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Eddie Vedder, Johnny Depp, And Patti Smith Play Benefit For The West Memphis Three

6:31 p.m. · August 31, 2010 · by Mike Burr

A host of musicians, including Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith, Johnny Depp, Ben Harper, and Natalie Maines played a benefit in Little Rock, Arkansas on Monday for the West Memphis Three, who were convicted, perhaps wrongly, in 1993 of killing three children.  The three men have been the subject of two documentaries critical of the investigation and most evidence now points that they may be innocent of the crime, but Damien Echols Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin are still in prison. Though many causes that garner support from the rock community generate a lot of interest and then fade, it's heartening to see that Vedder and company are sticking with it. What's not so encouraging is that none of the three have received a new trial yet. [Stereogum]