Speaker 1: Kiante Ricks had had three run ins with the law
Speaker 1: and had been wrongfully convicted twice, the first when he
Speaker 1: was four ft eleven and mistaken for a robber that
Speaker 1: was six ft tall. While on parole from Juvie, Kiante
Speaker 1: worked with a youth group mentoring troubled teens, one of
Speaker 1: whom was an illiterate wheat dealer named Kurtel Walker. One
Speaker 1: of Kurtell's customers was the manager of a rent center
Speaker 1: who handled the businesses bank deposits. The pair had crafted
Speaker 1: a scheme in which the customer would settle at dead
Speaker 1: by handing over the rent a center deposit bag to
Speaker 1: Kurtell and then claiming that he had been robbed. On
Speaker 1: June twenty eight, two thousand four, Kiante Rix was on
Speaker 1: his way to Six Flags with his children's mother, a friend,
Speaker 1: and Kurtel but before getting on the road, the group
Speaker 1: made a stop near the rent a Center, where, unbeknownst
Speaker 1: to the others, Kurtell met up with his customer to
Speaker 1: follow through with their plot. Taking a bit too long,
Speaker 1: the other three almost left without him, but kurt Hell
Speaker 1: caught up with them, making a big scene in the process.
Speaker 1: When the police arrived to investigate the stage robbery. A
Speaker 1: concerned passer by who saw Cartel screaming and running after
Speaker 1: the car, gave the police the license plate number, even
Speaker 1: though Kiante had none of the money and wasn't involved
Speaker 1: in any way. One off hand remark in the interrogation
Speaker 1: room sent a racist cop on a mission to pin
Speaker 1: the entire crazy scenario on him, falsified evidence, made the
Speaker 1: misdemeter of felony, and put the money in Kiante's possession.
Speaker 1: A statement was coerced, prepared and signed by the illiterate Curtel,
Speaker 1: and even when Curtel tried to recant and the alleged
Speaker 1: victim came forward about the stage robbery plot, both were silenced.
Speaker 1: Kyante Ricks was sentenced to twenty years in prison. This
Speaker 1: is wrongful Conviction with Jason Flam. Welcome back to Wrongful
Speaker 1: Conviction with Jason Fom. That's me. I'm your host, and
Speaker 1: today we're gonna share a story. It's the story of
Speaker 1: Kiante Rix. But before I even introduced Kiante, let me
Speaker 1: just run a few numbers by you. So Kiante was
Speaker 1: wrongfully arrested three times, wrongfully convicted twice, and on one occasion,
Speaker 1: he was shot twice and then made into a suspect.
Speaker 1: He spent five years wrongfully incarcerated as a child from
Speaker 1: fourteen to nineteen, and then but said back to prison
Speaker 1: as an adult, where he served almost thirteen years. And
Speaker 1: the problem is he never did anything. I mean, Kiante, Uh,
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're here, but I'm sorry you have to
Speaker 1: be here man, after everything you went through um and
Speaker 1: as you will soon see, Kiante has maintained an incredible attitude,
Speaker 1: even a sense of humor through all of this. And Kyanote,
Speaker 1: let's go back to the beginning, if it's okay with you.
Speaker 1: And first of all, this is back at Buffalo, right, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: I grew up in Buffalo, New York. The third incident
Speaker 1: transpired in the Amherst and Amherst is a suburb of Buffalo,
Speaker 1: where you lived with your daughter and her mother, Marina
Speaker 1: during the time of your second wrongful conviction. But let's
Speaker 1: go back to your first wrongful conviction as a minor.
Speaker 1: You were fourteen years old fourteen? How old are you now?
Speaker 1: So this is twenty four years ago. You're fourteen years old,
Speaker 1: four ft eleven. What's crazy? About this original case was
Speaker 1: this was related to a situation. Your cousin had had
Speaker 1: some involvement in the scuffle. That was forty dollars that
Speaker 1: was owed and recovered. The alleged victim claimed he was
Speaker 1: robbed and stabbed, but now we know that never even happened.
Speaker 1: The victim describes his assailants to assailants as six ft
Speaker 1: and five eleven and you were four eleven. So how
Speaker 1: did you first get involved? Well, I was actually with
Speaker 1: my cousin on his street outside and the police put
Speaker 1: up and handcuffed us and put us in the police
Speaker 1: car and then drove us to a hospital. And some
Speaker 1: guys came out and they looked in a police car
Speaker 1: and they said, yeah, that's THEMB And I mean that
Speaker 1: was at the beginning of that right there. The only
Speaker 1: way the police could sort of rope you into this
Speaker 1: was why bringing you in as in like a show
Speaker 1: up inside of a squad car, right, which is of
Speaker 1: course gonna buas anybody. But and I guess you might
Speaker 1: look taller sitting on the seat in the squad car,
Speaker 1: but this is obviously madness. And then you go all
Speaker 1: the way to trial on this crazy thing, even though
Speaker 1: we're talking about an imaginary crime and two imaginary suspects
Speaker 1: who are a foot taller than you are, and your
Speaker 1: fourteen years old. You're a child. Yes, and I was
Speaker 1: sentenced as an a doupt when I went to trial.
Speaker 1: But this is the thing, though, the things that we
Speaker 1: just spoke about, it actually came out in trial. The
Speaker 1: public defender that I had did mention that the guy
Speaker 1: gave the description of five eleven and six ft and
Speaker 1: I was only four ft eleven. And he also mentioned
Speaker 1: that the guy did not get stabbed and had a
Speaker 1: superficial wound that required a band aid, even even even
Speaker 1: though the jury was constantly told that this guy got stabbed.
Speaker 1: And I was sentenced as an adult to three and
Speaker 1: a third to ten years in a juvenile maximum secure facility.
Speaker 1: Is it true that your lawyer was drunk at trial? Yes?
Speaker 1: And how did that come out? Well, I see he
Speaker 1: was slurred when you talk. Oh so he was. He
Speaker 1: was legit drunk. He wasn't a little drunk. He was
Speaker 1: like he was, yeah, okay, that's great. I mean, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: I just have to be sarcastic because if I don't laugh,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna cry. And this is not, of course that
Speaker 1: this is not the first time we've heard this though,
Speaker 1: that the lawyer was drunk and trial. So the lawyer
Speaker 1: was drunk a trial. He claimed that he appealed to charge,
Speaker 1: but we know that never even happened. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is this is disgusting, and you lived through this, and
Speaker 1: I can't even imagine, Like, and you're a child, like
Speaker 1: fourteen years old and they call it a teenager. That's
Speaker 1: a child. So fourteen years old you go to prison,
Speaker 1: right do they call it juvie? But your sentences an adult?
Speaker 1: And what is that? Like? Well, I just said that.
Speaker 1: I mean you had to you had the man up.
Speaker 1: I mean it was a serious environment. I mean all
Speaker 1: of the other kids that wasn't these juvenile max as
Speaker 1: a majority had you know, like eight the life and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. And you know, you're away from family,
Speaker 1: you can't be around your loved ones. And I mean
Speaker 1: at fourteen, a lot of kids have trouble adjusting the
Speaker 1: summer camp. I was putting the jungle when I had
Speaker 1: to survive in it, so you know the week it
Speaker 1: took an advantage of you know, and I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not a weak person, So I mean it was a
Speaker 1: lot of fighting, and there was a lot of stress.
Speaker 1: It was depression, it was all kind of stuff you
Speaker 1: know that comes with the problems of being incarcerated period.
Speaker 1: And then as a kid was like, you know, I
Speaker 1: needed to be home, I needed to be around family
Speaker 1: and loved ones and you know, being deprived of that
Speaker 1: love and you know I made it through it. I
Speaker 1: just have a different attitude. I want you, I just
Speaker 1: want to say that that even though I was victimized,
Speaker 1: I don't live a victim because I know that you
Speaker 1: read victimized yourself every day if you allow your thoughts
Speaker 1: to stay there. So that's why my attitude is more
Speaker 1: passive of saying, like, you know, I did what I
Speaker 1: had to do when I went through what I went through.
Speaker 1: I did what I had to do, and I went
Speaker 1: through what I went through. But I think everybody can
Speaker 1: use to hear that. So thank you for sharing that. So, Kane,
Speaker 1: you're paroled that nineteen, you're out free, still under control
Speaker 1: of the system because you're on parole, but you started
Speaker 1: the family life is starting to look up. But then
Speaker 1: tragedy struck again, right, and this goes back to when
Speaker 1: you were you were actually on your way to the
Speaker 1: hospital when this incident happened. Right, Yes, my daughter was
Speaker 1: more the day before. I couldn't stay in the hospital
Speaker 1: because I was on parole, so she wanted me to
Speaker 1: come to the hospital the next day. I was actually
Speaker 1: at my cousin's house. I left out of the house
Speaker 1: and as soon as I closed the passenger door, two
Speaker 1: guns went off. I was shot twice. It collapsed both
Speaker 1: of my lungs, my ribs was broke, and I ended
Speaker 1: up in critical condition. And you were taking to the
Speaker 1: same hospital that your daughter was at. No. I was
Speaker 1: rushed to Erie County Medical Center and a security officer
Speaker 1: testified actually at the parole preliminary hearing that the car
Speaker 1: put up the driver said the passenger was shot him
Speaker 1: and three nurses ran up to the car. They said
Speaker 1: I was slumped in the seat. Um, they put me
Speaker 1: out of the car. See how many times I was shot.
Speaker 1: Then they put me on the stretcher pushed me into
Speaker 1: the hospital. Then later on they assumed that somebody was
Speaker 1: breaking into the car and they ran over to the
Speaker 1: car and they seen a gun in the car that
Speaker 1: was in the seat that allegedly I was sitting here, right.
Speaker 1: I remember reading they found a gun in the car
Speaker 1: and tried to paint it on you, and then nine
Speaker 1: months of more legal struggles and your life hanging into
Speaker 1: balance again. Of course, charges in that case were dismissed,
Speaker 1: but your troubles weren't even over yet. Now we get
Speaker 1: to kurtel Walker. Can you tell us about Kurtell and
Speaker 1: who he was to you? Well, Kurtzell was a trouble youth.
Speaker 1: He had a lot of menst abilities, you know, he
Speaker 1: had a similar situation like his mom was on drugs
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. And I was actually working for
Speaker 1: youth organization that was rained by his older gentleman named
Speaker 1: fred A Lamine, who I used to help the trouble youth,
Speaker 1: you know, to prevent them from making bad decisions and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. So Kurt Tell was one of them
Speaker 1: that was basically, you know, participating in the programs. So
Speaker 1: you were sort of keeping an eye on Curtel, Is
Speaker 1: that right, like trying to keep him out of trouble
Speaker 1: even though he was selling weed. And you know, by
Speaker 1: the way, a lot of people are selling weed now,
Speaker 1: I mean it's like the people are getting rich off
Speaker 1: of weed legally, So that's a whole another story. But okay,
Speaker 1: so you were trying to be almost like a big
Speaker 1: brother to him, right, I was. I mean I was
Speaker 1: a big brother to a lot of the kids because
Speaker 1: a lot of them, you know, grew up fast, being
Speaker 1: into the streets, doing a lot of things that wasn't
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing. So, yes, he was one of
Speaker 1: the kids. And now we fast forward to June two
Speaker 1: thousand four and correct me if I'm wrong. But the
Speaker 1: way I understand that you and your children's mother, Marina,
Speaker 1: and this is an important part of the story because
Speaker 1: Marina is white, and we know that there's a cop
Speaker 1: who gets involved in this, and people are saying that
Speaker 1: it's because he didn't like the fact that you were
Speaker 1: a black eyed dating a white girl or having kids
Speaker 1: with her. Nonetheless, obviously brown um had prior problems with them.
Speaker 1: And you were celebrating your birthday, right, yes, right, So
Speaker 1: j four, you and the Marina celebrating your birthday going
Speaker 1: to six Flags and darry and Lake in her car.
Speaker 1: Your Francine is driving, and Cristel was along for the ride,
Speaker 1: and so Tina had an errand to run before you
Speaker 1: went to pick up your daughter for this little day trip, right,
Speaker 1: and the errand happened to be right near a rent
Speaker 1: a center. Unbeknownst to you, one of kurt Tell's customers
Speaker 1: owed him for weed. Right yes, the manager of the
Speaker 1: renaissenter store. His job was to fill out the receipts
Speaker 1: and stuff like that and to put the stuff into
Speaker 1: the bank deposit bags. Then additionally take the deposit bags
Speaker 1: to the MC bank that was located in the same plaza.
Speaker 1: But instead of him doing that, he established a plan
Speaker 1: where he would pay her till the money that he
Speaker 1: owed him. So the manager put the money that he
Speaker 1: owed Kurtail in the bag, had Kurtil meet him, and
Speaker 1: then gave Curtail the bag, and then later on faked
Speaker 1: as if Curtail had actually robbed him because he had
Speaker 1: to have a way to cover up what he did,
Speaker 1: right because sooner or later they would have noticed the
Speaker 1: missing obviously, so they staged his fake robbery. Again. It's
Speaker 1: like something out of a bad movie. But okay, So
Speaker 1: back to the car. Before picking up your daughter and
Speaker 1: heading the six Flags, Tina stopped to run an errand
Speaker 1: near the rent a center. Tina went to the store.
Speaker 1: I was sleeping the back seat, and Curtail told her listen,
Speaker 1: I'll be right back, and hopped out of the car
Speaker 1: and left, so no one in the car knew what
Speaker 1: he was doing. When Tina came out of the store,
Speaker 1: Curtail was not back and we was about to leave him,
Speaker 1: so she put off. Curtail came running to scream stopped
Speaker 1: the car, so Tina put over. Curtail came and hopped
Speaker 1: in the car, and Tina and them set there for
Speaker 1: a while. I think one of them thought that they
Speaker 1: had misplaced their keys or something, so they set there
Speaker 1: for a while. And that's when the guy Edward Dupre,
Speaker 1: who just happened to be walking down the street, said
Speaker 1: that he thought some criminal happened when he seen the
Speaker 1: way that Curtail ran and screamed to stop the car,
Speaker 1: and when the car remained idle, that he walked directly
Speaker 1: by the car, wrote the license plate number down and
Speaker 1: got a good look in the car and said that
Speaker 1: he's seen the two females and Curtail walker. But I
Speaker 1: was in the car, but he didn't see me in
Speaker 1: the car because I was sleeping in the back seat.
Speaker 1: Oh that's how that happened. And did you have any
Speaker 1: idea of all the insanity that was taking place. I
Speaker 1: did not because, I mean, you have to understand that
Speaker 1: Jason I got a pregnant girlfriend in the car. I'm
Speaker 1: on parole, I'm working. Of course, I would never have
Speaker 1: been around something like that. So I did not know
Speaker 1: what curtel Walker had did. And this was another thing
Speaker 1: that you know that came out in the transcripts. If
Speaker 1: the individuals, even if you have stupid criminals, okay, it's
Speaker 1: no where in the world that a car of criminals
Speaker 1: is going to sit less than a street away from
Speaker 1: where a fake robbery transpired. It defies all logic and
Speaker 1: common sense. You're not gonna sit around and wait to
Speaker 1: get in trouble and get arrested or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: So the manager calls nine one one, and then things
Speaker 1: go downhill from there. The guy Edward Deprita was walking
Speaker 1: through when he said that he wrote the license plate
Speaker 1: number down. When the police put up to the crime scene,
Speaker 1: he gave the police the license plate number. That's when
Speaker 1: the APB got put out for Marina's power. And then
Speaker 1: here comes this officer who becomes your tormentor. But it
Speaker 1: starts with him spotting the car. So we got off
Speaker 1: the Interstate and Officer Brown was shooting radar. He began
Speaker 1: to follow Marina's car. We put in our driveway in
Speaker 1: Pheasant Run. At this time, I was living in Amherst
Speaker 1: when I had prior problems with Officer Brown. Officer Brown
Speaker 1: performs a felony stop after he calls for backup. There
Speaker 1: was a lot of Amhurst police that was immediately there.
Speaker 1: Officer Brown comes to me, throw me on the ground,
Speaker 1: handcuffed me with my hands behind my back, search me.
Speaker 1: Find absolutely nothing on me because I did not have
Speaker 1: anything placed me in the police car. The other officers,
Speaker 1: you know, check search everybody else. Walker said that he
Speaker 1: did not have handcuffs on Walker actually took the bank
Speaker 1: deposit bags and hid it in his boxer briefs, which
Speaker 1: makes sense that the officers is not checking your area,
Speaker 1: you know. So they didn't find any of the stolen
Speaker 1: items that Curtill had on him. They also put Marina,
Speaker 1: who as you said, was pregnant, on the ground, and
Speaker 1: the cops need her on the neck right on the pavement.
Speaker 1: They had their knee on her back, and then her
Speaker 1: mother ran outside with my when my daughter in her
Speaker 1: hand and went up and the police officers aimed the
Speaker 1: gun at her mother and told her to back up,
Speaker 1: and she her mother was screaming, she's pregnant, She's pregnant.
Speaker 1: Officer Brown then had Marina to sign a waiver and
Speaker 1: he went and searched her car. When he searched her car,
Speaker 1: he found the two purses that belonged to Marina and
Speaker 1: Tina that was in the front seat. Avista Brown then
Speaker 1: took money out of both of those purses. Then he
Speaker 1: came back. He transported me in patrol car one oh seven,
Speaker 1: because these numbers are very very important my reference to
Speaker 1: the fabrication of evidence. He transported me and his patrol car,
Speaker 1: which was in her patrol card one oh seven, to
Speaker 1: the crime scene. He brought me out of the car.
Speaker 1: The fake victim manager came out and said, no, that's
Speaker 1: not him. He got Kurtail Walker out of in hers
Speaker 1: patrol card one oh five. He didn't identify him as well.
Speaker 1: He then went and searched the patrol car that Kurtel
Speaker 1: Walker was in patrol card one on five found two
Speaker 1: thousand dollars that Kurtell Walker had took out of his pants. Now,
Speaker 1: based upon the testimony to Kurtil Walker said that he
Speaker 1: hid two thousand dollars at the back of patrol card
Speaker 1: one O five and he had eighty eight dollars in
Speaker 1: his pocket. Officer Brown then made Kurtell Walker kick off
Speaker 1: his shoes and he recovered deposit bags, all its slips
Speaker 1: and receipts that belonged to the renaissenter so UM. After
Speaker 1: Thomas Brown recovered the checks, the deposit bags, and the
Speaker 1: money from Kurtil Walker, he then got back into police
Speaker 1: car that I was in, transported me to Buffalo Police
Speaker 1: headquarters and based upon the transcripts, Officer Thomas Brown stayed
Speaker 1: in Buffalo Police Headquarters for about two hours while the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Police officers conducted the investigation. So Officer Brown then
Speaker 1: asked me that I have any information about the criminals
Speaker 1: and m Herston that if I gave him information then
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have to worry about a parole violation. And
Speaker 1: I told him, yes, I have information. You should take
Speaker 1: your handcuffs out and rest yourself. Officer Brown became very
Speaker 1: angry and he started saying, you know, you nigger, this
Speaker 1: that in the third I'll make sure you never get
Speaker 1: out of jail, and this that in the third and
Speaker 1: you know he went above and beyond. After that, I'll
Speaker 1: say that now they brought Curtel into it, right, And
Speaker 1: so they interrogate Curtel, who couldn't read or write, and
Speaker 1: under physical durest and under pressure of a twenty five
Speaker 1: years sentence, he and he was under age. They got
Speaker 1: him to sign a statement that again he couldn't have
Speaker 1: understood because he couldn't read, and say that you had
Speaker 1: played the robbery and that he just was sort of
Speaker 1: went along with it and gave you the money. Right,
Speaker 1: Curtel Walker, On the day of the incident, the officers
Speaker 1: basically slapped him around and did all of the stuff
Speaker 1: to him. Right, So the officer that prepared the report,
Speaker 1: Detective Mark Joseph Lauber, first of all, I will say that, um,
Speaker 1: he got caught up in some racist stuff. I actually
Speaker 1: have the New York Times article. He got caught up
Speaker 1: in some ratio text messages and stuff and killed the
Speaker 1: black guy and said that the guy aimed the gun
Speaker 1: at him and the and the gun got found on
Speaker 1: the roof. So this is not, you know, a good
Speaker 1: police officer. Let me put it like that, even though
Speaker 1: he was able to beat these charges. Okay, now, he's
Speaker 1: the one that was in the room with Curteil that
Speaker 1: prepared the statement. Curteil could not read, so you know,
Speaker 1: they threatened him and told his grandmother listen, if he
Speaker 1: do not sign this statement and he's gonna get twenty
Speaker 1: five years in jail, he needs to sign a statement.
Speaker 1: So the statement still stated that it wasn't the robbery.
Speaker 1: Though this is the thing, they just added my name
Speaker 1: in their Curteil still let him know, like listen, you
Speaker 1: know the guy gave him the money. So the very
Speaker 1: next day, when we got out on bail, I was
Speaker 1: informed that my name was in a statement and the
Speaker 1: I was I was very upset. I was very upset.
Speaker 1: So the families all had a meeting. His family's grandmother
Speaker 1: and mother, father, everybody had a meeting, and that's when
Speaker 1: Kurtell told them, like listen, this is the truth. You know,
Speaker 1: the guy owe him money and that you know, basically
Speaker 1: I had no knowledge of it, nothing to do with it,
Speaker 1: and neither did the girls. So the grandmother takes Curteil
Speaker 1: to Buffalo police station the very next day and tells
Speaker 1: the officers, listen, kurtel Walker wants to confess. My grandson
Speaker 1: wants to confess to tell y'all exactly what happened. Because
Speaker 1: he just told us exactly what happened. The officers refused
Speaker 1: to take the confession and document it in a police report. Say,
Speaker 1: kurtel Walker came in here the next day to the
Speaker 1: Major Crimes unit, told us that the first statement was
Speaker 1: false and that he wanted to rekint the involvement of
Speaker 1: ricks and we told him to leave and have a
Speaker 1: nice day, and the officers wouldn't even take the confession
Speaker 1: from him. And I actually have the police reports to
Speaker 1: prove every single thing what I'm saying. Now they start
Speaker 1: fudging more of the evidence, right, because in order to
Speaker 1: charge you with the felony, they had to have over
Speaker 1: three thousand dollars that was stolen, right, And they've got
Speaker 1: all these disparate amounts of money. They've got the money
Speaker 1: that they actually stole from the girls purses was hundred.
Speaker 1: Then they've got the two thousand that Cretel hid in
Speaker 1: the back of squad car one oh five, which you
Speaker 1: never were in. Then they've got eighty eight dollars from
Speaker 1: Critel's wallet. If you had all of this up, it's
Speaker 1: three thousand dollars. So they needed to get to a
Speaker 1: number over three thousand dollars where they could charge you
Speaker 1: with a felony, which we know officers around very much
Speaker 1: wanted to charge you with a felony. But how did
Speaker 1: they managed to end up framing you for this one? Well,
Speaker 1: the Buffalo police officers had Officer Brown write notes of
Speaker 1: everything that transpired why he was with me, and the
Speaker 1: lawyer ended up obtaining a copy of those notes. So
Speaker 1: those notes not say anything that the police reports that
Speaker 1: Officer Brown prepared later ended up saying. After Officer Brown
Speaker 1: went back to Amherst Police station, Officer Brown prepared a
Speaker 1: statement that's called a seven ten thirty statement and stated
Speaker 1: that I'm a verbal statements to him saying that Curtzel
Speaker 1: Walker gave me the stolen money, that I hid the
Speaker 1: stolen money in my shoe, and that I basically took
Speaker 1: the money out of my shoe while my hands was
Speaker 1: covered behind my back and hid it inside of the
Speaker 1: police car. Right, So we gotta believe that you're some
Speaker 1: sort of magician who Deaney David Blaine somebody where you could,
Speaker 1: while you're in handcuffs, magically removed the money from your
Speaker 1: shock or shoe and and stick it in the other
Speaker 1: car that you never even were in. That's got to
Speaker 1: be magic. That's incredible. I mean, that's really what you
Speaker 1: have to believe if you're gonna believe their story. And
Speaker 1: on top of all the other lies and nonsense. And
Speaker 1: then Officer Brown stated that I'm a verbal statements to
Speaker 1: him saying if he got rid of the money, then
Speaker 1: I would tell him about the criminals and Amherst because
Speaker 1: it's going to break my parole. Now that seems crazy,
Speaker 1: because I never was charged with possession of stolen property
Speaker 1: initially until Officer Brown testified at the grand jury. The
Speaker 1: district attorney actually added the possession of stolen property charge
Speaker 1: because the Buffalo booking report shows that absolutely nothing was
Speaker 1: taken from me. It says no items was recovered from
Speaker 1: the defendant. I actually have copies of every single one
Speaker 1: of these police reports. I had a hundred fourteen dollars
Speaker 1: that was my personal money. They put it with my property,
Speaker 1: and they gave it back to me the next day.
Speaker 1: Now what Officer Brown did, this is this is how
Speaker 1: they pulled this off. When he came to the grand jury,
Speaker 1: he testified somewhat truthfully, he's still liked and said that
Speaker 1: he recovered the whole thirty four hundred from Kurt till Walker,
Speaker 1: when in reality he only recovered two thousand dollars that
Speaker 1: Kurt till Walker had hid in the back seat of
Speaker 1: the police car and the eighty eight dollars that Kurt
Speaker 1: till Walker had in his pocket. And they added the
Speaker 1: fourteen hundred from the women to change it from a
Speaker 1: Mr Meaner to a felony. Okay. So at the Huntly
Speaker 1: Map hearing, it was a pre trial hearing. Well, the
Speaker 1: prosecution had to establish if they had probable cause or
Speaker 1: not to arrest me. So at the Huntley Map hearing,
Speaker 1: only the arrest officer could come and testify. And Officer
Speaker 1: Brown comes to this hearing and he testifies under oath
Speaker 1: that he placed me under arrest at the crime scene
Speaker 1: after he recovered the stolen money from the police card
Speaker 1: that I was in. Then he charged me himself with
Speaker 1: possession of stolen property. Then he ran me my rights
Speaker 1: after he charged me with possession of stolen property, and
Speaker 1: then I waved my right to self incrimination, and that's
Speaker 1: when I made a verbal statement okay. And the judge
Speaker 1: decided that over Brown was believable, so that he can
Speaker 1: admit the physical evidence. Probably the truest thing you ever
Speaker 1: said is that he should have arrested himself. He would
Speaker 1: have been doing us all a favor. But okay, so
Speaker 1: just to keep track, all right, So Officer Brown has
Speaker 1: now changed the details from his initial notes to Buffalo PD,
Speaker 1: to his sant, then to his grand jury testimony, and
Speaker 1: then to the Huntley map hearing, and all the while
Speaker 1: the judge, the d A, and everyone else is finding
Speaker 1: ways to find him believable. Great, now we move on
Speaker 1: to the trial. Okay. Now, during trial, Officer Brown had
Speaker 1: a complete three sixty. Okay. Officer Brown testified that he
Speaker 1: was not the arresting officer, He was not the assisting officer.
Speaker 1: He was not present when I was placing under arrest.
Speaker 1: He did not know if I was placed under arrest.
Speaker 1: And the thing is Austin Brown also testified that he
Speaker 1: was the only officer that was with me from the
Speaker 1: initial time in Amhurst where he put the car over
Speaker 1: and took me the custody at the crime scene in
Speaker 1: at Buffalo Police station for two hours while the Buffalo
Speaker 1: officers conducted the investigation. Right then and there, the judge,
Speaker 1: the District attorney, and everyone was made aware of the
Speaker 1: fact that Officer Brown falsified everything at the Huntley map
Speaker 1: here and they just ignored it. So the victim didn't
Speaker 1: testify a trial, Cortel Walker didn't testify a trial, and
Speaker 1: Curtel he went on the run when I went to trial.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about Michael Demko. Michael Demko was my
Speaker 1: trial attorney. He played an important role in uh me
Speaker 1: actually ended up in jail. With me getting out of jail.
Speaker 1: He didn't cause certain witnesses that I requested that he called.
Speaker 1: You know, he said that the reason why he didn't
Speaker 1: call them was because without a victim and without an
Speaker 1: eye witness, he didn't even figure that, you know, they
Speaker 1: would go anywhere with the case because based upon the law,
Speaker 1: those charges were supposed to be dismissed. But you know,
Speaker 1: with the thesis, they subpoenaed every single person. They subpoena
Speaker 1: the fake victim who was in custody on the material
Speaker 1: witness warrant, who actually provide affidavit later on stating that
Speaker 1: he told the district attorney that I didn't have anything
Speaker 1: to do with and that he wasn't robbed, but they
Speaker 1: didn't allow him to testify because the district attorney threatened
Speaker 1: him and told him, you better not come to court
Speaker 1: and say that Kyanti is innocent or you're gonna get
Speaker 1: twenty five years Okay, Marina and Tina was subpoena district
Speaker 1: attorney told them that, you know, he dropped charges on them,
Speaker 1: and they told him that they knew the victim and
Speaker 1: that he never got robbed, and that Curtail never robbed him,
Speaker 1: and that we never had no knowledge of what they
Speaker 1: did with The district attorney told them the same thing.
Speaker 1: Y'all better come back with a different story. Y'all better
Speaker 1: not come and testify that Kyante is innocent, and he
Speaker 1: did not allow them to testify neither. Okay, this is crazy.
Speaker 1: The two managers was the only other two, the two
Speaker 1: managers of the R A C. Which is the place
Speaker 1: where the fake robbery occurred, who weren't even there. Both testified.
Speaker 1: One testified that he was present that day and that
Speaker 1: the alleged victim had left with the bank deposit and
Speaker 1: came back out of breath claiming to have been robbed.
Speaker 1: Also that he was unsure whether it was a hundred
Speaker 1: or a hundred thousand dollars that was lost. The other
Speaker 1: manager testified to establish the value at th so somebody
Speaker 1: obviously fed him that information. So then during cross examination
Speaker 1: it came out that the second manager that established, the
Speaker 1: one who established the value, hadn't even started working at
Speaker 1: the location until almost a year after the freaking incident,
Speaker 1: so he didn't even know the alleged robbery victim. But
Speaker 1: he was an assistant manager at a different location. He
Speaker 1: wasn't there like this is I can't with this ship
Speaker 1: and likes as you just said. You know. One was
Speaker 1: to establish the value of the money, which is important
Speaker 1: because you're not an element of possession of stolen property
Speaker 1: has to be a value. He testified that the money
Speaker 1: took in and the money claimed to be recovered matched
Speaker 1: to the penny, which was a complete lie because based
Speaker 1: upon the bank audits slips, it was not the same
Speaker 1: amount of money, and he testified during cross examination that
Speaker 1: he did not work at the store until a year
Speaker 1: after the incident. When Damiko XM, did you did you
Speaker 1: ever hear that your your own manager actually stole the money,
Speaker 1: he said, I just heard. There was an investigation and
Speaker 1: he was let go shortly after the incident, so they
Speaker 1: definitely knew that he was not robbed. No, it was
Speaker 1: a fake robbery. And I don't even know sometimes why
Speaker 1: we have perjury laws when people like this just lie
Speaker 1: at will understand and just get away with it and
Speaker 1: just move on with their lives. And yeah, this is
Speaker 1: this is some really tall faced line going on here,
Speaker 1: and a lot of it from a lot of different people. Okay,
Speaker 1: so you ultimately get convicted and shooting two thousand five
Speaker 1: of robbery and criminal possession of stolen properties, and because
Speaker 1: of your priorfal conviction, your sentence was enhanced to twenty years.
Speaker 1: So I mean, how did you deal with that? And
Speaker 1: what was that moment? Like, man, it was it was terrible, man,
Speaker 1: because I had a baby on the way, man, and
Speaker 1: I you know, I'm a very family man, and I
Speaker 1: had two babies that's born. Man, that's a year in
Speaker 1: like a year in like five months. So I just
Speaker 1: sat there and just watched my family. Like the whole
Speaker 1: court Mooron went crazy because everybody knew that I was innocent.
Speaker 1: And the day that I got sentenced to twenty years
Speaker 1: and kurtel Walker please guilty to the Rappid church. So
Speaker 1: there's a crazy piece of the story. That could have
Speaker 1: turned into a real problem. In the devious move, they
Speaker 1: stuck you in the bullpen with kurtel Walker, who was
Speaker 1: under age at the time, should never have even been
Speaker 1: in the same place as you. And where my mind
Speaker 1: goes is a bad place. They were trying to get
Speaker 1: you to do something, Yeah, hoping that I would kill
Speaker 1: like kid, I just got fresh twenty years sentence. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. No one is gonna be in
Speaker 1: their right mind with a twenty years since, especially for
Speaker 1: a crime that they didn't commit it. And then you
Speaker 1: put this person in there that got me in there,
Speaker 1: you know, hoping that I would do something to him.
Speaker 1: But I said, no, I'm not gonna do nothing. Like
Speaker 1: I know that he told them to write stuff. So
Speaker 1: you go to present. Can you just give us some
Speaker 1: insight into what that experience was like? Yeah? It was real.
Speaker 1: It was critical. It was critical, man, and and I
Speaker 1: went into a great state of depression. And then I prayed.
Speaker 1: I prayed, and it was like I just said, listen,
Speaker 1: I gotta obtain my freedom. I don't got time this
Speaker 1: stendant here and be stressing about anything else. Um, and
Speaker 1: that's what happening. I mean, my my child's mother got
Speaker 1: married in like six months, so I was in It
Speaker 1: was like thin after thig after thig. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying that. It was just like I just looked
Speaker 1: in the mirror and I said, man up, that's it.
Speaker 1: I said, the only way you're gonna get your life
Speaker 1: back if you fight for it. So that's why I
Speaker 1: went in the law of libraries and I started learning
Speaker 1: the law. And yeah, you know, it took a long time,
Speaker 1: but you know, thanks to God, I was able to
Speaker 1: get out of there and give us most of that
Speaker 1: time back. So Kiante, there you are. You're studying the law,
Speaker 1: you're praying, you're doing everything you possibly can. You're you're
Speaker 1: finding strength in a place where I think almost anybody
Speaker 1: else would have just collapsed, but you found this other gear.
Speaker 1: I have so much respect for you. But anyway, you
Speaker 1: filed pro say motion after pro say motion. Our listeners
Speaker 1: know that means that's when the person himself or herself
Speaker 1: files their own legal briefs. But nothing was working until
Speaker 1: a friend of your uncle came to visit you. And
Speaker 1: that's when the ball started rolling back in the right direction. Right. Yes,
Speaker 1: I had about twelve motions that I filed in the
Speaker 1: state courts, and I figured, you know, no victim, no
Speaker 1: eye witness, with all of his evidence, these judges is
Speaker 1: gonna do what they're supposed to do, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, and uh not one of them even probably
Speaker 1: review those motions. So then, um, my uncle had brought
Speaker 1: one of his friends to see me. That was Carl,
Speaker 1: and my uncle told him that I wasn't supposed to
Speaker 1: be in jail, and and he came to see me
Speaker 1: and he said, listen, if if the stuff that you
Speaker 1: say is true, then I'm going to be a to
Speaker 1: help you get out of jail. That he was connected
Speaker 1: to attorney Robert Goldsteed. So basically, uh, me and Carl
Speaker 1: prepared the motion. You know, they conducted an investigation. That's
Speaker 1: when they was able to speak to my trial lawyer,
Speaker 1: Michael Demko, and they was able to speak to the
Speaker 1: fake victim and everyone else. And that's when you know,
Speaker 1: the fake victim provided an affidavit to let him know
Speaker 1: that you know, he wasn't robbed, and basically that he
Speaker 1: had told the district attorney when he was incarcerated on
Speaker 1: the material witness warrant, and that when the district attorney
Speaker 1: told him, you know, basically to leave. That's that he
Speaker 1: went and spoke to Michael Demko, and then Michael Demko
Speaker 1: provided an affidavid In stating that the victim did confess
Speaker 1: to him prior to my trial, told him that he
Speaker 1: was not a victim in the case, that he never
Speaker 1: was robbed, that he owed hertel Walker money, and that
Speaker 1: basically he used the money to satisfy a drug debt.
Speaker 1: And then Demko said that and and this is in
Speaker 1: his affidavit. He said that he couldn't take the statement
Speaker 1: because it would be a conflict of interest because the
Speaker 1: prosecution's office will state that he tried to cohort him
Speaker 1: to give an affidavit that could exonerate me, being that
Speaker 1: was his client. So he referred him to another attorney
Speaker 1: named Daniel Grasso, who's who's now I think a judge
Speaker 1: in Blaisdell. But he also provided an affidavit to say, yes,
Speaker 1: you know, Demko's client came, but he never retained me, so,
Speaker 1: you know, and that's what happened. So I had all
Speaker 1: of those affidavits, the judge granted me and hearing at
Speaker 1: the four forty hearing with Judge Burns We had about
Speaker 1: eight Fi Davis affidavits from the victim, attorney Mike Demko,
Speaker 1: Attorney Dale Grasso, kurtel Walker, Marina, and we had an
Speaker 1: affidavit from a Bruce Burnett, affidavit from a Diane Burnett,
Speaker 1: and then we had my affidavit all and it never
Speaker 1: was anything that was against me but the fabrications of
Speaker 1: Officer Brown. Your attorney John Flynn said, there was no
Speaker 1: robbery here. The victim was in on it. It was
Speaker 1: grand largely, the fact of the matter is that he
Speaker 1: was serving time for a crime he did not do.
Speaker 1: And then Judge Burns said, in this court's view, the
Speaker 1: new evidence is sufficient to establish that quote, no juror
Speaker 1: acting reasonably would have voted to find the defending guilty
Speaker 1: beyond a reasonable doubt with regards to the robbery charge.
Speaker 1: Now you got this amazing statement from the d A
Speaker 1: and the judge and ultimately I know you were released
Speaker 1: on February third, two thousand seventeen, after serving twelve years
Speaker 1: and ten months and probably some other days too. But
Speaker 1: how did you end up getting released? How did that work?
Speaker 1: What listen to it is this is pretty interested too. Okay, Well,
Speaker 1: the judge issues in order from my immediate release because
Speaker 1: they dismissed the robbery charge which held twenty years. In
Speaker 1: a possession of stone the property charge, but I think
Speaker 1: it was two and a third to seven years. So
Speaker 1: the maximum amount of time that I could have done
Speaker 1: on a possession of stone the property charge with seven
Speaker 1: years being that I did twelve years and ten months.
Speaker 1: He issued an order from my immediate release. What was
Speaker 1: that day? Like? Man, it was like finally, you know,
Speaker 1: I couldn't believe it, you know, because I mean, you
Speaker 1: look at the average people in jail, and a lot
Speaker 1: of them that's innocent is still not coming home. You know,
Speaker 1: I got a lot of friends like I got like
Speaker 1: dirty guys that I look out for that jail. You know,
Speaker 1: I do much as I can because not in the
Speaker 1: best position right now, but a lot of people ain't
Speaker 1: coming home. So I just feelt fortunate enough to be
Speaker 1: able to obtain my freedom. So you come out of
Speaker 1: February three is probably minus thirty degrees outside in Buffalo
Speaker 1: and February third, but nonetheless it must have felt pretty warm.
Speaker 1: I wasn't think about the weather. I could say that.
Speaker 1: And meanwhile, now I'm hearing that you well, you got
Speaker 1: married a couple of years ago, so congratulations on that.
Speaker 1: Thank you, And I hear Now you're doing some amazing
Speaker 1: things with a couple of my favorite people Axonore's named
Speaker 1: Marty tank left and Jeffrey Deskovic. Both have been on
Speaker 1: the show before. Well, I mean I met Murty when
Speaker 1: I was with um Keian Kian Collabi was one of
Speaker 1: axanarees who's also an attorney, and Steve metcalf I know
Speaker 1: who Marty's connected with. Then Jeffrey Deskovic. I was telling
Speaker 1: you that I assisted him with the prison reform movement
Speaker 1: and him and Bill Bouznick in Pennsylvania was at Temple University.
Speaker 1: But all the pa Axonore's and yeah, I mean that's
Speaker 1: that's a few. I have a lot of different attorneys
Speaker 1: that you know, I've been connected two and you know,
Speaker 1: sending them cases and me and Carl still been doing
Speaker 1: a lot of work together. Um, he's definitely my friend,
Speaker 1: you know, who helped me get out of prison. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that's awesome, and has also been on the show. He's
Speaker 1: an incredible guy. Um. And then you're doing amazing work
Speaker 1: with all these great people, but you're also still fighting
Speaker 1: your own wrong for conviction for the possession of stolen
Speaker 1: property charge. Yes, Now this is where it gets really
Speaker 1: really interesting. Kurtel Walker testified that he had his pants,
Speaker 1: he put five hundred in his sock, and he hid
Speaker 1: the two thousand in the police car. In the transcripts,
Speaker 1: Judge Burns had the stenographer to add that he asked
Speaker 1: Kurtel a question personally, how much money did you have?
Speaker 1: And Curtel said three or four thousand dollars. That never
Speaker 1: was said. I really couldn't understand why Judge Burns fabricated
Speaker 1: the transcripts, because whether he had three or four thousand dollars,
Speaker 1: it does not matter because I did not have any
Speaker 1: of the money. You understand what I'm saying, which it
Speaker 1: does not make sense at all. So after they fabricated
Speaker 1: the transcripts, emotion was put in to settle the transcripts,
Speaker 1: and it was eight Affi David's inside of that motion
Speaker 1: as well from all of the people that was present
Speaker 1: during that hearing to say no, Curteil Walker never said that.
Speaker 1: They denied that motion. So now it goes to the
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen here and we file another four or forty.
Speaker 1: We had the Evans the police reports and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: So the lord's presented the motion and the judge granted hearing.
Speaker 1: Judge Christopher Burns grants the hearing. He gives a specific
Speaker 1: order and says the hearing specifically revolves around the amount
Speaker 1: of money that was obtained from defendant Ricks during the
Speaker 1: time of his arrest. Okay, because you know, we got
Speaker 1: all of the proof, saying, listen, they recovered his money
Speaker 1: from Kurt to a walker and from the women purses.
Speaker 1: You know, we have the police reports to prove this,
Speaker 1: and this affidavits the fourteen hundred dollars that Officer Brown
Speaker 1: recovered from the women's purse because he was the only
Speaker 1: officer in Amhurst that searched the cars, so it's not
Speaker 1: like other officers could have recovered it. None of the
Speaker 1: Buffalo police officers was in Hurst. When we went to
Speaker 1: Buffalo Police station, Officer Brown gave the fourteen hundred dollars
Speaker 1: to another officer named joe An Cino. This was the
Speaker 1: officer that was with Marina and Tina, and she created
Speaker 1: a police report that stated that fourteen hundred dollars of
Speaker 1: the stolen money recovered was recovered from the women's purses.
Speaker 1: The prosecutor withheld this police report, so the defense never
Speaker 1: even knew that four hundred dollars of the thirty dollars
Speaker 1: actually belonged to the purses of the women. So this
Speaker 1: was a police report that I was able to obtain
Speaker 1: during a four year request. Um Also, when I mentioned
Speaker 1: patrol car one oh five, after the officers recovered the
Speaker 1: stolen money hidden in the back seat of the police car,
Speaker 1: they took a picture. I was able to obtain a
Speaker 1: copy of the Amherst police report which shows that the
Speaker 1: only picture that they took of the money was from
Speaker 1: patrol car one oh five, not patrol car one oh
Speaker 1: seven where I was at. So we go to the hearing.
Speaker 1: Two things had to be established, the time of arrest
Speaker 1: and what was obtained from me during that time, okay,
Speaker 1: based upon the judge's order. So we established that I
Speaker 1: was placed under arrest by Officer Martin Motley and Officer
Speaker 1: Johnson Levito. We established that they never charged me with
Speaker 1: possession of stolen property. We established that the booking report
Speaker 1: proved that no stolen money was ever recovered from me.
Speaker 1: And we also had Kurtil Walker to come testify to
Speaker 1: all of the other facts. That we just spoke about,
Speaker 1: and we had Marina to testify that the officers did
Speaker 1: take the money out of her purse. Okay, all of
Speaker 1: that was established. D A. Flynn he had just came
Speaker 1: in office in Okay. So for the teen hearing, Robert
Speaker 1: Gostein at my requests, had a meeting with D. A.
Speaker 1: Flynn and D. A. Harrity. He showed D. A. Flynn
Speaker 1: everything D A. Flint on him, he didn't care about it,
Speaker 1: and then told Thomas Brown everything that Attorney Goldstein has
Speaker 1: said to him in the letter. We actually prepared a
Speaker 1: letter that mentioned all of the perjuries and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Officer of Brown's testimony changed at every single court appearance.
Speaker 1: So when we had the hearing, Officer Thomas Brown now
Speaker 1: out comes and testifies that he never searched Kurtil Walker,
Speaker 1: he never recovered the deposit bags, he never recovered the checks,
Speaker 1: he never recovered the money. This is what he testifies
Speaker 1: to in the record, And this is why I'm pushing
Speaker 1: right now to get charged. Just pressed on him for
Speaker 1: his perjury right here. He knew that we had proof
Speaker 1: to prove that he fabricated that evidence in reference to
Speaker 1: that money. When I was able to obtain that police
Speaker 1: report that mentioned, you know that he basically gave that
Speaker 1: money to that officer. So now he knew that we
Speaker 1: had sufficient evidence, and he said that he never recovered nothing.
Speaker 1: He said, listen, I've seen the money, and I pointed
Speaker 1: out to the Buffalo Police, and they're the ones who
Speaker 1: recovered it. Listen where it gets crazy, though, because the
Speaker 1: Buffalo booking report shows that absolutely nothing was taken from me.
Speaker 1: That means that none of the prosecution witnesses ever recovered
Speaker 1: any stolen money, any stolen checks, or anything. I ended
Speaker 1: up finding a police report. It was like God woke
Speaker 1: me up at six o'clock in the morning and told
Speaker 1: me look through all my papers, and I got thousands
Speaker 1: of papers, and I found that Amherst police report with
Speaker 1: officer Thomas Brown badge, number of signature that said that
Speaker 1: he overturned the checks, the deposit bags in the of
Speaker 1: money combined to the Buffalo Police. So now I said, okay,
Speaker 1: I want you to depressed one officer Brown for the
Speaker 1: perjuries that he committed in the hearing. I don't feel
Speaker 1: that anyone else should be held at any different standard.
Speaker 1: You know, it was perjury. It's clear perjury. We have
Speaker 1: the we have sufficient evidence to prove it, so we
Speaker 1: file a reargument motion. Judge Burns completely ignores it, ignores it,
Speaker 1: and then on top of ignoring it, say that officer
Speaker 1: Brown was believable, and so do d a harrity. They say, oh,
Speaker 1: it's all of the other witnesses. You know, basically it
Speaker 1: wasn't believable, but officer Brown was. But Judge Burns did
Speaker 1: admit an order that there was a Brady violation, meaning
Speaker 1: that the officers did withhold the fourteen hundred dollars that
Speaker 1: was taken from the women's purse, and that Marina was
Speaker 1: believable when she testified that they actually took the money.
Speaker 1: But he did not dismissing that charges based upon the
Speaker 1: Brady violation when he knew the amount of money was
Speaker 1: an essential element to a possession of stolen property charge.
Speaker 1: And now I have tourney Stephen Metcalf. We have an
Speaker 1: appeal in we have all of the perjuries and stuff
Speaker 1: that's being mentioned. Again, going back to the Appello division,
Speaker 1: it's still possibility that the perjury charges can be brought right, Oh, yes,
Speaker 1: it's well within the statue of limitation um. And then
Speaker 1: the perjury just was committed in twenty nineteen. So as
Speaker 1: the recently, I just had meetings with Citizens Action. You know,
Speaker 1: it's about thirty other organizations that was going to assist
Speaker 1: me in bringing the truth to d. A. Flynn and
Speaker 1: the mayor of Buffalo so that these charges can be
Speaker 1: brought against this racist police officer, Thomas Brown. Is there
Speaker 1: anything that anyone can do to help you? You know,
Speaker 1: I say anyone. I mean me, my team, our audience
Speaker 1: is so many smart capable people out there that are
Speaker 1: listeners that are uh, they're wanting to get involved and
Speaker 1: know they're gonna hear your voice going to say I
Speaker 1: I can't let this stand. There's got to be something.
Speaker 1: Is that something? Even if it's something that's simple as
Speaker 1: writing a letter or making a phone call, but maybe
Speaker 1: there's more. I don't know. You tell me. I need
Speaker 1: all of the assistance that I can get. I mean,
Speaker 1: you see how complicated this is, and it's bigger than me.
Speaker 1: I'm still new to this world, so it's like I'm
Speaker 1: just figuring it out. However, anybody that's willing to assist me,
Speaker 1: I'll provide all of the paperwork to show that I
Speaker 1: have sufficient evidence to support every allegation that I'm making.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I just need the people just to be
Speaker 1: with me to support me prove my innocence. Al Right,
Speaker 1: So what we're gonna do for starters is we're going
Speaker 1: to start a petition to be a link in the bio.
Speaker 1: Uh So people can sign up. People can follow you
Speaker 1: as well on Instagram and social media if you can
Speaker 1: give us those handles my Facebook, my Instagram, my YouTube,
Speaker 1: and my SoundCloud. It's all under Kiante Ricks and the
Speaker 1: correct spelling is k E y O and t y
Speaker 1: r I c ks. Let's follow him and keep in
Speaker 1: the know about the elements in the case by following
Speaker 1: Kiante and checking the link in our bio. And now, Kiante,
Speaker 1: what can I say? Man? I knew I was going
Speaker 1: to be in for a whirlwind when we did this interview,
Speaker 1: but I wasn't even prepared for all these twists and turns.
Speaker 1: It's an extraordinary story and it's an amazing life that
Speaker 1: you're living now, and more power to you. I wish
Speaker 1: you all the success and blessings in the world, you
Speaker 1: and your family. And now we have a thing called
Speaker 1: closing arguments, and this is the part of the show
Speaker 1: where I first of all, thank you again Kyante for
Speaker 1: being here, and now it's up to you to share
Speaker 1: whatever thoughts you want about anything with our audience. Well,
Speaker 1: this is something that I want to put in an
Speaker 1: atmosphere because I feel that a lot of times we
Speaker 1: focus more on the problems than we focus on the solutions.
Speaker 1: And I know that this is bigger than me. So
Speaker 1: let's suggest that we create something like a motion review committee. Okay,
Speaker 1: the average axion reason I think they said was doing
Speaker 1: about a minimum of twelve years or I don't know
Speaker 1: if that was just p A. But what I feel
Speaker 1: was that it's not just the police that's killing people
Speaker 1: in the streets. They're killing people in courts. It's the
Speaker 1: district attorneys, and it's the judges too. It's a demonic system.
Speaker 1: And what we need to do is not just focus
Speaker 1: on prosecutors or police. We need to focus on these
Speaker 1: judges as well, because if you see, you know, in
Speaker 1: my my case and the evidence that I have, like
Speaker 1: the judges, both of them, you know, played a major part,
Speaker 1: including their pillot judges who you know, it's my right
Speaker 1: to confront my accusers. So I mean, how do you
Speaker 1: uphold a conviction without a victim and without the eye witness,
Speaker 1: it makes no sense based upon the United States Constitution.
Speaker 1: So what I feel is that we need to create committees,
Speaker 1: even if we had to contract with the lawyers. I
Speaker 1: know the lawyers are under attorney client privilege, but I
Speaker 1: feel that when they're putting motions in that these motions
Speaker 1: should be filed to the committees. And when the judges
Speaker 1: ignored the constitutional procedural violations, then I think that the
Speaker 1: committee should come together to foul in plaints with the
Speaker 1: Judical Conduct Committee to get them judges out of office,
Speaker 1: because I mean, that will help the people get out
Speaker 1: of prison that's not supposed to be there. It will
Speaker 1: also prevent people from actually going to prison. And when
Speaker 1: you hold the head of the body accountable, the head
Speaker 1: of the body holds the rest of the body accountable.
Speaker 1: The district attorney is not the most important person or
Speaker 1: the strongest person inside of that courtroom. I believe it's
Speaker 1: the judge because the judge has to say so. And
Speaker 1: even though they are able to withhold evidence and different
Speaker 1: things of that nature, but you know, it's ultimately up
Speaker 1: to the judge. You know, and a lot of times
Speaker 1: the judges see the truth. I mean, one of their
Speaker 1: famous statements is get it on the pill, and a
Speaker 1: lot of people don't really pay attention to what that means.
Speaker 1: What that means is, I know that it's constitutional procedural
Speaker 1: violations in your case, but I'm not going to give
Speaker 1: you the relief that I know I'm supposed to be
Speaker 1: given to you. Let another judge give it to you,
Speaker 1: because I'm not doing it, and that's not right. It's
Speaker 1: not just the individuals a single judge, or a single
Speaker 1: district attorney or a single police officer. It's the whole system.
Speaker 1: And the only way for that system to come down
Speaker 1: is if we all get involved in and then we
Speaker 1: stopped turning our face to the police, prosecutor and judicial
Speaker 1: misconduct that's transpiring on a constant basis. So that's basically
Speaker 1: all I want to say. I sincerely thank you for
Speaker 1: allowing me to be able to come on here, to
Speaker 1: be able to tell my story. I've dedicated my life
Speaker 1: to doing what I'm doing. I also work with the
Speaker 1: youth group of my church. I have a customized a
Speaker 1: shirt business. I'm on the verge of starting a young
Speaker 1: man empowerment academy because My wife has the Young Woman
Speaker 1: in Powerment Academy and she has like two sitters in
Speaker 1: Buffalo one and pens of A about to start a
Speaker 1: chapter of Virginia. We're deeply invested in the community and
Speaker 1: helping people. But like I said, the powers in numbers
Speaker 1: of the powers with the people. So we all have
Speaker 1: to come together and just figure this album because nobody's exempt.
Speaker 1: It's not just the color thing. I mean, year it's
Speaker 1: happened more to blacks in Hispanics, but it's happened to everybody,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, this system, it happens to everybody.
Speaker 1: That's happened more so to the lower class, the people
Speaker 1: who can't afford or you know, attorneys and different things
Speaker 1: in that nature. So I just say that, you know,
Speaker 1: I think y'all and it's all about coming together. And
Speaker 1: however I'm able to be of assistance to helping people
Speaker 1: that has their freedom in their life taken that I'm
Speaker 1: I'm for it. So if anyone can contact me, I'm
Speaker 1: wanting to assist however I can. And that's all I
Speaker 1: want to say. Thank you for allowing me to come
Speaker 1: on your show. Don't forget to give us a fantastic review.
Speaker 1: Wherever you get your podcasts, it really helps. And I'm
Speaker 1: a proud donor to the Innsis Project, and I really
Speaker 1: hope you'll join me in supporting this very important cause
Speaker 1: and helping to prevent future wrongful convictions. Go to Anassis
Speaker 1: project dot org to learn how to donate and get involved.
Speaker 1: I'd like to thank our production team, Connor Hall and
Speaker 1: Kevin Wardis. The music on the show is by three
Speaker 1: time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow
Speaker 1: us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction and on Facebook at
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction Podcast. Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flam is a
Speaker 1: production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal
Speaker 1: Company Number one