WEBVTT - #447 Jason Flom with Darien Harris 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.400 On June seventh, twenty eleven, twenty three year old Rondel 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:09.880 Moore was driving down South Stony Island Avenue in Chicago 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:14.880 with his friend and his brother. Rondell was having car trouble, 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:19.119 so they pulled into a gas station. While Rondell and 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:22.680 another man looked under the hood, a black sedan pulled 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:26.720 into the lot. A gunman exited the sedan and opened 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:31.400 fire on Rondel's car. Two men were injured, and Rondel 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:34.600 Moore was fatally shot. An APB went out for a 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.280 black sedan in the area and a young man in 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:41.440 a black sedan was arrested. Eventually, that young man said 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.479 that he had dropped off someone nicknamed King Chucky at 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:48.920 the gas station. Police scoured social media and found Darien 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:54.120 Harris aka King Chucky, who was subsequently identified from a 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:58.080 lineup by three witnesses and sentenced to seventy six years. 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:09.880 But this is a wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has always 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.360 given voice to innocent people in prison, and now we're 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:16.680 expanding that voice to you. Call us at eight three, three, 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.640 two oh seven, four six sixty six and tell us 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.240 how these stories make you feel and what you've done 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:24.720 to help the cause, even if it's something as simple 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.280 as telling a friend or sharing on social media. We've 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.120 really appreciated hearing from our audience so much so that 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:33.440 we've included one of the messages at the end of 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:35.800 this episode. So stick around for that, and if you 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.520 have something to say, we definitely want to hear it, 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.360 and you might just hear yourself in a future episode. 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.520 Call us A three three, two oh seven, four six 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:59.560 sixty six. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction today's story. You're 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.720 going to be stunned at one particular aspect of this case. 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.880 That is like it would be more appropriate for a 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:09.520 movie that was set up as a comedy than something 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.760 so deadly serious as this case. It's my great honor 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:17.600 to introduce our two guests today. First of all, a 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.520 name fans of the show will recognize Lauren Myers Koff 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:26.240 Maller of the Exoneration Project in Illinois. Lauren, welcome back 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:26.760 to the show. 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.560 Thank you so much. Jason, I'm excited to be back 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.200 with a newly released client. 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.160 Darien Harris. Darien, I'm so sorry for what you've been 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:38.480 through that brought you to this microphone today, but we're 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:40.160 honored to have you here as well. 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.280 Yeah, I appreciate you allowed me to be here on 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:43.440 your platform as well. 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:47.160 So let's go back even before this murder that you 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.959 ended up being charged with. You're only eighteen at the time, 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.119 so there's not that much to even cover. But what 0:02:54.280 --> 0:03:00.000 was your life like before this title wave of insanity? 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.800 A family, good, supportive family, you know, but the sisters. 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.720 I was in high school, I was playing sports, you know. 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.480 I was living my life basically and just having a 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:11.920 good life, you know. And no matter what I was 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.440 doing while I was outside of having fun with my friends, 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:16.760 I wasn't doing no crimes or nothing like that. I 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:19.720 was just being a typical teenager and just enjoying my life. 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.000 And I was set to graduate from high school the 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:24.679 week before I got locked up, and I got to 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:25.880 set in to Georgia State. 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:28.639 Sounds like you had a pretty bright future. You were 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.160 into music as well, right. 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.440 You know, at the time, just being creative. We were 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.600 just raving about things we come up seeing and things 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:38.920 like homies might be doing something. Was just having fun, 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:39.160 you know. 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:42.360 Around that time, Darien appeared in a RapidIO with a 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.240 few other guys, some of them were tied up with gangs, 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.040 and it seems like gang tensions and the hand fisted 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:50.520 approach of the Cook County police were at play in 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.920 this wrong for conviction. There was a shooting on June seventh, 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:57.720 twenty eleven, at a gas station on South Stony Island Avenue. 0:03:57.920 --> 0:03:59.400 If you're looking at it on a map, there's a 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.000 McDonald on the corner above it to the north, and 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:04.920 then Jackson Park across the street to the east. The 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.120 gas station is a rectangular lot with a depot at 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:11.200 the center, and just before eight thirty that evening, twenty 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:14.240 three year old Rondel Moore was fatally shot and found 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.000 towards the backside of the depot. 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:21.400 The victim had gone to the gas station with some 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.640 friends and his brother. They were having issues with the 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.640 car and this black BMW comes into the parking lot. 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:29.839 What the police say happened is someone gets out of 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:34.160 the black car, goes over and shoots at the victim, 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.400 Rondell Moore, and then there are a few other people 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:41.360 who are shot. There's Marcus Diggs, Quincy Woollard, and then 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.760 the victim's brother, Ronald claimed that he was shot at, 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.279 but the video doesn't really bear that out. So Rondell 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.120 is the only one who is killed, and most of 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.919 the people said that they didn't see who was shooting. 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.840 Both Marcus Diggs and Quincy Wollard could not identify their shooter, 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:00.480 but Rondell's brother Ronald. The gas station attended Joe Tony 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:04.800 and two alleged witnesses, Dexter Saffold and Aaron Jones, all 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:09.240 later made identifications and gave their own versions of events. Luckily, 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:10.760 there was surveillance footage. 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:14.200 There is surveillance video of the crime. You can't make 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.760 out much about the person committing the crime, you can't 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.919 see his face, but you can learn some details that 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.440 really helped to kind of unravel the case and show 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:24.400 what really happened. 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.440 At fourteen seconds after eight twenty seven pm, a black 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.080 sedan pulled into the gas station from the north and 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.880 stopped at the south end, ready to pull back out 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.800 onto South Stony Island Avenue. The shooter got out of 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:38.440 the car and walked out a frame as he got 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.599 close to Rondell's car and shots were fired. All the 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.919 witnesses agreed that Rondell ran west toward the back of 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.520 the depot with his friend Marcus Diggs ran north towards 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:52.640 the McDonald's at eight twenty seven forty seven. The shooter 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:56.080 also ran to the backside of the depot, then ten 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.640 seconds later ran to the south end of the lot, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:00.840 where we're not sure if he got back into the 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.520 black sedan, but either way he fled south. The shooting 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.800 was reported on a few nine one one calls, including 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.240 from an alleged onlooker named Dexter Saffold and an APB 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.320 went out at eight thirty pm for a black sedan 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.279 and the police pulled one over in the area. 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.480 Now, initially, the brother of the victim ran to this 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.080 black car that was pulled over nearby, yelling you killed 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.640 my brother. You killed my brother. So they take that guy, 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.239 the driver, into custody, Aaron Jones. 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.480 According to Ronald Moore's initial statement, the shooter had dark 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.799 skin of mohawk and fled in the black sedan. Aaron 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:38.200 Jones did not have a mohawk and was alone. Maybe 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.920 this was not the correct black sedan. Ronald later changed 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.920 his statement, saying that he just assumed that the shooter 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.880 got into the black sedan, which left Aaron Jones still 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.840 in suspicion of being connected to the shooter and right 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.960 for police coercion. As the investigation continued, the statements from 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:58.560 Aaron Jones, Ronald Moore, and Dexter Saffold all shifted each 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:03.280 time they spoke, leaving only one witness whose story remained consistent. 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:05.640 The gas station attendant. His name was Jody Tony, and 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.240 so right away when the police came, they talked to 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.000 him and he said, I saw this happen. I know 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:13.640 who was the shooter because he was in the gas 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.920 station an hour before this happened and he was threatening 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.680 me and threatening to blow my head off. So I 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:21.680 saw him when he did this, and you know, I 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:22.800 could identify him. 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:25.560 Jody Tony was later called in to view a lineup. 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.840 In the meantime, investigators followed up with Dexter Saffold, who 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:30.320 had called nine to one one. 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:34.040 So he witnesses a shooting, allegedly doesn't stick around back 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:35.800 at his apartment. They go to talk to him. He's 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.960 what they call an independent witness, so he's not tied 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:41.480 to any one. It's not like the brother, it's not 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.560 like someone who would have, you know, some kind of 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:45.240 motivation potentially to lie. 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.840 Strangely, Saffold made claims that are not supported by the 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.960 surveillance footage, and his statements changed along the way. 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:55.680 And changed in important ways, including what the perpetrator was wearing. 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:59.200 He described the perpetrator's wearing a black shirt, all this stuff. 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.560 In the video you can see he's wearing like a 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.400 gray tank top or a light colored tank top. What 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:05.600 has hair looked like. 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:08.560 Saffold said that the shooter had his hair and twists, 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:12.560 meaning braids or dreads, which conflicts with Ronald Moore, who 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.320 said the shooter had worn a mohawk. 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.400 And one of the things about Dexter Saffold that the 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:20.840 video showed was that he claimed he was eighteen feet away, 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.080 but he was actually eighty feet away, and you can 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:27.720 see that because at some point right after the shooting happens, 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.400 you can see his scooter in the top of one 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:31.200 of the frames. 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.400 Saffold pulled into frame a full minute after the shooter 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.839 left the scene. So it's not clear what he saw, 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.400 if anything, including that the shooter ran right by him 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.920 while chasing the victim behind the station, which was contradicted 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.199 by the surveillance footage. And somehow there's room for Saffold 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:50.520 to become even more absurd, but we'll get to that later. 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.839 What's interesting is that even though Ronald Moore and Dexter 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:58.280 Saffold disagreed on the hair mohawk versus twists and then 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.400 later a low haircut, they agreed on the hype. 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:06.559 A discription of the shoot was fast seven. 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.400 And does that describe you in any way? 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.400 No, at the time I was six'. TWO i never 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.160 had had a low. Heacut they don't scrab me it. 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.840 Out then the investigation received one more lead. 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:20.679 From the police. REPORTS a couple of people who were 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:25.439 close with the Victim. Roundell his girlfriend and one of 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:28.000 his friends both said that he had been shot at 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:32.200 a couple days prior by some people from The East 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:36.600 block set of the Gangster. Disciples so they said that 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.560 the guy who had shot At, rundell that it was 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:39.920 this Guy. 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:44.040 Dony, coincidentally Both dooney and one of his known, associates 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.680 a guy Nicknamed, slim had appeared in a rap video 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:48.239 With darien Aka. 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.079 Kingchucky you know how did music and shot music, Video 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.120 so you KNOW i was around these people or. 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:57.520 Whatever the brother of the, victim he brings this rap 0:09:57.600 --> 0:09:59.960 video to the police and said someone said the shooter 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:03.360 was in. Here and then ends up pointing Out. 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:07.800 Darien it appears this information made its way To Aaron jones. 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.040 He's being interrogated for. Murder they get him to say 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.679 that it was someone Named slim at. First the next 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:16.960 day that changes to someone Named, chucky. 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:19.760 And then Again Aaron jones originally, said we looked just 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.960 like literally like when they showed a music video we used. 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:26.520 TO i, said he, like do it look just LIKE i. 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.040 Don't know if there was some confusion from the outset 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.360 as to who it was because they were both in this, 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:35.959 video or it was just Because darien was in a 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:39.280 video with some guys That rundell was feuding. WITH i don't. 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:44.120 Know perhaps they're similar looking, faces Had ronald. Confused after, 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.840 all there was this huge height, discrepancy and either, way 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.360 the investigators chose to ignore The doony And slim lead 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:55.280 to focus singularly On, darien who had no record and 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.800 therefore no photos in the. System so they pulled pictures 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:02.560 from social media and Got Aaron jones to Identify darien 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.320 as the man who had flagged him down for a 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.480 ride to the gas, station which was enough for the rest. 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.880 Warrant they came to a mom crib, like hey were 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.120 looking for your. Son he's been implicated in the. Murder 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:15.319 and she called me, like what did you? 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:15.960 Do did you do? 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.280 Anything i'm, LIKE i ain't doing. Nothing she was, like, 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.640 well let's they want to talk to, Him, like, okay 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:22.560 let's go talk. Home got nothing to, had AND i 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.760 got me a lawyer AND i went down there and 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:26.280 they tried to talk to me AND i told HIM 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:27.920 i have none to say BECAUSE i don't know, nothing 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.240 and y'all nothing to create something off of what me, 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.320 saying so THEREFORE i have nothing to. Say i'm with 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:34.120 my lawyer and. 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.800 You're doing exactly. WELL i think any good lawyer would 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:38.920 recommend that they do people do more or less what you, 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.679 did which you, Say i'm not talking AND i want a. 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.720 Lawyer she came down there and she was, like don't say, 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.120 nothing and they ain't want to talk to me BECAUSE 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:48.520 i ain't want to talk to. Them and then she, 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:50.360 left and then they tried to bring me and put 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:51.640 me in a, lineup AND i was, LIKE i don't 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:53.320 want to go into land up without my. Lawyer they was, 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:54.960 like you have to go on the line, up AND 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.880 i went in like three full lineups AND i remember 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:00.360 one line, UP i was number. Three they said it 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.600 was number five and then never came, up and they 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.320 put me in to Suggest. Atlanta i'm In. Atlanta i'm 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:10.200 the only person as young with no facial everybody else 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:12.840 older than me and. Everything so it's it's like if 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.840 y'all giving a description of, something look he's right. 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:20.120 Here so with his own potential murder Charges Aaron jones, 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.320 AGAIN i D darien and then they dragged in the 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.000 gas station Attended Jody. 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.400 Tony when they brought into the, station they showed him 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.400 a picture Of darien and, said you, know this is 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:32.839 the guy we have as a, shooter and he said 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:34.679 that is not the. Shooter they had him look at the. 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:36.439 Lineup he did not pick out dary and he said 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:38.400 the shooter is not in that, lineup and they tried 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:40.439 to get him to Identify dariy and he said he 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.960 wouldn't do, it and they tried to pressure him and 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:44.800 all of, that and he wouldn't do. It he was 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.760 never called a, trial so we later got an affidavit 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.319 from him where he identifies who the actual shooter. 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.680 Was but that was many years. Later for, Now Jody 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:57.520 tony was ignored For Dexter saffold and the victim's, Brother Ronald. 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:01.960 Moore despite saffolds dubious, accounts the police valued his id 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.880 and Then. Ronald why would the brother of the victim 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:11.319 id someone that doesn't match his own initial description both 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:11.840 height and. 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.960 Hair sometimes in the streets like guys or rather lead 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:17.800 other guys out. 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.240 There we've had that in several cases where when we 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.880 find out why they implicated the wrong, person it was 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:26.520 because they wanted to take care of it. 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.080 Themselves he put me in a situation because you feel, 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:30.719 like ba't me not doing? It they would have let me. 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.880 Go but that's not how the system works. Here once 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.280 they get any type of, name they don't care to 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:39.000 do their job to make sure the case is. Closed 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.680 they just make up create things to get you out the. 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.559 Way and that's why so many guys that's wrongfully. Convicted 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.520 it's in the conserrated right now because police don't do 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.559 their job and the state's attorney don't, care and they get. 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.560 Immunity so you think they care if they create a 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.640 situation just to make somebody go to jail just to 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:58.679 close their, case they. 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:14.320 Don't you're listening to wrongful Conviction you can listen to 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.920 this and all The lava For good podcasts one week 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.240 early and ad free by subscribing To lava For Good 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.560 plus On Apple. Podcasts. 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:30.160 YEAH i was in the police station for about two. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:32.960 Days THEN i was taken To Cook county and. Process 0:14:33.040 --> 0:14:35.600 THEN i wasn't prepared for, it but in a WAY 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:37.640 i had a little bit of street smarts because you 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:39.640 know that's WHERE i come. From you, know this is my, 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.800 neighborhood is how to grow. Up but the gym's around 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:46.560 about real grown men fighting real murders, Too and they 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.040 got knaves and they game banging and gang fights go, 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:54.000 on drug dealing going, on and rapees going. On so 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.480 you have to learn to adapt to your surroundings situation 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:01.720 of what's going. On or get, loss you get, cute 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.200 you get, rip you get beat, up you get. Extoreded 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:05.960 and that's How jill. 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:09.280 Is sounds like hell On. Earth and so there you. 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.240 Are what did they set? Bail you never saw the streets. 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.560 Again they didnam on bonn and SAID i was a minister, 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.240 SOCIETY i shouldn't be let out on the. Streets AND 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.640 i never called a case of damn my. LIFE i 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:23.040 bet you've been. ARRESTED i was encountered three years three. 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:28.320 Years jesus Christ darien was charged with aggravated battery with a, 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:33.440 firearm attempted, murder and first degree, murder and at the grand, Jury, Jones, 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:38.200 moore And saffoled reaffirmed their. Identifications but Now ronald said 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.840 that he Saw jones Drop darien off at the gas 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:44.200 station and then, leave so a new. Inconsistency and then 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.600 he said that he Recognized darien from this rap, video 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.520 even though we know that he hadn't seen that video 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:51.600 until after the. 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:55.359 Shooting there were a ton of issues with his. Identification 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.480 he initially accused someone, else and then he also was 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:01.240 in the backseat of his car and claimed the shooter 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:03.720 pointed the gun at, him but the video shows that 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:05.840 the shooter didn't point the gun at, Him so there 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:07.880 are a ton of issues with him and with his, 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:14.160 testimony the brothers' statements and dexter saffold, statements those changed 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:15.920 every time they told what. 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:19.720 Happened this, Time saffold said that he had chased after 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.440 the shooter on his, scooter which is not supported by the. 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:26.480 Video but, Importantly saffold explained why he wrote a scooter 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.920 that his diabetes had caused a, stroke and we'll get 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.600 to why that's important. Later At darrin's bench trial in 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:34.480 front Of Judge Nicholas, ford. 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.640 This judge is notorious in the, end was run off 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:41.440 the bench In Cook county because of his actions in 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.840 a lot of, cases and then he ended up A 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:49.880 trump appointee an immigration judge In california and was run 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:56.280 off the bench there for being, racist, ableist. Etc and 0:16:56.360 --> 0:17:00.440 so he's currently not a, judge but he has a 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:04.840 long history of problems with his judicial. 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:09.040 Conduct darien's bench trou began In march of twenty. Fourteen 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:13.200 Again Ronald moore testified about Seeing jones Drop darien off 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.680 and leave that he Recognized darien from the rap, video 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.639 and then he made an in court. Identification next up 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.439 Was Aaron, jones but that didn't go as a prosecution had. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.760 Planned he starts testifying and then he immediately recants and he, 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:28.840 says you know, what, man fuck. This none of this. 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.919 Happened the police made me say, This they threatened. Me 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.919 what would you. DO i had a newborn. Baby darien 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:39.000 was never in my. Car this never. Happened and the judge, 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:42.360 Says i'm holding you in direct contempt just because he's, 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:46.240 recanting maybe because he's. CURSING i don't. Know the state 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.320 had not asked him to Hold Aaron jones in. Contempt 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:52.040 But Aaron jones, says do whatever you need to do to, me, 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:56.040 MAN i don't care. Anymore this is. Wrong so that 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:58.359 basically ends the state's questioning of. 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:02.840 Him during the crossing, examination Mister jones, elaborated saying that 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:04.800 the police had told him what to say or he 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:07.000 would quote rot in prison for the rest of his. 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:11.040 Life jes said that the police showed him your photograph 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.400 there and told him to pick you as the, gunman 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.439 of Course. Jones the detective then testifies that he interviewed 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.720 them multiple times and never threatened. Them but what we 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:21.640 expect you. 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.359 Have Aaron, Jones they, said the police, Officer Devin jones 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.679 can hurst him to say what he. Said you have 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.679 the add witness from the gas, Station Jody. Tunya they 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:32.720 said That Devin jones can hurst him to say what he. 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:36.120 Said you got the victim's. Brother this original statement did 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:38.359 the shooter was fast seven and all, That but he 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.479 changed the statement once he talked to Detective Devin. Jones 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:45.399 so you have to say alficer basically conhurst him into 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:48.080 what to say with this overlooked. 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:50.800 Though then the state put On Dexter, saffold who appears 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:54.840 to be a willing participant in story time With Detective Devin. 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.080 Jones but that's even worse than. 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:02.879 That as he's, testifying the defense council asks him about 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:07.160 his vision because he's diabetic and there are often vision 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.920 issues with, that and he starts looking at the state 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:11.280 and this is all on the, record it's in the, 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:15.199 transcripts and the defense council says to the, judge can 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.159 you order him to? Answer he keeps looking at the 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.600 state and the Witness dexter, SAYS i thought that medical 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:22.760 was supposed to be. Private the judge, said, well usually it, 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:24.600 is but your ability to see is critical to the, 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:26.919 case so you have to. Answer and he says he 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.920 doesn't have any vision. Issues and that's where the case really, 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:34.760 unraveled because on post conviction is discovered that he at 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:37.080 the time was permanently and legally. 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:39.840 Blind at the state's ATTORNEY, knwda this person was legally. 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.119 Bland so he, SAID i thought my medical was. Private 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.159 how did he know that his medical was? PRIVATE i 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:45.080 mean he told him, that. 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:47.960 But neither the defense nor the judge knew, that as 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:52.160 was made abundantly clear By Judge ford's closing statement as 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.840 he Sentenced darien to seventy six, years. 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.160 He said aloud that he don't believe nobody. Else he's 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.080 based in this fan based on the old. Man that's 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:06.719 your sulf of. Testimony you have an old man that seems, 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:10.600 credible that seems, honest like he, said and he don't 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.320 have nothing to rebut what he's. Saying and at the 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:16.320 time the judge didn't know that he was legally. Blind 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.000 he went on record to say that he trust this, 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:22.879 person and y'all knew this person was legally. Blind y'all 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.919 made him look like an. Asshole and my out day 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:29.640 was twenty eighty. Two and it's like that's a hard 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.639 pill to. Swallow it's, Like, Wow i'm really sentenced to 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:51.399 seventy six years for a CRIME i didn't. Commit you 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:54.240 hear so much about, Prison LIKE i was. PARANOID i 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:56.399 was going through so much Because i'm, like, only first of, 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:58.800 all they're supposed to be in. Here the second of, 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.240 all these are a liver. Dish is LIKE i understand 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.840