1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:22,756 Speaker 1: Pushkin Before we begin, a warning this episode contains material 2 00:00:22,836 --> 00:00:27,476 Speaker 1: that may be upsetting to some listeners. The facts of 3 00:00:27,516 --> 00:00:30,716 Speaker 1: the case in State v. Johnson, as described by the 4 00:00:30,756 --> 00:00:35,276 Speaker 1: alleged victim, are as follows. She was thirty two years old. 5 00:00:36,156 --> 00:00:39,756 Speaker 1: She was a nurse's aide at Talmadge Memorial Hospital. She 6 00:00:39,876 --> 00:00:42,436 Speaker 1: says she left work alone on the evening of January 7 00:00:42,476 --> 00:00:46,076 Speaker 1: twenty sixth at eleven p m. While she was getting 8 00:00:46,076 --> 00:00:50,636 Speaker 1: in her car, the accused, Nathaniel Johnson, seized her and 9 00:00:50,756 --> 00:00:52,836 Speaker 1: threatened to kill her if she did not get into 10 00:00:52,876 --> 00:00:57,196 Speaker 1: his car. She got away, screamed for help. He caught her. 11 00:00:57,756 --> 00:01:00,036 Speaker 1: She told him to take her money and leave her alone, 12 00:01:00,396 --> 00:01:03,876 Speaker 1: but he replied, I don't want money, I want you. 13 00:01:07,196 --> 00:01:10,836 Speaker 1: The victim's description of what happened that night is very graphic. 14 00:01:11,276 --> 00:01:14,116 Speaker 1: It goes on for several pages. I'm giving you an 15 00:01:14,116 --> 00:01:17,956 Speaker 1: abridged version, but it's still very disturbing, so please keep 16 00:01:17,956 --> 00:01:22,476 Speaker 1: that in mind. As you'll see, understanding exactly what the 17 00:01:22,516 --> 00:01:29,916 Speaker 1: defendant was accused of in this instance is crucial. She 18 00:01:29,996 --> 00:01:32,596 Speaker 1: got away and ran screaming onto the lawn of the hospital, 19 00:01:32,996 --> 00:01:35,516 Speaker 1: where he once again caught her and dragged her to 20 00:01:35,596 --> 00:01:40,596 Speaker 1: his car. He knocked her down, repeatedly slapped her in 21 00:01:40,676 --> 00:01:43,036 Speaker 1: the face, and told her to shut up or he 22 00:01:43,036 --> 00:01:47,436 Speaker 1: would kill her. Johnson placed his knee on her chest, 23 00:01:47,996 --> 00:01:50,836 Speaker 1: pinning her down, put his hand on her throat into 24 00:01:50,836 --> 00:01:54,316 Speaker 1: the trachia and kept bearing down on it, telling her 25 00:01:54,356 --> 00:01:57,996 Speaker 1: to quit screaming. He closed her nostrils with his other hand, 26 00:01:58,356 --> 00:02:01,676 Speaker 1: and since she could not get air, she lost consciousness. 27 00:02:02,636 --> 00:02:05,036 Speaker 1: When she came to, she realized that she was in 28 00:02:05,076 --> 00:02:10,196 Speaker 1: the back of a moving automobile. He finally stopped his 29 00:02:10,276 --> 00:02:13,356 Speaker 1: car on a dirt road, pushed her out onto the ground, 30 00:02:13,836 --> 00:02:18,356 Speaker 1: and raped her. He took a shot of whiskey and 31 00:02:18,396 --> 00:02:21,476 Speaker 1: asked her if she drank. She replied that she did not, 32 00:02:21,596 --> 00:02:24,956 Speaker 1: that she was a Sunday school teacher. He raped her 33 00:02:24,956 --> 00:02:28,636 Speaker 1: a second time they drove back into town. He took 34 00:02:28,676 --> 00:02:32,596 Speaker 1: her wallet, wrote down her name, address, telephone number, and 35 00:02:32,636 --> 00:02:35,276 Speaker 1: her husband's name on a piece of paper, and put 36 00:02:35,316 --> 00:02:41,036 Speaker 1: it in his pocket. Pictures taken of the victim immediately 37 00:02:41,076 --> 00:02:44,916 Speaker 1: after the assault and placed in evidence without objection on 38 00:02:45,116 --> 00:02:50,876 Speaker 1: quoting now shows several severe scratches and bruises on her face, head, 39 00:02:51,156 --> 00:02:54,876 Speaker 1: and throat, and testimony offered by the state shows that 40 00:02:54,956 --> 00:02:57,196 Speaker 1: her clothing was badly torn and bloody. 41 00:02:58,076 --> 00:02:58,316 Speaker 2: End of. 42 00:03:01,796 --> 00:03:07,036 Speaker 1: The alleged perpetrator, Nathaniel Johnson was arrested. The victim picked 43 00:03:07,076 --> 00:03:10,756 Speaker 1: him out of a lineup. He confesned, he was tried, 44 00:03:11,396 --> 00:03:18,916 Speaker 1: he was convicted. Here's my question, how do you feel 45 00:03:18,916 --> 00:03:23,076 Speaker 1: about the case of State v. Johnson. We have a victim, 46 00:03:23,436 --> 00:03:27,716 Speaker 1: we have physical evidence, we have a positive identification, we 47 00:03:27,796 --> 00:03:31,476 Speaker 1: have a confession. Do you know all you need to know? 48 00:03:35,836 --> 00:03:39,316 Speaker 1: My name is Malcolm Gladwell. You're listening to Revisionist History, 49 00:03:39,716 --> 00:03:49,396 Speaker 1: my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. In the course 50 00:03:49,436 --> 00:03:52,636 Speaker 1: of this season, I have been preoccupied with the subject 51 00:03:52,636 --> 00:03:57,396 Speaker 1: of power, the particular power of friendship, the way shifts 52 00:03:57,396 --> 00:04:00,596 Speaker 1: in power change the way we remember the past. And 53 00:04:00,676 --> 00:04:03,796 Speaker 1: with this episode and the next one, I want to 54 00:04:03,836 --> 00:04:06,956 Speaker 1: return to that subject one more time and focus on 55 00:04:06,996 --> 00:04:10,116 Speaker 1: our reluctance to acknowledge the role of power, the way 56 00:04:10,156 --> 00:04:12,236 Speaker 1: we pretend that we can make sense of the world 57 00:04:12,476 --> 00:04:15,716 Speaker 1: without first clarifying who has the power and who does not. 58 00:04:24,276 --> 00:04:26,276 Speaker 1: Let me give you an example of what I mean 59 00:04:26,316 --> 00:04:30,276 Speaker 1: about the complicating effects of power. It's from Well into 60 00:04:30,276 --> 00:04:34,756 Speaker 1: the trial of Nathaniel Johnson. One after another, witnesses against 61 00:04:34,836 --> 00:04:39,396 Speaker 1: Johnson have presented devastating evidence. One of the arresting officers 62 00:04:39,676 --> 00:04:43,356 Speaker 1: is testifying about what Nathaniel Johnson said in his confession. 63 00:04:44,356 --> 00:04:47,916 Speaker 1: It's a small moment and slips out seemingly without anyone 64 00:04:47,956 --> 00:04:52,316 Speaker 1: remarking on it. This is what the officer says. Nathaniel 65 00:04:52,396 --> 00:04:55,956 Speaker 1: Johnson told us that after he had intercourse with this 66 00:04:56,076 --> 00:05:00,116 Speaker 1: lady there, that she asked him for a cigarette. He said, 67 00:05:00,276 --> 00:05:02,796 Speaker 1: he give her a cigarette and said he took one 68 00:05:02,916 --> 00:05:05,876 Speaker 1: and smoked it himself, and said they threw the butts 69 00:05:05,916 --> 00:05:09,396 Speaker 1: down there. We found three butts there at this place, 70 00:05:09,836 --> 00:05:15,556 Speaker 1: at the scene, we found three butts there? Does that 71 00:05:15,596 --> 00:05:19,516 Speaker 1: fact strike you as strange? Is it commonplace for two 72 00:05:19,556 --> 00:05:23,556 Speaker 1: people to share a cigarette after a brutal rape? And 73 00:05:23,596 --> 00:05:26,836 Speaker 1: how about this? It also slips out in the trial 74 00:05:26,876 --> 00:05:30,796 Speaker 1: without comment. The police chief, a man named George Mutimer, 75 00:05:31,196 --> 00:05:35,676 Speaker 1: tells the court about Nathaniel Johnson's confession. Johnson's talked about 76 00:05:35,756 --> 00:05:39,396 Speaker 1: driving with the victim in his car. They fought, she resisted, 77 00:05:39,756 --> 00:05:43,476 Speaker 1: he was apparently choking her. And then Mutimer testifies, and 78 00:05:43,516 --> 00:05:47,196 Speaker 1: I'm quoting, he said at that time that he drove off, 79 00:05:47,636 --> 00:05:50,036 Speaker 1: went to a little side road off the New Savannah 80 00:05:50,076 --> 00:05:53,156 Speaker 1: Road and parked, and he claims that she said it 81 00:05:53,196 --> 00:05:56,116 Speaker 1: was too close to the road. He drove on maybe 82 00:05:56,196 --> 00:06:02,756 Speaker 1: half a city block further and parked. Why is the 83 00:06:02,836 --> 00:06:06,356 Speaker 1: victim complaining to her rapist that he's parked too close 84 00:06:06,396 --> 00:06:12,236 Speaker 1: to the road. Then there's a prosecution's star witness on 85 00:06:12,356 --> 00:06:17,276 Speaker 1: Missus Bailey. She testifies that three years earlier, Nathaniel Johnson 86 00:06:17,316 --> 00:06:18,876 Speaker 1: had come up to her while she was sitting in 87 00:06:18,916 --> 00:06:22,156 Speaker 1: a parked car and he tried to assault her. And 88 00:06:22,276 --> 00:06:27,116 Speaker 1: reading now from the transcript, the prosecutor asks, Missus Bailey, 89 00:06:27,516 --> 00:06:30,236 Speaker 1: you testified that this man grabbed you round the throat 90 00:06:30,556 --> 00:06:33,356 Speaker 1: and you screamed and somebody came out of the door. 91 00:06:33,396 --> 00:06:37,316 Speaker 1: I believe Missus Bailey, Yes, sir, prosecutor. Did you see 92 00:06:37,316 --> 00:06:40,076 Speaker 1: where he went, Missus Bailey, I saw him run down 93 00:06:40,076 --> 00:06:44,796 Speaker 1: the road, Prosecutor, How fast was he going? Bailey? Mighty fast. 94 00:06:47,236 --> 00:06:50,156 Speaker 1: Nathaniel Johnson happens to be an Army veteran who lost 95 00:06:50,196 --> 00:06:53,916 Speaker 1: part of his foot in combat, broke both legs, both arms, 96 00:06:54,076 --> 00:06:57,436 Speaker 1: his shoulder, broke his collar bone, six bullets in his hip. 97 00:06:57,756 --> 00:07:00,836 Speaker 1: He spent two years in a rehab hospital recovering. I 98 00:07:00,876 --> 00:07:08,276 Speaker 1: don't see him running mighty fast anywhere. At the very 99 00:07:08,356 --> 00:07:12,516 Speaker 1: end of the trial, Nathaniel Johnson finally speaks. He's not 100 00:07:12,716 --> 00:07:16,956 Speaker 1: very coherent. He knows he's going to get convicted. He's confessed. 101 00:07:17,596 --> 00:07:19,996 Speaker 1: He starts out by saying that he had a statement 102 00:07:20,036 --> 00:07:23,036 Speaker 1: he wanted to make, but he's decided against giving it. 103 00:07:23,996 --> 00:07:28,396 Speaker 1: Again from the court transcript, this is Nathaniel Johnson. I 104 00:07:28,436 --> 00:07:31,916 Speaker 1: don't know. I just don't feel that it was. It 105 00:07:31,956 --> 00:07:36,276 Speaker 1: would be, it would be well, it would be, you know, 106 00:07:36,876 --> 00:07:39,676 Speaker 1: for me to say it, But to tell the truth 107 00:07:39,716 --> 00:07:44,876 Speaker 1: about it well makes you wonder. Trial is over. He's 108 00:07:44,916 --> 00:07:49,076 Speaker 1: already confessed. Why is he hemming in hawing? He goes on, 109 00:07:50,156 --> 00:07:51,636 Speaker 1: I am here to say to day that I am 110 00:07:51,676 --> 00:07:54,756 Speaker 1: not guilty of rape. I won't give this statement which 111 00:07:54,796 --> 00:07:57,196 Speaker 1: would run the facts down on what really happened and 112 00:07:57,236 --> 00:08:01,076 Speaker 1: everything to keep from bringing a disturbment in a century 113 00:08:01,156 --> 00:08:04,716 Speaker 1: of colored and white at this time, I don't want 114 00:08:04,716 --> 00:08:13,916 Speaker 1: to be responsible for it. Nathaniel Johnson wanted to avoid 115 00:08:13,956 --> 00:08:18,836 Speaker 1: bringing a disturbment between colored and white. I asked you 116 00:08:18,876 --> 00:08:21,516 Speaker 1: at the beginning, how sure you were about the guilty 117 00:08:21,596 --> 00:08:24,476 Speaker 1: verdict against Nathaniel Johnson. We had a victim, we had 118 00:08:24,476 --> 00:08:28,116 Speaker 1: physical evidence, we had a positive identification, we had a confession. 119 00:08:28,636 --> 00:08:33,196 Speaker 1: That sounds like enough, But that little reference to colored 120 00:08:33,236 --> 00:08:36,516 Speaker 1: and white is a reminder that I left out almost 121 00:08:36,556 --> 00:08:41,116 Speaker 1: all of the details having to do with power. Where 122 00:08:41,116 --> 00:08:44,076 Speaker 1: did the rape allegedly take place, Well, let me tell 123 00:08:44,076 --> 00:08:49,316 Speaker 1: you in Augusta, Georgia, the South. Okay, when did it 124 00:08:49,396 --> 00:08:54,636 Speaker 1: allegedly take place? Nineteen fifty nine, a very different era 125 00:08:54,676 --> 00:09:00,076 Speaker 1: in a place like Augusta, Georgia. And the most crucial fact, 126 00:09:00,476 --> 00:09:05,276 Speaker 1: colored and white. The accuser was white, her alleged assailant, 127 00:09:05,476 --> 00:09:11,516 Speaker 1: Nathaniel Johnson was black. After his arrest, Johnson has taken 128 00:09:11,556 --> 00:09:13,676 Speaker 1: to the interrogation room at the police station with the 129 00:09:13,796 --> 00:09:18,316 Speaker 1: arresting officer, Holly Tebow. Tebow's not getting anywhere, so he 130 00:09:18,396 --> 00:09:22,876 Speaker 1: calls in Chief Mutimer. At the trial Tebo says they 131 00:09:22,916 --> 00:09:26,476 Speaker 1: do that quite frequently because whenever they call him Mutimer, 132 00:09:27,036 --> 00:09:31,636 Speaker 1: most of the people talk. Then Tebow goes on. Chief 133 00:09:31,716 --> 00:09:34,676 Speaker 1: Mutimer stayed in the interrogation room with him for some time, 134 00:09:35,036 --> 00:09:38,636 Speaker 1: and he came out and shook his head and said, Holly, 135 00:09:39,236 --> 00:09:41,556 Speaker 1: he told me about it. And I went back and 136 00:09:41,596 --> 00:09:45,516 Speaker 1: there in the interrogation room, and he was crying Nathaniel 137 00:09:45,556 --> 00:09:49,916 Speaker 1: was crying. The chief of police, who was really good 138 00:09:49,916 --> 00:09:53,956 Speaker 1: at making people talk, disappears alone into the interrogation room 139 00:09:53,956 --> 00:09:57,156 Speaker 1: with Johnson for a few hours, no lawyer's in sight, 140 00:09:57,716 --> 00:10:02,236 Speaker 1: and when he emerges, he has a confession. Let me 141 00:10:02,356 --> 00:10:05,956 Speaker 1: read to you again from Nathaniel Johnson's closing statement, only 142 00:10:06,036 --> 00:10:09,676 Speaker 1: this time keep in mind who he is, where he is, 143 00:10:10,036 --> 00:10:14,596 Speaker 1: and when it is. Johnson says, I am not guilty 144 00:10:14,596 --> 00:10:17,796 Speaker 1: of rape. And the statement I have is a true statement. 145 00:10:18,716 --> 00:10:20,836 Speaker 1: But the shape of the courtroom to the community and 146 00:10:20,876 --> 00:10:24,276 Speaker 1: citizens of this town, colored and white, I think I 147 00:10:24,316 --> 00:10:27,556 Speaker 1: would bring a big confusion between them. And I know 148 00:10:27,716 --> 00:10:29,756 Speaker 1: rape is a serious charge, and I know it is 149 00:10:29,796 --> 00:10:32,316 Speaker 1: more serious by a colored man being accused of rape 150 00:10:32,356 --> 00:10:35,276 Speaker 1: by a white woman. And so I want to leave 151 00:10:35,316 --> 00:10:37,916 Speaker 1: it in you all's hands and trust you all to 152 00:10:37,956 --> 00:10:40,756 Speaker 1: do what the Lord and justice of it. And I 153 00:10:40,796 --> 00:10:43,876 Speaker 1: am not guilty of rape in my heart. That is 154 00:10:43,916 --> 00:10:48,436 Speaker 1: the truth from God. If you don't know, it's Georgia, 155 00:10:48,796 --> 00:10:52,396 Speaker 1: it's nineteen fifty nine, and that Nathaniel Johnson is black 156 00:10:52,436 --> 00:11:02,156 Speaker 1: and his victim is white. What do you know? Nothing? 157 00:11:03,636 --> 00:11:06,516 Speaker 1: In Georgia, there is a lineage of civil rights lawyers, 158 00:11:06,996 --> 00:11:10,556 Speaker 1: A tradition. It begins with the man named at Walden, 159 00:11:11,156 --> 00:11:14,316 Speaker 1: born in eighteen eighty five to two former slaves in 160 00:11:14,356 --> 00:11:15,436 Speaker 1: Fort Valley, Georgia. 161 00:11:16,716 --> 00:11:21,396 Speaker 2: When I was a kid, and Austin Thomas Walden, who 162 00:11:21,476 --> 00:11:27,276 Speaker 2: finished University of Michigan in nineteen twelve, would come to 163 00:11:27,356 --> 00:11:32,796 Speaker 2: my church for the Saint cecia vesper hour, and I 164 00:11:32,836 --> 00:11:36,356 Speaker 2: sang in the Saint ceci A choir, and I would 165 00:11:36,396 --> 00:11:40,796 Speaker 2: hear him speak about segregation, and he would say, I'll 166 00:11:40,836 --> 00:11:44,156 Speaker 2: be glad when you are dead, that you rascal. You. 167 00:11:46,156 --> 00:11:50,796 Speaker 2: So I grew up wanting to be a lawyer like 168 00:11:51,076 --> 00:11:52,396 Speaker 2: Austin T. Walden. 169 00:11:53,796 --> 00:11:56,756 Speaker 1: Vernon Jordan, one of the legends of the civil rights movement. 170 00:11:57,316 --> 00:12:00,516 Speaker 1: He's had an extraordinary career. He ran the Urban League 171 00:12:00,556 --> 00:12:03,356 Speaker 1: for years. He was a close confident on the President Clinton, 172 00:12:03,796 --> 00:12:07,036 Speaker 1: a deal maker on Wall Street. He's eighty one years old. 173 00:12:07,036 --> 00:12:10,236 Speaker 1: He must be six foot four in pecker Southern manners, 174 00:12:10,676 --> 00:12:13,516 Speaker 1: a long and passive face. When he talks to you, 175 00:12:13,956 --> 00:12:16,956 Speaker 1: he leans down from his great height and lowers his voice. 176 00:12:17,596 --> 00:12:20,836 Speaker 2: So in nineteen sixty five, as a very young lawyer, 177 00:12:20,916 --> 00:12:26,236 Speaker 2: I was asked to give the Emancipation Proclamation Day speech. 178 00:12:27,836 --> 00:12:30,236 Speaker 1: I went to see Jordan in his office in Rockefeller 179 00:12:30,276 --> 00:12:33,156 Speaker 1: Center a worse suit. I was told I had to 180 00:12:33,636 --> 00:12:37,676 Speaker 1: Vernon likes people to dress properly. He began by describing 181 00:12:37,676 --> 00:12:40,716 Speaker 1: his induction into the Civil Rights Fraternity. The day the 182 00:12:40,796 --> 00:12:43,716 Speaker 1: Georgia NAACP asked him to speak. 183 00:12:44,636 --> 00:12:50,276 Speaker 2: Walden was on this pool pit with braces on his legs. 184 00:12:50,276 --> 00:12:54,436 Speaker 2: He could hardly move and when by when I finished, 185 00:12:55,076 --> 00:13:00,316 Speaker 2: Walden struggled up to me and said he had a 186 00:13:00,356 --> 00:13:03,676 Speaker 2: home run. Son, you hit a home run that was 187 00:13:04,756 --> 00:13:09,556 Speaker 2: delaying on of hands. That was the blessing. 188 00:13:11,156 --> 00:13:14,916 Speaker 1: In the lineage of civil rights lawyers at Walden came first. 189 00:13:15,676 --> 00:13:18,356 Speaker 1: Next in line was a man named Donald L. Hollowell, 190 00:13:18,836 --> 00:13:21,916 Speaker 1: another legend. I will have much much more to say 191 00:13:21,956 --> 00:13:26,516 Speaker 1: about Hollowell in the next episode. Vernon Jordan was inspired 192 00:13:26,556 --> 00:13:29,276 Speaker 1: by Walden, and straight out of law school he went 193 00:13:29,316 --> 00:13:32,636 Speaker 1: to work for Hollowell. He was a disciple of two 194 00:13:32,716 --> 00:13:35,156 Speaker 1: of the greats. And I went to see Jordan to 195 00:13:35,236 --> 00:13:38,596 Speaker 1: learn what being a disciple in Georgia in those years meant. 196 00:13:39,916 --> 00:13:44,396 Speaker 1: What did you learn? What were you up against? There 197 00:13:44,396 --> 00:13:46,916 Speaker 1: were very few black lawyers in the South in those years. 198 00:13:47,516 --> 00:13:50,356 Speaker 1: If you were black and in trouble, you rarely had 199 00:13:50,356 --> 00:13:53,756 Speaker 1: one of your own to represent you. Justice is supposed 200 00:13:53,796 --> 00:13:56,396 Speaker 1: to be blind, which is another way of saying that 201 00:13:56,436 --> 00:13:58,516 Speaker 1: we're supposed to close our eyes when we enter a 202 00:13:58,596 --> 00:14:02,636 Speaker 1: courtroom and not notice a fact like race. In nineteen 203 00:14:02,716 --> 00:14:06,116 Speaker 1: fifty nine, Donald Hollowell and Vernon Jordan had their eyes 204 00:14:06,236 --> 00:14:09,676 Speaker 1: wide open. They watched what was happening to me Nathaniel 205 00:14:09,716 --> 00:14:12,516 Speaker 1: Johnson and Augusta with growing alarm. 206 00:14:13,796 --> 00:14:19,236 Speaker 2: And he was given a white quarter pointed lawyer who 207 00:14:19,316 --> 00:14:22,996 Speaker 2: convinced him, given the circumstances of a black man being 208 00:14:23,116 --> 00:14:26,436 Speaker 2: accused by a white woman of rape, said to him, 209 00:14:27,396 --> 00:14:29,756 Speaker 2: the best way to stay out of the electric chair 210 00:14:31,236 --> 00:14:34,796 Speaker 2: is to plead guilty and have her corroborate your guilty. 211 00:14:34,876 --> 00:14:41,596 Speaker 2: Plead and you'll get life. And he went for it. 212 00:14:43,316 --> 00:14:46,356 Speaker 2: He did not get life, He got the electric chair. 213 00:14:47,476 --> 00:14:50,036 Speaker 1: To put that in perspective, there was a case in 214 00:14:50,076 --> 00:14:52,916 Speaker 1: Atlanta right around the same time as Johnson's only that 215 00:14:52,996 --> 00:14:55,956 Speaker 1: involved a white man convicted of raping his black maid. 216 00:14:56,676 --> 00:15:00,076 Speaker 1: He broke down the bathroom door and attacked her. He 217 00:15:00,156 --> 00:15:03,756 Speaker 1: got two to five years. White on black rape was 218 00:15:03,796 --> 00:15:06,116 Speaker 1: a two to five year crime in a state of Georgia. 219 00:15:06,836 --> 00:15:11,276 Speaker 1: Johnson faced a death penalty, so when Johnson says in 220 00:15:11,316 --> 00:15:14,716 Speaker 1: his final statement, I know rape is a serious charge, 221 00:15:15,036 --> 00:15:17,036 Speaker 1: and I know it is more serious by a colored 222 00:15:17,076 --> 00:15:20,036 Speaker 1: man being accused of rape by a white woman. That's 223 00:15:20,036 --> 00:15:23,276 Speaker 1: what he's talking about. There's one set of rules for 224 00:15:23,356 --> 00:15:28,076 Speaker 1: white people and another for black people, and the standards 225 00:15:28,076 --> 00:15:31,076 Speaker 1: for legal representation those are different too. 226 00:15:31,756 --> 00:15:35,636 Speaker 2: The White Court upon It lawyer the night before he 227 00:15:35,796 --> 00:15:38,956 Speaker 2: was to be executed, got drunk in an augusta bar 228 00:15:40,316 --> 00:15:42,916 Speaker 2: barred paper from the bartend that wrote out a rid 229 00:15:42,916 --> 00:15:49,636 Speaker 2: of pavias corpus, and went to the judge to argue 230 00:15:49,676 --> 00:15:57,276 Speaker 2: that Nathaniel Johnson's rights under the Fifth Amendment had been violated. 231 00:15:58,596 --> 00:16:02,996 Speaker 1: As it turns out, that's the wrong amendment. Under those circumstances, 232 00:16:03,156 --> 00:16:06,236 Speaker 1: the lawyer should have raised the Fourteenth Amendment. But the 233 00:16:06,316 --> 00:16:09,436 Speaker 1: lawyer's writing an appeal while he's drunk, and it's not 234 00:16:09,476 --> 00:16:11,716 Speaker 1: at all clear that he cares that much, since if 235 00:16:11,756 --> 00:16:16,236 Speaker 1: you read the trial transcript, Johnson's lawyer barely ever said anything. 236 00:16:16,676 --> 00:16:19,756 Speaker 2: And it went up to the Supreme Court on sociary, 237 00:16:20,356 --> 00:16:26,796 Speaker 2: which was denied. And then mister Hallowell, my boss, was hired, 238 00:16:26,916 --> 00:16:30,876 Speaker 2: and I went with him to see Nathaniel Johnson and 239 00:16:30,916 --> 00:16:37,436 Speaker 2: the Reidsville State Prison. He was a very handsome, cool prisoner. 240 00:16:38,436 --> 00:16:41,596 Speaker 1: Hallowell and Jordan were brought in by the NAACP to 241 00:16:41,676 --> 00:16:45,276 Speaker 1: try and win a stay of execution. One last Hail Mary. 242 00:16:45,716 --> 00:16:48,996 Speaker 2: How old was? He must have been thirty thirty two, 243 00:16:49,156 --> 00:16:49,876 Speaker 2: something like that. 244 00:16:50,716 --> 00:16:53,876 Speaker 1: Jordan and Hallowell sit down with Johnson and start to 245 00:16:53,876 --> 00:16:57,356 Speaker 1: piece together Johnson's version of what happened that night. It's 246 00:16:57,396 --> 00:17:00,836 Speaker 1: a very different story. 247 00:17:01,716 --> 00:17:05,436 Speaker 2: He was having a relationship with this woman, this white woman, 248 00:17:06,916 --> 00:17:12,036 Speaker 2: and the relationship was put together by a black assistant 249 00:17:12,156 --> 00:17:16,996 Speaker 2: nurse at the hospital in Augusta, and he would go 250 00:17:17,076 --> 00:17:20,276 Speaker 2: and pick her up and they would go out on 251 00:17:20,316 --> 00:17:22,356 Speaker 2: the roads and do their business. 252 00:17:24,516 --> 00:17:27,676 Speaker 1: In the version of events that got Johnson convicted, the 253 00:17:27,756 --> 00:17:31,636 Speaker 1: victim had never seen him before. But Nathaniel Johnson told 254 00:17:31,716 --> 00:17:34,196 Speaker 1: Jordan and halliwell, they had been spotted together. 255 00:17:35,076 --> 00:17:37,996 Speaker 2: One night. They were out on the road and the 256 00:17:38,076 --> 00:17:41,356 Speaker 2: car got stuck in the mud, and a group of 257 00:17:41,396 --> 00:17:46,196 Speaker 2: white hunters were crossing the road. And she gets out 258 00:17:46,236 --> 00:17:50,116 Speaker 2: and says, I'm taking my yard man home. And we 259 00:17:50,196 --> 00:17:54,236 Speaker 2: got stuck in the mud, and these white hunters pushed 260 00:17:54,276 --> 00:17:56,116 Speaker 2: the car out of the mud. 261 00:17:58,196 --> 00:18:00,396 Speaker 1: If you read the official account of the case, it 262 00:18:00,476 --> 00:18:03,036 Speaker 1: says that the victim reported her alleged assault to the 263 00:18:03,036 --> 00:18:06,156 Speaker 1: police in the early hours of the morning on January 264 00:18:06,236 --> 00:18:10,356 Speaker 1: twenty seventh, after she gets home. Then it goes on 265 00:18:10,396 --> 00:18:14,756 Speaker 1: to say crucially that the police arrest Johnson that same night. 266 00:18:15,436 --> 00:18:18,036 Speaker 1: Think about that Augusta at the time is a city 267 00:18:18,076 --> 00:18:21,636 Speaker 1: of seventy thousand people, roughly half black. So we are 268 00:18:21,676 --> 00:18:23,716 Speaker 1: asked to believe that, in the course of a couple 269 00:18:23,796 --> 00:18:27,316 Speaker 1: of hours, without benefit of daylight, the police were able 270 00:18:27,356 --> 00:18:30,476 Speaker 1: to correctly locate, in a community of thirty five thousand 271 00:18:30,516 --> 00:18:33,836 Speaker 1: African Americans a suspect, and that they did this with 272 00:18:33,956 --> 00:18:36,716 Speaker 1: no more than the description of his automobile from a 273 00:18:36,716 --> 00:18:41,196 Speaker 1: badly traumatized rape victim. Because she'd never met him before. 274 00:18:42,916 --> 00:18:48,636 Speaker 2: And so after a visit on the dark road, she 275 00:18:48,836 --> 00:18:53,876 Speaker 2: said to him that she was pregnant, and a disagreement ensued. 276 00:18:54,796 --> 00:18:58,076 Speaker 1: They had a fight. It beat her up. That's how 277 00:18:58,116 --> 00:19:01,476 Speaker 1: she ended up with all those injuries. Johnson had physical 278 00:19:01,556 --> 00:19:05,956 Speaker 1: power over her, but she had far greater power over him. 279 00:19:06,436 --> 00:19:09,276 Speaker 1: In that time and place, a white woman had the 280 00:19:09,316 --> 00:19:12,036 Speaker 1: power of life and death over a black man. 281 00:19:13,116 --> 00:19:16,276 Speaker 2: She went home and told her husband that she had 282 00:19:16,316 --> 00:19:20,916 Speaker 2: been raped and they went to Nathaniel Johnson's house in 283 00:19:20,956 --> 00:19:24,516 Speaker 2: the middle of the night. Illegal arrest, illegal searcher and sez, 284 00:19:24,756 --> 00:19:26,516 Speaker 2: illegal attention, all of that. 285 00:19:27,596 --> 00:19:29,916 Speaker 1: When you saw him, did he think that he had 286 00:19:29,916 --> 00:19:30,356 Speaker 1: a chance. 287 00:19:31,236 --> 00:19:35,236 Speaker 2: He was just scared to death. He was just scared 288 00:19:35,316 --> 00:19:38,636 Speaker 2: to death, and we were his only hope. 289 00:19:39,316 --> 00:19:47,916 Speaker 1: We were his only hope. And so Hallowell and Jordan 290 00:19:48,196 --> 00:19:52,116 Speaker 1: set out to save Nathaniel Johnson's life anyway they can 291 00:19:53,036 --> 00:19:56,916 Speaker 1: stay the execution, fight for a new trial. Jordan was 292 00:19:56,956 --> 00:20:01,036 Speaker 1: fresh out of law school, full of righteous anger and idealism. 293 00:20:01,276 --> 00:20:07,356 Speaker 2: And I remember going into his cell with him and 294 00:20:07,436 --> 00:20:11,356 Speaker 2: mister Hallowell when holliwa said, we're going to see the 295 00:20:11,396 --> 00:20:15,836 Speaker 2: local judge here. Then we will drive to Atlanta and 296 00:20:15,876 --> 00:20:20,276 Speaker 2: we will go to see the Chief Justice, Supreme Court, 297 00:20:20,356 --> 00:20:24,396 Speaker 2: the Attorney General, the Governor, and the Board of part 298 00:20:24,476 --> 00:20:25,036 Speaker 2: in pro. 299 00:20:26,116 --> 00:20:29,476 Speaker 1: It was the beginning of the apprenticeship of Vernon Jordan. 300 00:20:30,076 --> 00:20:35,396 Speaker 2: And that's when mister Hallowell put me on the case 301 00:20:35,436 --> 00:20:40,436 Speaker 2: and we went to Brunswick, Georgia, which I'll never forget. 302 00:20:40,516 --> 00:20:48,196 Speaker 2: The federal district judge there began the case by asking 303 00:20:49,436 --> 00:20:56,956 Speaker 2: when is the execution schedule, and they said tomorrow morning, 304 00:20:57,036 --> 00:21:00,236 Speaker 2: your honor. So he listened to the state Attorney. As 305 00:21:00,316 --> 00:21:04,556 Speaker 2: he listened to mister Hallowell, and I remember him saying, 306 00:21:04,836 --> 00:21:13,156 Speaker 2: justice delayed is justice denied. And we drove from Brunswick 307 00:21:14,036 --> 00:21:17,916 Speaker 2: after he refused to stay the execution, from Brunswick, Georgia, 308 00:21:17,996 --> 00:21:23,196 Speaker 2: to Atlanta. That's when it was all two highways. I 309 00:21:23,276 --> 00:21:28,196 Speaker 2: did the driving, and we ended up and the chambers 310 00:21:28,276 --> 00:21:34,956 Speaker 2: of the Chief Justice. And he walked in and says, 311 00:21:34,956 --> 00:21:39,596 Speaker 2: sees me, and he said, son, where did you play basketball? 312 00:21:40,996 --> 00:21:44,676 Speaker 2: And I said, mister Chief Justice, we're not here to 313 00:21:44,756 --> 00:21:49,876 Speaker 2: talk about where I played basketball. We're here about the 314 00:21:49,996 --> 00:21:58,636 Speaker 2: life from Nathaniel Johnson. He said that color Bar went 315 00:21:58,716 --> 00:22:01,196 Speaker 2: out there on that road and raped that woman. I 316 00:22:01,196 --> 00:22:06,516 Speaker 2: don't wanna hear about that. We then go from his 317 00:22:06,716 --> 00:22:11,156 Speaker 2: chambers to the next bill where the Attorney General was. 318 00:22:13,036 --> 00:22:15,996 Speaker 2: Secretary picks up the phone and says to the Attorney General, 319 00:22:16,036 --> 00:22:19,036 Speaker 2: mister Attorney General, they had two boys out here to 320 00:22:19,156 --> 00:22:25,196 Speaker 2: see you. The Attorney General of Georgia, Henry Neal, did 321 00:22:25,196 --> 00:22:28,636 Speaker 2: not invite us into his office. He came out and 322 00:22:28,716 --> 00:22:34,956 Speaker 2: stood behind the secretary's desk and said that the governor 323 00:22:35,836 --> 00:22:40,236 Speaker 2: was out of town, and the governor would not stay 324 00:22:40,276 --> 00:22:46,516 Speaker 2: the execution, and we left and went to the Board 325 00:22:46,556 --> 00:22:51,076 Speaker 2: of Partnering Paroles. And as we walked in the door, 326 00:22:52,996 --> 00:22:57,436 Speaker 2: he said, hallowell, you're too late. Nathaniel Johnson is on 327 00:22:57,476 --> 00:22:59,196 Speaker 2: his way to the electric chair. 328 00:23:00,316 --> 00:23:01,796 Speaker 1: There was nothing more for them to do. 329 00:23:03,036 --> 00:23:06,836 Speaker 2: I said, missus Hall, I would like to have the 330 00:23:06,876 --> 00:23:13,276 Speaker 2: rest of the day off. He said fine. And I 331 00:23:13,356 --> 00:23:20,756 Speaker 2: had on a light beige has spelled suit that I 332 00:23:20,796 --> 00:23:27,236 Speaker 2: had gotten for graduation, and I walked down Hunter Street home. 333 00:23:27,596 --> 00:23:33,636 Speaker 2: It was eighty five ninety degrees in Atlanta, and I'm 334 00:23:33,636 --> 00:23:42,756 Speaker 2: walking alone thinking what I had just witnessed, thinking about 335 00:23:42,756 --> 00:23:44,876 Speaker 2: the first time I saw him, and thinking about seeing 336 00:23:44,956 --> 00:23:53,836 Speaker 2: him the night before he died. And I just walked 337 00:23:53,836 --> 00:24:03,516 Speaker 2: home crying. It's the only time in my eighty one 338 00:24:03,636 --> 00:24:13,516 Speaker 2: years that I can remember losing control and just urinated 339 00:24:13,836 --> 00:24:20,076 Speaker 2: all over myself on my brand new beige suit. I 340 00:24:20,116 --> 00:24:24,636 Speaker 2: remember that as vivid is. I see you right now. 341 00:24:30,556 --> 00:24:33,596 Speaker 1: When Vernon Jordan told me the story of Nathaniel Johnson, 342 00:24:34,356 --> 00:24:36,956 Speaker 1: the first thing I thought about was Harperly's classic To 343 00:24:37,036 --> 00:24:41,076 Speaker 1: Kill a Mockingbird, the book every American child reads in 344 00:24:41,116 --> 00:24:41,756 Speaker 1: middle school. 345 00:24:43,436 --> 00:24:51,156 Speaker 2: Now, Maylow suppose you tell us just what happened? Huh? 346 00:24:51,196 --> 00:24:53,196 Speaker 1: It tells the same basic story, right. 347 00:24:54,076 --> 00:24:57,796 Speaker 2: I was sitting on the porch and he come along. 348 00:24:58,916 --> 00:25:01,996 Speaker 1: The Jim Crow South, a black man named Tom Robinson 349 00:25:02,396 --> 00:25:05,996 Speaker 1: accused of rape by a white woman, may La Yule, and. 350 00:25:05,916 --> 00:25:08,436 Speaker 2: I turned around it before I know what he's on me. 351 00:25:10,036 --> 00:25:13,996 Speaker 1: But Tom Robinson's lawyer, Atticus Finch, is white, which of 352 00:25:13,996 --> 00:25:18,876 Speaker 1: course changes everything. Finch addresses an all male, all white 353 00:25:18,956 --> 00:25:22,196 Speaker 1: jury men just like him, So what does he do? 354 00:25:22,476 --> 00:25:25,076 Speaker 1: He puts Robinson on the stand and has him talk 355 00:25:25,156 --> 00:25:27,596 Speaker 1: about all the ways in which Mayella Hill try to 356 00:25:27,636 --> 00:25:29,436 Speaker 1: trap him. 357 00:25:29,996 --> 00:25:36,316 Speaker 2: Tom. Were you acquainted with Mayellow Violet Eule? I had 358 00:25:36,316 --> 00:25:38,196 Speaker 2: to pass her place going to in front of the 359 00:25:38,196 --> 00:25:38,956 Speaker 2: field every day. 360 00:25:39,876 --> 00:25:43,196 Speaker 1: Robinson says, he just happened to be walking by Mayella's house. 361 00:25:43,836 --> 00:25:46,356 Speaker 1: She asks him to come in and help her dismantle 362 00:25:46,396 --> 00:25:49,796 Speaker 1: a piece of furniture. Then she hugs him around the waist. 363 00:25:50,156 --> 00:25:53,756 Speaker 2: Scared miss and I hoped down and turned the tails. 364 00:25:54,276 --> 00:25:56,996 Speaker 1: How was the only thing under Atticus Finch's careful direction? 365 00:25:57,516 --> 00:26:00,396 Speaker 1: Robinson then says, one more thing. And by the way, 366 00:26:00,716 --> 00:26:02,996 Speaker 1: if you've watched the famous Gregory Peck movie version of 367 00:26:03,036 --> 00:26:05,836 Speaker 1: To Kill a Mockingbird, the one you're in hearing. You 368 00:26:05,876 --> 00:26:13,156 Speaker 1: won't find these lines. Here's how it's originally written. She 369 00:26:13,316 --> 00:26:15,436 Speaker 1: reached up and kissed me on the side of the face. 370 00:26:15,956 --> 00:26:18,476 Speaker 1: She says. She never kissed a grown man before, and 371 00:26:18,516 --> 00:26:21,116 Speaker 1: she might as well kiss a nigger. She says, what 372 00:26:21,236 --> 00:26:24,316 Speaker 1: her papa do to her don't count. She says, kiss 373 00:26:24,356 --> 00:26:27,476 Speaker 1: me back, nigger. I say, miss Mayella, let me out 374 00:26:27,516 --> 00:26:29,716 Speaker 1: of here, and I tried to run, but she got 375 00:26:29,716 --> 00:26:31,556 Speaker 1: her back to the door and I had to push her. 376 00:26:31,716 --> 00:26:33,636 Speaker 1: I don't want to harm her, mister Finch, and I say, 377 00:26:33,716 --> 00:26:36,196 Speaker 1: let me pass. But just when I say it, mister 378 00:26:36,276 --> 00:26:39,516 Speaker 1: yule Yonder hollered through a window. What did he say? 379 00:26:40,596 --> 00:26:45,236 Speaker 1: Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. He says, you goddamn whore. 380 00:26:45,676 --> 00:26:57,116 Speaker 1: I'll kill you. In his summation to the court, Arakas 381 00:26:57,116 --> 00:27:00,596 Speaker 1: Finch says she knew full well the enormity of her offense, 382 00:27:01,036 --> 00:27:03,956 Speaker 1: but because her desires were stronger than the code she 383 00:27:04,076 --> 00:27:08,356 Speaker 1: was breaking, she persisted in breaking it. He's saying she 384 00:27:08,516 --> 00:27:11,476 Speaker 1: wanted it, and not only that. When he has Tom 385 00:27:11,556 --> 00:27:14,636 Speaker 1: Robinson drop that little bit about she says that what 386 00:27:14,716 --> 00:27:17,596 Speaker 1: her papa do to her don't count. He's accusing her 387 00:27:17,596 --> 00:27:22,876 Speaker 1: of incest. Finch is offering his fellow white men on 388 00:27:22,956 --> 00:27:26,276 Speaker 1: the jury a choice. He says, Look, you can act 389 00:27:26,276 --> 00:27:29,756 Speaker 1: as white people and enforce your power against black people, 390 00:27:30,316 --> 00:27:32,756 Speaker 1: or you can act as men and enforce the power 391 00:27:32,796 --> 00:27:36,596 Speaker 1: of your gender against women. Atticus Finch gets an awful 392 00:27:36,596 --> 00:27:39,036 Speaker 1: out of love. But when I read that book, all 393 00:27:39,076 --> 00:27:42,476 Speaker 1: I could think was he's just telling them, don't be racist, 394 00:27:42,796 --> 00:27:47,876 Speaker 1: be sexist. That might be a good argument in the moment, 395 00:27:48,436 --> 00:27:58,356 Speaker 1: but it's not especially noble. When Vernon Jordan is walking 396 00:27:58,396 --> 00:28:02,156 Speaker 1: through the streets of Atlanta with that humiliating stain spreading 397 00:28:02,196 --> 00:28:05,156 Speaker 1: down his beige suit, he knows he doesn't have the 398 00:28:05,196 --> 00:28:09,316 Speaker 1: same freedom that Antticus Finch has. Finch is free to 399 00:28:09,316 --> 00:28:12,636 Speaker 1: say whatever he wants to the jury, that's the privilege 400 00:28:12,676 --> 00:28:17,516 Speaker 1: of his race and position, but Jordan is powerless. That's 401 00:28:17,556 --> 00:28:21,156 Speaker 1: also why Nathaniel Johnson didn't even bother to defend himself 402 00:28:21,196 --> 00:28:25,276 Speaker 1: in court. He said, I know the truth, but what's 403 00:28:25,316 --> 00:28:30,356 Speaker 1: the point. Remember what Johnson said, I would say that 404 00:28:30,436 --> 00:28:33,236 Speaker 1: the reason I won't give this statement, which would run 405 00:28:33,276 --> 00:28:36,596 Speaker 1: the facts down on what really happened and everything to 406 00:28:36,756 --> 00:28:40,236 Speaker 1: keep from bringing a disturbment in a century of colored 407 00:28:40,236 --> 00:28:43,116 Speaker 1: and white at this time. I don't want to be 408 00:28:43,196 --> 00:28:48,276 Speaker 1: responsible for it. When you went on those rounds, was 409 00:28:48,356 --> 00:28:51,076 Speaker 1: no one interested in hearing the facts of the case. 410 00:28:51,196 --> 00:28:57,796 Speaker 2: No, that includes a federal district judge, That includes a 411 00:28:57,836 --> 00:29:03,196 Speaker 2: local judge in Redesville, the chief Justice, the attorney general, 412 00:29:03,716 --> 00:29:09,996 Speaker 2: and the board department paroles. It was over, it was done. 413 00:29:10,396 --> 00:29:13,436 Speaker 1: Do you think they honestly believed it was a case 414 00:29:13,476 --> 00:29:15,796 Speaker 1: of rape or do you think that they. 415 00:29:16,036 --> 00:29:19,556 Speaker 2: It didn't matter. It was a white woman and a 416 00:29:19,596 --> 00:29:23,476 Speaker 2: black man, a black man doing something that was out 417 00:29:23,476 --> 00:29:27,636 Speaker 2: of the question in the South, and the court opponted 418 00:29:27,716 --> 00:29:32,756 Speaker 2: lawyer had to know that it was a consensual relationship. 419 00:29:33,596 --> 00:29:38,076 Speaker 1: Yeah, So it's just a kind of They weren't even 420 00:29:38,516 --> 00:29:40,956 Speaker 1: going to the trouble of thinking it's true. 421 00:29:41,076 --> 00:29:48,836 Speaker 2: Nobody was interested in justice. 422 00:29:49,196 --> 00:29:53,436 Speaker 1: Everyone went on with their lives, the judges, the attorney general, 423 00:29:53,476 --> 00:29:58,196 Speaker 1: the lawyers. It takes time to unravel the truth in 424 00:29:58,276 --> 00:30:01,796 Speaker 1: situations where one side has all the power. Nobody had 425 00:30:01,796 --> 00:30:06,596 Speaker 1: the time. The trial transcript of the Johnson case in 426 00:30:06,636 --> 00:30:10,996 Speaker 1: the Georgia archives looks like it's never been touched. I 427 00:30:11,036 --> 00:30:13,636 Speaker 1: don't even know where he's buried. I wouldn't know how 428 00:30:13,636 --> 00:30:17,236 Speaker 1: to look for the grave of someone nobody remembers, executed 429 00:30:17,276 --> 00:30:22,716 Speaker 1: half a century ago. All that's left are one man's memories. 430 00:30:25,116 --> 00:30:26,716 Speaker 1: Did you ever meet the accuser? 431 00:30:27,556 --> 00:30:33,316 Speaker 2: I never did. The word is that after he died, 432 00:30:35,076 --> 00:30:40,276 Speaker 2: that the white lady went around to black churches and 433 00:30:40,636 --> 00:30:45,636 Speaker 2: asked forgiveness. 434 00:30:56,756 --> 00:31:00,436 Speaker 1: Revision's History is produced by Emil LaBelle and Jacob Smith, 435 00:31:00,556 --> 00:31:05,276 Speaker 1: with Camille Baptista, Stephanie Daniel, and Siomarra Martinez White. Our 436 00:31:05,396 --> 00:31:09,876 Speaker 1: editor is Julia Barton. Lawn Williams is our engineer. Original 437 00:31:09,956 --> 00:31:13,556 Speaker 1: music by Luis Sciarra. Special thanks to Andy Bauers and 438 00:31:13,636 --> 00:31:16,636 Speaker 1: Jacob Weisberger. Panoply, I'm Malcolm Gladwell.