WEBVTT - #217 Jason Flom with Kevin Dykes 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.960 Since our initial release of Kevin Dykes's story, there have 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.240 been some new developments, and this is a re release 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:11.640 of that story with new content. As a child in 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:15.040 the late nineteen seventies, Kevin Dykes accidentally killed his best 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.480 friend when they were playing with a gun, sending him 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.959 to Juvie for involuntary manslaughter. When he got out, he 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.800 turned to petty drug dealing in Compton, California. Fast forward 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.920 to nineteen eighty six. After a terrible assault that led 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:31.200 to a four month hospital stint, Kevin continued peddling drugs 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:34.479 from his temporary wheelchair for two men named Slim and Hondo. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.120 Kevin rented a bed and a trailer home in his 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:41.720 landlord's driveway, where Slim and Hondo occasionally hit weapons. That June, 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.960 two incidents occurred just days apart, resulting in one murder 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.239 and two attempted murders. The first during a party when 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:52.640 Kevin booted his friend Ephraim for being belligerently drunk. Slim 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.840 and Hondo followed he from stabbing him several times. A 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.720 neighborhood mother, Missus Bradley, came to Ephraim's aid, only to 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.480 get dabbed as well. Kevin intervened, jumping from his wheelchair 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.720 to stop the assault before it turned fatal. A few 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:10.640 days later, Slim and Hondo accused Kevin's friend Otis Perry 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:14.000 of stealing their gun from Kevin's trailer home, stabbing him 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:18.040 eighty one times. Unable to stop the murderous frenzy and 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.800 fearing for his own life, Kevin helped them clean up 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.560 before going to the police a few hours later. A 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.920 few days after that, Kevin was arrested for cocaine possession 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.959 and put into a special holding tank for state's witnesses. 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:34.240 Then three jailhouse snitches claimed that Kevin had confessed to 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.560 all three attacks in exchange for leniency in their own cases. 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.399 Kevin Dykes is serving life in prison on the word 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:48.880 of three notorious jailhouse snitches. This is wrongful conviction with Jason. 0:01:48.600 --> 0:02:02.440 Flamm, this is Global taill Link. 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.600 You have a prepaid call from here an inmate at 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:11.560 the California State Prison, Los Angeles County, Lancaster, California. This 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.960 call and our telephone number will be monitored and recorded. 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:20.680 To accept this call, say or dial five now. Thank 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:22.600 you for using globaltaill link. 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:26.200 Welcome back to Wrawful Conviction with Jason Flomp Today. We 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.119 have an incredible story, so we're going to get right 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.280 into it, and I'm going to introduce you first to 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:37.280 Stephen K. Howser. He's a criminal defense attorney representing the 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:41.080 star of this episode, Kevin Dike. Stephen, Welcome to Wrongful Conviction. 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:42.800 Thank you, glad to be here. 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:46.000 And Kevin Dykes is on the phone with us from prison, 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.920 and I hope we'll be able to do something about 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:52.519 his situation because it is awful. Kevin. I'm sorry you're 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.240 here or where you are, but I'm happy you're here 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.040 with us today. So thank you for being here. 0:02:58.080 --> 0:02:59.160 Thank you for the AVATORA. 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.960 This case goes back to Compton nineteen eighty six, and 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:07.560 it's got so much that you'll think I'm talking about 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.200 a movie script that would be too much to be believed, 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.560 except for it's real. It's got gangster's name Hondo and Slim. 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.280 It's got drugs, it's got snitches that ended up on 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:20.280 sixty minutes. It's got laws that changed and victims who 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:22.760 testified that this was not the guy who did it. 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:24.720 It's got a guy who's in prison for three and 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.560 a half decades with no evidence against him except the 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:32.120 testimony of jailhouse snitches who have recanted their testimony. It 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:36.600 is nuts, but it's true. So let's get right into it. 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:40.280 And Kevin, let's start with you going back to your 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:45.000 youth because you grew up in Compton, right, Yes, I grew. 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.840 Up got to pay at home in the pop Water Sport. 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.760 I actually had a real good of bringing in two. 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.840 I think it's actually saying I ended up actually killing 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:01.280 my best friend. I went for as randfather, and I will. 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.880 Sit to yas and for those of you who don't 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:07.320 know YA or CYA is the California Youth Authority. 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.400 As I understand it, your friend's death was entirely accidental, 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.560 just two kids who made a big mistake playing with 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.560 a gun. But they still sent your way to juvie 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:22.240 for involuntary manslaughter. And I also understand that you harbor 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:24.760 a lot of guilt about this, even though the family 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:25.560 forgave you. 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.680 Yes, this family, they stayed directly across the street from 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:31.800 my family. Even to the day, still feel on the 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:36.000 same street. Although the family had forgiven me, written me 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.320 letters will come to see me. When I got out, 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:44.200 I saw what I did to that family, and I 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.440 didn't know how to proster. Although my mother and my 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:49.880 father and my grandmother and all kinds of people were 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.160 trying to help me, I didn't know how to ask 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.520 for their help that I actually need. So I got 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:58.920 dig grig as little grid of the k. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.719 So the guilt kind of derailed your potential, it seems. 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:06.360 And after Juvie, you start dealing drugs and looking outside 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.640 of what seemed like a supportive home for whatever it 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:14.680 was that you felt you needed, acceptance, identity, whatever, out 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.280 in the street. So fast forward to January nineteen eighty six. 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:20.719 Some other really bad stuff happens. 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:24.400 January eighteenth, so I to cheating them. They try to 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.640 cheat them in the front of my house. I follow them. 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:28.840 They ran me through a brick wall and both my 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.719 hit smashed my films. So I went at the hospital 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.880 January eighteenth, in dollarge of May twenties. When I got 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:36.800 out of the hospital, I was in a wheelchair and 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:38.960 I had a walker, and I was going to a therapy. 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:44.200 Yes, someone tried to kidnap Kevin, so you fought them off, 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:47.000 and they ended up hitting you with their car against 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.200 a brick wall, broke your hips. Snapped your pelvis and 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:53.000 put you in the hospital for four months. I mean, 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.719 you're lucky to even be alive. And we haven't even 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.279 gotten to the part that has you locked up right now. Okay, 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:04.240 so it's May nineteen eighty six. You're temporarily in this 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:09.440 wheelchair doing physical therapy and dealing drugs for these two 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:13.000 mid level management drug dealers named Slim and Hondo. 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.640 Slim and Hondo decided that they were going to take 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:21.479 over the local drug sales. I believe they helped Kevin 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.160 and some of his friends with small amounts of cocaine 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.800 to sell in the neighborhood, and they would periodically show 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:34.440 up and I guess resupply the local sellers, including Kevin 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:35.520 and Kevin. 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:37.800 You were renting a place to stay from a man 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.720 named mister Bryce. You were renting a bed in this 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:42.880 mobile home that sat in his driveway, right. 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.320 Yes, I was a fan and mister bright'shole. We had 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.080 a mobile hole over. They had like six days with 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:51.880 a shower and all that stuff inside. It was parked 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.120 in the driveway. Sometimes my friends, he's supposed to stay. 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:58.480 They had like six places well sleeping here, so all 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.200 this coming sleeping. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:05.360 Here and Otis is Otis Perry who occasionally stayed at 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.640 mister Bryce's mobile home, and he's the one that was 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:13.200 eventually stabbed by slimon Hondo for taking the gun that 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.920 they had left in the trailer. The night that these 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:20.040 two attempted murders occurred outside a party at mister Bryce's house. 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:23.960 Yes, also, my cousin Pam was inside the mobile home. 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.840 I was inside the house where the party was there 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:30.360 when they're fighting when to fight after, So I didn't 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.040 know this was out there at the time. Donald Slip 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.160 pulls up. They knew mister Bryce didn't allow gus in 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.560 his house, but they he had a gun in the 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:42.360 mobile home. Well, my cousin in OSTs, but I still 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:44.080 didn't know nothing about that at that time. 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.160 Okay, so now the stage is finally set for these 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.560 crimes to take place. This is we're talking June nineteenth, 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.040 nineteen eighty six. There's a little party going on at 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:58.120 mister Bryce's. Your friend Otis and your cousin Pam are 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.280 in the mobile home in the driveway. Slim and Hondo, 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.239 your bosses, come to hang out, but out of respect 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.560 for mister Bryce, they leave their gun in the mobile home. 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.840 Then your friend Ephraim is at the party and he 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.320 is drunk, to say the least. 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:20.160 Wellm is my older homeboy. He was young, beinglligerate and 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.000 uh messing with the females. I was up in there, 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.640 grabbing streaks that didn't belong to him, and I said, 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.440 the man, go down to the pool man, keep back. 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.240 I got and he kept home. So I got pissed 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:36.600 off and I hate him once and when I hate him, 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.840 Hondo slim. Both of them attacked him because of them, 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.920 here's what they see it, he said. I didn't understand 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.600 why did they get involved in there? Here's what they 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:50.840 see because I should barely walk. They people were taking 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:52.559 advantage of my disability. 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:57.040 Oh okay, so your drug bosses are sticking up for you. 0:08:57.280 --> 0:09:00.600 But then they go way beyond what you would ever 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:01.480 want them to do. 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:02.400 Yeah. 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.800 So once I stuck both of them attacking, I got 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:10.120 them to stop, told East leave. He left, and then 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.280 they chased him down the street. They caught him at 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:14.959 the end of the corner. Once I got down there, 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:20.200 I saw that they were actually stabbing. When I Hando 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:24.280 leaving along Hando, he little stup and saw me. But 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:26.640 when he saw me, he saw Miss Bradley behind me. 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.560 Miss Bradley is my older almost mother. When she looked 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.280 up and saw that it was her son, she tried 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.760 to turn it run. He ran her down, grabbed her 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:39.160 by her address, and started stabbing her. I hopped my 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.040 way to him and grabbed him to get him off 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:46.319 of her, and once I was holdingly, she got loose, 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:49.559 which gave you some time to get up, and then 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.319 I got to convinced him to get into the car 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.439 and drove them off. I drove off to a motel, 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:58.280 and then I came back to check on Eathelm and 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.280 Miss Bradley. But the hammer has already came when it 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:01.040 was the hospital. 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:06.480 So you basically saved Missus Bradley and Ephraim from being 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:09.959 murdered by Slim and Hondo by convincing them to stop 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.599 stabbing them and drive away from the scene. But this 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:17.839 incident on June nineteenth is what becomes two charges of 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:22.559 attempted murder that gets stuck on you. The guy confined 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:28.439 to a wheelchair at the time. Yeah, okay, So Slim 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:32.960 and Hondo stabbed both Ephraim and Missus Bradley. You drove 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:36.720 them to a motel at some point your friend Otis 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.719 back at the mobile home, takes the gun Slim and 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:42.079 Hondo had left behind. Not too smart, by the way, 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.840 because Slim and Hondo knew who was in the mobile 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:48.120 home when they stashed it in the first place. So 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.880 they come looking for Otis on June twenty third. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.719 June twenty thirty overs looking for Otis, like Wilson in 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.480 the morning, they should come outside. I'm going to go 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:02.120 to your oldest. I didn't know ODIs was out here 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:04.199 in the motor hole. So when I went out to 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:08.200 the front yard going to the motor opened, older stepped out. 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.720 Hanolds cacked ODIs, say may with my gun? He said, 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:13.599 we can go get it. He said, too late, and 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.640 then cashing. They started fighting. ODIs was fighting back, but 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:18.520 they were fighting him from the side of the mother hole. 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:20.839 He went around the garage and that was the first 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:23.480 time I saw him being stabbed. And I came back 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.280 from around there. I wasn't naming the run or whatever, 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:29.199 so didn't say nothing and just listening to everything that 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.920 was going on. And I don't know how the much 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.360 time passed, but then Honolds came from around there and 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:37.040 there was no more noise. I was wondering them. Okay, 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:40.800 now what he said, uh w what something? You got something? 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.040 Rec me? And then I gave him my blanket, so 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.360 him a swim, went behind the bath and wrapped him up, 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.880 drugged him out and put him in the car. And 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.720 then instead of human slim boy, he said, you Slim, 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.000 you stay here watching out all the blood that was 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.400 coming from behind the mother hole, and showed me to 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:00.439 get in the car and ride with him. So I 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.520 took him over through my Olmos neighborhood by the canil, 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.199 and that's where he jumped in and I say, look, 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:09.240 I'll be back. I left it the other same day. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.040 And what would you tell anyone listening now who's wondering 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.800 why you played any part in getting rid of the 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:18.240 body with Slim and Hondo. 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.400 I did with any reasonable person not trying to die, 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.319 I would have done hadn't seen what I saw. I 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.120 knew I gotta do something that made myself a part 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:30.920 of what's going on, and I wasn't physically able to 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:35.439 do nothing to prevent myself from being killed and impressed it. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.600 That was the smartest thing that I could have done 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.280 at the time for myself instead of doing nothing. 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.800 If you had done nothing at all. What do you 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:47.760 think Slim and Hondo would have done? 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.439 I was a little bit too afraid to find out. 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.640 I was in a position where something happened to my 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:59.079 friend and hand me. You know where I stood, and 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:02.880 I did what I'm day to do for morsel. They're 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:04.040 not too forward. 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:05.400 Now. 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:20.200 This episode is underwritten by Paul Weiss Rifkin, Porton and Garrison, 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.920 a leading international law firm. Paul Weiss has long had 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:28.200 an unwavering commitment to providing impactful, pro bono legal assistance 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.760 to the most vulnerable members of our society and in 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:34.599 support of the public interest, including extensive work in the 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:47.599 criminal justice area. Otis's murder eventually gets pinned on you, 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.360 the guy who was only able to watch or listen 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:55.240 helplessly as your friend got stabbed to death, and then, 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.520 in order to save your own life, you did would 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:01.439 probably some of us would have done. You played along 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.559 with Slim and Hondo until you could get away. I 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.880 would not want to have been in your shoes at 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:11.719 that point. You just lost your brand. Otis. You had 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:14.719 to contend with the question of to snitch or not 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.679 to snitch on like a Sophie's choice. On these two 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:18.920 murderous drug dealers. 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:22.000 And that's when I was trying to process whatever it 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.880 just happened to show. Six thirty seven o'clock in the morning, 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.480 that's when I saw the police. I told that I 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.120 knew where that was. One always said come over here, 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.120 and look they moved it blanket. I knew it was. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.280 I said, I know where he lives, to the little 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.640 mother's house. And then when we came back to the scene, 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:42.840 I asked my saying, look if I had any information, 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:45.880 talk on my contract, and he gave me his car. 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:50.480 I took your car, rode miles two whiles and I 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:53.440 went to the phone booth and then I called the police. 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:55.760 She lived, and I told everything the thing he knew 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:57.600 and told him while I was at they came and 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:03.880 picked me up, took me out to the station. They 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:05.560 let me go back home. 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.680 So you made a statement to a sergeant, Sergeant Preston, 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.720 and you're going to be a witness, and Steve, maybe 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:14.960 you can tell us about the next part of the story, 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:17.760 which is how Kevin was picked up for cocaine possession. 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:22.200 Sometime later, and while in the state's witness holding area 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:26.880 of La County Jail, he eventually meets three guys who 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:30.760 are responsible for him being in this horrible predicament today. 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.240 What happened was Kevin got arrested for a possession of 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:38.000 cocaine charge and because he was the main witness against 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.400 Slim and Hondo on a murder case, they put him 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:46.400 in with other prosecution witnesses and it's commonly called the 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:50.720 snitch Tank, which is a separate jail from the men's 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:54.880 central jail. And while Kevin was in there, he told 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:59.760 his cellmate to Willie Battle and the guy that was 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.320 and the next sel over, Jesse Williams. He told them 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.920 what actually happened because they asked, and that's very common 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.320 in jail, what are he in for? And they exchanged information, 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.520 but this time it only came from Kevin. He told 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:18.640 them what happened, and they twisted it around and ran 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.280 with it. And then they called the Compton Police Department 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.080 and asked them if they had a murder case where 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.960 the body was found by a canal. They called it 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:31.720 a canal, it's really a drainage ditch. And they put 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.560 him in contact with Detective Marvin Branscombe, who was not 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:39.520 Sergeant Preston, who Kevin gave the statement to and they 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:43.040 convinced Branscomb that what they had to say was true, 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:47.280 which they said that Kevin confessed to these tempting murders 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:47.760 and murder. 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:50.800 They say, we got a guy out of here bragging 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.960 about chilling his guy and sad with lady telling big time, 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:57.800 don't kill it. So I end up going from being 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:01.520 the actual witness now mean that actual killer. 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.200 So Kevin became a defendant instead of the prosecution witness. 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:08.359 And they moved him out of the snitch tank to 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.639 another part of the jail. So Kevin's transferred over to 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:15.679 the central jail, and then he met a very notorious 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:18.879 snitch named Leslie White. And I get a call from 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:23.160 Leslie White. I'd never heard of Leslie White. Leslie White says, 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:28.679 I understand you're defending Kevin Dykes and that he has 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:32.400 been ratted out by two snitches. And I said that's 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.840 exactly right. He says, well, I can help you. You 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.239 come down here and I'm going to tell you all 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:42.440 about the snitch system and how it works. Okay, So 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.119 I go down to the jail. I talked to Leslie White. 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.600 He tells me about how inmates get a hold of 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:54.480 paperwork and change facts and get a hold of the 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:59.280 detective or DA that's handling a particular murder case. And 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:04.080 because they know these unique facts, they can convince the 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.760 detective or district attorney that's handling the case that this 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.119 confession was a valid confession. So I said, well, that 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:13.320 sounds good, Okay, I'll put you on the witness list, 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:18.200 mister White. So about a week or two later, I 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:22.040 get the witness list from the district attorney and Leslie 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:25.879 White is on there as a people's witness. And not 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:29.320 only that, I get a report that says that Kevin 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:35.159 Dyke's confessed to Leslie White. And I'm flabbergasted because I 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.879 just talked to Leslie White and he was going to 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.680 be a witness for Kevin. So I go down to 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.200 the jail and I call out Leslie White and he's 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.040 willing to come and talk to me, and I said, 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:49.080 what do you are? You a witness for the prosecution? 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.760 Now he says yep. I said, well, you know that 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:54.720 Kevin's innocent. Why are you doing what? 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:56.399 How can you do that? 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.879 And he says, well, man's got to do what he 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:02.320 got to do. That's what he said. 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:05.840 I gotta be honest. My head is spinning. And I 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:08.600 didn't even live through this. I mean, this is Kevin. 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.240 I mean, I'm so sorry that you're living this is that, 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.160 this is your life we're talking about. 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.879 I didn't actually believe that what was going on was 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:21.280 even possible. I didn't think that this sub would hold. 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.800 I'm like, what old, I am an actual eye witness. 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.080 These guys they don't know nothing about where illy, but 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:32.399 nothing about what actually happened. So I didn't really believe 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:34.600 the people could do what they were what they were 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:37.159 doing to me. I had never even heard about that before. 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:40.080 I mean, this is this is like nothing. I don't 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.320 think we've ever heard a story like this before. So Steven, 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:44.160 what happens next? 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:48.359 When we got to court, all they had was his 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:54.000 statement to Sergeant Preston and three snitches, and I couldn't 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:58.520 believe that they would even want to proceed with this evidence, 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:03.200 but they did, And just before the verdict was issued, 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:05.400 I told Kevin, I said, now, Kevin, when you get 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.920 out of here, you've got to change your ways, be 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:11.440 a law abiding citizen and then used to society and 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:13.800 he said, yeah, came mister Houser, I'm going to do that, 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:19.400 came back guilty. We were both floored. 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:22.600 You were sentenced to twenty four years to life. Here 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:25.800 it is now twenty twenty. You're still in Could you 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:28.960 just take us back there, put us in that courtroom 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:29.639 with you, if you can. 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:35.679 I actually could not believe the verdant. Yeah. I actually 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:40.200 didn't a crying. I just see how it was possible. Yeah, 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:44.200 I was after I witness, I came for I gave 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:48.359 everything they needed, all evidence to call the weapons. The 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:54.080 people from testify that I didn't attacking. People will stand 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:58.040 like thirty three times and he test fighted I didn't attacking, 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:01.960 and it test five that I didn't attack Ms Brandy, 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:06.159 that was my friend mother. There was nobody here to 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:07.840 stay out, okay, anybody. 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:12.320 But and this is something I really need to highlight here, 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:15.320 which is that if you go in a jury box 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.480 and you're presented with a case where someone's life is 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:21.159 hanging into balance, just like Kevin's was, and there's no 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:25.119 evidence connecting that person's at a crime except for the 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:30.520 testimony of a snitch, you cannot vote to convict because 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:34.320 it's crazy. I mean, these are people who are clearly incentivized. 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:35.639 They may not tell you that at the time. But 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:38.720 you have to understand that the defense can never bribe 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:40.800 a witness. That's it. That's a crime punishable by long 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:43.880 time in jail. But the government can make a deal 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:47.680 with a snitch to reduce their charges or drop their 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.119 charges in exchange for testimony. And that is the best 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:56.639 bribe of all. So it's the most unreliable testimony imaginable. 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.880 And here you have a case where the direct evidence 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:04.320 contradicts what the Niches were saying. The evidence showed that 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.840 Kevin could not have committed this crime, and yet he 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:12.200 ends up getting convicted on the testimony of people who 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:15.960 were notoriously untrustworthy and were it sent device to lie 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:16.920 mister Alvan. 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:20.520 Frown evidence where they get apartments, they say, oh, he's 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:24.119 bet in my family, So the government gives him money 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:28.240 to relocate them movement apartments. All of them ended up 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:32.400 getting reduced to Leslie White ended up getting out at 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:34.240 such five and gives me, I don't know if you 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:38.400 remember this one thousands He came right back any threatened 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:41.800 the Asian attorney. If you don't bake me back out, 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:43.679 I'm gonna blow his whole case up. 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:48.200 You remember what happened was Leslie White then went on 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:51.200 sixty minutes when he was back in again in the jail, 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:56.359 and he showed on camera how he could work his 0:22:56.560 --> 0:23:01.600 magic and get favors from DA. And then when I 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:04.359 saw that, I went down and talked to Leslie White. 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:07.440