The three men convicted of the 1993 killing three young cub scout boys in Arkansas will be allowed to leave jail after entering a guilty plea.

Known as the “West Memphis Three” – Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin have maintained their innocence in the brutal slaying of Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and James Michael Moore even after a confession was given to police.

Misskelley copped to the killings after a 12 hour interrogation but almost immediately recanted. The Arkansas police were criticized for extracting the confession when it was discovered Misskelley has an I.Q. of 72 and what he told police did not match the evidence they had.

After the convictions of the men, including Echols death sentence, DNA evidence was tested recently with a test unavailable at the time and it was unable to link any of the men to the crime scene. The Arkansas State Supreme Court ruled they could present new evidence in an effort to clear themselves.

Now they’ve been able to enter an Alford plea, which in effect says they acknowledge prosecutors have evidence to convict them but still say they are innocent of wrong doing.

The deal sets them free this afternoon after serving close to 20 years behind bars and gives each of the men 10 years parole.

“They are currently being processed out,” prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington told reporters during a Friday press conference. “They will be free men … on suspended sentence.”

“Only time will tell as to whether this was the right decision,” Ellington added.

Among the famous supporters for the men’s freedom: Johnny Depp, Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder, Dixie Chicks Natalie Manes and Henry Rollins. There have been 2 documentaries about the trial – Paradise Lost 1 and 2 and the third film will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival later this year.

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Casey Anthony, the Florida mother who was accused of killing her two year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, has been found not guilty of all murder, manslaughter and child endangerment charges.

The five men and seven women jury deliberated just 10 hours over a two day period after 33 days of testimony, expert witnesses and rebuttal arguments to reach a unanimous verdict acquitting the now 25 year-old Casey of all charges relating to Caylee’s death.

She was found guilty on four counts of lying to investigators and providing false information to officials.

During the trial, the prosecution said Anthony knocked out her daughter with chloroform and suffocated her by putting duct tape over her nose and mouth. The defense argued the death was an accidental drowning in the family pool and that Casey’s father, George Anthony, a former law enforcement officer, helped dispose of the body – a claim he denied.

While no direct evidence linked Casey to her daughter’s death, the prosecution showed several incriminating photographs of Casey dancing and partying while the young mother maintained the story her daughter was taken by a nanny.

Casey’s mother Cindy Anthony, took the stand both as a prosecution and defense witness. The grandmother of Caylee claimed some of the home computer searches the prosecution offered as evidence of Casey’s premeditation to kill Caylee, were actually performed by her and not done Casey.

Prosecution offered rebuttal witnesses that said Cindy was at work at the time those computer searches were done at her house and Cindy could not have done them as she testified.

George Anthony’s attempted suicide, alleged affair with another woman and alleged molestation of Casey were part of the defense lawyer Jose Baez‘ strategy to inject reasonable doubt into the case.

Baez attacked the scientific evidence provided by the state and called it “fantasy forensics.”

In the end, Casey faces up to four years in prison for misleading investigators and can never be retried for the death of Caylee.

What do you think of the verdict? Is it the right outcome based on the evidence? Or did they find 12 very stupid people to sit on the jury?

Sound off below.

[image: Dr. Lillian Glass Body language blog]

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On the heels of an emotional press conference where he admitted to lying, a new report says NY Congressman Anthony Weiner‘s wife, Huma Abedin is pregnant according to the NY Times.

The couple who married in July of 2010, had told only close friends and family members and Abedin, 35, is in the early stages of pregnancy.

On Monday, Weiner, 46, fessed up to lying and posting compromising photos on twitter and engaging in X-rated chats in the public confession but he  maintained his marriage to Abedin (who wasn’t present,) was still solid.

“We will weather this,” he told reporters. “I love her very much, and she loves me.”

Abedin, who has been a long time aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, hasn’t missed work since the story broke and left the country yesterday for Northern Africa with the Clinton team.

[image: Freedom's Challenge]

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Rep. Anthony Weiner is caught with his pants down, both literally and figuratively and his wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is out of town leaving the elected official to deal with the fallout from his inappropriate photos & texting scandal.

Weiner, 46, and Abedin, 35, became engaged in May of 2009 and married in July 2010, but long before, the now-embattled elected official was once was featured in Cosmopolitan magazine’s 1996 spread “101 Gorgeous Real Life Bachelors.”

His responses to the questions are cheesy, even for Cosmo.

Like this one:

First Lady: “Someone smarter than me. I want to be sucked back into the throes of love — isn’t that what everybody really wants?”

Or this:

On a day off, you’d catch me… “I hate days off, but I guess I’d try on clothes I couldn’t afford.”

Eww.

Click on through to enlarge the photo (there’s a Weiner joke in that alone, I know)

Weiner must be so proud…

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Jack Kevorkian, dubbed Dr. Death, had died today at the age of 83 at William Beamont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The assisted suicide advocate had been hospitalized with pneumonia, kidney and heart problems has apparently died from a blood clot in his leg that dislodged and settled in his heart.

“It was peaceful, he didn’t feel a thing,” his attorney Mayer Morganroth said in a statement and that there were no artificial attempts to keep him alive. Morganroth and Kevorkian’s niece, Ava Janus were at his bedside.

Kevorkian, who spent over 8 years in jail for helping a terminal man end his life and the airing of the video tape on television, has claimed he has helped over 130 patients commit suicide through the years of 1990 to 1998.

He also invented the assisted suicide machine – also called the “mercy machine.”

“I’m trying to knock the medical profession into accepting its responsibilities, and those responsibilities include assisting their patients with death,” once Kevorkian told reporters.

He was not without his critics who pointed out that Kevorkian would drop bodies in abandoned houses, parks and hospitals.

The former Michigan pathologist stirred the debate about the right to die and how much control patients should have over the end of their lives which contributed to pain management care and Hospice options that are now available.

He was also the subject of a movie You Don’t Know Jack, where Oscar winner Al Pacino portrayed Kervorkian.

[image: PNP/WENN]

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John Edwards has landed in a heap of hot water.

A federal grand jury has indicted the former presidential hopeful for misusing campaign funds to try and cover up his love child with Rielle Hunter.

The North Carolina grand jury charged Edwards with six counts of violating federal election contributions laws allegeding that $1 million was used for Hunter’s living and travel expenses to keep her out of the way of the press.

Prosecutors also said donations were made in excess of the individual donor limits and were not properly reported.

“We will not permit candidates for high office to abuse their special ability to access the coffers of their political supporters to circumvent our election laws,’’ said Lanny A. Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“Our campaign finance system is designed to preserve the integrity of democratic elections — for the presidency and all other elected offices — and we will vigorously pursue abuses of the kind alleged today.”

Edwards, 57, is due in court this afternoon in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and will enter a plea of not guilty, according to his legal counsel.

“John Edwards will tell the court he is innocent of all charges, and will plead not guilty. He did not break the law and will mount a vigorous defense,” Gregory Craig, lead counsel to Edwards said in a statement.

The revelation of Edwards’ extra marital affair and subsequent child ruined his political aspirations and his marriage broke apart shortly thereafter.

Edwards’ estranged wife, Elizabeth, died in December of 2010 after succumbing to cancer.

[image: Joseph Marzullo/WENN]

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The Beverly Hills doctor who helped infamous Octomom conceive will have his license revoked by the State’s Medical Board of California.

Nadya Suleman‘s fertility specialist, Dr. Michael Kamrava was accused of being grossly negligent in his handling of Suleman’s case and two other female patients. The medical board panel ruled that Kamrava “did not exercise sound judgement.”

Besides the excessive number of fetuses transferred to Suleman, Kamrava is accused of failure to follow up on a 42 year-old patient who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after receiving fertility treatments from the doctor.

The board rejected Kamrava’s assertion that he was distracted by the media attention surrounding Suleman’s octuplets and therefore did not follow through on the other woman’s abnormal test results.

As for blaming Suleman for not taking his recommendation to terminate some of the fetuses, the board issued a statement saying they found his reasoning to be suspect.

“To assign even a scintilla of responsibility to a patient who becomes pregnant and then elects not to follow through with a procedure that may jeopardize her (and possibly her family’s) prized objective is troubling and telling,” the public statement said.

“The board is not persuaded that relying on the public or the media to fulfill or supplement the board’s public protection role is sound policy.”

The license revocation goes into effect July 1st.

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Meredith Vieria announced that she is indeed leaving NBC‘s Today show after close to five years as co-anchor on the morning news program.

“This is a difficult day for me,” Vieira said this morning, May 9th. “I’m going to try to hold myself together here. But after months of personal reflection and private conversations between my family and my friends, I’ve decided to leave ‘Today’ in June.”

Ann Curry will take over for Vieria after her departure next month.

Watch the video above of Meredith giving the announcement.

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Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead, according to reports.

The number 1 terrorist that the United States has been pursuing since the 9/11 attacks has reportedly been killed by US Military forces.

President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation shortly.

We will keep you up to date on the breaking news.

UPDATE: The United States is in possession of the body and it has been confirmed by DNA testing.

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There is a lot of upheaval happening in TV news shows.

After Katie Couric’s announcement last week that she is in fact, leaving the CBS Evening News as anchor, The Hollywood Reporter has sources who say Meredith Vieira’s time on NBC’s Today Show is about to end.

Vieira will reportedly leave in June, months before her contract ends, and Ann Curry will slide over to cohost with Matt Lauer.

The 57 year-old host’s decision is thought to be personal. Her husband suffers from multiple sclerosis and it is speculated that it might be one of the reasons she is leaving.

Vieira took over the job in 2006 from Couric, who left her morning post for the nightly news anchor job.

[image: Dan Jackman/WENN]

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