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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. 

4th Texas execution delayed in midst of virus outbreak

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A 4th scheduled execution of a Texas death row inmate was delayed Monday because of the coronavirus spread around the state.

Billy Joe Wardlow’s execution was postponed from April 29 to July 8.

Wardlow, 45, was condemned for the June 1993 fatal shooting of 82-year-old Carl Cole during a robbery at his home in Cason, located about 130 miles (209 kilometers) east of Dallas.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in 2 to 3 weeks. 

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

The execution date was changed by state District Judge Angela Saucier of Titus County in East Texas.

While Saucier didn’t mention COVID-19 in her order, Morris County District Attorney Steve Cowan had requested the change citing the statewide disaster declaration due to the virus. 

He also cited 3 other executions the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals delayed in March and earlier this month.

Wardlow’s attorneys had requested the execution date instead be withdrawn, which would have resulted in a new date much later than July 8.

Source: Associated Press, Staff, April 7, 2020


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Huntsville, TX, USA
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