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Johnny Depp to Promote New Kids’ Movie, Free the West Memphis Three

Disney’s upcoming kids’ movie Alice in Wonderland, already facing an international boycott from exhibitors over its shortened release window, gets another shot of exciting publicity today: Mad Hatter–playing Johnny Depp, currently promoting the PG-rated film, will appear this Saturday on CBS’s 48 Hours Mystery to demand a new trial for the West Memphis Three, a trio of men convicted as teenagers in 1994 of killing three 8-year-olds during a suspected satanic ritual (the case has been examined in two documentaries, Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations). “I firmly believe Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley are totally innocent. It was a need for swift justice to placate the community,” Depp will announce, probably between a host of publicity obligations for Alice. Obviously we’re all for overturning wrongful convictions here, but we assume Disney wishes the discovery of new DNA and forensic evidence could have waited until Depp was promoting The Rum Diary later this year.

Depp defends West Memphis Three [NYP]

Johnny Depp to Promote New Kids’ Movie, Free the West Memphis Three