The third and final installment of the documentary on the West Memphis Three case premieres on HBO tonight. Check your local listing for times. Here's the trailer:
A discussion with the directors:
And a panel discussion involving lawyers in the case:
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert writes, "West Memphis 3 finally go free in latest ‘Paradise Lost’ documentary."
When the documentary “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” played on HBO in 1996, it left little doubt that the three young men convicted of the crimes were innocent. When “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations” came out in 2000, it left less doubt. Now it is 2011 and a third film, “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory,” shows them being set free in August 2011 after 17 years in jail. One of them was on Death Row.
The case of the West Memphis 3 became famous worldwide. The Dixie Chicks held a fund-raising concert to help pay for the accused’s defense. The original conviction was based on flawed circumstantial evidence and a confession obtained from Jessie Misskelley, one of the defendants, who had an IQ of 72 and was questioned by police for 12 hours without a parent or attorney present, and then tape-recorded only long enough to recite a statement he later retracted. A police transcript shows Jessie shifting the time of the crimes from morning to noon to after school to evening (when they actually occurred) under leading suggestions by police.
This latest documentary is the culmination of years of extraordinary persistence by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, whose work helped to free the three men. So flawed was the evidence against the WM3 that the state of Arkansas decided to avoid a court hearing on their appeal by offering this unique deal: They could go free and could even state their innocence if they would sign an admission of guilt — a technicality shielding Arkansas from lawsuits for wrongful imprisonment.
“Lost 3” does a smooth job of retelling the entire story, so you needn’t have seen the first two films.
"How 'Paradise Lost' became a fight for justice," is by Lisa Rose for the Newark Star-Ledger.
Chronicling a controversial 1993 Arkansas murder case, filmmakers Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger evolved from observers into advocates.
Based in Montclair and New York respectively, they were dispatched by HBO to cover the trials of three teenagers accused of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, a working class suburb.
The prosecution lacked eyewitnesses and physical evidence, so they built a case around a tale of teen rebellion curdled into devil worship and pedophilia. The alleged ringleader, Damien Echols, got the death penalty, while Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were sentenced to life without parole.
The team's 1996 documentary, "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" raised questions about the convictions and in the process, spurred a protest movement to "Free the West Memphis Three."
Earlier coverage of the documentary begins at the link.
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