1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: On June twenty third, nineteen seventy three, a young woman 2 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,400 Speaker 1: was returning to her apartment in Boston when an assailant 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: grabbed her from behind, forced his way into the building, 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: and dragged her upstairs. During a struggle that culminated in 5 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: a rape, the young woman managed to stab her attacker 6 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: on the shoulder with a kitchen knife. However, the encounter 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: was not over. The assailant paraded her, bruised and bloodied 8 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: through the streets of Boston for nearly six more hours 9 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: on a bus to a restaurant, and even spoke to 10 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: some of his friends. Eventually, she escaped to a Roxbury firehouse, 11 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: where one of the firefighters scared off the assailant. Seminal 12 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: fluid was collected at the hospital. When the survivor described 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: the assailant as black, five ten and one hundred and 14 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: sixty pounds. She also recalled that the assailant had mentioned 15 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: his recent release from Concord Correctional. When shown eleven photographs 16 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: of men who had recently been released, she chose Tyrone Clark, 17 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: even though Tyrone was only five seven and one hundred 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: and thirty five pounds. Five other witnesses chose Tyron as well. 19 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: But this is wrongful conviction. Welcome back to wrongful conviction. 20 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: The man we're interviewing today, Tyrone Clark, served over forty 21 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: eight years in prison for a crime he had absolutely 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,559 Speaker 1: nothing to do with. The story is unfathomed, but every 23 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: part of it is true. So before I introduce mister 24 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: Clark to you, now, I'm going to introduce his attorney, 25 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: Neil Rafael. Thanks for being here on the show. Thank 26 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: you for having me and Tyrone Clark man. I'm so 27 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: happy and honored that you're here, and I'm looking forward 28 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: to sharing your story with the world. Thank you so, Tyrone, 29 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: Before we talk about the crime itself, which is a 30 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: horrible crime that you had nothing to do with. Again, 31 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: I'm going to point that out. Your life wasn't easy 32 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: from the get go, right, Can you tell us about 33 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: growing up in the well but damn you were born 34 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: in the fifties, right, early mid fifties. 35 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I originally from Breesville, North Carolina. I came to 36 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 2: Boston with my mother when I was a baby. It 37 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 2: was like nine of us at the time. I came 38 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,679 Speaker 2: up like a very poor background. We was on welfare. 39 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 2: We all basically like slept in the same bed. All 40 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 2: of us tried to struggle the best way we can 41 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 2: to get full clothes. My father tried to do what 42 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 2: he can by robbing banks and stuff like that, but 43 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 2: he went away for a long time. So I didn't 44 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 2: really get to know my father that well because he 45 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 2: was in prison. So my mother was just on her 46 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 2: own trying to raise us and stuff, and I got 47 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 2: taken away from her. They all raided the house and stuff, 48 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:00,359 Speaker 2: and they separated all of us from my mother. 49 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: So you went at the foster care, not just. 50 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 2: One foster home. I bosted through a few foster homes. 51 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 2: I went through one that was abusive because I went 52 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 2: to bed, so I tried to skate when they found me. 53 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 2: I didn't know where all my other brothers and sisters went. 54 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 2: My mother she had a breakdown. She went to a 55 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 2: mental institution. So you know, I didn't spend a lot 56 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 2: of time with my family, get to know them the 57 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 2: way I was supposed to know them, like a family. 58 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 2: Had good times with them, know, we really had Christmas, 59 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 2: all the good holidays and stuff like that. 60 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: Well, you never really had any chance to be a kid, 61 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: to have a decent child at all, and you rarely 62 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: didn't have much of a shot at life from the beginning. 63 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: Too many kids go through similar experiences. We really should 64 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: be able to do better, and we're going to get 65 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: into the crime itself. You had some juvenile delinquencies, which 66 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: are understandable. You're trying to make ends meet, and anybody 67 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: who hasn't walked them mile in your shoes probably can't 68 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: judge you for those either. These were robberies and things 69 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: like that, but those probably had the effect of putting 70 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: you on the radar of the police. When this very 71 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: serious crime took place on Saturday, June twenty third of 72 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, and I'm just going to describe the crime. 73 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: In the afternoon, around three o'clock, a young woman was 74 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: returning to her apartment on Park Drive in Boston from 75 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,919 Speaker 1: a shopping trip. She approached the door to her building 76 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: and an attacker grabbed her from behind and went with 77 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: her into the vestibule of her building. He struck her 78 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: and forced her to give him the little money she had, 79 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,359 Speaker 1: about thirty dollars, and then he forced her upstairs to 80 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: her apartment, raped her, beat her, and dragged her through 81 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: the city in a six and a half hour saga. 82 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: He took her on a bus, forced her to eat 83 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: a meal with him at a little Spanish restaurant. She 84 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: had her speak to some of his friends. She was 85 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: basically kidnapped right all the while. She tried to get 86 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: somebody to help with her face bruised and bloody, and 87 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: nobody helped her until she finally escaped into a Roxbury firehouse. 88 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: Sailin tried to follow her in, but then he ran 89 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: away when the fireman said that he was going to 90 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: call the cops. 91 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 3: She initially looked through a photo lineup book of one 92 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 3: hundred to one hundred and fifty photos and wasn't able 93 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 3: to identify anybody during the assault. The individual had mentioned 94 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 3: that he or his brother had just been recently released 95 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 3: from Concord, and so this next subsequent day they showed 96 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 3: her ten or fifteen photos of individuals we'd been recently 97 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 3: released from Concord. Now, Tyrone had some juvenile fenches and 98 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 3: he had been in Conquered Reformatory school, and so he 99 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 3: was put into that photo lineup and as a result, 100 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 3: she identified Tyrone as being her assailant. 101 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: And of course he was black and she was white, right, 102 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: so it's a cross racial identification. This is a good 103 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: time to point out that in study after study that 104 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: has been proven that cross racial identification, even in a 105 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: case like this where the victim spent such a long 106 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 1: time with her attacker in daylight, cross racial identification has 107 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,840 Speaker 1: been proven to be less accurate than guessing. Didn't match 108 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: the physical description either, right. She described the assailant though, 109 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: as five ten, about one hundred and sixty pounds, and 110 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: Tyrone was only one hundred and thirty five pounds, so 111 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: that's a pretty big discrepancy there. 112 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 3: Subsequently, the four firefighters who were at the firehouse that 113 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 3: evening identified Tyrone as being the assailant as well. And 114 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 3: then you mentioned that she had visited a restaurant and 115 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 3: the waiter identified Tyrone as being the assailant. 116 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: And we're not sure what happened during these other five 117 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: identification procedures, but it's possible the police may have been 118 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: suggestive toward the photo that the victim had chosen. 119 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 3: There was no physical evidence indicating that Tyrone had been 120 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 3: the assailant. There was no fingerprints, there was nothing at 121 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 3: the scene reflecting that Tyrone had been there. She had 122 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,679 Speaker 3: testified that she had stabbed the individual with a knife 123 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 3: in the back during the assault, and Tyrone didn't have 124 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 3: any sort of markings on his back. 125 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: She couldn't be mistaken about the idea that she stabbed someone, right, 126 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: and to her credit, she fought back right. 127 00:06:59,200 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 2: But if she. 128 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: Stabbed, where did the stab wound go? Somebody was walking 129 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: around with a stab wound and some bloody clothes and 130 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: it wasn't him, So they should have said, hey, we 131 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: got to keep looking because this guy doesn't have a 132 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: stab wound. Am I missing something here? No? Did they 133 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: do a rape kit? 134 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 3: They did take the semen sample at the hospital, but 135 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 3: they didn't preserve it, unfortunately. And when I first started 136 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 3: working on the case in two thousand and two, that 137 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 3: was the first thing we tried to locate was the 138 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 3: rape kit from the hospital or at the quote unquote 139 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 3: seemen sample, and they were not able to locate it. 140 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: So they had the evidence. Had they really wanted to 141 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: do a proper investigation, they could have even with the 142 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: primitive technology they had fifty years ago in nineteen seventy three, 143 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: they may have been able to eliminate him. 144 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 3: And then the other thing that stood out to me 145 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 3: is that this crime didn't happen in twenty minutes. This 146 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 3: took place over six hours, and you would think there 147 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 3: would be some sort of fingerprint evidence, either in the 148 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 3: apartment at the restaurant or somewhere along the scene of 149 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 3: the crime. They were on a bus, but there was 150 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 3: never any physical evidence that linked Tyrone at all to 151 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 3: this crime. 152 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 2: They said I was the per portrator. They didn't do 153 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 2: no real search background, or real thorough investigation. They just 154 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 2: grabbed me off the street and Tyrone. 155 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: You were arrested, I believe, two days after this crime happened, 156 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: so you wouldn't have had time for the stabling to heal. 157 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: So it's not like this was months and months later. 158 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: So am I right? You were arrested two days after 159 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: the crime. 160 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 2: When I was released from Conquer Correctional Center, I was 161 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 2: eighteen years old. I was in a halfway house. The 162 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 2: night watchman came upstairs and told me that the Boston 163 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 2: police want to talk to me. When I came downstairs, 164 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 2: he asked me questions about where I was at and 165 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 2: this certain time and told me take my shirt off. 166 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 2: Can we look at your body? And I said yeah, 167 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 2: I said, what's going on? 168 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 4: Man? 169 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 2: I was shocked. I said, I ain't know what the 170 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 2: hell was going on? Man, It was reported that you 171 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 2: raped a woman. I said what I said, no, man, 172 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 2: I said, you got the wrong person. I said, I'm 173 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 2: not no rapist. Man like that, he told me. They 174 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 2: turned around and stuff, and they looked at me and stuff, 175 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,440 Speaker 2: and the next thing they cuffed me up and took 176 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 2: me from the halfway house, brought me to headquarters and 177 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 2: booked me. They looked at me in the police station too. 178 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 2: Like I said, I didn't know what they were looking for. 179 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 2: To my public defender was telling me that the person 180 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 2: was stabbed and know concerned that this woman got raped, 181 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 2: and they was looking for knife woms. So when they 182 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 2: shirched me, it was nothing on my body. So I 183 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 2: was taken away and putting to a county jail, Child 184 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 2: Street jail, the worst jail in Massachusetts where a person 185 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,559 Speaker 2: like at my age that went there, I could have 186 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 2: got killed, could have got raped. I was scared, you know. 187 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 2: So I stayed in that county jail for lease, about 188 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 2: like a year before I went to trial. 189 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 3: Tyrone presented evidence at trial of alibis the two alibis 190 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 3: for the time period. Because this was a lengthy crime 191 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,439 Speaker 3: it took place during the day. So Tyrone was at 192 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 3: a party for part of the proceeding and was also 193 00:09:57,520 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 3: at a friend's apartment for part of the proceeding and 194 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 3: testified that he. 195 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: Was with them. 196 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 2: My mother, my witnesses, everybody was in court testified and 197 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 2: stuff like this about my way abouts and stuff. I 198 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 2: had about like six witnesses. Nail testified against me. 199 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 3: You had six IDs against you, the victim, the four firefighters, 200 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 3: and the restaurant server. 201 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. I heard all this stuff, man, and I was like, Wow, 202 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 2: why somebody do this to me? I says, I'm not 203 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 2: none of this what they saying I am, And all 204 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 2: these people lying on me saying that they see me 205 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 2: with this lady. I ain't never ever seen any of 206 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 2: these people. Jason. Man, It's just like I seemed like 207 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 2: I woke up to some type of nightmare and then 208 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:43,079 Speaker 2: I had all white jewelry. 209 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: I mean, even with the fact that you had this 210 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:52,679 Speaker 1: eyewitness identification, there's such powerful exculpatory evidence that at least 211 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: any competent legal mind would be able to mount some 212 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: sort of defense. How did they end up getting away 213 00:10:58,840 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: with having an all white jury. 214 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 3: Tyrone's attorney, he was still alive when I started handling 215 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 3: the case, and I never really got into it with him. 216 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 3: Why the jury pool was constituted the way it was, 217 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 3: I do think because it was the nineteen seventies in Boston. 218 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 3: There was a lot of racism back then, obviously with 219 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 3: the busting crisis and other things that were happening in 220 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,319 Speaker 3: the city. That because of that jury pool, and because 221 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,719 Speaker 3: all of Tyrone's witnesses were minorities and all of the 222 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 3: state's witnesses were white, that Tyrone faced a serious uphill battle. 223 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,839 Speaker 3: Tyrone's attorney, he said Neil after the opening statement, given 224 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 3: the horrific nature of the crime, and given the jury pool, 225 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 3: they looked at Tyrone like he was the devil. 226 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: So predictably, on January twenty fourth, nineteen seventy four, a 227 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: Suffolk County jury convicted you, Tyrone, of rape, robbery, and 228 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: kidnapping ann. You were sentenced to life in prison, as 229 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: well as other sentences that they threw on top of that. 230 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 2: My mother, Man, she was young at the time. She 231 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 2: was so hurt. They sentenced me to life in prison 232 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 2: twenty five to thirty five on and after in the 233 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,439 Speaker 2: eighth and ten concurrent my mother was so hurt and 234 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 2: broke down. Next thing, you know, they just took me 235 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 2: away and took them sent me up the Wallpost State 236 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 2: Prison at the age of eighteen. Man, I came from 237 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 2: a family. Everybody been to jail. My older brother was 238 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,439 Speaker 2: in prison too. When I got the wall pole in 239 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy three, it was a news article. Everybody seen it. 240 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 2: My older brother, you knew a lot of guys up state. 241 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 2: You sent a letter up the wall Poles State Prison, 242 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 2: told some of his friends. Yo, my brother man sentence man. 243 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 2: Something he didn't do when they asked him, would they 244 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 2: look out for me? And stuff? So when I got there, 245 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 2: they snatched me as I got at the door and stuff. 246 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 2: So they took me to their block and stuff. They 247 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 2: looked out for me, gave me canteens, stuff that I needed. 248 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 2: I didn't take no shit for nobody, you know what 249 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 2: I'm saying. I learned how to box in prison. I 250 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:14,959 Speaker 2: put in my own work what they call put in 251 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,199 Speaker 2: your own work, protect myself to survive the best way 252 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 2: I can. I don't even know how I made it, 253 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 2: but I made it, you know, the grace of God. 254 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 2: And I went to parole boards and handerings and stuff. 255 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 2: I kept getting denied because I maintained my innocence, had 256 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 2: a lot of letdowns and stuff over the years. And 257 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 2: I found a lawyer, man by the name of Barysheck 258 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 2: with Innocent Project. I wrote to him, I told him 259 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 2: about my case, and he says, oh, we really don't 260 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 2: handle Massachusetts cases and stuff, but I can refer you 261 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 2: to the Innocent Project in Massachusetts. So he did that 262 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 2: and they gave me an attorney, and you talking to 263 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:54,839 Speaker 2: him right now. 264 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: Neil began working on the case from two angles. At 265 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 1: the time it was two thousand and two DNA testing 266 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,960 Speaker 1: was available. While pursuing biological evidence to support the claims 267 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,679 Speaker 1: of actual innocence, Neil also fought for Tyrone's immediate release 268 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: due to the guidelines for parole in nineteen seventy four, 269 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: as well as his subsequent sentences after the rape. That 270 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 1: route was unusual. 271 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 3: So Tyrone was sentenced to life on the rape, and 272 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 3: he was sentenced to twenty five to thirty on the 273 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 3: robbery and concurrently eight on a kidnapping. So in nineteen 274 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 3: eighty eight on the rape, Tyrone was paroled. Then he 275 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 3: started serving his sentence from the robbery and the kidnapping 276 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 3: in two thousand and three, Tyrone called me and said, 277 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 3: I've got this letter from the Parole Board indicating that 278 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 3: his nineteen eighty eight parole had been reversed in two 279 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 3: thousand and two or two thousand and three. For cases 280 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 3: that were very old, they started aggregating sentences for the 281 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 3: purposes of parole. So they decided for Tyrone's case, because 282 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 3: he was sentenced to life on the rape and thirty 283 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 3: on the robbery, and concurrently eight on the kidnappings, they 284 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 3: were going to aggregate and have one parole hearing. But 285 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 3: the problem was Tyrone had already been parolled in nineteen 286 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 3: eighty eight and they didn't want to release him. So 287 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 3: what they ended up doing was quote unquote reversing his 288 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 3: parole without a hearing or a lawyer being present. So 289 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 3: in two thousand and three I sued the Parole Board 290 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 3: on Tyrone's behalf, basically arguing that that was a constitutional violation. 291 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 3: We had a hearing and the judge told them they 292 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 3: were going to lose, and so we settled Tyrone's civil 293 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 3: action against the Parole Board, and so he was essentially 294 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 3: released because with good time, he had served his concurrent 295 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 3: sentences of the robbery and the kidnapping. But he's on 296 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 3: his eighty eight pro on his life sentence. 297 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: So now you're on the streets for the first time 298 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: in thirty years. Everything looks very different. I mean, imagine 299 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: from seventy three to two thousand and five, everything has changed. 300 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 4: Where did you go? What did you do? 301 00:15:58,480 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: How did you survive? 302 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 2: Parole officer found me a sober house in Boston, so 303 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 2: I stayed there. Then I applied for Boston Housing Thority 304 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 2: and I lived in a room in the South thend 305 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,359 Speaker 2: of Boston. They had me going to sex offend the program. 306 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 2: I went through the hurdles. Man, after coming out of prison, 307 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 2: I ain't know nowhere to go to get closed. I 308 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 2: didn't know anything. I wasn't in a good space. Man, 309 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 2: my triggers kicked in. I know how to hustle. So 310 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 2: I ended up shoplifting and I stole some clothing items, 311 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 2: violating my parole. I still today regret what I did. 312 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 2: I got arrested, kept me for eighteen years back behind 313 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 2: the walls for a shoplift. 314 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's eighteen years of taxpayers paying probably at 315 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: least well over a million dollars to keep you behind 316 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: bars for stealing four hundred dollars worth of clothes. 317 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 3: He had pled no contest, and they revoked his parole. 318 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 3: We would try to fight it at the pro board hearing, 319 00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 3: but because we had sued them, they were not interested 320 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 3: in giving him any sort of parole. 321 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: While this strained relationship with the Parole Board did not 322 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: bode well for any future appearances, there was still Tyrone's 323 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,520 Speaker 1: actual innocence claim. Although there were six identifications, they were 324 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: cross racial and likely suggestive processes. Tyrone didn't match the description. 325 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: No physical evidence tied into the scene, no fingerprints matched him, 326 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: and if they had, they would have used it. He 327 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 1: had multiple alibi witnesses as well, and in the two thousands, 328 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,160 Speaker 1: DNA testing was evolving rapidly. 329 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 3: So Massachusetts had passed post conviction DNA testing statue. And 330 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 3: when I had worked on the case in early two 331 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 3: thousand and two two thousand and three, we had tried 332 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 3: to locate the semen sample that had been left at 333 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:43,320 Speaker 3: the hospital. There were male socks that had been left 334 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 3: at the scene in a bloody towel. We hadn't been 335 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 3: able to locate anything any physical evidence, and the case 336 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 3: had hit a roadblock. But then in the appellate file 337 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 3: of the Suffolk County District Attorney. We were able to 338 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 3: locate the knife, and so Tyrone asked if I would 339 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 3: file a motion under that statute for testing, which was 340 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 3: eventually granted. The first round of testing was inconclusive, and 341 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 3: at that point, because this case was primarily an identification case, 342 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,360 Speaker 3: we had started working with CPCs and an attorney named 343 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 3: Lisa Kavanaugh. 344 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: CPCs or Committee for Public Council Services is long for 345 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: public defender in Massachusetts, and Lisa Kavanaugh spearheaded an initiative 346 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: within the office to look into innocent's cases. 347 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 3: In around twenty fifteen sixteen, I started working with a lawyer, 348 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 3: Jeff Harris. My presumption was that the Commonwealth had been 349 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 3: in contact with the victim because that's their legal obligation, 350 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 3: and Jeff reached out to the victim and as a 351 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 3: result of those conversations, it came out that she had 352 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 3: real questions about whether her identification of Tyrone was accurate. 353 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,440 Speaker 2: So when I heard all this good news and stuff, man, 354 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 2: I was like, wow, man, this is great. Man, there's 355 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 2: light at the tunnel. I think I'm going to go home. 356 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 2: I really felt as though that she searched so many years, 357 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 2: she was hitten for so many years. Her conscience made 358 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 2: her come forward. And what happened was she went to 359 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:11,400 Speaker 2: Jennifer Thompson. 360 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: Jennifer Thompson survived the rape in which she studied her 361 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: attacker's face, yet was also led to identify the wrong man, 362 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: Ronald Cotton. I had the honor of interviewing both of 363 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,640 Speaker 1: them together and we're going to have that incredible episode 364 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: linked in the episode description. 365 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,679 Speaker 2: Jennifer Thompson told the lady in my case, she don't 366 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 2: be afraid to tell your story. No, go public with it. 367 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,920 Speaker 2: She went on the radio, she went on TV. 368 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: Back in twenty nineteen, the victim wrote letters to the 369 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: Massachusetts pro Board and the court saying that she believed 370 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: that she could have identified the wrong man. She said 371 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 1: that she was worried that she, the four fireman, and 372 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: the servant at the restaurant picked the same person because 373 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: he looked like the assailant without actually being the assailant, 374 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: and that there were other issues that they have tainted 375 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: the identification process. In her letter to the parole Board, 376 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: she wrote, this is in twenty nineteen quote. If Tyrone 377 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: Clark were to be tried today, given the lack of 378 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 1: physical evidence linking him to the crime. I doubt that 379 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: he would be convicted. I fear that he may also 380 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: be a victim. 381 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 4: End quote. 382 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 2: When I heard that she was doing all this stuff, 383 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 2: and I was in prison, and guys was calling me, Tomrone, 384 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 2: You're on TV. Man, old victim is talking about you. Man, Oh, Tomron, 385 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 2: You're gonna get out of prison. Man. You know, I 386 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 2: was happy, you know what I mean, And you know 387 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 2: saying when she came forward the way she did with 388 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 2: the DA's office and all these people, you know, wrote 389 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 2: story reason. This lady is an inspiration. It wasn't her fault. 390 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 2: This could have happened to anybody what happened to me. 391 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 2: I appreciate this lady for which she did. It wasn't 392 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 2: for her still alive that came forward, I would have 393 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 2: died in prison. 394 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: With the support of the victim. Tyrone's attorneys saw it. 395 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: Subsequent DNA testing with the latest methods revealing a male 396 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: profile and a knife that simply did not match Tyrone, 397 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: and they filed a motion for a new trial in twenty. 398 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 3: Twenty, even after the victim had come forward, even after 399 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 3: the DNA issue had been explored, even after Jeff primarily 400 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 3: had done a lot of work on witness identifications. The 401 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 3: motion for new trials filed in twenty twenty, it was denied, 402 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 3: it was up on appeal, and then subsequently they changed 403 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,719 Speaker 3: their mind for some reason, and they agreed that they 404 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 3: would have sent to a motion to vacate the rape 405 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,880 Speaker 3: conviction on the basis that they had failed to preserve 406 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,439 Speaker 3: the seaman sample that the hospital had drawn on the 407 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 3: night of the crime. 408 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,360 Speaker 1: Wait out of the kindness of their hearts. 409 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 3: Very good question. 410 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: I mean, this kind of thing just doesn't happen. 411 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 4: Yeah. 412 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,479 Speaker 3: No, it was very, very very strange because the Boston 413 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 3: police hadn't done their job and preserved it. They then 414 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 3: agreed to as a self imposed punishment for the Brady violation, 415 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 3: agreed to a cent of the motion to vacate his sins. 416 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:25,399 Speaker 1: That's incredible news. 417 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:28,159 Speaker 3: So then subsequent to that, I was still working on 418 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 3: the case. Jeff Harris needed to back off the case, 419 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 3: so we secured another lawyer by the name of Ed 420 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,719 Speaker 3: Gaffney because I was no longer practicing criminal lawe I mean, 421 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 3: Tyrone was my last criminal case. So Ed filed a 422 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 3: motion for new trial based on the robbery and the 423 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:49,880 Speaker 3: kidnapping charges, and August of twenty twenty three, the judge 424 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 3: agreed to vacate those charges. The Commonwealth opposed that motion, 425 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 3: and the judge disregarded their arguments and said, well, if 426 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 3: you agreed to essentially vacate the rape charge, why are 427 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 3: you still have him responsible for the robbery and kidnapping. 428 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 3: And the judge vacated those charges, and then the Commonwealth 429 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 3: decided to no pross meeting. They're not going forward with 430 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 3: the prosecution. And then so Tyrone was officially exonerated of 431 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:17,920 Speaker 3: all of these charges. 432 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: But Tyrone was awaiting those twenty twenty three proceedings from 433 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:25,199 Speaker 1: the outside. After his release following the vacature of his 434 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 1: rape conviction back in November twenty twenty one. 435 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,359 Speaker 2: I felt great when I got the news I was 436 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 2: being released. The day that I got out, man, it 437 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 2: was I think it was around Thanksgiving them it was. 438 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 2: I get a phone call saying Tyrone, Man, you're being 439 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 2: re released from prison. I said, what he said, Yeah, 440 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 2: I'm coming to pick you up like that. That's my attorney, 441 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 2: Jeff Harris. Great guy. You know, he really fought Bill 442 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 2: Hayd and the crininal matter. I said, oh yeah, he said, yes, yeah, 443 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 2: you know, I'm just saying to just be ready. So 444 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 2: now when I go downstairs, the book and all the 445 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 2: officers were glad. They were telling me they read about 446 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 2: me in the paper. You know, they were happy for me. Now, 447 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,199 Speaker 2: when I went downstairs, I went out the door. So 448 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 2: I got in the car. My lawyers, Jeff Harrisy showed 449 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,120 Speaker 2: me on the phone. He said, look look at all 450 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 2: these people raising money for you. 451 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 4: Man. 452 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 2: I ain't know anything about no goal fund me or 453 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 2: any of that stuff. I never even know these people 454 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 2: to get the chance to thank them for generosity or 455 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 2: support that they're giving me money to try to help 456 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 2: me get on my feet. But the money that was 457 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 2: raised because I didn't have nowhere to go. I slept 458 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 2: in the hotels. 459 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,159 Speaker 3: So one of the bigger issues obviously is because he 460 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 3: doesn't have a credit history or an employment history or 461 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,919 Speaker 3: an ID, it's very difficult to find someone like that 462 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 3: housing and so for a significant period of time he 463 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:48,440 Speaker 3: had to stay at hotels. 464 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,199 Speaker 1: So that go fund me burnt out, and we're going 465 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: to link to that go fund me for Tyrone in 466 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: the episode description so you can help him get to 467 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: where he needs to be some comfort in his life, 468 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: long overdue, and because these civil cases take forever. They shouldn't, 469 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: but they do. They take years and years. So I 470 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: hope that our audience will be generous and supporting. 471 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,679 Speaker 2: I got this place through no credit. It took me 472 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 2: a long time to even find a place. They'll tell you, 473 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 2: you know, like I said, I lived in hotels. Someone 474 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,760 Speaker 2: treated me okay, but then again some I went through 475 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 2: a little I'm not even gonna get into it, and 476 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 2: they don't know what I'm talking about. 477 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,280 Speaker 3: Tyrone was letting homeless people shower in his hotel and 478 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,440 Speaker 3: he got in trouble for doing that. And so when 479 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 3: that happened, I had to explain to Tyrone that the 480 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,159 Speaker 3: hotels generally don't like that, but he didn't understand that 481 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 3: he was just doing that out of the kindness of 482 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 3: his soul. 483 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, my foundation is based on homelessness. No, I go 484 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 2: to shelters. I eating shelters. I hang out with homeless people. 485 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 2: A lot of them. People loved me out here, man, 486 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 2: I'm saying, because of the things that I do and 487 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,360 Speaker 2: how I treat them, I don't feel like, okay, they 488 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 2: better than me. I'm better than them. I wanted to 489 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 2: try to, like down the road to try to get 490 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 2: a halfway house man, you know, for homelessness, because when 491 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 2: I go out and I ride buses in our trains 492 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 2: and I see what I see, it hurts me. Man. 493 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 2: It's sad man. So hopefully someday, man, I can get 494 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 2: a halfway house and get the funds or something man 495 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 2: to try to help back me up and help people 496 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 2: like that, people that never committed a crime, that was 497 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 2: on death road. Bro. I have a friend named James Watson. 498 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,160 Speaker 2: He was upstate with me. He fought many many years, 499 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 2: you know, and because of they changed the law back 500 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 2: then or the death penalty, that's what saves his life. 501 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 2: He would have went to the chair if it wasn't 502 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 2: for that. But now he's on the street. 503 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: Well, it never ceases to amaze and inspire me to 504 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: see folks like you, Tyrone, who made it through hell 505 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: and emerge carrying buckets of water to help those still 506 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,479 Speaker 1: stuck inside. And you want to do it on the 507 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: outside too, So please let us know when you want 508 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 1: to get that started, and maybe we can raise support 509 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: for it as well. And with that, we're going to 510 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: go to closing arguments. First of all, I thank you 511 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: both again, and then I'm going to switch my microphone off, 512 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: kick back in my chair with my headphones on, and 513 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: close my eyes and just listen to anything else you 514 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,480 Speaker 1: want to share with me and our incredible audience. So Neil, 515 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: you go first, and then just hand the mic off 516 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,400 Speaker 1: to Tyrone and he'll take us off into the sunset. 517 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:41,640 Speaker 4: Yeah. 518 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,879 Speaker 3: So, I mean, I started working on Tyrone's case in 519 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 3: two thousand and two, and I've worked on it for 520 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 3: over twenty years. And you know, Tyrone's case really is sad, 521 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 3: but it's also very inspiring to me in a lot 522 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:57,919 Speaker 3: of ways. 523 00:27:58,600 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 2: You know. 524 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 3: When I first met Tyrone, I had sort of a 525 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 3: jaded view of people in prison and their stories, and 526 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 3: I was very skeptical of individuals when they were told 527 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 3: me they were innocent or they did not do something 528 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 3: and the state had prosecuted them. But when I started 529 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,199 Speaker 3: listening to Tyrone and talking to Tyrone, I sort of 530 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 3: realized what a genuine soul he was and what a 531 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 3: good person he was. And despite having grown up in 532 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 3: foster homes and despite not having a strong support system, 533 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 3: he was a very genuine person and he had never 534 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 3: been really given a chance to succeed, unfortunately, and so 535 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 3: when I started working on his case in two thousand 536 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 3: and two, I sort of committed to him that I 537 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 3: would work as hard as I could to try to 538 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 3: make his life better. And so for the past twenty years, 539 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 3: I've worked with him both in our law suit against 540 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 3: the parle board in the criminal case with the DA 541 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 3: now helping him in justice society after having served nearly 542 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 3: fifty years in prison. While he has the right to 543 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 3: be extremely angry, sad, and depressed about what happened to him, 544 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 3: what I find inspiring about him is that he continues 545 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 3: to have the same sort of affable, lovable soul that 546 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:23,600 Speaker 3: he had when I met him in two thousand and two, 547 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 3: and that he continues to sort of be a very 548 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 3: nice human being. He really does care about the homeless, 549 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 3: He really does care about people who have less than him. 550 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 3: And Tyrone's case, while it is an indictment of the 551 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,960 Speaker 3: criminal justice system, and it is an indictment of how 552 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 3: minority is retreated in Boston in the nineteen seventies and 553 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 3: nineteen eighties and even today, it's really more about the 554 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 3: will to survive and the will to be a nice person, 555 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 3: and so That's why I continue to work hard for 556 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 3: him and care about him genuinely. 557 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 2: I really appreciate being here doing this interview about my story, 558 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 2: what happened to me, happened to the victim. I really 559 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 2: appreciate what the victim did because I know that she 560 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 2: didn't reach out to miss Thompson, and missus Thompson encouraged 561 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 2: her to do what she did to come forward. I 562 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 2: don't think that all this is what it came about. 563 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 2: So I just want to say to the victim, even 564 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,239 Speaker 2: though I never met her, I just want her to 565 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 2: know I'm so appreciated. I'm so happy that she came 566 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 2: forward and helped me get out of prison. I probably 567 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 2: wouldn't be here today. I know people had made bad 568 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 2: comments after fifty years taken out of my life, but 569 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 2: they don't really know really the circumstances behind really what 570 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:05,479 Speaker 2: happened in this case, and she was traumatized. So I 571 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 2: just want the victim to know that I'm a man 572 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 2: of God. I forgive her. I don't hate her. I 573 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 2: hope man that her life is much much better. No, 574 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 2: I want her to know that I'm okay, I'm strong, 575 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 2: I'm healthy. She did enough for me by helping me 576 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 2: get out of prison, which she did was right to 577 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 2: tell the truth. I just wanted to know that I'm okay. 578 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 2: I lost a lot, but I'm still here for a reason. 579 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 2: She's still here for a reason. Everybody that lied back then, 580 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 2: that testified back then on the Commonwealth side in this 581 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 2: case is dead, So me and her is still here 582 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 2: for a reason. I believe God saved her and saved me, 583 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 2: and I believe that God touched her a hot man 584 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,479 Speaker 2: to come forward man and know and kept pull alive 585 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 2: so I can be able man to walk out that prison. 586 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 2: You know what I mean. So I just want to 587 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 2: say to him, man, I appreciate you. Miss. I hope 588 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,479 Speaker 2: you listening, and don't be afraid to reach out to 589 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 2: my attorney if you want to ever want to get 590 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 2: a chance to meet me in pressing or speak to me. 591 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen 592 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts one 593 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: week early by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus on 594 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. I want to thank our production team, Connor 595 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: Hall and Kathleen Fink, as well as my fellow executive 596 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wartis, and Jeff Cliburn. The music 597 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,120 Speaker 1: in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated 598 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,160 Speaker 1: composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us across all 599 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,200 Speaker 1: social media platforms at Lava for Good and at Wrong 600 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 1: for Conviction. You can also follow me on Instagram at 601 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,400 Speaker 1: it's Jason Flat. Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava 602 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company Number one