A group working to overturn the convictions of the West Memphis 3 is ripping Attorney General Dustin McDaniel for his blind defense of the shoddy prosecution and convictions (on, it should be noted, McDaniel’s home political turf in Northeast Arkansas.)
Where McDaniel sees no ground to overturn the Circuit Court verdicts, the group sees many. For one: The only DNA evidence tied to the crime belongs to someone other than the convicts. For another: the problem-plagued “confession” of one of the defendants, whose IQ is around 70. For another:
Is it reasonable to expect impartiality from a man whose father’s law firm was intimately involved in this case? Phillip Wells of McDaniel & Wells was appointed ‘court liaison’ by Judge Burnett. Within days of the appointment, the law firm unethically issued press statements claiming that there was a new witness who would bolster the prosecution’s case. Of course, the witness never appeared. Shockingly, McDaniel Wells was also involved in the prosecution’s failed attempt to convince Jessie Misskelley to testify against Damien and Jason. Jessie refused to do so because he knew they were innocent. A matter of little concern to the McDaniels.