaced anyway.

[sunnykerr]

Observers doubt claim of international conspiracy in China knife attack KUNMING, China -- China says the vicious slashing spree that killed 29 people in a southern city was the work of separatists linked to international terrorism, but the assailants' homespun methods and low-tech weapons -- nothing more than long knives -- have led some analysts to suspect they didn't get outside help. Officials have blamed secessionists from far-western Xinjiang for Saturday's attack at a train station in Kunming, more than 1,500 kilometres to the southeast. It is by far the deadliest attack blamed on Xinjiang militants to have taken place outside the region, and has been a wake-up call for Chinese that terrorism can strike anywhere. Members of the Muslim Uighur ethnic group have waged a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule in Xinjiang, where clashes between Uighurs and members of China's Han majority are frequent. Many observers say the Turkic-speaking Uighurs are lashing out because they are being marginalized and feel their culture is being suppressed. Beijing uses its claim of an international conspiracy to defend its crackdown on Uighur dissent, but there hasn't been substantial evidence to support ties to foreign Muslim extremists. "Historically, Uighurs have had a difficult time getting traction and attention from the global jihadist movement," said Raffaello Pantucci, London-based senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute. "We've had a number of videos in which senior members of al-Qaida have highlighted the cause and said this is a group to support and help, but in practical terms we have seen very little actually happen." No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack, carried out by at least eight black-clad assailants. Although authorities have not explicitly mentioned the attackers' ethnicity, they have shown images of a black flag with a crescent moon said to have been found at the attack site. They cite the flags as evidence of involvement by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, which the government says has ties to overseas supporters of Uighur separatism. They also say the high number of victims -- 143 people wounded in addition to the 29 killed -- is evidence the attackers had training. Sean Roberts of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, who has studied Uighurs in Central Asia and China, said the Kunming assailants' simple weaponry undermines claims of links to international terrorist groups, but said some Uighurs may be growing more militant. "The ongoing development and further marginalization of the Uighurs, and particularly the suppression of Uighur dissent and constantly associating it with terrorism by the state, is likely to eventually lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy," Roberts said. To China, even the attackers' clothes are a sign of foreign involvement. "The attackers chose to dress in black, and black is the colour of the holy war in international terrorist activities," Chinese anti-terrorism expert Li Wei said, reflecting the government view. Authorities in Kunming fatally shot four attackers Saturday night and detained one suspect -- a woman. Two days later, police captured three others and said the attack was the work of an eight-person gang led by a person identified as Abdurehim Kurban, according to state media. Authorities have released no other details. Kunming has had little history of ethnic unrest, and residents there expressed shock and outrage. "Kunming is a tourist city in China, and I could never have imagined this to happen here," said Chen Bin, a security guard. Although Beijing has long blamed the East Turkistan Islamic Movement for instigating violence in Xinjiang, many experts doubt it exists in any organized way. The U.S. added the group to its list of terrorist organizations in 2002, but later removed it. Uighur radicals are believed to be sheltering in lawless northern Pakistan, but it is unclear if they have any connection to attacks in China. Pantucci said that if the latest attack is connected to Xinjiang separatists, it would fit into an escalation of violence in the region over the last year, including several slashing attacks. He said both the Kunming attack and those in Xinjiang have lacked sophistication but could have been motivated by terrorist literature and videos. "Even in some of the recent incidents that we have seen out in Xinjiang where they have tried to create explosive devices, we are talking very rudimentary devices that are essentially petrol bombs, gas canisters which they light up," Pantucci said. Pantucci said there may be more attempts to strike Chinese cities, but increased security will make them less likely to succeed. Alarm over militant attacks beyond Xinjiang was first raised in October when a suicide car attack blamed on three ethnic Uighurs killed five people, including the attackers, at Beijing's Tiananmen Gate. The latest attack came at a sensitive time, days ahead of Wednesday's opening of the ceremonial National People's Congress, and China has vowed to crack down on the perpetrators. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the Kunming attackers are the "common enemy of the entire human race." Authorities on Sunday rounded up and questioned members of Kunming's Uighur community, which is believed to number only 40 to 60. At a barbeque stand of sizzling lamb skewers in the Uighur neighbourhood, 19-year-old Aike Ainivan complained of discrimination. "They call us Uighur dogs, and say we are either pickpockets or drug dealers," he said. He also condemned the train station attackers: "I hate them. They have brought harm to us."

The part that I'm noting here is (a) the ongoing persecution of the religious minority group leading to be (b) a self-fulfilling prophecy of terrorist activities.

All of which may have had precisely nothing to do with this specific act, but darn it if they won't lump it in with the rest, huh?