1 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: those of the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast, 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or their employees. 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: This podcast also contains subject matter which may not be 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: suitable for everyone listening to. 6 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 2: Discretion is advised. Radical is released every Tuesday and brought 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 2: to you absolutely free, but if you want to add 8 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 2: free listening and early access to next week's episode, subscribe 9 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 2: to tenderfoot Plus. For more information, check out tenderfootplus dot com. 10 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 2: Enjoy the episode. 11 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 3: Campsite Media, How far are you willing to go? Because 12 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 3: like most of the people definitely never talked to me, 13 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 3: they never talk to people that know me. So now 14 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 3: they have what they think is the truth and they 15 00:00:58,720 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 3: have run with that. 16 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 2: In November of twenty twenty one, Johnny Kaufman got a 17 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 2: call from a man in federal prison. Johnny is the 18 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 2: lead producer of this podcast, and the call came to 19 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 2: him months before he convinced me to help him do 20 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 2: more reporting, to host the podcast and make the story 21 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 2: of my own. Johnny had been filing open records requests 22 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 2: looking for problems with the Maam Jimial's prosecution and talking 23 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 2: to this man in prison. An interesting man, a man who, 24 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 2: over the course of his life, has gone by at 25 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 2: least three names, Otis Jackson, Silas Mohammad, and James Santos. 26 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 2: I'm going to call him Otis Jackson. On the phone, 27 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 2: Otis was serious, didn't really joke much, and he sounded 28 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 2: like a smart guy. He said violence was a part 29 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 2: of his childhood, and he moved around a lot as 30 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 2: a kid. 31 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 3: I floated from family member of family members of different people. 32 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 3: You know, I mean. 33 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 4: Cool. 34 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 3: You know. 35 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 2: When Otis finished high school, he worked in construction, but 36 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 2: before long he decided he can make more money hustling. 37 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 3: I'm not a violent person, but I can get vin 38 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 3: and give. I'll put in a particular situation that's try 39 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 3: the reason, but sometime the goal is beyond reason. 40 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 2: Otis's rap sheet is long and goes back to at 41 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 2: least nineteen ninety one. He's been charged with battery, armed robbery, 42 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 2: credit card fraud, and grand theft auto. Right now, he's 43 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 2: in federal prison in the Midwest, set to get out 44 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 2: in a few years. Otis is forty nine, black, shaved 45 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 2: head at least in the photos we have, and he's 46 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 2: around five foot seven, he has some scars, there's a 47 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 2: dark mark on his forehead, a callous that some Muslims 48 00:02:55,919 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 2: get from praying otis. He brings us to another chapter 49 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,679 Speaker 2: of this story, and in particular, to get another way 50 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 2: of thinking about and understanding the truth. I've encountered truths 51 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 2: that were tucked away just beyond my reach, and truths 52 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 2: that were wrapped up in coats of fiction. With this guy, 53 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 2: there was no secrecy or subterfuge or anything like that. Really, 54 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 2: it was the opposite. In fact, for more than twenty years, 55 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 2: he has been blasting at full volume that he is 56 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 2: the one who shot Deputies Ricky Keinchin and Algernon English, 57 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 2: but no one was really listening. 58 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 3: I've gotten away with murder for real. On some people say, man, 59 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 3: you get away with murder. I've literally gotten away with murder. 60 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 3: So yeah, I don't help all of it. It's not 61 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 3: like that these people are not aware. It's just that 62 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 3: they don't want to accept it because, you know, most 63 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 3: of the time, like most human beings, if we do 64 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 3: something wrong, we don't want to be told if we're wrong. 65 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 3: And they convicted the wrong guy and sit the wrong 66 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 3: guy to prison for life, for something that another guy needs. 67 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 2: When you track Otis's story, it's not impossible that he 68 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 2: could have gone overlooked for years, ignored. Because someone confessing 69 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 2: to a murder willingly submitting themselves to at least a 70 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 2: long prison term and maybe even the death penalty. It 71 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 2: just seems weird, hard to believe until maybe it is 72 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 2: believed taken for truth by the right people. People with influence. 73 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 2: They recruit the power of big institutions, and what seemed 74 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 2: before like conventional wisdom is suddenly unsettled. So we had 75 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 2: to investigate Otis's story for ourselves because it might get 76 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 2: a man, Jamil out of prison. From Campside Media, Tenderfoot TV, 77 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:03,799 Speaker 2: and iHeart podcasts, This is Radic I'm Mosey's Secret, Episode 78 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 2: six Confession. At the time of the shootout in the 79 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 2: West End March of two thousand, Otis Jackson was on 80 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 2: parole for a battery conviction he had picked up in Nevada. 81 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 2: He'd allegedly shot a guy after an argument over a dog. 82 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 2: Otis was allowed to stay at his mother's house in 83 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 2: Atlanta because he was wearing an ankle monitor. Each day 84 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 2: after work, Otis was supposed to go straight home to 85 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 2: his mom's. Basically, he had a curfew. But a few 86 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 2: weeks after the shootout and after a man Jamille was 87 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 2: arrested for it, Otis was sent back to Nevada for 88 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 2: violating his parole, and he was incarcerated at the Clark 89 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 2: County Detention Center in Las Vegas. 90 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 3: When I got back in Nevada, I immediately called the 91 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 3: authorities there, and actually, to be honest, they didn't want 92 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 3: to hear it. I called maybe about eight times. 93 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 2: Finally an FBI agent went out to the prison to 94 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 2: listen to what Otis had to say, and he confessed 95 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 2: to shooting Deputy Kenjin and Deputy English. This was months 96 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 2: before man Jamil's trial would start in Earnest. 97 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 3: I just said it, little man, you guys have the 98 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 3: wrong guy in jail, you know, so I don't want 99 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 3: anybody in jail or in treason for something that I know. 100 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 3: The rested the wrong guy. So here's what happened. And 101 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 3: he was definitely not interested in that. He told me, 102 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 3: any man, we got over the shake case here with Jamil, 103 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 3: so there's no need for you to be involved in this. 104 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 2: After Otis confessed, he was moved to solitary confinement. The 105 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 2: guards put a sign on his door that said cop killer, 106 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 2: and they started to get giving him a hard time. 107 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 5: He was playing with the food who called me cop killer. 108 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 5: Sometime they would let me out of the shower. Sometimes 109 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 5: they wouldn't, and when they did, sometime they would put 110 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 5: me in a shower and locked me in a shower, 111 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 5: and I would be in handcuff in that shower for 112 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 5: hours without being able to actually shower because I'm still 113 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 5: in handcuff. 114 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 3: So y'a. But man, listen, A lot of crazy stuff happened. 115 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 2: A few months after he spoke to the FBI, Otis 116 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 2: wrote a statement, not sure if he put it in 117 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 2: the mail or just handed it off to a guard, 118 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 2: but it said, I Otis Milton Jackson was just trying 119 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 2: to help a brother, not knowing it would give me 120 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 2: the case. I loved Jamil, but I did not do anything. 121 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 2: I killed no one, and Jamil killed no one. I'm 122 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 2: so sorry for making the FBI feel as if I 123 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 2: did this. Robert McBurney, the lead prosecutor in a man 124 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 2: Jamial's case, he learned of Otis's confession, and because of 125 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 2: procedural rules around potentially exculpatory evidence like this, McBurnie had 126 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 2: to tell the defense team Otis's retraction just a few 127 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 2: months after he officially confessed. That would be a problem 128 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 2: for the defense if they called and to testify. But 129 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 2: Jack Martin, a man Jamil's lead defense lawyer, he suggested 130 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 2: he wasn't too concerned about that. Otis said he withdrew 131 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 2: his confession because he'd been thrown in solitary confinement, a 132 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 2: decision that a jury could make sense of the investigator 133 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 2: for the defense what Tani Taijimba he interviewed Otis. Martin 134 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 2: remembered the report that what Tani gave the defense team. 135 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,679 Speaker 4: He you know, described Otis Jackson as giving us a 136 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 4: consistent story. But you never know about somebody where, you know. 137 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 4: I don't know whether believe him or not, but that's 138 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 4: what his story makes sense. 139 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 2: Not sure whether he's telling the truth, but the story 140 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 2: makes sense. That would have to be good enough. Remember, 141 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 2: they only needed a reasonable doubt. Martin was ready to 142 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 2: call Otis as a witness, but then Robert McBurney, the 143 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 2: prosecutor he got in touch with Martin. 144 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 4: McBurney told me, listen, Jack, he was on probation at 145 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 4: the time. He had an acco monitor on him, and 146 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 4: we can prove that he wasn't in the West End 147 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 4: area that night. 148 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 2: McBurney said he had data from Otis's ankle monitor that 149 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 2: showed Otis was at home at his mom's house and 150 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 2: it would have been physically impossible for him to have 151 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 2: shot the deputies. 152 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 4: And he said, I just hope you call him because 153 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 4: we'll be able to blow him out of the water 154 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 4: with that ankle bracelet. I accepted that as being I 155 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 4: didn't think McBurney would lie to me about that. I 156 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 4: accepted that, and I thought, well, this is a death 157 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 4: penloty case. If we call some witness, it blows up 158 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 4: on us in the stand. That's going to HURTSS on 159 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 4: the death penalty if we have to go there. 160 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 2: If the defense called Otis and then the prosecution proved 161 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 2: he was lying, the jury wouldn't trust the defense team 162 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 2: during the sentencing phase when they were asking the jury 163 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 2: to spare a man Jamil's life. 164 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 4: So I made the decision or we made a decision 165 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 4: not to call him. 166 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,079 Speaker 2: The jury never heard Otis's confession, and AmAm Jamil was 167 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 2: convicted and sentenced to life in prison. After a mam 168 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 2: Jamil's initial appeals failed in the Georgia Supreme Court. His 169 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 2: lawyers filed a habeas corpus appeal, the final shot at 170 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 2: least to the courts to get him out of prison. 171 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 2: The legal team got a deposition from Otis, who was 172 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 2: out of solitary at this point, and he again confessed 173 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 2: to the shooting under oath. In February of two thousand 174 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,439 Speaker 2: and seven, after a Mam Jamil had already spent about 175 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 2: five years in solitary confinement, there was a hearing focused 176 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 2: on the possibility that Otis shot the deputies. It was 177 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 2: in Tattnall County, Georgia, where a Mamjmial was being held 178 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 2: at Reidsville Prison. At this hearing, a founder of the 179 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 2: company that made the technology uses a part of Otis's 180 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 2: angle monitor to fight. He said the data actually did 181 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 2: not show definitively that Otis was at home at the 182 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 2: time of the shootout. This was big. It meant that 183 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 2: Jack Martin had bad information when he decided against calling 184 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 2: Otis to the stand during the trial. It meant Otis 185 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 2: could have been anywhere the night of March sixteenth, two thousand, 186 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,959 Speaker 2: including in the West End, behind the trigger of a 187 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 2: semi automatic rifle. So with all this information in mind, 188 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 2: when Otis told my producer Johnny his story about what 189 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 2: happened that night in the West End, we had to listen. 190 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 3: I went there. I went to work first, and I 191 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 3: found out that I wasn't on the schedule to work. 192 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 2: That was like a free pass for Otis to do 193 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 2: whatever he wanted that day, under the guys that he 194 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 2: was working to be out in the world at least 195 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 2: before he had to me back home. In the evening, 196 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 2: Otis decided to run some errands. 197 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 3: I was moving some guns from one place to another 198 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 3: and a bulletproof ess. So I'll put the guns in 199 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 3: the trunk and I put I had one gun on me, 200 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 3: a nine millimeis, and I drove to the West End community. 201 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,559 Speaker 2: Otis said that at the time he was one of 202 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:17,119 Speaker 2: the leaders of the Almighty Vice Lord Nation, an organization 203 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 2: law enforcement would call it a gang that was founded 204 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 2: in Chicago. Back in the day. Otis was planning to 205 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 2: get a branch of the Vice Lords going in Atlanta, 206 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 2: and while he was running errands on March sixteenth, his 207 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 2: plan was to visit a Maam Jamil to give him 208 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 2: a heads up. The Western mass did under a man 209 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 2: Jamil had armed security patrols, and AmAm Jamil had developed 210 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 2: a reputation over the years for pushing out drug dealers. 211 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 2: Otis just wanted to stop by to say, hey, we're 212 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 2: going to be moving into the area, but we don't 213 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 2: want any business with your community. Otis said he parked 214 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 2: his car outside the mass did and the brothers told 215 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 2: him AmAm Jamial wasn't around. He stuck around for prayer 216 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 2: and he chatted with the brothers afterward. Actually, he realized 217 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 2: it was getting late, and so he walked across the 218 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,839 Speaker 2: street to a Man Jamil's store, hoping he'd may be 219 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,439 Speaker 2: shown up, But the lights were off and the doors 220 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 2: were locked. As Otis was walking away, the deputies pulled up. 221 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 2: They got out and told Otis to put up his hands. 222 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 2: Otis said he tried to explain himself, said he wasn't 223 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 2: breaking into the store or anything, that he was looking 224 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 2: for the owner, but one of the deputies had already 225 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,560 Speaker 2: drawn his gun and was screaming out orders. 226 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 3: So it's like two half of mails. Either one of 227 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 3: us are back and now, and before I knew it, it 228 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 3: had just escalated. I knew I had a gun on me, 229 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 3: I'm all house arrest, I got so this is gonna 230 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 3: send me right back to prison. It just wasn't happen, 231 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 3: and I did what I felt that I had to 232 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 3: do at the time. I pulled out my gun and fired. 233 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 2: Both deputies fired back, and Otis was hitting the arm. 234 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 2: He ran to his car, which was parked across the 235 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 2: street with a trunk full of guns, remember, and he 236 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 2: grabbed an M fourteen, a semi automatic rifle. Otis said 237 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 2: that Kenchin was being more aggressive than English, who was 238 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 2: calling for help on his radio. So Otis went hard 239 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 2: after Kenchin, who tried to take cover behind the black 240 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 2: Mercedes that was parked on the street. Then Kenchin fell, 241 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 2: Otis walked over to him. 242 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 3: I remember him telling me that he had a child 243 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 3: and he was explaining to me, man, don't do it. 244 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 3: You know, I got a little girl, and he was 245 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 3: telling the other stuff. And at the time, I mean, 246 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 3: you just shot me. You don't understand, like you know, 247 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 3: we don't you know, we don't flit to the point 248 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 3: of no retire. Now you just you know, shot me. 249 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 3: I'm sitting up here a bloody mess. I'm bleeding on 250 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 3: the head and also so I'm thinking that I'll shot 251 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 3: in the head. But it wasn't a bullet at all. 252 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 3: It was a piece of land from the car that 253 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 3: had large in the side of my head. So but 254 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 3: I didn't know it at the time. So I stood 255 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 3: over him and I shot him in the growing. 256 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 2: Otis said. He turned to find English and saw him 257 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 2: running away toward the field next to the mast Jit 258 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 2: and then shot and bloody. Amped up on adrenaline, Otis 259 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 2: forgot his car was there and started looking for help. 260 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 3: Well, you go through a situation like that, you know, 261 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 3: when you're shooting at people and people are shooting at you, 262 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 3: you can't be a little outside of you, said, I'm 263 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 3: not going to say out of a body's fan, but 264 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 3: you kind of get outside of yourself. So I got 265 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 3: a little confused for a second. 266 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 2: Eventually, Otis came back to his senses, he found his car, 267 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 2: and he drove home. This was a wild story, but 268 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 2: in some ways it made more sense than the story 269 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 2: we had heard about AmAm Jamil. Otis had a track 270 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 2: record of shooting people with little provocation. He was a hothead, 271 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 2: and he didn't have as much to lose as a 272 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 2: Mam Jamial. Still, something was definitely off about the guy 273 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 2: he'd pled guilty to writing letters to public officials threatening 274 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 2: to kill them unless they accepted his confession and freedom. 275 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 2: Ma'am Jamil, that's why he was in prison. But like 276 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 2: I said, some powerful people were convinced he was telling 277 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 2: the truth. It helped a Mam Jamil get access to 278 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 2: a new legal process that could potentially get him out 279 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 2: of prison. It took the judge seven years to reject 280 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 2: a Ma'am Jamil's habeas appeal, the one in Tattnall County, Georgia, 281 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 2: where it came out that the ankle monitor did not 282 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 2: prove Otis Jackson was at home during the shootout. The 283 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 2: judge rejected the appeal in twenty eleven. AmAm Jamil's lawyers 284 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 2: kept at it, though, appealing to higher courts. But I'll 285 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 2: just tell you now, all of those habeas appeals were rejected. 286 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 2: The odds of an inmate winning any type of release 287 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,400 Speaker 2: on a habeas claim are very very slim. But then 288 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 2: in Yeahanuary of twenty twenty, almost two decades after the shootout, 289 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 2: a new path opened up for a Mam Jmial, new 290 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:14,160 Speaker 2: hope for him and his supporters. The Fulton County DA 291 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 2: created something called the Conviction Integrity Unit, or the CiU. 292 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 2: It's a division within the prosecutor's office that examines cases 293 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 2: from the past looking for wrongful convictions that could be overturned. 294 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 2: When the civil rights legend Andrew Young wrote a letter 295 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,880 Speaker 2: to the Fulton County DA claiming a Maam Jimial was innocent, 296 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:38,639 Speaker 2: he sent it to the CiU. Specifically, Otis Jackson was 297 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 2: a focus of the letter. Young wrote that Otis matched 298 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 2: some eyewitnesses descriptions of the shooter. Otis was violating his 299 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 2: parole and so he had a motive for shooting the deputies. 300 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 2: He had ammunition at home that matched the ammunition used 301 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 2: during the shooting, and he had been convicted of violent 302 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 2: crimes in the past. It seems like Young's letter influenced 303 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 2: the Fulton County DA because we later learned the CiU 304 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 2: was reviewing a Ma'am Jamil's case and the ma'm Jamil 305 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 2: supporters in other corners. They focused on Otis, too, mounting 306 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 2: campaigns to try to convince big media organizations like CNN 307 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,679 Speaker 2: to interview him. A coalition of twenty eight Muslim American 308 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,919 Speaker 2: organizations sent a letter to the Department of Justice that 309 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,199 Speaker 2: also made Otis's confession a focus. But to convince the 310 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 2: DA's office or the courts, Otis's confession alone would never 311 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 2: be enough, especially after all these years. It wouldn't be 312 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 2: enough to convince me either. Any good journalists would want 313 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 2: to find corroboration for a bombshell like this, so we 314 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 2: set out to try to find people who Otis had 315 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 2: encountered or spoken to in the aftermath of the shooting. 316 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 3: I'm coming down from the durn them was now the situation. 317 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,879 Speaker 2: That started in the When Otis returned to his mom's house, 318 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 2: the phone rang. A parole officer was calling to check 319 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 2: on him. Otis told the officer he was just getting 320 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,360 Speaker 2: home from work, but the officer said he still had 321 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 2: to market as a violation. But Otis's mind was elsewhere. 322 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 2: He said he was in pain, bleeding from the gunshot wounds. 323 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 2: He called a neighbor, a nurse who lived across the street, 324 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 2: to come over and fix them up, and two other 325 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 2: women came to lend a hand. A bullet was lodged 326 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 2: in Otis's shoulder, and they extracted it stitched him up. 327 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 2: One of the women gave Otis some painkillers, but advill 328 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 2: or tile and all after a bullet wound. I'm thinking 329 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 2: this had to be excruciating. 330 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 3: Luckily for me, I just happened to know these people, 331 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 3: because if I had not, probably would have died. 332 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 2: The morning after the shootout, Otis said he gave all 333 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,119 Speaker 2: the guns he had to his brother, told him he 334 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 2: didn't want them because he was on parole, and then 335 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 2: he called a reporter at a local TV station. Otis 336 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 2: was worried and Mam Jamil was going to be arrested 337 00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 2: for the shooting. 338 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 6: You got to understand when they when they start artist 339 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 6: saying that this guy did it and they were looking 340 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 6: for this they were looking for him. The first thing 341 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 6: that brought to my mind was, damn, man, they're about 342 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 6: to arrest the wrong person. 343 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 3: I don't want this guy to go to jail for 344 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 3: something I did. That's not right. 345 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 2: When the reporter showed up, Otis said he offered to 346 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 2: give him the bloody clothes he had worn during the shootout, 347 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 2: but the reporter said, look, if you do that, then 348 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,919 Speaker 2: I'd have to turn them over to the police. Otis 349 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 2: didn't like that idea, so he didn't give the reporter 350 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 2: the clothes, but he still agreed to an interview. Meanwhile, 351 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 2: since Otis had violated his parole, law enforcement came to 352 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 2: search his house, and a few weeks later he was 353 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 2: shipped back to Nevada. So that's Otis's story of the 354 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 2: aftermath of the shooting. Plenty of leads to chase down right. First, 355 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 2: we went to the block where Otis was staying with 356 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 2: his mom back in March of two thousand and we 357 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 2: spoke to some of the neighbors. They confirmed that Otis's 358 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,479 Speaker 2: mother lived there, but they didn't know any nurses who 359 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 2: lived nearby in two thousand. No corroboration there. Then we 360 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 2: got a transcription of an interview with Otis's brother. He said, nah, 361 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 2: Otis never gave me any guns. No corroboration there, But 362 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,120 Speaker 2: maybe that's what anyone would say to protect a brother 363 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:21,919 Speaker 2: who gave him a bunch of guns and then confess 364 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 2: to a murder that happened the night before. So next 365 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 2: we tracked down a recording in the local news segment 366 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 2: featuring Otis. One of the man Jamil supporters gave it 367 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 2: to us. They had been monitoring and recording TV news 368 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 2: after the shootout. You are watching eleven or five news 369 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:42,120 Speaker 2: at Viberi as a suspect in the shootings of two deputies. 370 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 7: By its extradition back to. 371 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,919 Speaker 5: Georgia, old friends paint a different picture of a man 372 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 5: accused of murder. 373 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 7: He took a community that was infested with prostitution and 374 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 7: drugs and drug dealers, and he cleaned it up. Good 375 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 7: evening again. 376 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 2: I'm de Otis goes by Silas. Muhammad in the segment 377 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 2: text at the bottom of the screen calls him a 378 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 2: friend of Alamine. From what we've heard, when Otis was 379 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,360 Speaker 2: in Atlanta, he might have stopped by the mass jed 380 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 2: to mix a lot a few times, but a friend 381 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 2: of Alamine. That was probably local TV news stretching the 382 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 2: facts a bit. The story was set up to be 383 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,920 Speaker 2: about someone close to AmAm Jamil and the Weston Masjid 384 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 2: who argued to Ma'am Jamil was a peaceful religious leader. 385 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 7: I know that Jamil a Lamine did not shoot any 386 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 7: police officers that night. 387 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 8: Would you put your hand on the Kuran and say that, yes, 388 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 8: Sir I would. 389 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 7: Would you stake your life on him, yes, Sir I will. 390 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 2: The segment buried at the very end what I would 391 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 2: consider the most important information from the whole thing. 392 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 8: Solace. Mohammad says that there are people in this community 393 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,360 Speaker 8: who revere and respect and love Jamil Abdullah A Lamine, 394 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 8: and that there are people here who would do anything 395 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 8: to protect him, that includes shooting at Fulton County Sheriff's deputies. 396 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,880 Speaker 5: Do you mark if silace, Mohammed says, Alameine didn't pull 397 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 5: the trigger, does he know who did? 398 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 7: Well? 399 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 8: I asked him that and he said he would not 400 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,119 Speaker 8: answer for two reasons. He said he fears self incrimination 401 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,119 Speaker 8: and he also respects the code of silence. But he 402 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:15,120 Speaker 8: did say he hopes and expects that important information will 403 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 8: be revealed during the court process. 404 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,439 Speaker 2: We played this story back for the reporter he's retired now, 405 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 2: and he told us he didn't remember it. That's understandable. 406 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 2: A local TV reporter might do thousands of stories in 407 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 2: their career, and so we asked, did he remember Otis 408 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 2: telling him off the record and off camera that he 409 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 2: had been involved in a recent shooting. No, the reporter said, 410 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 2: and if Otis had told him that, he would have remembered. 411 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,119 Speaker 2: When we asked Otis for his help corroborating his story, 412 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 2: asked him who we should try to talk to and 413 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 2: if he has suggestions for contacting them. He wasn't much help. 414 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:55,959 Speaker 2: Too much time had passed. He said, you're not going 415 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 2: to get anywhere. 416 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 3: If I were in your shoes, I'll probably would scrap 417 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 3: this story and do something else, maybe a story on dogs, 418 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 3: you know, because. 419 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 6: I'm bey honest man, like, you're not gonna have a 420 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 6: lot of people willing to talk about the murd of 421 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:11,840 Speaker 6: a police officer. 422 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,880 Speaker 2: I got a laugh out of that one. Yes, interviewing 423 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 2: folks about their dogs would be easier than what we're doing. 424 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 2: People are not especially willing to share information about a 425 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 2: murder they might be even tangentially connected to. But I 426 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 2: got the sense that Otis was communicating more than that. 427 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:32,399 Speaker 4: Just believe me. 428 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,199 Speaker 2: He seemed to be saying, this story could move mountains 429 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,639 Speaker 2: if people only believed. Some things might work like that. 430 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:41,640 Speaker 2: But journalism isn't one of them, and for the most part, 431 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:51,959 Speaker 2: the legal system isn't either. We uncovered some glaring inconsistencies 432 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 2: between Otis's different accounts of what happened. On March sixteenth, 433 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 2: two thousand, The FBI interviewed Otis in Las Vegas, a 434 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 2: few months after the shoot. According to a summary of 435 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 2: the interview Otis had it all went down during the 436 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 2: day and Maam Jamil was there and when the deputies 437 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 2: pulled up, Otis jumped to his defense. There was a 438 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,239 Speaker 2: fistfight and then the guns came out, but a Maam 439 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 2: Jamil didn't get involved. That's a different story than Otis's 440 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 2: other accounts, and the shootout definitely happened at night. I 441 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:27,960 Speaker 2: just can't trust Otis, And while the Conviction Integrity Unit 442 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 2: or the courts they might at least consider his story, 443 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 2: I don't think they'll ever be able to trust him either. 444 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,120 Speaker 2: Late in our reporting, we learned that in twenty nineteen, 445 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 2: in Florida, Otis was called to testify in a different 446 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 2: high profile murder trial over a Grizzly quadruple murder. He 447 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 2: had made another confession. The judge ordered that a psychologist 448 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:55,200 Speaker 2: evaluate Otis and look into his mental health history. According 449 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 2: to the psychologist's report back in two thousand and six, 450 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 2: Otis showed no symptoms of distress, but in two thousand 451 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,439 Speaker 2: and eight he made repeated requests for mental health treatment, 452 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,880 Speaker 2: and when he was placed in solitary confinement, he began 453 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:14,119 Speaker 2: to report auditory hallucinations. He was hearing voices. Otis was 454 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 2: adamant he was not mentally ill, but a different psychologist 455 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 2: said his symptoms were consistent with bipolar disorder and delusional disorder. 456 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,120 Speaker 2: The psychologists who evaluated Otis wrote that Otis's claims about 457 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 2: his past were quote highly suspect, but that he had 458 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 2: the capacity to testify in the Florida case. He is 459 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 2: a highly intelligent individual, the report said. One time, when 460 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 2: I was trying to wrap my head around all of this, 461 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 2: I just let my imagination run wild. I started thinking 462 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,440 Speaker 2: about how some people who hear voices say they're experiencing 463 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,120 Speaker 2: a broader reality through their mind's ear that the rest 464 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:55,199 Speaker 2: of us can't sense. And I thought, Wow, what if 465 00:26:55,560 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 2: Otis slash Silas Mohammad slash James Santos keeps infesting the 466 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 2: crimes he was there for, but not really there for 467 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 2: until And this is where I really let my imagination 468 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 2: run wild. By some epiphany, Otis learns to control his 469 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 2: powers and emerges from the darkest prisons as a force 470 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,880 Speaker 2: for good. Otis Jackson is a comic book superhero cool 471 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 2: origin story. Right, No, it doesn't make a lick of sense, 472 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 2: but he got me thinking there might be a place 473 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:28,920 Speaker 2: in this story about AmAm Jamil for a more intentional 474 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 2: use of imagination. A ma'am Jamil was a magnet for 475 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 2: people who couldn't distinguish between made up stories and what 476 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 2: was happening before their eyes, whose fantasies would float out 477 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 2: into the world and have very real consequences. Otis is 478 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,920 Speaker 2: maybe the most extreme example, but he wasn't the only one. 479 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 2: If I can't escape this mythological realm, maybe I should 480 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 2: learn to play with it. A departure from the realm 481 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,640 Speaker 2: of journalism, for sure, but maybe it would do some good. 482 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:06,239 Speaker 2: But for now, back to reality. Otis responded to one 483 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 2: of our letters a few months ago, but he hasn't 484 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 2: called us in months. He never came out and told 485 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 2: Johnny I'm done with these interviews, but on one of 486 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 2: their later calls, Otis said. 487 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:20,400 Speaker 3: This, I'm to a point, man, where really I'm kind 488 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,920 Speaker 3: of I'm kind of tired of talking about it. For real. 489 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 3: I've got to a point where I feel like it 490 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 3: is what it is. Man. I got a release date. 491 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 3: They're gonna let me out of prison, so I don't 492 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 3: really see the need to, you know, keep repeating something 493 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 3: over and over and over and over and over again, 494 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 3: especially where when there's no real benefit for me. So 495 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 3: why I keep doing that? 496 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 2: I do think that a part of Otis really believes 497 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 2: what he's saying, and for some reason, the story took 498 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 2: holding a fragment of his personality. His reality is so 499 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 2: real for him he do almost anything to make others 500 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 2: see it. But after hours of listening to Otis's voice, 501 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 2: I wanted to get back to the documents, and in 502 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 2: the thousands of pages we had, there were a few 503 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 2: that I needed to spend more time with. Years ago, 504 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 2: a man Jamil recounted his version of what happened the 505 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 2: night of the shootout, and I turned there next. At 506 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 2: the time of this recording, a mam Jamil Elamine is 507 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 2: seventy nine years old and he's still in prison, a 508 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 2: federal prisoner in Arizona, equipped to provide medical care. He 509 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 2: got out of Adax, Florence because he was sick. It 510 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 2: may be obvious by now, but this feels like the 511 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 2: time to say it. I wasn't able to interview him. 512 00:29:54,280 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 2: I wrote to him, but I didn't hear back. AmAm 513 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 2: Jamil didn't testify during his murder trial, but during one 514 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 2: of his appeals the one in Tattneau County back in 515 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,080 Speaker 2: two thousand and seven. He gave his account under oath 516 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 2: and on the record of what happened on March sixteenth, 517 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 2: two thousand. AmAm Jamil said that earlier in the day, 518 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:26,960 Speaker 2: hours before the shootout, he had a run in with 519 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,479 Speaker 2: some young folks in the neighborhood who were selling drugs. 520 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 2: AmAm Jamil hated drugs, hated them since his days as 521 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 2: Rat Brown. He saw them as a scourge on the 522 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 2: black community and part of a government conspiracy to keep 523 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 2: up potentially rebellious population sedated. During his testimony, he said 524 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 2: the western neighborhood near the Maschiff had been infested with 525 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 2: drugs at least until the brothers led by him started 526 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 2: exerting their influence, and this had made him some enemies. 527 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 2: As evening approached on the night of the shooting, a 528 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 2: man Jamil had dinner with his family at Red Life. Afterward, 529 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 2: he wanted to check the mail, so he drove back 530 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 2: to the West End and parked his car near the 531 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 2: Masjed in the store, He got out of the car 532 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 2: and he was in the empty field next to the 533 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 2: mass Jed, walking towards the back entrance when he said 534 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 2: he heard two pistol shots and then many more rounds 535 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:22,280 Speaker 2: of gunfire. A Maam Jamil didn't look back. He said 536 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 2: he went into safety mode, thinking the drug dealers were 537 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 2: after him. He got low and ran behind the mass Jed. 538 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 2: Then he kept running through the neighborhood he knew well. 539 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 2: He went in a loop behind houses, through backyards and 540 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 2: cuts until he arrived back at the store that's across 541 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 2: the street from the mass Jed. The gunfire had stopped 542 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 2: and he didn't see anyone else around. He got in 543 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 2: his Mercedes and he drove off. AmAm Jamil said he 544 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 2: initially intended to drive home, but then thinking the drug 545 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 2: dealers were after him, he decided and said to go 546 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 2: to Lowndes County, Alabama, the location of a smaller Muslim 547 00:31:55,800 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 2: community he founded. An attorney for the state arguing against 548 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 2: a Ma'am Jamial's appeal asked why he didn't call the police, 549 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 2: and Maam Jamial said the mask Jed had a quote 550 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 2: security arrangement. Instead of calling the police, the first people 551 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 2: he would have spoken to would have been meant on 552 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 2: the mass Jed security force, who were supposed to be 553 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 2: on duty that night. Over the years. This is not 554 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:27,120 Speaker 2: one that has haunted you or that you think about 555 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,960 Speaker 2: or no. Brett Zembric, the Atlanta Police Department detective who 556 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 2: investigated the shootout, he was one of the first people 557 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 2: I interviewed. A lot of what Brett said was in 558 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 2: my head when I reviewed a Mam Jamial's testimony. 559 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 9: I don't have any doubts about this case. I never 560 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 9: had any doubts about this case. It was a case that, 561 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 9: you know, these guys got shot. They just happened to 562 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 9: be wearing badges and guns, and this is who shot him, 563 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 9: and he just happened to be someone that had some notariety. 564 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 9: There's absolutely no no thought whatsoever that there's somebody else involved, 565 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:07,239 Speaker 9: that there's you know, a conspiracy to get a trip 566 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:09,440 Speaker 9: who wins there? I mean, what was he doing that 567 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 9: was so you know, dramatic that we needed to get 568 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 9: him off the street at any cost. 569 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 2: I don't get it. 570 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 9: So, you know, based on what I know about the incident, 571 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,800 Speaker 9: what I've been told, what I see, and what the 572 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 9: test results are, I have no doubt in my mind 573 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 9: that you know, Jamil all means shot these two deputies 574 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 9: killed one of them. I don't think for a minute 575 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 9: that he needs another trial or you know, another chance 576 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 9: at you know, doing good. I think what happened happened, 577 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 9: and the punishment fits a crime, and I'm glad. 578 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:53,720 Speaker 2: He's doing the time. When I left Brett's house, I thought, 579 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 2: I can't really argue as much of what he said. 580 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 2: It became even harder for me to believe that a 581 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 2: man Jamil had a confer with drug dealers that ultimately 582 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 2: blossomed into a vast conspiracy, a conspiracy that's been kept 583 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 2: secret all these years. But after I looked more closely 584 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,520 Speaker 2: at the trial transcripts and the documents we got from 585 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:15,399 Speaker 2: the DA's office, and after I talked to people who 586 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,520 Speaker 2: were part of the mass did and who lived in 587 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,319 Speaker 2: the West End, I became convinced that there was more 588 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 2: to what happened that night than what was revealed in 589 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 2: court or even in all the documents we'd obtained. When 590 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 2: I asked the man Jamil's defense attorneys, Tony Axim and 591 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,440 Speaker 2: Jack Martin for their theories of what happened, it only 592 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 2: confirmed my suspicion. Here's Axom, I can't tell you that 593 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:38,800 Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to that. 594 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,000 Speaker 10: And I said, there with a smile. I have no theories, 595 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,160 Speaker 10: have no theories, can't answer. I don't know the answer 596 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 10: question I wish I did. My memory is totally blank. 597 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,280 Speaker 2: That might be one of the most entertaining NOE commet 598 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,800 Speaker 2: responses that I've ever gotten in my career. Jack Martin 599 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 2: was more helpful. 600 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 4: I seriously think that it's possible, not just possible, but 601 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 4: likely that al I mean was confronted by these officers 602 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:18,759 Speaker 4: and there was a lot of yelling and screaming, and 603 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,879 Speaker 4: that somebody is supporting the community. Maybe it's Otis Jacks, 604 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:28,040 Speaker 4: and maybe somebody else saw that and thought all means 605 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:36,759 Speaker 4: in trouble and did something stupid. All I mean was 606 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:45,759 Speaker 4: reluctant to present a case forcely that somebody else did. 607 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,440 Speaker 4: He was trying to protect that person. He thought that 608 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 4: would involve him, and it would some extent, but it 609 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:59,279 Speaker 4: would it would defeat the murder charge. So I understood that. 610 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 4: So I don't think we pressed that as hard as 611 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 4: we perhaps should have, but we let the jury sort 612 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 4: of linger out there over that issue. 613 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:13,160 Speaker 2: We let the jury sort of linger out there over 614 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:17,759 Speaker 2: that issue. Martin said, I'm not bringing in all this 615 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,719 Speaker 2: information from Martin. It's just another way to raise doubt 616 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,839 Speaker 2: about whether a man, Jimial shot the two deputies. It's 617 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 2: something I've heard on and off the record that maybe 618 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,239 Speaker 2: someone else was there, that the West End was the 619 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 2: kind of neighborhood where people confronted trouble with guns blazing. 620 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,520 Speaker 2: Everybody knew he was a dangered person, and my friend said, Hey, 621 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 2: what hell you do. 622 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 7: Don't get in the call with that motherfucker because they 623 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 7: know you'll come at when a murricane. 624 00:36:46,880 --> 00:37:08,480 Speaker 2: That's on the next episode of Radical. Radical is a 625 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 2: production of Campside Media, Tenderfoot TV, and iHeart Podcasts. Radical 626 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:16,760 Speaker 2: was reported and written by Johnny Kaufman and me Mosey's Secret. 627 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:22,320 Speaker 2: Johnnykauffman is our senior producer. Shepa Joseph is our associate producer. 628 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:27,200 Speaker 2: Editing by Eric Benson, Johnny Couffman, Emily Martinez and Matt Cher. 629 00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:32,360 Speaker 2: Fact checking by Sophie Hurwitz, Kaylin Lynch, and Layla Dos. 630 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:35,800 Speaker 2: Original music by Kyle Murdoch and by Ray Murray of 631 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 2: Organized Noise, Sound design and mixing by Kevin Seaman. Recording 632 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:44,480 Speaker 2: by Ewan Leed trem Ewen and Sheba Joseph. Campside Media's 633 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:50,320 Speaker 2: operations team is Doug Slaywan, Ashley Warren, Elijah Papes, Destiny Dingle, 634 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:54,799 Speaker 2: and Sabina Merra. The executive producers at Campside Media are 635 00:37:54,920 --> 00:38:00,160 Speaker 2: Josh Dean, Vanessa, Gregoriatis, Adam Hoff, and Matt Cher. For 636 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:04,280 Speaker 2: Tenderfoot TV, executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. 637 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:08,480 Speaker 2: The executive producers at iHeart Podcasts are Matt Frederick and 638 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:11,640 Speaker 2: Alex Williams, with additional support from Trevor Young,