WEBVTT - Messy 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:13.520 Last time on ear witness. 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.040 We knew the reward was offered because it was all 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.360 over the papers, but we didn't know who got it 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:23.120 or if IoLET Ellison got it. 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.840 She was a very credible witness. We believed her. Obviously, 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:29.880 we believed her because we convicted him, and it was 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:30.880 on her testimony. 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.760 When I showed up at her house, she said I 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:34.800 didn't get a reward. 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.199 I was like, oh, well, that's funny. I was like, 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.839 I have some paperwork here that says you got a reward. 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:45.000 We got an email that said we found these documents. 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:49.080 They had been misfiled and here they are. 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:54.240 Does that sound strange to you or do you have 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:55.720 any idea how that could. 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:56.480 Have happened. 0:00:57.720 --> 0:00:58.560 AG's office. 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:00.800 They said he got misfiled, and I guess it got 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:01.959 misfiled error. 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:03.600 I guess, I don't know. 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.320 Do you think that your impression of her would have 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.160 been different had you known she was being paid five 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:12.000 thousand dollars. 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:18.440 I definitely believe we would have as a jury talked 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:23.319 about that, like how credible is this testimony? She's being 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:39.240 paid for it? 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:41.880 Like I had never been in trouble a day in 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:46.640 my life ever before the end. I'm going to jail. 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.520 And I've never been in jail to day in my 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:54.000 life ever, ever, ever, never had got any trouble anything. 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:57.800 I'm sitting on the couch in a tiny one bedroom 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:02.600 apartment in Birmingham. It's warm outside. The door is open 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:07.160 to let in a breeze. I'm talking with Marika Wilson, 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.880 who's telling me and my producer Mara about a defining 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:15.320 experience of her life being charged with attempted murder in 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.880 nineteen ninety seven when she was twenty years old, a 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:23.680 crime she did not commit. The crime happened late at 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:27.079 night when one woman and two men tried to rob 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.840 a man in Birmingham. They broke into his house and 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:35.720 shot him. He almost died. Marika was accused of being 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:39.079 the woman who participated in the crime, but she says 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.799 she wasn't there. It was someone else. 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.320 Albun tatno plead. They offered me twenty two years of 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:49.680 my life for something that I didn't even do, and 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:51.840 I said no. I fought to the bitter end. 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:57.520 A jury found Marika not guilty, but the ordeal left 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:59.280 life long scars. 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.680 It has still just bothered me all these years about 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.200 what I went through. You know what I'm saying. Every 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.680 time I applied for a job, even though I was 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.840 a quitty I couldn't get a job, a decent job 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.080 to take care of my kids. I lost my place. 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:16.480 I didn't have a shirt to put on my back. 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:20.519 Then I lost custody of my kids behind that. I 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:23.760 was up against all type of odds in that situation, 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:29.079 something that I didn't even do. But she, she did, 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.160 not that woman stick it up there and say she's 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:31.560 seen me. 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:36.080 The woman Marika is referring to is the witness who 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.880 testified against her, a neighbor of the victim, who said 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.440 she'd seen the crime unfold from her living room window 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:49.200 at two am. She told the jury she saw Marika 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.560 and two other people break down the victim's door and 0:03:52.640 --> 0:04:05.920 assault him. The woman's name Violet Ellison. So do you 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.000 remember Violet Ellison. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:10.800 I remember her getting up there saying she's seen me 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:16.359 through the window. She was wrong, she was wrong, Yes, ma'am, 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:21.800 it wasn't me. They discredited her at my trial. They 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.160 made her look horrible. I remember her like she just 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:26.599 got up there and pointed at me. 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.839 Marika's attorneys showed the jury that Violet Ellison's view from 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:37.360 her living room window was blocked by a tree. There 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:40.800 was no possible way she could have seen Marika or 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.000 anyone else on her neighbor's porch. 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:46.800 So she was a big part of the case against. 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.880 You, and she. 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:56.880 Led under oath, literally literally lied under oath. 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:09.960 Violet Ellison testified against Marika less than four months after 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.640 she served as the star witness against to Forrest Johnson. 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:18.440 Their trials happened in the same year, in the same courthouse, 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:25.080 prosecuted by the same DA's office. In both cases, Violet 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:29.720 Ellison knew the victim, spoke to detectives, and became a 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:42.720 lead witness. Marara and I find ourselves in Marika Wilson's 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.920 living room a few weeks after I made a lucky 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:51.839 discovery in Alabama's database of online court records. One afternoon, 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:55.040 I'm sitting in my office poking around in the database. 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:59.760 It's a clunky website with all these different drop down menus. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:05.280 I'm running searches on Violet Ellison's name, trying her name 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.600 in a bunch of different ways, getting the same results. 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:13.480 When all of a sudden, I hit enter and boop, 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:18.799 a new list pops up criminal cases all naming Violet 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:24.000 Ellison as a state's witness. So, in addition to t 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:28.120 Forest's case, I discover that Violet Ellison has been a 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:33.839 witness for the state in four other criminal cases. Marika 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.880 Wilson was the first person that we tracked down who 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:41.960 Violet Ellison had testified against. When I first called Marika, 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.880 I told her about the four other cases Violet was 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:51.080 involved in as a witness. Right, we know of five 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:52.600 different criminal cases. 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.120 Is these folks convicted because of her? 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:57.480 Several of them? 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:57.800 Yeah? 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:03.960 Oh wow, oh wow, Oh man, y'all need to help 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:09.159 them people, because she's not credible. I said that to 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:11.960 my husband about that woman. I said, baby, he said, 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.040 this woman don't been involved in several cases, Like is 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.640 she on a payroll or something? It just sounds like 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:20.760 something crooked going on with me, because how does she 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.320 keep popping up in all these serious cases and being witnesses? 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:28.960 Like that's that don't sound right, I'm sorry, it doesn't. 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:30.080 Wow. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.840 And the boy on deth rol because of this lady, 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:40.119 Oh wow, it's something going on with that, y'all. 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.920 In order to believe and to forrest Johnson's conviction, you 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.760 have to believe that Violet Ellison was truthful when she 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:52.120 said that she overheard to Forrest talk about killing Deputy Hardy, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.800 that she wasn't after the reward money because she didn't 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:01.320 know about it. You have to believe that Violet Ellison 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:06.240 is credible. So we need to know everything we can 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:12.600 about Violet Ellison because without her, without her credibility, there 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.760 is no case against to Forrest Johnson. 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:58.720 Do you hear my maness laugh? Hads my susay bly 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:15.719 is in this day o tears. I want to see revelation. 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:21.920 I want to know who you are. 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.440 I'm reation. 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:37.840 In thisspiration to the world. Who's holding star. 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:41.079 To the. 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.480 Who's holding the stand? 0:09:51.880 --> 0:09:57.400 I'm Beth Shelburn. This is ear witness, Chapter seven MESSI. 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.440 In January of twenty twenty two, Mara and I start 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:26.560 trying to track down the other people Violet Ellison testified against. 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:31.120 We spend a lot of time in my car full days. 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:36.360 Sometimes I pack mom snacks, healthy stuff like hummus and 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:41.200 baby carrots, raw almonds, maybe a diet doctor pepper on 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:45.240 a hard day. Marika was the first person we were 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:49.640 able to find. The second case that listed Violet Ellison 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:53.400 as a witness was a second degree assault between two 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.400 men who got in a fight. The case ended in 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:00.839 a plea deal, so she never actually testified. We weren't 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:04.160 able to figure out exactly why she was listed as 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:06.840 a witness. We tried very hard to talk to the 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:12.160 man charged in the case, but never could reach him. 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.640 And then there was the third case. It involved a 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:20.120 local pastor named Bishop James Johnson, who was accused of 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:24.720 inappropriately touching and kissing three teenaged girls at his church 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:29.440 run school in nineteen ninety three. Violet Ellison was a 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:34.199 school employee who testified about the alleged abuse, but Bishop 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:38.760 Johnson maintained he was falsely accused and that Violet Ellison 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:43.040 was lying. The charges against him were eventually dropped by 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:47.680 the state. We talked to Bishop Johnson, who's now in 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:51.319 his late eighties, at his house in a suburb of Birmingham, 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:55.720 and he told us Violet Ellison made up the accusations 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.480 in an effort to get rid of him because she 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:00.319 wanted to run the school. 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:02.760 Yes, she was a part of my church. She was 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:03.320 a liar. 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:08.320 We talked to one other school employee who corroborated what 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:13.000 Bishop Johnson told us that Violet Ellison made up the allegations. 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.440 I tried to find some of the alleged victims in 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.280 this case, but I wasn't able to track them down. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.520 Bishop Johnson said he's forgiven Violet Ellison. 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:26.319 That's over. 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:27.280 Thank God for over. 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.520 I have nothing to holler against her. I forgave her 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:33.360 every that I was told. 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:34.400 I'm free. 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.559 But he said she is not a trustworthy person. 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.320 I'll trust her, she's a personal trusts. 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:59.200 George Holloway is the next person on our list of 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:04.120 people that bulet Ellison testified against. What we know from 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.800 court records is this. Between two thousand and eight and 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:12.840 twenty sixteen, George Holloway was charged in several domestic violence 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:18.360 incidents involving his girlfriend. But unlike Marika Wilson and Bishop 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:23.320 James Johnson, George Holloway pleaded guilty to his charges, which 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:28.360 included violating a protective order twice. He was sentenced to 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:33.440 three years in prison. The documents don't show why Violet 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:52.120 Ellison was a witness against George Holloway. So Mara and 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:55.600 I get in the car and drive around for hours 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.559 knocking on doors with a list of possible home addresses 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:04.199 with no luck. I need to turn around. Finally, we 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:07.520 pull up to the last address on our list around Sunset, 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.559 a small brick house, and bessemer. 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:12.240 We're here. 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.280 You know, it's always a gamble, but we'll just give 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:20.400 it a whirl. At the same time, a truck stops 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.680 at the top of the house's driveway. Can you are 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:28.640 we blocking you? And out hops a man wearing grass 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:33.920 stained work clothes and a neon green shirt. Are you 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.960 going to this house we're looking for mister George Holloway. 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:42.920 Is that you? That's okay, George, I'm sorry to show 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.760 up here like this. We are journalists and we are 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:51.960 working on a story about a case. And I launch 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.280 into a spiel about what we're up to, and George 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:59.600 Holloway listens quietly as we stand next to his mailbox. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.760 You and so we're trying to get information on her. 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:07.680 Her name's Violet Ellison. Do you know her? Do you 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:11.560 have an opinion about her? Or have any any information 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:13.440 that you could give us about her? 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:17.240 I know she's very corendicted. 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.880 She's I like to be involved in a lot of 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:30.120 stuff that doesn't involve her. She's very She's a very 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:32.480 messy lady, very messy. 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.480 George Holloway invites us into his living room to talk 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.600 more about his relationship with Violet Ellison. 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:54.520 She's not a reliable person that you would trust, that 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.840 you will put your faith in. And I would tell anybody, 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.160 whatever you have to say, do not say it in 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:08.280 front of her, because it's going to get turned totally backwards. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.080 It's not gonna be said the way that you said. 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:16.600 My opinion, stay away from that woman because she's troubled. 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.040 He tells us that he met Violet Ellison through his 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:25.840 ex girlfriend. It gets a little complicated, but it's like this, 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.640 George Holloway used to date a woman we'll call Sharon. 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:35.840 Before she was with George, Sharon dated Violet Ellison's son, 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:40.520 Reginald Smith, who's known as Red. George tells us that 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.800 when Sharon broke up with Red, she remained friends with 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:49.480 Violet Ellison, but he tells us Violet Ellison wanted Sharon 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.520 and her son Red to get back together, and she 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:56.760 thought George was in the way. George admits that he 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.920 and Sharon had a volatile relationship and because of that, 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:04.199 Sharon had a protective order against him. He says that 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:07.880 one night he and Sharon had an argument in person, 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:12.879 violating the protective order. George says he left after the 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.520 argument and Sharon called police, but Violet Ellison later testified 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:21.600 that she heard and saw the whole thing firsthand. 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:25.680 She has said that you know she was there, she 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:33.880 witnessed it, but she was not there. She showed up 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:38.400 after everything had happened, and the pulviase was there on 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:39.960 the scene. 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.520 George tells us he decided to plead guilty to breaking 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.720 Sharon's protective order to wash his hands of the whole situation. 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:52.440 He says he hasn't seen Sharon, Violet Ellison, or her 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:58.360 son read in years. George admits to physical fights with Sharon, 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.760 but it seems like his descriptions of these fights minimize 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:07.480 the violence. We know there is another side to the story, 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:13.480 but Sharon doesn't respond to our interview requests. I tell 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:18.720 George about Violet Ellison's involvement into Forrest Johnson's conviction and 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:22.400 the five thousand dollars reward she was paid in secret. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:28.439 She would do anything possible that she can if money 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.200 is involved, even go to this extent. 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:35.520 To lie, But he says Violet Ellison has an even 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:40.920 stronger motivation than money. Her son read. 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:47.800 She would do anything possible, anything and go to any 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.240 extent to keep us son out of trouble. 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:58.679 Multiple sources tell me that Red is a longtime drug user, 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.800 and court records show that he's been in and out 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:06.400 of jail. George says that Violet Ellison enabled her son. 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.240 She would come up for him, whether he was right 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.840 of whether he was wrong. You know, she knew he 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:18.359 was doing things out there in the street. But you 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.440 know if the police come, she would lie and say 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:27.399 he's not there. You know, she would give police's informations 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:33.679 leading to drug buses, people that don't dead, robberies, and 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:38.359 favor for them to drop charges against Reginald, get the 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:43.320 charges downgraded, you know, to keep him from going to jail. 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:51.720 I leave the interview with George Holloway wondering could Red's 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:56.240 legal issues have motivated Violet Ellison to get involved with police? 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:06.840 Was she after leniency for her son. A search of 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:10.840 public court records shows that Red has a lengthy list 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:15.240 of misdemeanor and felony convictions on his record going back 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:19.120 to nineteen eighty But I checked with the Alabama Department 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:22.359 of Corrections and they have no record of him ever 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:26.359 serving time in prison. This tracks with what one of 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:31.160 Violet Ellison's neighbors told me that Red is often in trouble, 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:37.679 but he's like Teflon, nothing sticks. For example, in nineteen 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:42.080 ninety seven, Red was charged with robbery and theft when 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:46.040 he stole five watches from a department store. He pleaded 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:50.919 guilty and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, but 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.480 then the judge amended read sentence and granted him probation 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:59.800 instead of prison time. But there's no information about why 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:04.040 his sentence was downgraded. And this happened less than a 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:09.080 month before the start of to Forrest's second trial. That 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:13.760 timing gets my attention. I wonder if it's possible that 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:18.560 Violet Ellison testified into Forrest's case in exchange for preferential 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:23.760 treatment for her son, But on further examination, that seems 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:27.639 like a long shot. The charges against Red in nineteen 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:31.600 ninety seven were in Bessemer, not Jefferson County, where to 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:36.800 Forest was tried, with different prosecutors and judges. But I 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:40.439 do know that Violet Ellison was involved in her son's 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:46.320 criminal defense in a two thousand and seven burglary case. 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:51.520 Records show that Red's attorney met with the defendant and 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:57.359 his mother for three hours in two separate meetings. Red 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:04.640 pleaded guilty in that case and got probation. Is read 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.440 getting preferential treatment because his mother has been a witness 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:13.760 for the state in multiple cases. I find no documentation 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:18.320 to support this, But then again, are deals like that 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:50.240 ever spelled out in court records? While looking through Red's files, 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:54.280 I notice an especially violent assault and battery from nineteen 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:58.879 ninety four he was sentenced to supervised probation. I was 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:01.639 able to dig up at court of the incident, in 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:06.000 which police say Red spits on a woman, grabs her 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:09.920 by the neck and hair, and pulls her around a room. 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:14.560 A child is listed as a witness. The victim's name 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:18.280 is Anita Davis, and her most likely addresses are all 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:22.719 in central Georgia. So Mara and I get back in 0:23:22.760 --> 0:23:26.320 the car and make the four hour drive to try 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:34.399 to find her. Hi, we're looking for Anita Davis. 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:36.920 She passed away. Oh, I'm so sorry. 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:38.240 Are you her daughter? 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:40.119 My name is Beth. 0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:44.639 This is Marra. We are writers and we're working on 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:48.640 a story about the wrongful conviction, and we're reaching out 0:23:48.640 --> 0:23:51.520 to people that may know that the witness. Her name 0:23:51.560 --> 0:23:52.600 is Violet Ellison. 0:23:53.920 --> 0:23:58.000 Oh, I know who you are. This's my grandma. 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:00.960 Oh okay, so Violets is your grandmother? 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:02.879 Okay do you? 0:24:03.359 --> 0:24:09.479 Unexpectedly we find ourselves talking to Violet Ellison's granddaughter, Tyse Davis, 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:12.560 is in her fifties but doesn't look a day over forty. 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:17.280 When I mentioned her grandmother Violet Ellison, Tyse comes out 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:20.600 from behind the screen door. She keeps her earbuds in 0:24:20.840 --> 0:24:24.280 while we stand on the porch and talk. What kind 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:25.199 of grandmother was she? 0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:28.240 Was she involved in your life? No? 0:24:28.240 --> 0:24:30.879 No, she told my day, yo, kids ain't gonna never 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:35.159 mountain there. But then we're the kids that's been successful 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:38.600 and now she's she's trying to come back around. 0:24:39.320 --> 0:24:39.720 Yeah. 0:24:39.760 --> 0:24:41.440 So there's not like warm feelings. 0:24:41.720 --> 0:24:44.280 Yeah. 0:24:44.400 --> 0:24:47.680 So far, most of the people I've contacted about Violet 0:24:47.680 --> 0:24:51.440 Ellison had good reason to say negative things about her. 0:24:51.920 --> 0:24:56.680 Those were people who she testified against. But this feels different. 0:24:57.400 --> 0:25:01.800 We're hearing from a blood relative, person connected to Violet 0:25:01.800 --> 0:25:06.760 Ellison through family. Tyist tells us she's retired from the 0:25:06.840 --> 0:25:11.040 Air Force. She moved to Georgia with her mom, Anita Davis, 0:25:11.119 --> 0:25:14.919 and her two brothers. When they were kids. Tye says 0:25:15.320 --> 0:25:18.480 it was to get away from the chaos surrounding her 0:25:18.480 --> 0:25:21.960 father's side of the family. We asked her about Red, 0:25:22.960 --> 0:25:25.119 what's the deal with Red? Her son? 0:25:26.400 --> 0:25:27.760 Uh So that's my dad. 0:25:28.119 --> 0:25:31.040 Okay, I really don't how nothing do him because he's 0:25:31.040 --> 0:25:32.320 been on drug since. 0:25:32.119 --> 0:25:34.960 I was nine, eight or nine. 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:38.320 Okay, he stayed with her, So you know you had 0:25:38.320 --> 0:25:40.720 a parents where you know, you know your child doing stuff, 0:25:40.720 --> 0:25:43.760 but you uphold it firstus letting them know you wrong. 0:25:44.680 --> 0:25:46.159 Yeah, she upholds everything you do. 0:25:46.960 --> 0:25:47.640 That's exactly. 0:25:47.640 --> 0:25:52.880 Tyis corroborates the picture already painted by George Holloway and 0:25:52.960 --> 0:25:56.960 a neighbor of Violet Ellison, telling us that she readily 0:25:57.000 --> 0:26:01.560 involves herself and other people's criminal issues, but does whatever 0:26:01.600 --> 0:26:05.080 she can to protect her son. Read when he gets 0:26:05.119 --> 0:26:05.719 into trouble. 0:26:07.000 --> 0:26:09.240 You don't need neighborhood watch with her. But she only 0:26:09.359 --> 0:26:11.679 if she only noticed what she wanted notice, because if 0:26:11.680 --> 0:26:13.879 her son was bringing in somebody house but steriously she 0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:16.600 didn't see that, but anything else she would see. 0:26:16.680 --> 0:26:18.560 So yeah, that type of stuff. 0:26:18.840 --> 0:26:22.640 We explained why we're interested in Violet Ellison and her son, 0:26:23.359 --> 0:26:26.600 and Tays tells us she had recently heard about her 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:30.359 grandmother's involvement into Forrest Johnson's case. 0:26:30.880 --> 0:26:34.000 So I w I wasn't surprised when I heard it 0:26:34.000 --> 0:26:38.320 because if it involved money, I wouldn't be surprised. 0:26:38.560 --> 0:26:40.920 Well, and it did. I mean she was paid five 0:26:40.960 --> 0:26:41.760 thousand dollars. 0:26:41.840 --> 0:26:44.200 Yeah, so I wouldn't be surprised. Like when I heard 0:26:44.200 --> 0:26:46.680 the story, I was like, Yeah, I'm not surprised at all. 0:26:47.560 --> 0:26:50.560 She's money homer. So that that's the. 0:26:51.200 --> 0:26:54.679 Issue that would like I said, will say anything to 0:26:54.680 --> 0:26:55.200 get money. 0:26:55.359 --> 0:26:57.040 Why is she like that any idea? 0:26:57.440 --> 0:27:01.080 No, even like I said, growing up, I I had 0:27:01.119 --> 0:27:04.200 nothing to do with them. Like for instance, I'm gonna 0:27:04.240 --> 0:27:05.120 give you an example. 0:27:06.160 --> 0:27:09.640 Ty East tells us that Violet Ellison was distant when 0:27:09.680 --> 0:27:13.679 she was a child, but then right after Tyst joined 0:27:13.680 --> 0:27:16.760 the Air Force, she got a call from her grandmother. 0:27:17.520 --> 0:27:20.479 Haven't done nothing for me, her gray child, haven't done 0:27:20.520 --> 0:27:23.960 nothing for me. When I joined the military, she said, hey, 0:27:24.000 --> 0:27:25.479 I need your social Security number so I can give 0:27:25.520 --> 0:27:27.600 insurance poll this on you just. 0:27:27.520 --> 0:27:29.600 In case you know, something happened to you and we 0:27:29.640 --> 0:27:30.280 can bury you. 0:27:31.080 --> 0:27:34.080 I'm fine with the military, got me covered and that stuff, 0:27:34.119 --> 0:27:35.560 and go to my mom. So why you need my 0:27:35.640 --> 0:27:39.080 social but you ain't never decided to do that before, 0:27:39.960 --> 0:27:44.040 so stuff like that. But I'm not surprised with the 0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:47.560 money thing, and I hate that this man could be 0:27:47.640 --> 0:27:52.320 innocent and for five thousand dollars he's on did her 0:27:52.440 --> 0:27:53.360 five thousand dollars. 0:27:53.720 --> 0:27:56.240 But she testified under oath that she did not know 0:27:56.320 --> 0:27:59.560 about the reward. She didn't know that any money was involved. 0:28:03.080 --> 0:28:09.720 So's exactly my brother said. She ain't testified against nentheless 0:28:09.800 --> 0:28:10.680 his money involved. 0:28:11.720 --> 0:28:15.600 All of a sudden, we realize that Tyss has earbuds 0:28:15.600 --> 0:28:19.199 in because she's on the phone with someone. It's her 0:28:19.240 --> 0:28:22.359 brother Tony. Oh, okay, is he here? 0:28:22.760 --> 0:28:23.040 Yeah? 0:28:23.080 --> 0:28:24.640 Do you think he would talk to us? 0:28:25.040 --> 0:28:27.440 Would it be possible for us to come see him too? 0:28:28.119 --> 0:28:35.040 You're fine with that tone? Okay, you would just have. 0:28:35.080 --> 0:28:35.600 To kick. 0:28:37.280 --> 0:28:41.280 Violet Ellison's grandson, Tony lives about ten minutes away from 0:28:41.280 --> 0:28:44.720 his sister Tye. We get to his house and the 0:28:44.720 --> 0:28:48.680 front yard is filled with cars in various states of repair. 0:28:49.240 --> 0:28:50.920 He's waiting for us on the porch. 0:28:52.560 --> 0:28:56.040 Hello, Hi, how are you are you? 0:28:56.080 --> 0:28:56.440 Tony? 0:28:57.520 --> 0:29:01.600 After he finishes extracting an old bird's nest from the rafters, 0:29:02.200 --> 0:29:04.120