1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Previously on Empire on Blood who stayed a full name 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: for the record, my name is Calvin Lures. 3 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 2: If this is satisfactory for conviction, I might be in 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 2: for an extremely long haul. 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 3: All right, cal you did it. 6 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 4: You did it. 7 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 2: We were two inmates who had sentences that ended with 8 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 2: life on the back. Neither one of us knew if 9 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 2: we would ever get out of prison. 10 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 5: We're always gonna come. 11 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 3: Out on top. 12 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 6: It was a nineteen nineties hip hop party, loud music, lights, 13 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 6: all filled a teenagers email. 14 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: McDowell had been at a party, a Sweet sixteen party 15 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,599 Speaker 1: at a community center in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. It was 16 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: October nineteen ninety. He was seventeen years old, an honorall 17 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: student in twelfth grade. Email had gone with a couple 18 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: of friends, arriving about eleven pm, fashionably late. It was 19 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: a chilly evening and everyone crowded inside the center. 20 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 6: They ain't really meant to hold that many people put 21 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 6: there in there? 22 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: Right? 23 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 6: Do you have a DJ there with speakers that are 24 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 6: saved probably up to your waist, glaring ll cool J 25 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 6: and everybody singing along, screaming a favorite lyric. 26 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 1: Email was at one end of the community Center. At 27 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: the other end, there was a fight, and then the 28 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: fight moved outside and there was a shooting. One bullet 29 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: in the chest. A nineteen year old died. 30 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 2: They asked me to come to the precinct. I walked 31 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 2: over there by myself. 32 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: I figured, you. 33 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 2: Know, I was at the party, so they would want 34 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 2: to speak to me, like almost the other one hundred 35 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 2: people that were there, which was fine. I'm always sent 36 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 2: up to the homicide squad. They asked me, did I 37 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 2: want to be in a lineup? I was like okay. 38 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 2: Final three witnesses were brought in. One witness said that 39 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 2: he couldn't identify anyone. Another witness he wasn't sure, and 40 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 2: they said the third person identified me as having committed 41 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 2: the crime. So I was arrested, charged with murdering the 42 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 2: second degree. 43 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: Email wouldn't go home for two decades. It was like 44 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: years of confusion for me. How did this happen? This 45 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: is Steve Fishman and this is Empire on Blood the 46 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: director's cut a story of murder, betrayal, and a man 47 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: who fought the law for two decades. In this new episode, 48 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: we continue Email mcdowe's story because something life changing has 49 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: happened to Email. Over the years, Email and I had 50 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: struck up a friendship. I came to trust his judgment. 51 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: You know, I am so outside the culture, and so 52 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: I had a question for him. It's going to seem 53 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: like I'm a spectator, you know, kind of tapping on 54 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: the aquarium. 55 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 2: To me, it gives more credibility because it's coming from 56 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,679 Speaker 2: someone that can't be labeled as like you're just a sympathizer, 57 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 2: whereas someone like me who grew up in Brooklyn bephist ivisaid. 58 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 2: That's one of the things that I have to deal 59 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 2: with because when I tried to advocate certain issues, people 60 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 2: see me where if I had lived in the suburbs, 61 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 2: it would be different. 62 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: All right, Well, that's that's encouraging. In nineteen ninety, the 63 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: police arrested Email. For the cops, it was an open 64 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: and shutcase. They solved the murder in under twenty four hours. 65 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: A trial. Email pleaded not guilty, The jury found him guilty, 66 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: and the judge sentenced him to twenty two years to life, 67 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: longer than he'd been alive. Email sometimes thought about his 68 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: decision to go to the precinct voluntarily. 69 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 5: Go in, thinking you're being cooperative, and you get stuck 70 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 5: like glue. 71 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: At the age of seventeen, Email was brought to Riker's Island, 72 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: where his face was slashed while using a prison pay 73 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: phone in his cell. Email contemplated his life. 74 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 2: I was just trying to make sense of it. How 75 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 2: did this happen? I was always under the belief that 76 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 2: to get a conviction, they want to make sure they 77 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 2: get the right guy, especially in the murder case. And 78 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 2: I finally got it. If I was going to prove 79 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 2: that I did not shoot this guy, that I did 80 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 2: not have anything to do with him getting killed, I 81 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 2: needed to take matters into my own hand. I needed 82 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 2: to learn the law to start to fight for myself, 83 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 2: being my own advocate. 84 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: You might remember, Email was what you could call an 85 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: accomplished prison citizen. His reputation for accomplishment spread through the institution. 86 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: COAL noticed and. 87 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 7: I was just looking at him from a far and 88 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 7: I really could see why he was never supposed to 89 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 7: be in prison. He never fell into the mold of prison. 90 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 7: He was running Cornell University College inside the prison. He 91 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,479 Speaker 7: was running a lot of programs inside of prison. He 92 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 7: actually ran the whole industry that I made. The license 93 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 7: plates in the prison, Email was doing a lot of 94 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 7: positive things in prison. 95 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: By then, Email had taught himself a lot of law. 96 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,679 Speaker 1: He was recognized throughout the New York State prison system 97 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: for his legal prowess. For six years at Auburn Correctional Institution, 98 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: he taught a legal research class. 99 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 2: Everybody knew that that was my prim everything legal research, litigation, 100 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 2: and working on actual innocence type stuff. 101 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: Inmates regularly came to him with their legal problems. They 102 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: wanted help. Email turned most everyone away because most weren't serious. 103 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 2: I was willing to help the other inmates, but I've 104 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 2: had my time wasted a lot of times where I 105 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 2: could have spent that time on my own case. 106 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: Half a dozen years after Call entered prison, he started 107 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: showing up at Email's door. You can imagine that Email 108 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: wasn't exactly impressed with a drug dealer accused of murdering 109 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: a couple of guys near his place of business, and 110 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: so Email put cal to the test. 111 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 2: The little library is like the place that had the plague. 112 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 8: It. 113 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 2: We didn't have computers, we had typewriters. 114 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: We had to use the. 115 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 2: Books, so we had to do it the old fashioned way. 116 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: When you walk in it's. 117 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 2: Just rolls and bookshelves with just books, tons of books. 118 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: The little library opened for the evening at five thirty. 119 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: One day, Email told Cal to meet him in the library. 120 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: At five thirty. 121 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 2: Cal was there and he actually came down with a 122 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 2: big fold of papers and he was patient. Actually, it 123 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 2: was like he's organizing this stuff because he wants to 124 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 2: make a presentation. 125 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: But Email lets Col know he's busy. This was the test. 126 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 2: If he wasn't serious, if he really wanted to go 127 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 2: to the yard, he would have left on the early 128 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 2: go back. But he stated, And I waited until about 129 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 2: seven o'clock and I went and sat down next to him. 130 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 2: Library had pretty much emptied out, and so I was saying, 131 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 2: you know what you got here? And he started telling 132 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 2: me his story. 133 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: That meeting changed CON's life. 134 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 7: Oh Man, email was very important to me. Man was like, yo, Cal, 135 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 7: I know very emotional with your case, but you can't 136 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 7: put all this stuff in your case. 137 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: Cal rambles. 138 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 2: He was more caught up in his own you know, 139 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 2: anger and frustration. Well, he's saying like, I don't know 140 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 2: what to do. He said, you know, would would you 141 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 2: help me? I'm not asking you to do it for me, 142 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 2: but just guide me. 143 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: But Email did do some of it for him. 144 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,439 Speaker 7: I were a hundred page packet, right, Email turned that 145 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 7: packet into fifteen or twenty pages. But it was so 146 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 7: concise and so powerful. I was sending this packet out 147 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 7: to a lot of the attorneys. I was getting a 148 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:53,680 Speaker 7: greater reception. 149 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:54,319 Speaker 8: Right. 150 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 7: So that's when I really learned Yo, Email know his shit. 151 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: Email spent almost all of his free time in the 152 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: law library, and not just to help other inmates. Once 153 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: Email realized he had to help himself, he was energized. 154 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: He started focusing granularly on that sweet sixteen party, the 155 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: one at the community center with the teenagers jammed inside 156 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: the building, dancing and shouting on a chilly night, and 157 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: he concentrated on the shooting, the fatal shooting that happened 158 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: towards midnight. He pieced the story together. 159 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 2: I'm in jail, so I'm calling everybody saying what specifically happened? 160 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 8: What would that? 161 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 2: And different people are telling me different stories. 162 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: Remember, Email says that at the party, he didn't see 163 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: the fight or the shooting that followed, so he needed 164 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: more information. He learned that there had been a beef 165 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: between two groups of teenagers. One was led by an 166 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: older teen a bully. He and his friends had beat 167 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: up a couple of kids, and then someone put a 168 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: bullet in the bully's chest. The prosecution supposed eyewitness claimed 169 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: that someone was Email. 170 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 2: Once I realized where the prosecution witness was saying that 171 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 2: he allegedly was, I told my defense attorney, I need 172 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 2: him to get photos of the crime scene, because what 173 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,839 Speaker 2: the prosecution witness was testifying to was that he stood 174 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 2: in a doorway and literally seen through a brick wall. 175 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 1: But in court, the prosecutor repeatedly and with an attitude 176 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: like he was annoyed by the question, denied that he 177 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: had the crime scene photos, which is bizarre. Cops always 178 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: take crime scene photos and the prosecutor always receives them. 179 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: Email was frustrated and depressed. Prison is a very lonely place, 180 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: and Email's quote unquote investigation had stoled. Then one day 181 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: out of blue, Email received a letter in the mail. 182 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: It was handwritten and signed by a friend, a friend 183 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: who'd accompanied Email to the party. This letter will prove 184 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: crucial to Email's case, and so I'm going to read 185 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: it to you. Email. You know me and you were 186 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: friends for a very long time, and that incident that 187 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: occurred should not break up our friendship. I want you 188 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: to know that if it were the other way around, 189 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: I would hold out and try to make the best 190 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: of things. Is it just me or does the writer 191 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: seem to be admitting to the crime, not straight out, 192 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: but reading between the lines, and also suggesting that Email 193 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: live with it and do the time, even if it 194 00:11:54,200 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: was time he shouldn't be doing. The letter continues, Email, 195 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: don't think for one bit because I'm out here. I'm 196 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: not suffering because I am man. I'm suffering. I have nightmares, 197 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,960 Speaker 1: I can't sleep or eat. Sometimes I just pray for death. 198 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: I don't think I deserve to walk the face of 199 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: the earth because one of my best friends is locked 200 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: up for something that he didn't do. I feel like this, 201 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: if whoever didn't do what they had to do, we 202 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: probably would have been dead. I'm not out here hiding. 203 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: I'm in Florida so I can try to get peace 204 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: of mind and soul. That letter was signed by Baron Blount, 205 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: Email's friend. They'd gone to the party together. On the street. 206 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: It was rumored that Baron was the shooter, and the 207 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 1: cops did talk to Baron. Barron told them he heard shots, 208 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: but only from a distance, and so the cops arrested Email. 209 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: After all, they had supposed eyewitness who identified Email. When 210 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 1: Email received the letter, he was elated he had something 211 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: time barren to the crime. But for Email there was 212 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:17,599 Speaker 1: a problem, a legal problem. His appeals had to challenge 213 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: what had happened during the trial and the letter it 214 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: arrived after the trial. Email understood the problem. 215 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 6: If it's not part of the record, you can't use it. 216 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 6: It doesn't even exist. 217 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: Email filed every possible appeal, but he could never include 218 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: the letter. The DA dug in. He opposed each of 219 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: Email's appeals, and each time the DA prevailed. By two 220 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: thousand and seven, that's seventeen years after Email entered prison, 221 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: his state appeals were exhausted. Like cal he had one 222 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: last shot, a four to forty motion. The four forty 223 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 1: offered a legal advantage. It allowed Email to argue that 224 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: he was actually innocent, and this is key. He didn't 225 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: have to stick to the record made in court. He 226 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: could now introduce newly discovered evidence. He could submit the letter. 227 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: By the time Email filed his four to forty motion, 228 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: the DA's office had coughed up the crime scene photos, 229 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: the photos they had been saying didn't exist. Email could 230 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: show that the supposed eyewitness could not have seen what 231 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:43,479 Speaker 1: he claimed to have seen. Email now knew the prosecutor 232 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: had cheated. 233 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 2: All you wanted to do was convict somebody for homicide. 234 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 2: You knew they were I, and that's on the oath. 235 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 2: And then you allowed him again to go on the 236 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 2: oath to say I looked dead in this guy's. 237 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: Eyes, this guy being Email. 238 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 2: I've seen his entire face. I seen him reaching his 239 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 2: waist pull a gun out, and I watched him pull 240 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 2: a trigger, and I saw that gun flash and it 241 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 2: hit the decease in the chest. That's a blatant material lie. 242 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 1: In his four forty papers, Email included the letter from 243 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: Baron Blount, a letter he'd been waiting seventeen years to use. Yeah, 244 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: the letter might not be a full confession, but it 245 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: was close, and it surely qualified as newly discovered evidence. 246 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 1: Email was recognized as a master jailhouse lawyer, but still 247 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: he needed a licensed attorney to defend him in court. 248 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: He'd recently read in the newspaper about a lawyer named 249 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: Oscar mitchellin Oscar had won a big case for a 250 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: wrongfully convicted man. Email wrote to him, and Oscar agreed 251 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: to step in, and it. 252 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 6: Was it was a relief for me, right talking to 253 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 6: somebody who fucking got it. It didn't feel like I 254 00:15:57,720 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 6: was trying to explain a foreigner language. 255 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: Oscar grew up in the Bronx. He lives in Long 256 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: Island now, a bald, middle aged man with electric guitars 257 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: from his rock and roll days strewn around the house. 258 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: In the Bronx, he'd attended public school. He'd been to 259 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: parties like the one that landed Email in jail. 260 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 6: Talking to Oscar. You know, everything that I explained to 261 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 6: him is not subjected to this sense of you're lying 262 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 6: because it doesn't jive with my life experience. 263 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: An Email likes something else about Oscar. 264 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 6: He's aggressive. He doesn't just let them walk him around 265 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 6: the courtroom like a fucking puppy like a lot of 266 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 6: these lawyers, do you know, Ostill rolls up the sleeves 267 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 6: and like, fuck it, this is a rumble, let's get 268 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 6: to it. 269 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: Email one is for forty motion, and that earned him 270 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: a hearing on the merits of his case. At that hearing, 271 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: he could win a reversal of his conviction, and so 272 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine, Email was seated at the 273 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: defense table with Oscar. There's no recording of this hearing, 274 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: but I know there was one key spectator, Email's mother. 275 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: She sat in the back. Email was prepared for a 276 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: legal war, but then surprisingly, before the hearing started, the 277 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: prosecutor approached Oscar. He didn't really know what to expect. 278 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 1: He certainly didn't expect that the prosecutor would offer a deal. 279 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 6: He said, no, no, no, we don't think you shot him. 280 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 6: We think you were involved. And that's when my head 281 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:36,680 Speaker 6: probably should have exploded. 282 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:42,120 Speaker 1: Twenty years earlier, Email had been indicted as the sole actor, 283 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: not for anything else, not for being. 284 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 5: Involved, me solo by myself. 285 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 3: He said, I know, you guys probably didn't do this. 286 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: That's Oscar talking about the prosecutor. 287 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 9: But I got nothing on Blount. 288 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 1: Of course, at that point, the DA's office didn't think 289 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,360 Speaker 1: it worth the effort to speak to Baron Blount, the 290 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: author of the letter. So yeah, they had nothing on Blount. 291 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:12,120 Speaker 3: Know me that he said to. 292 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: Me, he being the prosecutor, He. 293 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 8: Said to me, sometimes we can't let the truth get 294 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 8: in the way of justice. 295 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 3: I said, what the fuck does that mean? 296 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,919 Speaker 1: In effact, the prosecutor is talking to Email. 297 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 6: You're basically telling me I don't care. That's the truth 298 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 6: getting lost in a pursuit of justice. 299 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: The prosecutor said he was sure that Email was a 300 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,400 Speaker 1: participant in the murder. 301 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 6: I believe that he was involved somehow, So I'm going 302 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 6: to continue to pursue him. He's going to cheat like 303 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:45,880 Speaker 6: they did in my first droute. 304 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 3: Yes, I wasn't going to get a fair hamon or 305 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:48,680 Speaker 3: fair dropper. 306 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: Even though the prosecutor seemed convinced that Email was not 307 00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: the shooter, he had no intention of letting him off. 308 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: Even if the judge ruled in Email's favor and vacated 309 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 1: his conviction. The prosecutor assured Email he would not relent. 310 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 1: He promised to oppose bail and to take Email to 311 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: trial again. 312 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 3: He's despicable. This was a piece of shit movie did here. 313 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 1: But the prosecutor did have an alternative. The prosecutor agreed 314 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: to overturn the murder conviction, but he insisted that Email 315 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: plead guilty to being an accomplice the complete fiction. In exchange, 316 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: the DA would get Email out on time served. He'd 317 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,960 Speaker 1: never get those nineteen years back. But he could walk 318 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: out in the next few days. 319 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 5: I'm asking you don't make him take the offer. I 320 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 5: said he would admit to kidnapping Charle Limbrough's baby right 321 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 5: now to get out. 322 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 3: Are you kidding me? 323 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 5: It's Christmas in a week, it's his birthday in a 324 00:19:58,359 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 5: little while. 325 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: She wants to be home, and Email's mother wanted him home. 326 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: In the back of the courtroom, she was in tears. 327 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: Her son had been kidnapped by the state and now 328 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: he faced a terrible choice. If he pleads guilty, he 329 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 1: won't be able to sue the government for wrongfully imprisoning him. 330 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: Col got more than five million dollars in compensation, and 331 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: he was a drug dealer who helped bring crack to 332 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:32,119 Speaker 1: the Bronx. Email was an honor student snatched out of 333 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 1: high school, and he'd qualify for nothing. Horrible Email took 334 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: the deal. Four days later, he was home, looking for 335 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:58,919 Speaker 1: a job and for justice. Fast forward. Email has been 336 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 1: out of prison for fourteen years and a lot has changed. 337 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,639 Speaker 1: He's put his acute legal mind to work. He landed 338 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: a job as a paralegal at a respected defense firm. 339 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: His employer took a gamble on an admitted accomplished to murder. 340 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,479 Speaker 1: He even bought Email a suit for work emails first, 341 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: and Email proved himself leading cases, winning multimillion dollar settlements. 342 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: During this time, Email and I have become good friends. 343 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,439 Speaker 1: We met at my bar. May it rest in peace. 344 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: Sometimes Cal joined us. Occasionally Email came to dinner at 345 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: my house. He and my wife, who's a lawyer, decided 346 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: to work on legal projects together, and when my wife 347 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: became pregnant in twenty twenty two, Email was thrilled for us. Meantime, 348 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: the city had changed in Brooklyn. The DA's office had 349 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: a new outlook. Eric Gonzalez was the DA now and 350 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: his office was a aggressively reinvestigating questionable convictions. Eric had 351 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 1: grown up in a rough Brooklyn neighborhood, a neighborhood a 352 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: lot like Emails. 353 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 6: And I really, honestly do believe that he thinks it's 354 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 6: fucked up the way some of us just got fucking manhattaned. 355 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,479 Speaker 1: Email would never say so, but I knew he was angry. 356 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: I could hear it in his voice, angry at what 357 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: the criminal justice system had done to him. And so 358 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:35,880 Speaker 1: he and Oscar came up with a plan. Oscar sent 359 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:42,159 Speaker 1: a letter asking DA Gonzalez to reinvestigate Email's case. On 360 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: the face of it, Oscars asked, was ridiculous. No one 361 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: I'd ever spoken to could recall the DA's Conviction Review 362 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: Unit reopening the case of someone who'd pled guilty and who, 363 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: on top of that, was out of prison and doing well. 364 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,400 Speaker 1: Gonzalez's CRU is among the best funded in the country 365 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: and one of the most respected. But it does not 366 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: have unlimited resources, and it has lots of demand. But 367 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: inside Oscar's letter was another letter. The letter Email had 368 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,120 Speaker 1: held on to for three decades. This is the one 369 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: with Baron Bount's signature on it. That letter made its 370 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:27,879 Speaker 1: way to the head of the CRU. 371 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,199 Speaker 6: When he read Baron's letter, he said, he read it 372 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 6: two or three times. He's like, this fucking guy. 373 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 3: Did this shit. 374 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: Suddenly there was energy behind Email's claims, the wheels of justice, 375 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: a different sort of justice started to turn. The letter 376 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:50,199 Speaker 1: traveled to the desk of Assistant District Attorney Rachel Kalman, 377 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: who'd been at the CRU for four years. Rachel is 378 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: not someone whose vibe shouts I love a fight, and 379 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: in all likelihood that's what was in store if the 380 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: investigation went forward. But she was determined to get to 381 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: the bottom of this. Where did she start? 382 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 4: So the first step was to authenticate this letter. Anyone 383 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 4: could have written a. 384 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: Letter, including Email, so. 385 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 4: I had to get the original copy of the letter, 386 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 4: which I did. We were satisfied that he had written 387 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 4: that letter. 388 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: So now Rachel wanted to hear what Baron Blount had 389 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: to say for himself. These days, Baron seemed to be 390 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,679 Speaker 1: an upstanding citizen. I looked at his Facebook page. On 391 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: it Baron's tall and in his photos he's rarely smiling. 392 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: He lives in New York and Facebook says he works 393 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: at the Department of Education. Along the way, he'd become 394 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:51,440 Speaker 1: a pastor. One post says God. First. Family. Second, there 395 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: are a bunch of photos of kids in one of 396 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: a Father's daycard. Any man can be a father. It 397 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: takes a special man to be a dad, says the car. 398 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: He's been married for nineteen years. All these artifacts of 399 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: family life make me think about Email. Baron's life has 400 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 1: gone on. Email's life has been on hold for two decades. 401 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,439 Speaker 1: Rachel brings two detectives with her to talk to Baron. 402 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 4: We finally found him at his job. 403 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: Baron Blount worked at a school. 404 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,400 Speaker 4: I had no idea what we'd be walking into, particularly 405 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 4: where I was going to say, did you murder someone 406 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 4: that your friend went to jail for doing that? But 407 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 4: as soon as I saw him, I got an immediate 408 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 4: sense of him then a little stooped, extremely red eyes, 409 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 4: as if he hadn't slept in days and days and days. 410 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:43,880 Speaker 8: Where do you talk to him? 411 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 4: We were in a classroom. He's a janitor. I was 412 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 4: in elementary school. 413 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:55,360 Speaker 1: So they were sitting in an empty classroom, Rachel Baron 414 00:25:55,600 --> 00:26:00,840 Speaker 1: and two detectives sitting at those child sized tables. It 415 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: must have been a bizarre scene. One detective is over 416 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: six feet tall. His knees must have been in his chest. 417 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,679 Speaker 4: I was more looking at him. I wasn't checking out 418 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:12,160 Speaker 4: the decorations all too carefully. 419 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 1: But in my imagination, the letters of the alphabet are 420 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: strung across the top of a blackboard, block letters, and 421 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,360 Speaker 1: there's probably a fish tank. Certainly everything is in bright colors, 422 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: and in the middle of that room where everything projects 423 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:34,879 Speaker 1: optimism and possibilities, is this woebegone janitor in a janitor's 424 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: uniform green or tan, with the name stitched into a 425 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,840 Speaker 1: patch near the pocket. Rachel had the original letter and 426 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: they'd established that it was from Barn, but they needed more. 427 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: The letter wasn't a confession after all, Remember it referred 428 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,640 Speaker 1: to the killer's identity, coyly, whoever did this? 429 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 4: We had got very far in the investigation, but it 430 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 4: had to go farther. 431 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,719 Speaker 1: They needed Baron to come in and give a full confession. 432 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:13,439 Speaker 8: Did you think he was going to come in? 433 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:23,119 Speaker 1: Fifty Barn did come in. Everyone sat in a big 434 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: conference room with walls that seemed drained of color. The 435 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: place had the look of a bunker. It wasn't clear 436 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,440 Speaker 1: what Baron had come to tell the das he brought 437 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: his lawyer with him, who knew maybe Baron had come 438 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:38,200 Speaker 1: to bargain. 439 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 4: I thought that maybe he would be defensive, that he 440 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 4: would be denying, But he had come in ready to 441 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 4: unburden himself. Baron Blunt was sitting across the table, shuddered, 442 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 4: hoveled and started to cry. 443 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, Baron had carried a burden for a long time and. 444 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 4: Said it had been torturing him for years. 445 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 8: But he admits shooting him, right, he certainly did. How 446 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 8: did he say I shot him? 447 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 1: I shot him as easy as that. This all made 448 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,560 Speaker 1: me think about Email, who'd been forced to take that 449 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: plea in two thousand and nine. 450 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 8: I'm trying to square the fact that you went back 451 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 8: investigated this and found essentially that that was bullshit, and 452 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 8: for whatever reason, the district attorney's office didn't do that 453 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 8: in two thousand and nine. 454 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,720 Speaker 4: Well, we've progressed. 455 00:28:47,200 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: We've progressed. That covered a lot of sins. It's July 456 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, two years after Oscar sent that letter 457 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 1: asking the district attorney to reinvestigate Email's case. Email had 458 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: just heard from Oscar. He learned that the letter had 459 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 1: finally finally borne fruit. Oscar told him that Baron had confessed. 460 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: Email had been waiting for this news for thirty three years. 461 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: It occurred to me that Email might not just get 462 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: a reversal of his conviction. He might be awarded a 463 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: full exoneration. After all, someone else had confessed to the crime. 464 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: Email was indisputably innocent of murder. Yeah, when that's actual innocence. 465 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: A generation nobody gets exoneration, a. 466 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 2: Full exoneration of data. 467 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: Sound, Yeah, that's the only thing he could be So 468 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 1: you are so motherfucking lo kating. Come on, have you 469 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: gone through all the emotions yet? No? No, Email said, 470 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: Email has been given a date to go to court 471 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: so that a judge can rule on the motion to exonerate. 472 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: Nothing is official until a judge bangs the gallo. They 473 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: said the sixteenth. 474 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 2: So I'm like, all right, boo, Mar sixteen whatever. It's like, yeah, okay, 475 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 2: Now I'll wait to with standing side by side and 476 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 2: hear you say it out to me, just to make 477 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 2: sure there's no other little tweak that's gonna send me 478 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 2: left right. 479 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: So March sixteenth would make it official. I really wanted 480 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: to be there, but I had plans. Our baby was 481 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: due March sixteenth, and I wasn't going to leave my 482 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: wife in the hospital alone. But she said go, She 483 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: said I should be there. Email is our friend. So 484 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 1: I dashed across town to the CRU's offices. I stood 485 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: in the same gloomy bunker where Baron Blount had confessed. 486 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: Email entered the room, seeming a little shy looking around. 487 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: This was the preliminary to the court appearance. Die Gonzalez 488 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: wanted a few minutes with Email before the proceedings. Email 489 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: wore a suit and a thin tie. Here's a shaved 490 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: head now and a round belly. I noticed the scar 491 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: above his top lip. 492 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:23,000 Speaker 3: And you know it was more comfortable for me because 493 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 3: when I walked in there, my buddy Sea was there. 494 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: Email figured they could still pull a fast one. I've 495 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: heard people say it's amazing that defendants whose convictions are 496 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 1: overturned don't hold a grudge despite decades in prison. But 497 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: Email had been snatched off the street as a teenager. 498 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: You don't just walk past that. 499 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 2: It's thirty three years since this happened. Not once did 500 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 2: anybody say sorry for your experience. 501 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 4: Nothing. 502 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 6: Every other people who are victimized in some form it's 503 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 6: a gunshot, rape, child abuse, whatever is like victim services, etc. Right, 504 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 6: we are the only group of motherfuckers who get victimized 505 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 6: and then get. 506 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 5: Re abused again. 507 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: Well, he waited for Da Gunzalez. Email it out just 508 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: a bit of his anger. 509 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 3: I'm like, Okay, let's see what the fuck y'all want 510 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 3: to play with today? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, 511 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 3: because I'm like, Steve got my back. He's gonna record 512 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 3: these motherfuckers this time too, and we're gonna put this 513 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 3: shit out of somewhere y'all gonna keep playing these stupid 514 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 3: fucking games. 515 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: Da Gunzalez walks into the bunker. He's stout, serious, halting, 516 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 1: not naturally charismatic, but I'd known him for a while 517 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: and he always struck me as sincere. He followed Email's case. 518 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: It meant something to him personally. 519 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:59,960 Speaker 9: I was basically entering college as you were going upstate. 520 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 9: Your life could have been different. I I I need 521 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 9: to on behalf of this office and the criminal legal system, 522 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 9: you know, tell you that you've been wronged, and that 523 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 9: today is another shot to finally correct there. So congratulations, 524 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 9: thank you, and I'm sorry it took us as long 525 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 9: as it took us to get to this place. 526 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:24,800 Speaker 1: So Email got an apology finally, and then everyone marched 527 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: over to the courtroom in an adjacent building on the 528 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: park woar calendar. 529 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 7: And they have been one to zero eight eighth. 530 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 2: Of nineteen ninety Emil McDowell. 531 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 4: Rachel Kalman for the offer of the District Attorney, Good 532 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 4: morning the bell. 533 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 7: It's pursuing to CBL four forty point ten one G 534 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 7: and four forty point ten one H. 535 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,320 Speaker 1: That is to vacate uh the previous combination on this 536 00:33:55,440 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: matter that was entered based uponish Dellat took just a 537 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 1: few minutes and then Email had the judge's order in 538 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: his hands. Actually innocent. Email had been exonerated not only 539 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:14,240 Speaker 1: of murder, but the judge wiped away the guilty plea 540 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: Email had entered for being an accomplice to murder. Nothing 541 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 1: was on his record any longer. 542 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 3: I read it like five times. 543 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 1: Email called me and my wife the next day at 544 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:26,799 Speaker 1: the hospital. 545 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 3: Oh my god, to us. I was just really like, 546 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,879 Speaker 3: all right, this really happened, and he had really signed it, 547 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,880 Speaker 3: and it's really a thing. So it was, you know, 548 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,560 Speaker 3: it was, it was, it was, it was, I mean, 549 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 3: it was great. 550 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:45,920 Speaker 1: Email asked if he could stop by to see the baby. 551 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: Of course, by then, he'd started just a bit letting 552 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: himself daydream there'd be a settlement. Email is in line 553 00:34:56,040 --> 00:35:00,040 Speaker 1: for millions. They'll fight over how many. But he he 554 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 1: started to think, yeah, he liked classic cars, maybe he'd 555 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:08,319 Speaker 1: get one, and he'd definitely buy a house for his mother. 556 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:10,240 Speaker 3: Well kids. 557 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 6: Part of what my game plan is. At a certain point, 558 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:19,719 Speaker 6: I plan on sitting down, you know. 559 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 5: For a little therapy session. 560 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:22,759 Speaker 4: Right. 561 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,799 Speaker 1: Email had never been in therapy So what do you 562 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:28,400 Speaker 1: think that therapy will help with. 563 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:34,240 Speaker 6: It's just I'm getting it out hoping. It's just something 564 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,760 Speaker 6: to try, right. 565 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:38,600 Speaker 3: That's what it is. 566 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, But what he wanted to do. 567 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 3: What I wanted to do. 568 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:51,880 Speaker 6: Is exercise, not like bike exercise like you know, the Exorcist. 569 00:35:52,600 --> 00:36:17,600 Speaker 5: I wanted to helped me exhale. 570 00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: The re release of Empire on Blood is produced and 571 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: sound designed by Emil Klein. Austin Smith is our associate 572 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:31,719 Speaker 1: producer and production coordinator. Fact checking by Ryan Alderman. The 573 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 1: original production of the Empire on Blood was also produced 574 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:39,680 Speaker 1: by Emil Klein. Miel Lobell was our executive producer. Julia 575 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 1: Barton our story editor, fact checking by Stephanie Daniel. Our 576 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: advisor was Joel Ducett. Original scoring by Joel Saint Julian 577 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: and our theme song was by mister Land. Special thanks 578 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:57,400 Speaker 1: to Andy Bowers, who championed the original production at Paniplin. 579 00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:01,279 Speaker 7: A Kingdom Built on Blood leadsday king, lonely, bear the 580 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:03,760 Speaker 7: burdens of your citizen, then lonely. 581 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,239 Speaker 2: But wear the blurred line between friend and foe. The 582 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,560 Speaker 2: last words you hear ghost 583 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:14,200 Speaker 8: M hmm