WEBVTT - #281 Maggie Freleng with Troy Burner 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.199 You know, Maggie. 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:05.720 Sometimes we see cases where someone's almost on the verge 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:09.040 of being exaggerated and they die, and yet the attorneys 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:11.840 or the innis's projects, whoevers of all the case continue 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:15.800 the fight to prove their innocence. Many people must wonder 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:18.239 why don't they just drop it at that point the 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:20.080 person's gone, you. 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:23.440 Know, I think specifically because these people's families still exist, 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.080 and they're still around, and there's generations of kids and 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:31.600 grandkids that want to have justice for their loved one 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:36.440 and for themselves. So I think it's it's really important 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:38.560 to make sure that all of these wrongs are righted. 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.240 You know, as I sat there and I talked to him, 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.680 and he was just hooked up to so many machines, 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.080 and I whispered in his ear and said, how are 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:52.960 you going to come back in my life? And you're 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:54.360 just going to die on me? You can't be my 0:00:54.440 --> 0:01:00.080 husband if you die right. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.400 From love of for good, this wrongful conviction with Maggie 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:17.039 Freeling today Troy Berner. On April twenty first, nineteen ninety, 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.000 twenty seven year old Michael Wilson was walking with his 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:25.000 friend Joseph Kinnard when two masked gunmen suddenly ambushed them. 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:29.520 Joseph fled unharmed, but Michael was shot at least six times. 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.560 He passed away days later in the hospital. Although Michael 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.160 named his attackers before he died, investigators were somehow at 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.280 a loss and the case went cold for three years. 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.600 But in the years following the crime, things heated up 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:47.440 when police arrested multiple men looking to strike deals in 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:51.920 exchange for lighter sentences. Troy Berner's name was dragged into 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:57.080 this process. Eventually, among various conflicting statements, Troy was named 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:00.000 as one of the people present at Michael Wilson's shoe 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.960 ready to go with a gun in his hands. Troy 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.000 was a good kid with an impressive job a radiology 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.520 aid at George Washington University Hospital, and he had an 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.639 alibi for the time of the shooting. But Troy's career 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.959 and life trajectory unfortunately came to a quick halt when 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.600 his name got caught up in an elaborate murder plot. 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.400 You know, my whole thing was, you know, I didn't 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:29.080 have nothing to do with it, so, you know, and 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:30.880 they're not gonna be able to find nobody to say 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:32.680 I had nothing to do with it. So you know, 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.440 I held on to that, you know, that belief on 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:40.400 don't where they say the truth that you're free. 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:41.720 My name is Troy Burner. 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:45.920 I was wrongly convicted, serving twenty four years, eight months 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:54.120 and twenty two days. 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.960 Troy Burner was born in Southeast Washington, d C. On 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.480 August thirtieth, nineteen seventy. 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:06.240 Two, to Janie Berner and Janie Burner. 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.440 Know that's a joke that I do because I say 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:09.800 my mother is my father. 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:13.440 But oh, Clarence avel. 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.919 Smell, So were your parents not together? 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.480 Didn't know they know they were. I was raised by 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.440 my mom and my two grandmothers. 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.280 Troy is the oldest of five siblings. He says in 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.440 many ways he was like a father figure even within 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:36.040 his extended family. As a teen, Troy got into boxing 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.120 and would bring his pack of siblings, cousins, nieces, and 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.320 nephews to his matches. He remembers the times they all 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.640 hung out, and especially remembers his cousin Carlos. 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:47.360 You know, I used to take him to the gym 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.000 with me and he was like, man, I remember when 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.120 you was in there and you was spawned with such 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.640 and such, you was doing this man, we were so happy. 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:55.680 We was jumping around. Well. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.080 I remember when you know, I came to your fight 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.560 and you know, and things of that nation. You know, 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:02.880 we might just be talking and I'd be just telling 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.520 him how funny he is, you know, I mean, he 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.520 might be like you say, I'm funny, you know, like 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:11.400 where you think I get it from, you know, and 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.080 really it don't come from me. But you know, just 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.440 the fact that you know, we think enough for me 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.920 to say that, it means a great deal. 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.520 Troy also had a lot of neighborhood friends. 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.560 I remember saying, this little kid and I would get excited, 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:38.719 you know, ears sticking out, little ears sticking out, socks 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.520 up to here. It's like, oh, here, come Troy. 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.279 You know this is Shari. She grew up with Troy. 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:45.120 You didn't have to say that. 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.479 There's no way that she would have known that my 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:49.719 ear is stuck out from my head if you didn't 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:50.120 say that. 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.000 Seri's mom and Troy's mom were friends as children. 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:00.280 You know, we played together. We were you know, even 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:04.080 back then we were we were really close. Our parents 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.200 did get together. My mom being a single mom, they 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:10.440 kind of kept us, you know, close together. 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:12.400 You know. 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:18.560 Happenmstance and you know circumstances in life. We grew and 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:21.960 he went one way. I went one way. 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.280 At sixteen, Troy dropped out of school, but he wasn't 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:31.200 done with his education. He got his ged before his 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:34.479 class graduated and went on to become a radiology aid 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.040 at George Washington University Hospital. 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:41.720 There were a lot of things that you know, I 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:46.440 was doing and would have liked to have further. You 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:48.159 know that again, that was one of the things, like 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.479 I said in hindsight, you know, that would definitely have 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:56.920 been something that I could have went on and done further. Unfortunately, 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.279 I'm a I'm a man of many unfulfilled dreams. 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:06.039 Not long after he started his radiology job, when he 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:09.719 was only seventeen, Troy was pulled into the criminal legal 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.440 system and his dreams were shattered. 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:16.000 You know, I just think, you know, there was a 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.479 particular time, man, that there was so many things that 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.880 I could have done, and you know, the opportunities was 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:22.440 taken from me. 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:31.520 Justin heads up, there are a lot of names to 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.839 keep track of with this story, so pay careful attention. 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:41.400 Shortly after nine pm on April twenty first, nineteen ninety, 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:45.520 Michael Wilson and Joseph Kinnard, both twenty seven, were walking 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:48.560 down Fifteenth Street in Washington, d C. They had just 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:52.159 met up with Michael's girlfriend, Jerry, her brother, and their friend. 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.480 The trio left Michael and Joseph and got in their 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:58.119 car to leave. They had only driven half a block 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.520 before they heard gunfire. The shots were from two masked 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:06.640 gunmen who all of a sudden were ambushing Michael and Joseph. 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:10.559 Joseph fled unharmed, but Michael was shot at least six 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.000 times in the back as he was trying to escape. 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:15.840 At the hospital, he was fortunately able to tell his 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.600 girlfriend Jerry who shot him. On a piece of paper, 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.760 he wrote the names Lewis and Little Rick, but that 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.240 was all she would get. On May eighth, Michael succumbed 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:30.040 to his wounds and passed away in the hospital. Although 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.880 Michael gave the names of his attackers, investigators didn't follow 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:36.880 up on these leads and the case went cold for 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:43.480 almost three years. But in nineteen ninety one things started 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:47.400 to shift when police arrested a man named Antonio Johnson. 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.760 He was busted with an uzi and other guns, as 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:55.120 well as five hundred grams of crap cocaine. Facing serious charges, 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:59.640 he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and became an informant. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.600 Johnson eventually wound up helping prosecutors in more than three 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:08.800 dozen cases and earning quite a bit of money in exchange. 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.280 About a year later, in nineteen ninety two, after he 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.160 had already agreed to cooperate with the police, Johnson implicated 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:20.000 four people in the shooting of Michael Wilson, Louis lou 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.440 McCoy and Rick Harad, the two men who Michael named 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.400 before he died, as well as Frank Brackmoort and Troy Berner. However, 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:33.640 Johnson clarified that Troy did not fire his gun. Did 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.840 you know the people involved in this crime? Were you 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:37.920 familiar with any of them? 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.200 Well, my co defenders I know him, and that was 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.080 essentially you know how I got, you know, swept up 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:45.320 into the victim itself. 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:45.880 I didn't know. 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:49.800 Well, for all respect, do God blessed day. I mean, 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.120 it's not possible if you walked in my face right now, 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:52.719 I wouldn't know. 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:53.280 Who he was. 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.000 About four months later, a man named Antoine Peyton was 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:07.520 arrested for a murder that took place a few months 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:11.040 before Michael Wilson's and only two blocks away from where 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:13.960 Wilson was shot, and when he was arrested for that murder, 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.959 Peyton was actually already in prison for two drug convictions. 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:21.800 To avoid more charges, Peyton started giving information in the 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.680 Michael Wilson case, and he ended up giving the same 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:30.000 names that Johnson did, low Rick, Brockmoort, and Troy. Eventually, 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.440 Peyton was offered a plea deal to confess to his 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:35.920 murder case for a lesser charge. The deal was he 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.760 had to give a statement and testify at the Michael 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.800 Wilson murder trial. Peyton agreed. 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:44.680 You know, it was a particular time in DC and 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:49.400 they have all these collaborative law enforcement investigations going on, 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:52.960 and they trying to close all these cold cases, and 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:55.480 this case came up. 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.520 On March fifteenth, nineteen ninety three, almost exactly three years 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.880 after Michael Wilson's death, a grand jury investigation into his 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.400 murder began. The important thing about this, though, was that 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.720 Troy was not named as a subject of the investigation, 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:21.000 only lou Rick and Brackmoort. At this point, Troy had 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:26.040 not been named by the government at all. Initially, Peyton 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.240 had told police that he didn't witness the shooting, but 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.520 in front of the grand jury, he testified that he 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:34.000 knew about the plant hate on Michael and that he 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.760 drove to the scene and parked in an alley to watch. 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.960 Peyton said he saw lou and Rick chase down Michael 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.240 and shoot him, and that Troy was not there. He 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.280 said that after the shooting, they all went to Brackmort's apartment, 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:50.040 including Troy. Everyone was angry at Troy for not showing 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.960 up at the scene, and according to Peyton, Troy said 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:58.400 he didn't participate because there would have been crossfire. A 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.600 grandeurer followed up with a question why would Troy have 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:05.440 been afraid of the crossfire, and Peyton changed his story again. 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.559 He replied that Troy actually was at the scene of 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:10.760 the crime, but that he didn't have a gun or 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.480 do anything. This was the first time Peyton actually placed 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:19.400 Troy at the scene, and it sealed Troy's fate. On 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.960 April twentieth, nineteen ninety three, the gran jury indicted all 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:27.719 four men, lou Rick, Brackmoort, and Troy on charges of 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:32.360 first degree murder. So when you get charged. 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.440 What are you thinking, like, you have everything going for you, 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.560 you have a great life, You're making moves, and now 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:40.880 suddenly you're in the middle of a murder and you 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:42.240 are charged with this murder. 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.840 Well, initially, you know, I really didn't. 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.200 I really didn't have any thoughts on it because you know, 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:54.160 my whole thing was, you know, I didn't have nothing 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:55.760 to do with it, so you know, and they not 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:57.679 gonna beb to find nobody to say I had nothing 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:58.200 to do with it. 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:00.240 So you know, I hailed on to that. 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.120 You know that belief on't where they say the truth 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:15.720 sessue free. 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.679 The trial against the men started a year later. The 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:22.280 judge who oversaw the trial, Judge John H. Suda, denied 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.280 a request by Troy's attorney to have him tried separately 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:30.600 from his co defendants. At the trial, Antoine Payton testified 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:34.440 again and gave yet another story on what exactly happened 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.960 the night of the shooting and the days leading up 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.680 to it. In this version, he said he saw Troy 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.360 with a gun in his hands. Antonio Johnson, the first informant, 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:47.480 also testified that he heard Brackmoort brag about ordering the 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.480 other guys to shoot but that Troy didn't do so 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:54.200 because his gun was jammed, and Michael Wilson's girlfriend and 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.920 her brother also testified during the trial. They said they 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:02.800 only saw two attackers. Even with contradiction after contradiction by 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.600 the state's witnesses, the case against Troy and his co 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.079 defendants was enough for the jury, and just over four 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.400 years after the murder of Michael Wilson, all four men 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:16.200 were convicted of first degree murder. Troy was sentenced to 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.480 thirty years to life, the longest sentence of them all. 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:32.880 This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.240 AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and to making 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.320 a positive difference in the lives of its employees and 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.360 in the communities where we work and live. In light 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.120 of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:51.800 in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:56.240 the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal services and 0:13:56.360 --> 0:14:04.800 other support to underrepresented communities and individual wolves. Troy entered 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.079 prison when he was twenty one years old. A few 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.840 years went by, and then one day in two thousand 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:13.199 and nine, Troy was approached by a new arrival at 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:14.959 the prison, a. 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.320 Guy came down, you know from another institution, you know, 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:22.000 somebody from DC, and he was like, man, I was 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.280 out talking to this dude and he was like, man, 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.840 he said, he think he got something that belonged to you. 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.840 Troy had no idea what it was, so he made 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:31.240 a point to meet this person. 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.480 So, you know, we set up a time to meet 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.000 the guy on the yard, on the reck yard, and 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:39.560 we walked on the yard and the dude pulled out 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:42.720 a payment said he said, I think this you. He said, 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:44.840 because since I've been here, I've been hearing your name. 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.640 He said, I think this you. And it was AffA 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:49.600 David from Answan. 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:59.360 Peyton Antoine Peyton, the state star witness in Troy's trial, 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:04.280 had recanted. In the signed affidavit, Peyton admitted he lied 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.120 about being at the scene of the crime and lied 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:12.600 about Troy being there. Troy now had something he could 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.720 use to help prove his innocence, so he got to work. 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.680 For the next six years, Troy read up on law 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.400 and in twenty fifteen, without the help of a lawyer, 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:26.200 filed a motion for innocence. The petition included Peyton's recantation, 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.160 as well as an affidavit from Rickharrod saying that only 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:34.040 he and Lou chased and shot the victims, Troy was 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:37.680 not with them. This new account by Rick was exactly 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.920 what Michael had expressed in the first place. Also, by 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.920 this time, Antonio Johnson had admitted that the prosecutors essentially 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:50.600 told him what to say at trial, but the motion 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.680 was denied. Troy then reached out to the mid Atlantic 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:56.600 Innocence Project or MAIP. 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.240 You know, Troy had done a lot of work on 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.960 his case and presented some new evidence to us that 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:06.000 got us interested and had us dig deeper. 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.800 This is Francis Walters. She's the former legal director of 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.800 the mid Atlantic Innocence Project and is now an attorney 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.440 advisor at the Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney. 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.400 Francis was Troy's post conviction attorney. 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.320 What stood out in Troy's case was that there was 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:29.000 very minimal evidence of any involvement in the crime, and 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:33.320 it's pretty unusual to have someone convicted on such minimal 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:38.400 evidence and then to have this recantation. It really it 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.400 wasn't hard to come to the conclusion that Troy was innocent. 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:45.000 Troy's team went out and confirmed the recantation from Peyton. 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.040 They also discovered more information about him. 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.400 One of the things that had happened was Peyton said 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.880 in an affidavit that he had expected Troy to help 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.560 him out in one of his own cases, and he 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:02.840 got angry when Troy did, and so he said, you 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:04.240 know what, I'm just going to throw him in there. 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.159 Remember, Peyton had made a deal with the police to 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.160 testify for leniency in his own murder case. 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:12.560 We found like an FBI memo that said he was 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:17.440 like the most prolific confidential informant they had ever used. 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.800 The team continued to investigate Troy's conviction and they uncovered 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.920 some alibi witnesses who could help clear his name. 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.560 A couple of people who were from the neighborhood where 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:32.480 the shooting took place. They learned about Troy's Andcartridge many 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.480 years later, and when they learned about it, they said, 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.640 what Troy was playing dice with us? Again, not someone 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:41.399 who was close to Troy, And he said, but we 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.479 were all from this laundry room and we were all 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.120 playing dice together, and so he couldn't have been there. 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:52.120 So all those pieces of evidence we brought to the court. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.840 In twenty seventeen, Maip, along with attorneys Seth Rosenthal and 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.760 Laurence stock Smith from the law firm Venable, LP, filed 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:03.440 a new motion in twenty eighteen. They were granted an evidence. 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:04.080 You're hearing. 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.879 So it's Monday Tuesday. So Lou testified, Rick testified, to 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:09.520 alibi witnesses testified. 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.480 Usually a judge takes weeks or months to rule, but 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.200 in this case, it only took a week. 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.760 The court had called us back because he was ready 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:27.000 to resentence Troy to time served and let him be 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:34.640 released from incarceration. At that point, it was an amazing day. 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:36.480 I mean, we thought it would happen, but you just 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.760 never know, and so that was pretty special that the 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:44.119 judge did that the very week that we presented all 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:45.639 the evidence of innocence. 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.479 Although Troy was released on time served, he was still 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.880 not exonerated at this point, but he continued to work 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:58.160 on his innocence claim while out and about enjoying life. 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:00.000 One night he was out at a club. 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.760 I looked up and I just saw him walking through 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:05.760 the club, and you know, in my mind, the first 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.440 thing that flashed back was, you know, the little boy 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:12.560 with earsticking out, and I lugged and I said, that's Troy. 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.880 Burner And I ran. 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:16.600 Over there and he gave me a hug and he 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.520 was like, little Cherie, you're back. And I'm like where 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:19.960 you been? 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:21.879 And he's like, you didn't know? 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.400 I said, well, I know some, but you know, not everything. 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.560 Over the years, Troy and Shari's mothers had stayed in touch, 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.640 and so Shari had heard little bits here and there 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:34.000 about Troy's situation. 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.800 He you know, he sat down and we talked, and 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:41.640 he explained and told me everything that happened. 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:46.840 From that point forward, Shari says she and Troy became 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:50.080 close again, like the women they were kids. A romance 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:56.359 soon developed and they were inseparable. So what happened next? 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:01.960 Yeah, so he was on parole and and then Troy 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.560 got really, really sick, and. 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:07.520 That was. 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:14.080 Scary for everyone, thinking that he could die. Before even 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:16.679 having a decision in his innocence case. 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.639 In twenty nineteen, Troy was diagnosed with the flu and pneumonia. 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:30.400 His condition was so bad it looked like he might 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:31.040 not make it. 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:35.920 Yeah, they put me in a comb expired wife. 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:43.280 And his mom she called me and she she woke 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:46.760 me up one night and she said they lost him, 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:50.840 and I think I panicked, and she said, baby, calm down, 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:53.840 he's back. They brought him back. And you know, I 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.760 was like, man, don't do that, you know, don't call 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.840 me right away and say they lost him. But yes, 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.480 so she called and she said, well, she said, I 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:05.679 just want you to know. She said, he's back, you know, 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.480 just get up there and go see him, you know. 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:11.959 So I sat there and I talked to him, and 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.560 he was just hooked up to so many machines, and 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:19.359 you know, it was just kind of hard to look 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:23.399 at him for a little bit. But then I just 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.240 I remember leaning over him, whispering in his ear because 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.840 she said, you know, just go talk to him. You 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:29.639 know he can hear you. 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:31.760 He's just resting. Go talk to him. 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:34.000 And I whispered in his ear. I said, how are 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:35.879 you going to come back in my life? And they're 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:37.240 just going to die on me. You can't be my 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:38.760 husband if you die, right, and. 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.000 So get his eyes just pop open right then? 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:47.360 You know that would have that would have been yeah, 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:50.120 that would have been a story, you know, but surely 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:52.520 you know, about a month or so after that, his 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:57.920 mom she called me and she was just he's back. 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:04.880 Troy was put in rehab and Shari went to see 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:05.359 him there. 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:09.199 You know, he just gave me the biggest hug and 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:09.800 he told me. 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:12.399 He was like, you know, you're going to be my wife. 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:14.080 And I said, well, you must have heard what I 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:17.360 said to you then, huh, And he was just kind 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:20.280 of looking at me, like, what are you talking about. Later, 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:22.160 I said, you know said I whispered in your ear. 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:24.160 You know you must have heard what I said too. 0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:37.399 Troy was alive and with his love, but he was 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:40.879 still a prisoner of the state working on his innocence claim. 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:44.560 On March twenty second, twenty twenty, he left rehab, but 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:46.440 he didn't have to wait long to hear the news 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:47.480 he had been waiting for. 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:56.720 I desgonerated in March twenty six, just four. 0:22:56.600 --> 0:23:00.199 Days after he finished rehab, when we weren't sure he 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:00.840 was going to make it. 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:09.399 Wow, at forty eight years old, Troy was a free man. Today, 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:12.639 Troy is an associate with the Justice Policy Institute, helping 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:15.879 others who have been wrongfully convicted. He's also involved with 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:19.320 other organizations that help people caught up in the criminal 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:24.320 legal system, including the organization Changing Perceptions, which helps formally 0:23:24.320 --> 0:23:28.320 incarcerated people adjust to life outside prison. Troy has published 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:35.119 multiple articles about the criminal legal system as well. In 0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:38.960 March twenty sixth, twenty twenty one, exactly one year from 0:23:39.000 --> 0:23:41.800 his exoneration, Troy and Shari got married. 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:46.879 So what are what are y'all's plans hope streams for 0:23:46.920 --> 0:23:47.399 the future. 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:52.520 Well, I have four children from a previous marriage that 0:23:52.880 --> 0:23:54.640 they've all adopted him. 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:57.679