Editing West Memphis Three (section)

===Misskelley's trial===
During Misskelley's trial, [[Richard Ofshe]], an expert on [[false confessions]] and police coercion, and Professor of Sociology at [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]], testified that the brief recording of Misskelley's interrogation was a "classic example" of police [[coercion]].<ref name="courttv">{{cite web|url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/memphis/index_1.html|title=The West Memphis Three|first=Fiona|last=Steel|publisher=[[Turner Broadcasting System]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314174108/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/memphis/index_1.html|archive-date=March 14, 2014}}</ref> Critics have also stated that Misskelley's various "confessions" were in many respects inconsistent with each other, as well as with the particulars of the crime scene and murder victims, including (for example) an "admission" that Misskelley watched Damien rape one of the boys.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/magazine/a-death-row-love-story.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/magazine/a-death-row-love-story.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited |title=A Death-Row Love Story |first=Geoffrey |last=Gray |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 13, 2011 |access-date=March 10, 2018 |quote=Then a teenager, Jessie Misskelley Jr., told the police that he saw his friend, Jason Baldwin, and another teenager, Damien Echols, go into the woods with the boys and rape them. Misskelley later recanted }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Police had initially suspected that the victims had been raped because their anuses were dilated. However, there was no forensic evidence indicating that the murdered boys had been raped. Dilation of the anus is a normal post-mortem condition.<ref name="Leveritt03"/>

On February 5, 1994, Misskelley was convicted by a jury of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.<ref>"Arkansas Teen Found Guilty On Three Counts Of Murder," ''Gainesville Sun'', February 5, 1994</ref> The court sentenced him to life plus 40 years in prison.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Youth Is Convicted In Slaying of 3 Boys In an Arkansas City|work=The New York Times|date=February 5, 1994|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE5DA1E39F936A35751C0A962958260&scp=11&sq=west+memphis+3+murder+case&st=nyt}}</ref> His conviction was appealed, but the [[Arkansas Supreme Court]] affirmed the conviction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.davidjauss.com/miscellaneous_essays_and_interviews_51285.htm|title=Miscellaneous Essays and Interviews – David Jauss|website=www.davidjauss.com|access-date=January 30, 2017}}</ref>