Reviews (92)

Author's reply

Oh, I do agree about how bad it was that Denethor didn't follow through on his own understanding of the case. And I am certain Danarion would do very well indeed by the realm and its new King. Thanks so, Tari.

Author's reply

I'm so glad you followed this through to the end, and regret I've been so tardy in responding. Life has been far too full for the past few months, I've found. Today Damien Echols and his wife are in New Zealand as the guest of Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, and I wouldn't be in the least surprised to find he and Lorri were included in some of the scenes of the Hobbit movie. PJ and Fran have been staunch and generous supporters for these three young men, and I hope they realize how much those of us who've followed the case seeking real justice for years appreciate what they did to help free Damien, Jason, and Jessie, and their insistence on seeing the investigation properly funded to learn who truly killed Michael, Christopher, and Steve. Thanks so very much, Tari!

Author's reply

And thank you. I've spent much of the last decade and longer following the West Memphis Three case, and it was with mixed joy and frustration that we saw Damien, Jason, and Jessie freed from prison after eighteen years there for a crime that didn't even happen as presented by police and prosecutors. Thanks so for the warm review--and for being greedy for more. I have a feeling that Anorgil will appear in other stories soon enough.

Author's reply

I thank you for the reassurance that I did manage to write this without overwhelming others with the horrible, often grisly details. That was a great temptation, I found, as I wrote it, to let things perhaps become too graphic. Of all cases of injustice I've become aware of, this is one of the most blatant. It was such a joy to see the three of them walk free at last, and we do hope that prosecutor Scott Ellington and Governor Beebe meant it when they have assured us that if sufficient evidence is submitted to them they will see the case reopened and the true killer prosecuted. And to learn that my own writing has proved so compelling to you that you'd read it all in one go--I'm greatly honored! Thank you so for telling me!

Author's reply

I hope that setting it as I did within Middle Earth helps you appreciate it better without causing too much grief or pain. And I'll be glad to see how you respond to it. Thanks so, Armariel!

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And thank you as well for reading it, Szepilona! It was an honor to write it.

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And I thank you so, Agape! It has been a story that has meant a good deal to me, and I rejoice that at least the three wrongly accused and convicted have been released. And may the full justice be known to all involved. There's been a place on my barn door awaiting the hides of at least two of the players in this travesty of justice for the past nine years!

Author's reply

Well, the last chapters are posted now, so that's an end to that, at least. Yes, people can be mightily gullible indeed. Hope you enly reading this through to the end, Tari!

Author's reply

I am honored. Yes, even today people can be considered guilty of a crime merely because of what they wear, where they live, the color of their skin, their preferred forms of entertainment! And people have been even convicted of crimes that never happened, as evidenced by the Swanns, Paul Ingram, the McMartin Daycare scandal, the Wenatchee Sex Ring scandal, countless cases of "recovered" memories of abuse, and so on. The state of Texas has the record of individuals executed, more than all other states combined, since the death penalty was reinstated; and both George W. Bush and current Governor Perry have each signed more death warrants than in all other states combined during their tenures as governor of that state. In the cases of both men, there have been questions as to the true guilt of at least a few who were executed, although both have denied that anyone for whom they signed death warrants could possibly have been innocent of the charges for which they were convicted and sent to the death chamber. There is a great need in our country to remove some of the impediments that have been set into place that keep higher courts from examining cases for indications of true innocence. In most appeals higher courts can only examine the cases to see if there were irregularities in the manner in which the cases were tried; had the West Memphis Three case gone to federal appeals, the focus would have been placed not on the bias of the judge on what he did and did not allow to be presented by prosecutors and defense lawyers, but on his statement to Jessie Miskelley's jury that they'd probably best give thought to what lunch they'd like ordered for them as they'd need sustenance if they were to continue to be in the courtroom for sentencing, indicating that in his eyes Jessie was indeed guilty; and in the Baldwin/Echols trial the evidence that the jury foreman lied to make certain he would be placed on the jury, and that he consulted with a lawyer indicating he intended to focus the other jury members on the Miskelley confession in spite of the fact they'd been instructed they were not to consider it. It has been learned that his brother was facing trial, and it appears he might have steered the jury to a guilty verdict in order to buy his brother out of a guilty verdict in his own case. When I first became aware of this case, one of those who'd been involved since the beginning in the efforts to get the verdicts overturned noted that there was little chance that this goal would be met until those who were on the Arkansas State Supreme Court had mostly retired and been replaced by younger, more liberal judges. He was predicting fifteen years; it actually took eighteen. But until the majority of the judges on the ASSC had been replaced, they just rubberstamped what Burnett's court had done--again and again and again, even ruling that the police did not violate Jessie's rights by not even suggesting he should consult with a lawyer before signing the "confession" and denying Mr. Miskelley's requests to be allowed to speak with his son, and refusing to consider the fact that both Damien and Jason's mothers had tried to speak to their sons once they'd been brought to the station, and Damien's mother had even hired a lawyer, who was denied the right to speak with Damien before he was processed into the jail. This is now complete, although I might eventually return to correct some mispellings and typos caught after the fact. Thanks so very much, Lynda!

Author's reply

I've been following this case for twelve or thirteen years, and each time we thought we knew everything there was to know about the case, some new detail would be released. And what happened on August nineteenth NONE of us anticipated--even the victims' families weren't told until the eighteenth. What happened on that day has been posted before, although I will repost it on Friday in the postscript, which I'd thought not to add until December at the earliest. Those who have helped fund the defense teams and almost all of the DNA testing are insistent that we continue to follow the case, and that includes such notables as Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Henry Rollins of Metallica, Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks, Johnny Depp, Larry King, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, and countless others literally from all over the world, some of whom have sent thousands of dollars, some of whom may have sent five dollars here or there, and some of whom have tithed a few dollars a week for years. We've read the "confessions" and the case files, forensic reports, investigative reports, court transcripts, and so on; and we do hope that the information reportedly held by the defense teams will be released as soon as they believe that they have enough to nail down just who killed Michael, Steve, and Christopher. At least Prosecutor Ken Ellington and Governor Beebe have agreed to reopen the case should enough evidence be produced to definitely tie someone else to the crime, which is more than the state Attorney General has indicated in the past he would do. But this is just one case among many. There are people such as the Swanns and Paul Ingram of Washington State who were convicted of crimes that never really happened; others such as those arrested in the McMartin Daycare scandal or the alleged Wenatchee Sexual Abuse Ring have been released once the charges against them were exposed as the frauds they were. One man in Florida is scheduled to die on Friday--Troy Davis's supporters include leading federal and state judges from all over the country, and we are praying that the governor of Florida and the parole board will cooperate and stop the scheduled execution. Governor Perry of Texas has managed to outdo even his predecessor George W. Bush in signing death warrants and seeing them executed, and like Mr. Bush he has denied that any of those executed in Texas could possibly have been actually innocent, even though Dallas alone has had the highest number of death sentences in the country that have been overturned so far due to DNA testing--what about those killed before many of the newer forms of DNA testing were available, or where the physical evidence hasn't included DNA? I'm so glad this has intrigued so many, and all of us are so glad that August nineteenth happened, even if it wasn't precisely how we thought it would happen, much less being the way it ought to have happened. And if the story constitutes a form of wishful thinking--well, it's the sum total of over a decade of wishful thinking, after all! Anyway thanks so very much for letting me know that you found it interesting, and I hope at least somewhat realistic. Legal corruption happens, and is pretty distressing when it's found; I just rejoice when it is exposed, and that it's not a common phenomenon.

Author's reply

Yes, unusual in so many ways, particularly considering the actions of the state of Arkansas in insisting that the three youths should be still considered guilty, but they still allowed them to go free with no travel restrictions. And those of us who have followed the case for years now still hope to see them fully vindicated.

Author's reply

I'm not certain this has a particular theme beyond making certain that in a rush for judgment we don't place ourselves in danger of sending the wrong people to prison, but, yes, we certainly wish to be proud of those who served as parents to us. And although I don't think I got quite all the loose ends, I certainly got enough to be going on with. Thanks so for following along with this so faithfully!

Author's reply

Thanks so, Elena. As with the real-life case that inspired it, we have found that every time we thought we had it all figured out something new would hit us over the head and we'd find we had to start all over again! It's wonderful to have it posted at last, and I'll have the revised postscript up on Friday, I hope.

Author's reply

I hope that Gilmar's parents come around once they know the real killer has been identified and killed. I hope one day Michael Moore's parents and Steve Branch's birth father will realize that the police and prosecutors mislead them from the start, too. But they have displayed serious reluctance to accept this. Denethor was, I think, an excellent ruler and I hope mostly a just man; I do not think he would willingly allow such blatant injustice to stand. But as we aren't certain just when his own suspicions about Saruman began to grow, that he would treat Gandalf with some suspicion himself on his arrival in Minas Tirith with Pippin in tow, particularly knowing the two of them had been accompanying Isildur's Heir, is perhaps to be expected; but speaking of his concerns regarding Saruman when Gandalf arrived with word of the sack of Isengard would very probably appear superfluous at that point. Had he been aware of this probalem during Gandalf's previous visit when he was seeking out that document in which Isildur described the Ring and Its inscription it definitely would have been helpful to share his concerns, however! And I thank you so! Author's Notes are now up, and I hope to repost the edited Postscript on Friday.

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Oh, yes, finally free! And you shall have your questions answered!

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The real guys got Henry Rollins, Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Johnny Depp, Larry King, John Mark Byers, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (and Damien and Lorri, I understand, will be flying to New Zealand in a month or two as Peter and Fran's guests and may even find themselves in bit parts in The Hobbit if PJ stays true to form!), yours truly, and countless others, great and small, who have been working for years to see them freed. But I would certainly love finding Aragorn, Faramir, Prince Imrahil, and various of their relatives and supporters working to see my name cleared in such a case! Certainly would be much quicker, I think, in Middle Earth than it's proved here in the good ol' US of A! Yes, fiction worked much faster and more cleanly than reality this time. Thanks so, Angwen!

Author's reply

Yes, true justice prevailed for all of those brought before Aragorn that day. I can't be certain what happened with the couple from Destrier--the real-life NONs were insisting right up to the last moment that the prosecutors would once again convince Jessie to give yet another false confession, while some are still insisting that things went far differently from what the physical evidence and real witnesses and photographs made indicate, and so on. Some people will so bind themselves to questionable conclusions that they will keep insisting to the death that black is really white and that even the prosecution's own witnesses were wrong when they admitted not all was precisely the way the police and prosecutors presented the case! I suspect those two would still be muttering about interference from backwards notherners for years! To actually see Hobbits, Dwarves, and Elves, and to learn that the "father tree" is a recognized representative of still another race must have heartened the three youths a good deal--no, not all wonder has been stripped from the world; and these are now able to learn more. And I do suspect that Danarion and perhaps Carenthor as well would recognize there is something particularly special about the King and his small friend the Ringbearer. Yes, I suspect that Ruvemir is either on his father's farm or actually in Castamir at the time--there's a good chance he might yet meet Danarion, you'll find in the epilogue chapter. One more chapter, then the Author's Notes and Postscript to post. Thanks so for following along!

Author's reply

Vendrion has a lot of preconceptions to rid himself of, and a goodly number of Borongil's exaggerations to reduce to the simpler truth. This scene is taken from some of the sillier stories told about Damien Echols, in which you can see the story told by his fellow inmate in the youth center that pretty much matches the story Ingoril tells, though a number of increasingly sinister version to the accusation that Damien launched himself across the room and tried to suck blood from the other teenager's neck. And you can guess which version the NONs prefer to believe! Even Damien was surprised by how swiftly he ended up being transferred from the youth facility to the adolescent mental health facility in the wake of licking the other boy's arm.

Author's reply

Garestil's real-life counterpart is only five foot two, so neither is very tall. Both are quite sweet, actually. I really need to finish reading "Of Mice and Men," which I started once but never got far into at the time. And, yes, Fendril will find himself standing before the King for judgment, a concept he's not contemplated until just now. And I suspect all the staff in the Citadel who'd run into the idiot on his last visit would be up in arms at the idea of a return of the fool to the Citadel! Thanks so, Szepilona!

Author's reply

The stubbornness of those who wish to believe evil of others is rather overwhelming at times, Szepilona. And I think so, too!

Author's reply

Well, both Glorfindel and Gandalf could give Fendril a far better idea of just what death is really like, not that the likes of Fendril is likely to appreciate anything they could try to convey to him. And, yes, he is evil, even by his own standards, not that he recognizes this. The trial begins in the next chapter....

Author's reply

Fendril hasn't had a strong grasp on life outside of his own ambitions and visions of how life OUGHT to be for years, so, no, he has no idea what a real orc looks like. And he has a LOT to learn--very quickly (not that he thinks he needs to learn it!). Children often recognize what grownups don't, and primarily because they don't have years of preconceptions and contrary experience to fight through, so, yes, Garestil recognizes a Halfling when he sees one. And I can so imagine Sam coining "kingish" to describe Aragorn when he must indeed BE the King. Garestil has been studying the performance arts, and I do believe Aragorn would realize this would be an analogy Garestil would understand. And, yes, Fendril is only just beginning to appreciate that just perhaps his own view of the world isn't going to go over well with the new administration! Thanks so, Sunny! No aurora here, but the stars have been beautiful in spite of the waxing moonlight.

Author's reply

Oh, yes--between Faradir and Laendril, Fendril has indeed been put in his place. NOT a good idea to cast such accusations at Frodo and Sam in any case, not in Minas Tirith! And he's going to find himself before the King again soon, only this time there's going to be no question as to who he is or why Fendril is there. Yes, Fendril has indeed gotten further into his own illusions in the last nine years or so. Thanks so, Teresa!

Author's reply

Oh, yes--things are not going particularly well for them. And you have managed to express well what we who have followed the real case have felt for a LONG time. And indeed there is justice overdue here--justice that Aragorn will see leveled. Thanks so, Sunny!

Author's reply

A broken leg? Oh, dear, Barbara! Yes, Fendril is very much an ass, and his continued odd mixture of foolishness and slyness will be made even plainer as we go through the remaining chapters. And Aragorn will be well warned of his peculiarities, you'll note! Yes, the characters are growing in number, aren't they? That's a novel for you! And as many have counterparts in the real world, it's made it more complicated for me not to use the real names in the story or to use the characters' names in my comments in the discussion boards! Fiondil has had a laugh or two at me over the growing confusion in my own mind as this story was sent to him for betaing! We finally approach the last few chapters....