Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe declared that he did not plan to grant pardons in the West Memphis Three case unless evidence showed that someone else committed the murders. The West Memphis Three were convicted of three murders in 1993 . The case was based in large part on a suspect confession by one of the co-defendants who had a low IQ. It appears that this confession was false.
Last week , a plea bargain deal was cut . In exchange for a plea to murder , the West Memphis Three got a get out jail card along with 10 years of unsupervised probation . Also , The West Memphis Three enter a Alford Plea or best interest plea which allowed them to maintain their innocence .Under Tennessee criminal law , there are three types of pleas that can be made at the plea bargain process ;
- A guilty plea
- A Nolo Contendere Plea
- An Alford plea or best interest plea.
Rule 11 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure governs the plea bargain process. There is a whole lot more involved in the plea bargain and the underlying facts of the case. A deal was cut to avoid years of protracted courtroom battles and to take a man off death row.I will just wait for the movie.