WEBVTT - #355 Guest Host Gilbert King with Juan Roberto Melendez 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.480 On the evening of September thirteenth, nineteen eighty three, beauty 0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:10.840 school owner Delbert Baker, known to his friends and customers 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:14.120 as mister Dell, was found dead in the back room 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.960 of his school in Auburndale, Florida. He had been shot, 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:21.239 his throat was slashed, and the place was covered in blood. 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:24.800 Witnesses gave police the names of a couple of locals 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:27.280 whom they had seen with mister Dell that evening, but 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:32.159 the case eventually went cold. A few months later, a 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.479 man named David Luna Falcon told police that an acquaintance, 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.400 Juan Melendez, had allegedly bragged about committing the murder with 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.920 two accomplices. One of them, a man named John Berrion, 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.400 admitted to police that he had been the accessory after 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.040 the fact, giving him the vantage point to name the 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:54.400 other accomplice and Juan Melendez as well. Law enforcement caught 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:58.080 up with Juan in Pennsylvania, extradited him to Florida, and 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:02.560 charged him with first degree murder. At trial, David Falcon 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:06.319 and John Berrion testified that Juan shot mister Dell and 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:10.040 stole a watch, a gold bracelet, four diamond rings, and 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:14.360 fifty dollars in cash before fleeing the scene. When one 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.679 of the original suspects who had been seen with mister 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.400 Dell that night was called by the defense at trial, 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:24.000 he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights not to testify. Clearly 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:29.720 he had nothing important to add. But this is wrongful conviction. 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.679 Welcome back to wrongful conviction. I'm Gilbert King and I'm 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.920 filling in for Jason Flahm, and today we have a 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.240 case out of Polk County, Florida, where I've spent so 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.520 much time doing research for the last like four or 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:58.440 five years, researching other cases, and so I'm very familiar 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.160 with that prosecutor's office as well as some of the 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.120 judges in that area. And these are the very same 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:08.160 folks that sent Juan Melendez to death row. They kept 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.840 them there for over seventeen years. So this is in 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:14.120 a state. You know, Florida, for the last one hundred 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:18.760 and two executions, has exonerated thirty people from death row. 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.560 So you just doing the math on that Florida has 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:27.560 admitted to condemning one innocent person at least every fifth 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.320 time that they seek the death penalty. And you know, 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:34.040 we're just so glad that our guest today survived and 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:36.720 he's here with us now. Juan Melendez, welcome one. 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:38.120 Thank you for having me. 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.840 Jan thanks so much for joining me today. I really 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:45.200 really appreciate it. And joining us is also Juan's habeas attorney, 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:49.000 who at the time was with Florida's Office of the 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:53.760 Capitol Collateral Representative and she eventually went on to private 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:58.640 practice and she co founded the National Habeas Institute. Linda McDermott, Linda, 0:02:58.720 --> 0:02:59.560 welcome to the show. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:00.840 Thank you so much. 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.680 Now. I became familiar with Polk County when I was 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:08.040 digging into a really troubling case for my podcast Bone Valley. 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.560 This is the story where myself and co host Kelsey 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.320 Decker and I we covered the wrongful conviction of Leo Schofield, 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.040 and you know, we continue obviously to hope for justice there. 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:24.280 Leo's prosecutor, John Aguero rose up in the ranks with 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:28.120 Wan's prosecutor Hardy Pickard. And by the end of this interview, 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.240 I think that our audience is going to get a 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:33.600 glimpse of what I've seen. But before we get to that, 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:36.120 you know, one, can you just tell us about your 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:39.640 life before you ever even knew who Hardy Pickard was. 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.240 I'm born in Brooklyn, New York, but I was facing 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.840 the island of Puerto Rico. It took back when I 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.120 was just a little kid. But when I went to 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:53.480 it to Florida. I went in nineteen seventy, it's still segreation, 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.960 blacks in one side, white in another side. And I 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.840 had the biggest outfro in town. So you know where 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.400 they're gonna put me in the black side. And I 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.360 loved it. I love every bitder of it, so I 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:12.000 was happy. My work was mostly picking fruit, the gray fruits, 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.520 the tanierines, the orange, all citral fruit. So that's what 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.400 I used to do, mostly pick fruit. Migrate from Florida 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.960 to the state of Pennsylvania and do some more, get 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:25.000 the apples and the beaches and stuff. 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.400 Now what the victim in this case Delbert Baker. He 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:30.920 was known to many of his customers and friends as 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:36.080 mister Dell. He owned a cosmetology school in Auburndale, Florida, 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.920 which is right in Paul County. What have you ever 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:42.280 been to Auburndale? Ever ever run into Dell? I mean 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:44.359 maybe wenting there for a haircut or something. 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:46.440 First of all, I had to tell you, I've never 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:50.240 been in a Cote mestology school, you know where their 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.840 fitst hair and all that stuff, and been in one 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.440 of them. I've seen them in TV. I've been in 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:58.839 in Abunda, in the little town where that crime happened. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.800 Like I told you, picking foot, that's it. Never know 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.240 that man was Knittin and heal who he. 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:09.400 Was, and mister Dell. He had been brutally attacked on 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:13.320 the evening of September thirteenth, nineteen eighty three. He was 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.800 discovered in the back room of his hair salon by 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:21.040 his own sister. His throat had been slashed, he'd been shot. 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:25.080 Blood obviously was everywhere. Linda, what do we know about 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.640 the initial investigation? Were there any leads or any obvious 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:30.040 motivations into this crime. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.719 The investigation started that next day and it appeared the 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.640 motivation may be a robbery because jewelry was missing, money 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:41.280 was missing from his workplace. It was unclear if there 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.680 was a motive beyond the robbery, and there were quickly 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:46.000 some leads. 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:48.919 Now from what I've read, one of those leads was 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:50.479 a man named Vernon James. 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.880 That right, there was an individual named Terry Barber, who 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.520 had told law enforcement he had seen Vernon James with 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:02.520 another man named Harold Lamb at mister Dell's place of 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:06.520 business on the evening of the crime. However, according to 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.279 law enforcement, they checked with Harold Landrum's employer and he 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.920 had an alibi for that evening, so the James and 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.400 Landrum lead didn't get pursued. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.080 Yeah, what strikes me funny about that is this You 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:24.520 mentioned Landrum's alibi, but not one for Vernon James. And 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.200 we've seen even like rock solid alibis get completely ignored 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.960 by police and prosecutors. Well, let's take wand for instance. 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.000 I had an alibi and I had three people, Corribo, 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:38.359 Raven the alibi. All I know that Bena James was 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.000 a police informer. I think Landrow was two. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.719 So potentially these were both police informants. We know that 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.599 Vernon James was for sure. And then the police ignored 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.640 your alibi, but not Landrums, whose alibi was apparently strong 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:56.440 enough to cover for Vernon James as well. And then 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:01.280 the case went cold allegedly until five thousand dollars was 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:04.720 offered for information. And this is five thousand dollars in 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.279 nineteen eighty four, you know, February nineteen eighty four to 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:11.679 be exact. Just like that, the police received a tip. 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:16.239 One individual came forward and his name was David Luna Falcon, 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:19.880 and he said that in January of nineteen eighty four, 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.040 he and mister Melendez had been you know, drinking and 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:27.880 enjoying themselves in a nightclub, and mister Melendez had been 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:32.040 very you know, specific detail told mister Falcon what had 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:36.920 happened that night. Falcon had said that someone had taken 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:42.360 mister Melendez and another individual to the hair salon, and 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:47.040 he mentioned the name John in his original statement to police, 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.840 but he didn't have any particular names, and that mister 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:56.000 Melendez and another individual went to mister Dell's and robbed him. 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:59.360 And from crime scene photos we know that whoever actually 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:03.200 did this had slashed Delbert Baker's throat and shot him 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.160 in the head. And although Falcon was not clear about 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:09.840 who was wielding the knife, he alleged that Wan had 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:11.160 claimed to have pulled the trigger. 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:15.040 And there was this odd detail in his testimony that 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:20.000 before mister Melendez allegedly shot mister Baker, mister Baker had 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:25.360 started throwing blood at mister Melendez and this other unknown 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:29.520 person and begging, begging mister Melendez to take him to 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:33.360 the hospital. And at that point, allegedly mister Melendez said 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:34.720 that he shot mister Baker. 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:35.480 Right. 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:38.320 And now Linda Wan wasn't even a suspect until he 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:40.720 came forward, Is that correct? Correct? 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.439 I mean, there was no evidence linking Wan at all 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:44.320 to this crime. 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:48.359 Now, Wan, did you know this David Luna Falcon gentleman. 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:50.880 Yes, I did I know him. I know he was 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:53.880 a paid police informan. I know it was some kind 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.120 of guns against me and him. 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.200 Yeah, that's what I read. In addition to receiving five 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.800 thousand dollars, it was known that David Falcon did not 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.280 like you. In fact, several witnesses they later testified a 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.400 trial that they had overheard Falcons say that he would 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:13.720 quote get you. But at this point the police, I guess, 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:15.800 looked you up and they must have seen that you 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.840 had an armed robbery charge on your record. 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.160 And I'm not gonna lie to you. I had a 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:21.240 prior rikle. 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:23.240 And even though that had nothing to do with what 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.480 happened to mister Dell, it's really not out of the 0:09:26.600 --> 0:09:29.560 ordinary for that a criminal record can act as a 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:33.760 motivator for police to focus on someone. But what about 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:38.800 these two other men, the alleged accomplices. Falcon had only 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.440 said the name John, and then a friend of yours 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:45.680 named John Berryon was arrested. So other than his friendship 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.080 with you, there doesn't appear to be anything else that 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.880 led them to this particular John now Linda in Florida 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.760 with felony murder. The threat of the death penalty was 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:59.880 looming over John Berrion, and he agreed to implicate one 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.720 as well as his cousin, George Barrion. But to even 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:08.560 have this alleged firsthand knowledge, he had to implicate himself 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:09.560 to some degree. 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.520 He implicates himself to the extent that he says he 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.920 drove George barrion friend mister Melendez to the studio, but 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:17.800 he also says I didn't know anything that was going 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.560 to happen. And so John Barron is originally charged with 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:26.440 first degree murder and ultimately agrees to testify against Juan 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:32.920 in exchange for a nolo contendre plea to accessory after 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.439 the fact, which would immediately allow him to be released 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.360 from jail and to have served any sentence that he 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:41.439 would have with that particular charge. 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.560 So John Baryon escaped the electric chair in exchange for 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.400 a story in which he was an accessory after the fact. 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:53.320 Now Falcon had said mister Dell had allegedly thrown blood 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.560 at Wan in his accomplice, but that didn't match up 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:57.840 with John Berrion's story. 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:00.920 It certainly didn't match up in that John Barrion said 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.520 that mister Melendez and George Baron left the hair salon 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:06.920 without any blood on them. You know, there was nothing 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.640 unusual about them other than he started suggesting that they 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.760 had some jewelry and things that could have been obtained 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.120 during this robbery. And then he goes on to tell 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.560 another piece of the story where he says the next 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:23.000 day or two days later, he gives George Barrion a 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.400 ride to the train station, mister Melendez is again with them, 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.480 and at that point he sees mister Melendez give George 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.640 Barrion a watch and some rings and tell him to 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:37.120 take them to Delaware and to pawn those and obtain 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.040 money for them. And the law enforcement did find out 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:44.559 that mister Barry and George Barrion did in fact purchase 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:46.960 a ticket to go to Delaware within a day or 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:52.040 two after the Baker homicide. So John Baryon's story did 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:56.120 have some pieces that the law enforcement believed could corroborate 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:57.120 what he was saying. 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:02.320 It actually only corroborated that George Barrion's children lived in Wilmington, Delaware. 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:06.960 Now George Barrion he later testified that he'd only met 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:11.240 Wan once at John Berrion's house and denied any involvement 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:15.880 in mister Dell's murder or this alleged train station jewelry handoff. 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:20.959 And ultimately George Barrion was never charged with anything, but 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:25.160 the police continued with these two conflicting statements from Falcon 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.160 and John Barrion that did match up on the one 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:30.960 detail that they needed that Wan was involved. And so 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:34.000 they found out that you were in Pennsylvania working in 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:38.360 the fruit orchards, which was misconstrued as fleeing. Had you 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.559 like ever heard that this you know, murder had even taken. 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.720 Place, never heard about, So you were completely. 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.880 Unaware that you were a suspect, you know, let alone 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:48.120 about to be arrested. 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.320 And I never forget this day made a second nineteen 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:55.560 eighty four, why we was working it was by a 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.760 police card and they stopped in front of us and 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.120 they told us to hit put a weapon on us. 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.200 Then they ordered me to get up. Then they said 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:08.280 you are on the arrest for first degree murder and 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.359 i'm robbery in the state of Florida. 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:14.480 You were then extradited back to Florida. And at the 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:17.920 time I understand you could not even speak that much English. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.160 The true is I know at that time, if I 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:25.680 say five words in English, believe in my friends, three 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.439 of them would because words. So they brought interpreted to 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:34.600 explain to me what es tradition mean. And all he 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:38.800 told me in Spanish was you either wave it or 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.160 fight it. They can take you back anyway. I start thinking, 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.400 I'm not a killer. My mama did not raise no 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:48.439 kill us. I'm going to wave it. As soon they 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.600 see this ugly face in Florida, they will let me go. 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.080 But I was wrong. When I go back, they took 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.200 me in front of the George, and the George he 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.199 read the charges to me. He said, you being be 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.400 indicted for first degree murder and I'm bravri in the 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.160 state of Florida is sinking the death penalty against you. 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:07.600 The elected chair. 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.440 This episode is underwritten by global law firm Greenberg Trawig 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.640 through its pro bono program. Greenberg Trowig leverages its more 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.880 than twenty six hundred lawyers across forty four offices to 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:33.080 serve the greater good of our communities and provide equal 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:36.400 access to justice for all. In the field of criminal justice, 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:40.680 Greenberg Trowrig attorneys have exonerated and free demanded Philadelphia represent 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:44.280 numerous individuals previously sentenced to life for crimes committed as 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:48.560 juveniles and resentencing hearings, and receive the American Bar Association's 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:52.560 twenty twenty one Exceptional Service Award for Death Penalty Representation 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:56.280 for their work on five death penalty cases. GT is 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.320 reimagining what big law can be because of a more 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:01.320 just world. Only happens by design. 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.160 So, meanwhile, in that same month, from what I've read, 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.800 it appears that in order to ensure that your prosecution 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:20.320 went smoothly, the lead detective Gary Glisten, chose to go 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.760 to these extraordinary lengths to protect the initial informant in 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:29.160 this case, David Falcon, from himself from damaging his own credibility. 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:33.800 When Falcon committed a home invasion in I believe it 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:37.520 was in May of nineteen eighty four, Glisten went to 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.880 the victims of that home invasion and put pressure on 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:45.040 them not to prosecute. According to one of those victims, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.160 the woman who had been at the house, she was 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:51.800 told that if we arrest Falcon, all that's going to 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.560 happen is he's going to make bail and he's going 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:57.000 to come back and he's going to harm you. And 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.400 so rather than protecting her, they were basically telling her 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.960 the only way she could protect herself was to waive 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.600 prosecution and then they would sort of tell Falcon to 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:07.560 back off. 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.640 Which seems, you know, completely antithetical to his duty as 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:14.680 a police officer. He chose to protect the credibility of 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:19.320 the state's dubious star witness, David Falcon instead of Falcons 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.120 victims both you know, past and future. So did Hardy Picker? 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:26.760 Did he know about this home invasion cover up? 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.360 His response to that was to tell Detective Glisson and 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.680 others to stop using Falcon for the time being as 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.120 your informant, because he didn't want to have any more 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.040 of these types of issues occur before the trial. 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:43.120 So he was willing to accept Falcons were you know 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.640 just this once though, so Wan's court, a pointed attorney 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.600 Roger Alcott did not have the benefit of this impeachment evidence. 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.320 And now there's just four months to prepare for a 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:54.440 death penalty trial. 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.680 Mister Alcott and his trial investigator, Cody Smith, they started 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:01.000 to follow up on some of the leads that law 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:04.840 enforcement didn't find fruitful when they were following up on things, 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:10.399 and mister Elcott sent his investigator to speak to Vernon James, 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:16.200 and ultimately mister Elcott lists mister James as a witness 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.840 for the defense, and he tells the state that mister 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:24.479 James is going to come in and say that he 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.800 committed the murderer or that he was there and that 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.480 mister Melendez was not there. 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:34.480 My attorney used to pat me in the back. You say, no, 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:38.960 what about it, mister Melendez? You going home and I 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.240 soon go home. I did not commit the crime. 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.640 You know, perhaps Pickard should have looked at this evidence, 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.600 the Vernon James interview, as well as the home invasion 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.359 cover up for star witness, and just let you go home. 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.160 But instead Falcon and James were free to commit more 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:58.399 crimes while Wand's prosecution went on as scheduled, and that happened. 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.879 In September nineteen eighty four, the state had what we 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:06.200 now know to be the false, incentivized or coerced testimonies 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:10.239 of David Luna Falcon and John Berrion. To recap this, 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.920 Falcon alleged that you had bragged that a man named 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:18.160 John dropped you and another man off at Delbert Baker's salon. 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:23.200 Baker's throat had been slashed. According to Falcon, mister Dell 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.040 got blood on you. He begged you for help, but 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:32.040 you shot him. Then John Berrion corroborated Falcon's allegation that 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.800 he had dropped you and his cousin, George Barrion at 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:38.440 the salon. But Barrion, you know, in contrast to Falcon, 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.320 when he picked you up, neither of you were covered 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:45.480 in blood. So your attorney pointed out that inconsistency, which 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:47.680 implies that at least you know, one of them was 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:52.360 lying or mistaken, and then all caught. Put George Brion 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:53.040 on the stand. 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:58.439 George Berry tessify. He said that I only met won once, 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:03.359 And Mike colsun Is said, Patolcolah, I know way he 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:04.320 lies all the time. 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:08.720 So mister Elcott had put together an alibi defense with 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.359 several witnesses, mister Melendez's girlfriend and her family, and they 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:16.439 had been together that evening. And then in addition to that, though, 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:21.359 mister Elcott had Vernon James to undermine the credibility of 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.560 John Barrion and David Luna Falcon Right. 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:29.320 But what happened when Vernon James is called to the stand. 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:32.160 He takes the fit amendment. And it's an interesting sort 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:36.960 of legal maneuver that the state makes because they tell 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.680 trial council just a few days before the trial that 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.240 Vernon James has made some statements that he committed the 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:48.400 crime to his cellmate named Roger Mims. And so at 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:52.480 that point they say, Vernon James needs to be advised 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:55.800 of his rights because there's this other individual pointing to 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.640 him as the person who committed the crime. So had 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:03.120 they not had Roger Mimms and mister Elcott just put 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.200 James on the stand, he could have extracted the information 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.760 that he wanted to extract without having this weird fitth 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:14.280 amendment issue be raised and James essentially being able to 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.800 absent himself from the trial and not have to confess 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.159 in front of the jury, and then sort of the 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:25.720 dominoes fall, because then after Mims testifies, the state undermines 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.560 his credibility by saying, oh, isn't this fortunate? You come 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:33.399 forward a week before the trial and suddenly you know, 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.239 this guy supposedly confesses to you. 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:40.520 But unlike so many other police or jailhouse informants, Roger 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:44.159 Mims wasn't testifying in exchange for anything. He said that 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.160 Vernon James had said that he and Delbert Baker were 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:50.879 lovers and had he was involved in his death. But 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.040 since James had pleaded the fifth and he was a 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:58.400 defense witness, Alcott could not offer the recordings or transcripts 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:02.040 of the conversations with Vernon James, so the jury only 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:03.560 heard this from Mims. 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:08.280 Clearly they were not finding mister Mims credible because of 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:10.600 this sort of he's so late to the game. And 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.800 it was a really effective way to make sure that 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.240 the jury didn't hear a confession from the actual the 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:20.200 person who was actually saying that he had committed the crime. 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:23.600 So it appears that you know, without Vernon James, and 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:28.520 despite witnesses that testified the Falcon's grudge against you, Falcon 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:32.679 had not been sufficiently impeached. So one, I understand you 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:35.200 decided to take the stand in your own defense. 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:38.520 Probably the worst mistake I made in my life, and 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:42.600 it was against my attorney. He told me, one, if 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:46.960 you take this stand, prior REGOs will come. But I said, alka, 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:49.720 I did not do this. I wondered you just to 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:53.080 know from my mouth that I didn't commit this crime. 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:56.879 Since I didn't do it, everything that ahka come to 0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:59.439 me is going to be no that you ever been 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:02.040 done in me deble place? No, did you know me 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:03.200 to deb No? 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:07.240 All right? But what did the prosecutor ask across you say? 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:11.240 Did you committed i'm robbery before? Yes? I had. Did 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:12.600 you ever carry going before? 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:13.720 Yes? 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:16.399 I had? But that don't mean that I killed in 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:17.360 the debble. 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.880 You know. Certainly, not having a prior conviction for robbery, 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:23.920 having having been in possession of a firearm, those types 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:25.720 of things certainly hurt him. 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:30.840 I got real scared and I failed that I was 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:33.920 in trouble. When I was in Trout and they showed 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:38.960 the bloody crime scene photographs, and when the juniors saw 0:22:39.040 --> 0:22:43.680 that crime scene them pictures, they look straight to me, 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:48.719 and I can see that hate in their eyes, and 0:22:48.760 --> 0:22:52.320 I know right then and then that I wasn't so big, 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:53.119 big trouble. 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:57.880 After mister Melendez was exonerated and some of the jurors 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:01.520 were spoken to, you realize that there were some considerations 0:23:01.760 --> 0:23:04.800 in that jury room that don't appear in the transcript. 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:09.200 Seeing those horrific pictures looking at Wan, he doesn't look 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:12.960 like them, he doesn't speak their language, has a two 0:23:13.000 --> 0:23:17.800 foot high afro, and all of his witnesses are people 0:23:17.840 --> 0:23:22.000 of color. Someone specifically pointed out Juan's afro and how 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:23.879 that influenced their verdict. 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:26.119 Yeah, I mean, that's a really great point, lind And 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:28.240 I think if you look at the history of Polk County, 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:30.800 I mean, one year after this trial, they elect a 0:23:30.880 --> 0:23:35.040 known white supremacist as Sheriff Dan Daniels. This was a 0:23:35.040 --> 0:23:38.479 big problem in Polk County. So you finished the trial, 0:23:39.160 --> 0:23:41.080