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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

Scrutinizing Perry’s Extensive Execution Record

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Rick Perry
As Gov. Rick Perry touts his tough-on-crime policies on the national political stage, the case of Cameron Todd Willingham will continue to be scrutinized. Scientists have raised questions about whether Mr. Willingham set the blaze that killed his three daughters and led to his 2004 execution.

But Mr. Willingham’s execution is not the only controversial one the governor has presided over. During nearly 11 years in office, Mr. Perry has overseen more than 230 executions — by far the most of any recent governor in the United States — and has rarely used his power to grant clemency. He has granted 31 death row commutations; most of those (28) were the result of a 2005 United States Supreme Court decision banning capital punishment for minors.

Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the governor could grant clemency only when the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles — whose members Mr. Perry appoints — recommended that action. He has disagreed with the board only three times when it recommended clemency in death penalty cases, she said.


Source: The New York Times, September 1, 2011

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Location: Texas, États-Unis
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