WEBVTT - #472 Jason Flom with Kevin Dykes 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:08.880 We initially released Kevin Dyk's story on September fourteenth, twenty twenty, 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.640 and an update in August of twenty twenty one. Since then, 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:15.800 our understanding is that some powerful people in the Los 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.880 Angeles District Attorney's Office under the leadership of George Gascon, 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:24.080 listened to our coverage and agreed that Kevin deserved relief. 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.920 He was resentenced, paroled, and released from prison on February 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:33.879 twenty first, twenty twenty four. We are so happy that 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.320 he is finally home where he belongs, as we continue 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:43.159 to hope for his full exoneration. Please check the episode description. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.440 There's a link to his cash ap. He needs our 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.040 help as he struggles to get his life back together 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:52.519 after thirty eight long years in prison. Here's our coverage 0:00:52.560 --> 0:01:00.080 of his story. As a child, in the late nineteen seventies, 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:02.760 Kevin Dykes accidentally killed his best friend when they were 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:06.640 playing with a gun, sending him to juvie for involuntary manslaughter. 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:09.360 When he got out, he turned to petty drug dealing 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:13.560 in Compton, California. Fast forward to nineteen eighty six. After 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.560 a terrible assault that led to a four month hospital stint, 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.000 Kevin continued peddling drugs from his temporary wheelchair for two 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:23.080 men named Slim and Hondo. Kevin rented a bed and 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:25.800 a trailer home in his landlord's driveway, where Slim and 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.720 Hondo occasionally hit weapons. That June, two incidents occurred just 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:34.440 days apart, resulting in one murder and two attempted murders. 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:37.320 The first during a party, when Kevin booted his friend 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.960 Ephram for being belligerently drunk. Slim and Hondo followed he from, 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:45.160 stabbing him several times. A neighborhood mother, Missus Bradley, came 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:49.120 to Ephraim's aid, only to get stabbed as well. Kevin intervened, 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.160 jumping from his wheelchair to stop the assault before it 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:56.000 turned fatal. A few days later, Slim and Hondo accused 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.960 Kevin's friend Otis Perry of stealing their gun from Kevin's trailer, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:04.440 stabbing him eighty one times. Unable to stop the murderous 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:07.320 frenzy and fearing for his own life, Kevin helped them 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.160 clean up before going to the police a few hours later. 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:13.520 A few days after that, Kevin was arrested for cocaine 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.000 possession and put into a special holding tank for state's witnesses. 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:21.320 Then three jailhouse snitches claimed that Kevin had confessed to 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.600 all three attacks in exchange for leniency in their own cases. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.480 Kevin Dykes is serving life in prison on the word 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:35.200 of three notorious jailhouse snitches. This is Wrongful Conviction with 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:44.040 Jason flamm Wrongful Conviction has always given voice to innocent 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.320 people in prison, and now we're expanding that voice to you. 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:51.239 Call us at eight three three two O seven four 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.640 six sixty six and tell us how these stories make 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:56.160 you feel and what you've done to help the cause, 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:58.959 even if it's something as simple as telling a friend 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.200 or sharing out social media, and you might just hear 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.959 yourself in a future episode. Call us A three three 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:08.000 two O seven four six sixty six. 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.160 This is Global taill Link. You have a prepaid call 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:25.760 from care an inmate at the California State Prison, Los 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:30.600 Angeles County, Lancaster, California. This call and your telephone number 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.160 will be monitored and recorded. To accept this call, say 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:39.840 or dial five now. Thank you for using globaltaill Link. 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:43.440 Welcome back to Wrawful Conviction with Jason Flomp. Today we 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.320 have an incredible story, so we're going to get right 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:48.520 into it, and I'm going to introduce you first to 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:54.520 Stephen K. Howser. He's a criminal defense attorney representing the 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:58.280 star of this episode, Kevin Diyke. Stephen, Welcome to Wrongful Conviction. 0:03:58.760 --> 0:03:59.960 Thank you, glad to be here. 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.200 And Kevin Dykes is on the phone with us from prison, 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.160 and I hope we'll be able to do something about 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.720 his situation because it is awful. Kevin. I'm sorry you're 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.600 here where you are, but I'm happy you're here with 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:13.920 us today. So thank you for. 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.440 Being here, no problem, thank you for the opportunity. 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:20.200 This case goes back to Compton nineteen eighty six, and 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:24.800 it's got so much that you'll think I'm talking about 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.479 a movie script that would be too much to be believed, 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.800 except for it's real. It's got gangster's name Hondo and Slim. 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:33.479 It's got drugs, it's got snitches that ended up on 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:37.520 sixty minutes. It's got laws that changed, and victims who 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.960 testified that this was not the guy who did it. 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.000 It's got a guy who's in prison for three and 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.760 a half decades with no evidence against him except the 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:49.320 testimony of jailhouse snitches who have recanted their testimony. It 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.800 is nuts, but it's true. So let's get right into it. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:57.560 And Kevin, let's start with you going back to your 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:00.200 youth because you grew up in common. 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.839 Right, Yes, I grew up good, two pay at homes 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.560 in the pop Water Sport. I actually had a real 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:11.720 good up bringing until I, uh, I think it's actually 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:15.919 saying I ended up actually killing my best friend. I 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.000 went for a voluntary man father, and I was sick too. 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.200 And for those of you who don't know, YA or 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.560 CYA is the California Youth Authority. 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.640 As I understand it, your friend's death was entirely accidental, 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.760 just two kids who made a big mistake playing with 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.800 a gun. But they still sent your way to Julie 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.400 for involuntary manslaughter. And I also understand that you harbor 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:41.960 a lot of guilt about this. Even though the family 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.159 forgave you, yes. 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:46.920 Just family, they stayed them directly across the street from 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.640 my family, even to the day, still film the same street. 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.640 Although the family had for given me, written me letters 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.960 and come to see me. When I got out, I 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:01.920 saw what idea to that family, and I didn't know 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:05.359 how to process. Although my mother and my father my 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:07.840 grandmother and all kind of people were trying to help me. 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.960 I didn't know how to ask for their help that 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.920 I actually needed. So I got Digris, a little deck grid. 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:16.320 To the King. 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.000 So the guilt kind of derailed your potential, it seems. 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.600 And after Juvie, you start dealing drugs and looking outside 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.920 of what seemed like a supportive home for whatever it 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:31.960 was that you felt you needed, acceptance, identity, whatever, out 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.520 in the street. So fast forward to January nineteen eighty six. 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:39.600 Some other really bad stuff happens January eighteenth. 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:41.880 So I try to kiddingap me. They try to cheat 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.600 them in front of my house. I followed. They ran 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:46.840 me through a brick wall. They both my inter smashed 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.040 my failings. So I went to the hospital January eighteenth 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.320 in dollars to May twenties. When I got out of 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.320 the hospital, I was in a wheelchair and I had 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.200 a walker, and I was going to a therapy. 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:01.520 Yes, someone tried to kidnap Kevin. So you fought them off, 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.240 and they ended up hitting you with their car against 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.479 a brick wall, broke your hips, snapped your pelvis, and 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.320 put you in the hospital for four months. I mean, 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.920 you're lucky to even be alive. And we haven't even 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.600 gotten to the part that has you locked up right now. Okay, 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:21.520 so it's May nineteen eighty six. You're temporarily in this 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:26.720 wheelchair doing physical therapy and dealing drugs for these two 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.239 mid level management drug dealers named Slim and Hondo. 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.880 Slim and Hondo decided that they were going to take 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:38.760 over the local drug sales. I believe they helped Kevin 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.440 and some of his friends with small amounts of cocaine 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:47.080 to sell in the neighborhood, and they would periodically show 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:51.760 up and I guess resupply the local sellers, including Kevin 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:52.760 and Kevin. 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.040 You were renting a place to stay from a man 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:58.040 named mister Bryce. You were renting a bed in this 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.000 mobile home that's sat in his driveway right. 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:03.560 Yeah, I was standing mister Bryce's mobile hole. We had 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.480 a mobile home. They had like six days in a 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.240 shower and all that stuff inside. It was parked in 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.360 the driveway. Sometimes my friends used to places to stay. 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:14.920 They had like six paces where he suld be sleeping there. 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.600 So Otis would come in and sleeping. 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:22.600 There, and Otis is Otis Perry, who occasionally stayed at 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.880 mister Bryce's mobile home, and he's the one that was 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:30.480 eventually stabbed like slimon Hondo for taking the gun that 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:31.920 they had left in the trailer. 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.600 The night that these two attempting murders occurred outside a 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:37.280 party at mister Bryce's house. 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.200 Yes, oldly, my cousin Pam was inside the mobile home. 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.160 I was inside the house where the party was there 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.600 when the fighting, when the fight after, so I didn't 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:49.679 know this was out there at the time. And I 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.880 know Slim pulled up. They knew mister Bryce didn't allow 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:55.680 guns in his house, but they heard a gun in 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:59.320 the mobile home with my cousin and Olsted. But I 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:01.400 still didn't know and about that at that time. 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.440 Okay, So now the stage is finally set for these 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.880 crimes to take place. This is we're talking June nineteenth, 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.319 nineteen eighty six. There's a little party going on at 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:15.360 mister Bryce's. Your friend Otis and your cousin Pam are 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.520 in the mobile home in the driveway. Slim and Hondo, 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:22.480 your bosses, come to hang out, but out of respect 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:25.840 for mister Bryce, they leave their gun in the mobile home. 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:29.120 Then your friend Ephraim is at the party and he 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.559 is drunk, to say the least. 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:37.440 Wellphim is my older homeboy. He was being religerate and 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:40.280 wrestle with the females. I was up in there and 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.880 grabbing drinks and didn't belong to him, and I told 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.720 the man go down to the pool man, keep back. 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.720 I got he kept home. So I got pissed off 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.880 and I hate him once and when I hate him, 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.080 Hondo slim. Both of them attackly be some of them. 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:00.000 I here's what they see, he said. I didn't understand, 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.600 and why did they get involved in there? Here's what 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:07.760 they said. Because I could barely walked. They people were 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:09.800 taking advantage of my disability. 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:14.400 Oh okay, so your drug bosses are sticking up for you, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.880 but then they go way beyond what you would ever 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:18.880 want them to do. 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.520 Yes, So once I stuck some both of them attacking, 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:26.800 I got them to stop. Told these communities. He left, 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.160 and then they take him down the street. They caught 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.560 him at the end of the corner. Once I got 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:36.120 down there, I saw that they was actually stabbing. When 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:40.880 I Hando leaving alone, Hondo, he looked up and saw me. 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.800 But when he saw me, he saw this Bradley. Behind 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:47.360 me was Brady as my older home was mother. When 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:49.319 she looked up and saw that it was her son, 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.319 she tried to turn it around. He ran her down, 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.240 grabbed her by her address, and saw her stabbing her. 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.440 I hopped my way to him and grabbed him to 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.120 see him off of her, and once an hour Holy 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.959 she got loose. We gave you from time to shut up, 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.280 and then I got to toil that she should the 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.199 call and drove them off. I drove off to a 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:16.200 motive and then I came back to Hic and Missus Bradley. 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:18.360 But the Amma's already came and it was the hospital. 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:23.800 So you basically saved Missus Bradley and Ephraim from being 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.240 murdered by Slim and Hondo by convincing them to stop 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.000 stabbing them and drive away from the scene. But this 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:35.120 incident on June nineteenth is what becomes two charges of 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:39.800 attempted murder that gets stuck on you, the guy confined 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:45.720 to a wheelchair at the time. Yeah, okay, so Slim 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:50.240 and Hondo stabbed both Ephraim and Missus Bradley. You drove 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.079 them to a motel. At some point, your friend otis 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.000 back at the mobile home takes the gun Slim and 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.319 Hondo had left behind. Not too smart, by the way, 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.280 because Slim and knew who was in the mobile home 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.640 when they stashed it in the first place, so they 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.000 come looking for Otis on June twenty thirty. 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:12.400 June twenty thirty, he came over looking for Otis like 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.400 one something in the morning. They said, come outsire, I'm 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.920 gonna go and kill Oldis. I didn't know Otis was 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.160 out here in the motor home. So when I went 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:24.120 out to the front yard going to the motor opened, 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:28.400 Oldis stepped out. Hanolds attacked Otis said may with my gun. 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:30.600 He said, we can go get it. He said, too late, 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.760 and they attashing. They started fighting. ODIs was fighting back, 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:35.199 but they were fighting him from the side of the 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.760 mobile hole and went around the garage, and that was 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:40.080 the first time I saw him being stashed. And I 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:43.240 came back from around there. I wasn't neighboring one or 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:45.920 whatever it's so didn't say nothing and just listener to 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.840 everything that was going on. And I don't know how 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.400 the much time passed, but gave Honolds came from around 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.839 there and it was no more noise. I was wondering 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:57.599 it okay, now what He said, uh woo something, you 0:12:57.679 --> 0:12:59.960 got some revenue, And then I gave him my blak 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.240 so him a swim went behind the babe and wrapped 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.320 him up, drugged him out and put him in the car. 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.520 And instead of hear him, the slim boy, he said, 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.040 you swim, you stay here watching out all the blood 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:15.560 that was coming from behind the motherwll and showed me 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.560 to get in the car and ride with him. So 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.320 I took him over through my own boys neighborhood by 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.439 the canail, and that's where he jumped in and I said, look, 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:26.480 I'll be back. I left it deb came back. 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.280 And what would you tell anyone listening now who's wondering 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.040 why you played any part in getting rid of the 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:35.480 body with Slim and Hondo. 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:36.160 I did. 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:38.920 With any reasonable person not trying to die, I would 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.840 have done. I have seen what I saw. I knew 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.160 I gotta do something that made myself a part of 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.200 what's going on. And I wasn't as physically able to 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.800 do nothing to prevent myself from being killed. And I 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.360 expressed that that was the smartest thing that I could 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:59.520 have done at the time for myself, instead of doing nothing. 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.080 If you had done nothing at all. What do you 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.240 think Slim and Honda would have done? 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:07.720 I was a little bit too afraid to find out. 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.880 I was in a position where something happened to my 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:17.400 free and Donald Ross, and I knew what I thought 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.120 was the best thing to do for my silks. They're 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.680 not two folders now. 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:37.480 This episode is underwritten by Paul Weiss, Rifkin, Porton and Garrison, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.160 a leading international law firm. Paul Weiss has long had 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:45.440 an unwavering commitment to providing impactful, pro bono legal assistance 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.000 to the most vulnerable members of our society and in 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:51.840 support of the public interest, including extensive work in the 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:59.040 criminal justice area. You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.600 listen to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.960 one week early and ad free by subscribing to Lava 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:17.200 for Good Plus on Apple podcasts. Otis's murder eventually gets 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.800 pinned on you, the guy who was only able to 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:25.120 watch or listen helplessly as your friend got stabbed to death. 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:29.480 And then, in order to save your own life, you 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.280 did what probably any of us would have done. You 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.400 played along with Slim and Hondo until you could get away. 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.080 I would not want to have been in your shoes. 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.840 At that point, you just lost your friend. Otis you 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.040 had to contend with the question of to snitch or 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.920 not to snitch on like a sophie's choice on these 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:49.880 two murderous drug dealers. 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:53.320 Definitely, I was sign the process. What just happened to 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:57.240 show sixty seven o'clock in the morning. That's when I 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:00.760 saw the police told that you got who there was? 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.320 One always said come over here and look at Moved 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.640 and Blake, and I knew it was. I said, I 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:09.240 know where he lives, to the little mother's house. And 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:11.520 then when we came back to the scene, I asked 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:14.480 my saying, look if I had any information, talk on 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.840 my contract, and he gave me his car. I took 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.080 your car, rode a mile two whiles and I went 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:23.880 to the phone boof and then I called the police 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:25.960 to look and I told everything the thing needs to 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:27.920 know and told him while I was there, they came 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:30.200 and picked me up, took me out to the station 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:33.280 and I made the tape and then once I made 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.000 the take, they let me go. I went back home. 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:40.080 So you made a statement to a sergeant Sergeant Preston, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.160 and you're going to be a witness and Steve, maybe 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.360 you can tell us about the next part of the story, 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.280 which is how Kevin was picked up for cocaine possessions. 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:52.640 Sometime later and while in the state's witness holding area 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:57.360 of La County Jail, he eventually meets three guys who 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.240 are responsible for him being in this horle ruble predicament today. 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:04.679 What happened was Kevin got arrested for a possession of 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.439 cocaine charge and because he was the main witness against 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.880 Slim and Hondo on a murder case, they put him 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:16.840 in with other prosecution witnesses and it's commonly called the 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:21.159 snitch Tank, which is a separate jail from the men's 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:25.320 central jail. And while Kevin was in there, he told 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:30.480 his cellmate, Willie Battle and the guy that was in 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.879 the next cel over, Jesse Williams. He told them what 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.760 actually happened because they asked, and that's very common in jail, 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:41.920 what are he in for? And they exchanged information, but 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.120 this time it only came from Kevin. He told him 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:49.480 what happened, and they twisted it around and ran with it. 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.280 And then they called the Compton Police Department and asked 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:56.080 them if they had a murder case where the body 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.919 was found by a canal. They called it a canal, 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:03.040 it's really a drainage. And they put him in contact 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:07.679 with Detective Marvin Branscombe, who was not Sergeant Preston, who 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:11.480 Kevin gave the statement to, and they convinced Branscomb that 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:14.640 what they had to say was true, which they said 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.280 that Kevin confessed to these tempted murders and murder. 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.520 They say, we got a guy out here bragging about 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.400 chilling his guy and sad with lady telling this time, 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.240 don't kill it. So I end up all from being 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:32.480 the actual witness now being the actual killer. 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.600 So Kevin became a defendant instead of the prosecution witness. 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:38.800 And they moved him out of the snitch tank to 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.080 another part of the jail. So Kevin's transferred over to 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:46.080 the central jail, and then he met a very notorious 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.320 nitch named Leslie White. And I get a call from 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:53.600 Leslie White. I'd never heard of Leslie White. Leslie White says, 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:59.120 I understand you're defending Kevin Dykes and that he has 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.600 been rare it out by two snitches. And I said, 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:06.200 that's exactly right. He says, well, I can help you. 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:08.400 You come down here and I'm going to tell you 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:12.360 all about the snitch system and how it works. Okay. 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:14.720 So I go down to the jail. I talked to 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.679 Leslie White. He tells me about how inmates get a 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:24.680 hold of paperwork and change facts and get a hold 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.439 of the detective or DA that's handling a particular murder case. 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:34.160 And because they know these unique facts, they can convince 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:38.000 the detective or district attorney that's handling the case that 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.480 this confession was a valid confession. So I said, well, 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:43.800 that sounds good, Okay, I'll put you on the witness list, 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:48.639 mister White. So about a week or two later, I 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:52.480 get the witness list from the district attorney and Leslie 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:56.320 White is on there as a people's witness. And not 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.720 only that, I get a report that says that Kevin 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:05.600 Ike's confessed to Leslie White. And I'm flabbergasted because I 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:08.320 just talked to Leslie White and he was going to 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.119 be a witness for Kevin. So I go down to 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:14.640 the jail and I call out Leslie White and he's 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:16.480 willing to come and talk to me, and I said, 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:19.920 what do you are? You a witness? For the prosecution. Now, 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:24.040 he says, yep, I said, well, you know that Kevin's innocent. 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:26.840 Why do you doing what? How can you do that? 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.520 And he says, well, man's got to do what he's 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:32.760 got to do. That's what he said. 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:36.280 I gotta be honest. My head is spinning and I 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.000 didn't even live through this. I mean, this is Kevin. 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.439 I mean, I'm so sorry that you're living this is 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:43.639 this is your life we're talking about. 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:48.280 I didn't actually believe that what was going on was 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.680 even possible. I didn't think that there's doub would hold. 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:57.159 I'm like, what, Oh, I'm an actual eye witness. The 0:20:57.400 --> 0:20:59.960 guys they don't know none about rally, but none about 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:03.600 what actually happened. So I didn't really believe the people 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:05.480 could do what they were what they were doing to me. 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:07.600 I had never even heard about that before. 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:10.480 I mean, this is this is like nothing. I don't 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.760 think we've ever heard a story like this before. So Steven, 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:15.040 what happens next? 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:18.840 When we got to court, all they had was his 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:24.480 statement to Sergeant Preston and three snitches, and I couldn't 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:28.960 believe that they would even want to proceed with this evidence. 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:33.639 But they did, and just before the verdict was issued, 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:35.800 I told Kevin, I said, now, Kevin, when you get 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.359 out of here, you've got to change your ways, be 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:41.879 a law abiding citizen and then used to society and 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.240 he said, yeah, came mister Houser, I'm going to do that, 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:49.840 came back guilty. We were both floored. 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:53.000 You were sentenced to twenty four years to life. Here 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.240 it is now twenty twenty. You're still in Could you 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:59.360 just take us back there, put us in that courtroom 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:00.000 with you if you can't. 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:05.760 I actually could not believe the verdant. You know, I 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:10.600 actually didn't a crime. I just see how it was possible. Yeah, 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:14.880 I was after eyewitness. I came for I gave him 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:18.840 everything they needed, all evidence to call, the weapons. The 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:24.080 people he from testify that I didn't attacking. He from 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:27.440 will stand like thirty three times and he's test fired 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:31.200 I didn't attack him, and it testified that I didn't 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:35.000 attack Ms. Browning. That was my friend mother. There was 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:37.280 nobody there that said I. 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:41.720 Can't anybody but this And this is something I really 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:44.040 need to highlight here, which is that if you go 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:47.920 in a jury box and you're presented with a case 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:50.000 where someone's life is hanging in the balance, just like 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:54.199 Kevin's was, and there's no evidence connecting that person's at 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:58.240 a crime except for the testimony of a snitch. You 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:02.600 cannot vote to con because it's crazy. I mean, these 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.280 are people who are clearly incentivized. They may not tell 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:07.280 you that at the time, but you have to understand 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:09.879 that the defense can never bribe a witness. That's it. 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:12.439 That's a crime punishable by long time in jail. But 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:16.119 the government can make a deal with a snitch to 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:20.240 reduce their charges or drop their charges in exchange for testimony. 0:23:20.400 --> 0:23:24.000 And that is the best bribe of all. So it's 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:27.800