'West Memphis Three' Walk Free: Will They Clear Their Names?

Aug. 20, 2011— -- The so-called "West Memphis Three" say they will continue to fight to get their names fully cleared -- only now they can do it from the outside.

Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley, Jr. -- who served 18 years for the 1993 deaths of three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Ark., are walking free today after the defense presented new DNA evidence that could challenge their convictions.

"I'm just tired," Misskelley said at a news conference Friday. "This has been going on for 18 years. It's been an absolute living hell."

Their freedom comes after they entered a plea deal requiring them to plead guilty in order to walk free.

A judge accepted the plea deal Friday that allowed the men to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them.

"I won't tell you it's a perfect resolution," said Stephen Braga, one of the defense attorneys for Damien Echols told "Nightline." "It's the best possible resolution under the circumstances."

Echols was sitting on death row.

"This was not justice," Baldwin said. "In the beginning we told nothing but the truth. We were innocent, and they sent us to prison for the rest of our lives."

Prosecutor Scott Ellington said Friday that "the case is closed," despite his firm belief that the West Memphis Three are guilty.

"I have no reason to believe that there was anyone else involved in the homicide of those three children," other than those three defendants, he said.

Despite being set free Friday, the West Memphis Three may never see their names actually cleared.

ABC legal analyst Dan Abrams said there would have likely been a new trial and that would have created a challenge for prosecutors.

"They would've then had to go back with witnesses who recanted their testimony, DNA evidence which pointed to someone else," Abrams said. "I think the prosecutors knew it was going to be a very, very tough road for them if there was a new trial and as a result they said, 'you know what, we don't want to admit that we got it wrong, we aren't saying we got it wrong, but we also don't want to have a new trial.'"