By Tim Saunders on
Johnny Depp, Ben Harper, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines and punk legend Patti Smith were in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the weekend to take part in a rally that called on authorities to free the West Memphis Three.
The West Memphis Three are Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley Jr., three men charged with the murder of three 8-year-old boys in 1993. New evidence suggests the three men are innocent, and the stars are demanding a retrial.
“Three innocent people are losing years of their life on a wrongful conviction on a crime they didn’t commit,” said Maines. “It makes me scared. It could happen to any of us.”
Johnny Depp joined Eddie Vedder on stage for a few songs, and also read from the diary of Damien Echols, who has received the death sentence for the killings: “Today the guards made me bleed again. They chained my feet so tight I could barely move. I bleed through my socks … And this place is filthy. I can’t remember what it’s like to walk as a human being anymore.”
Also performing at the rally were Fistful of Mercy, a new group featuring George Harrison's son, Dhani.
Copyright © 2010 Look to the Stars
