WEBVTT - #113 Jason Flom with Herman Atkins 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.680 On January twenty fifth, nineteen eighty six, in south central 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:09.280 Los Angeles, Herman Atkins, a disciplined student athlete who enjoyed 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:12.560 refurbishing low rider chevies, was paying a local mechanic for 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.520 an engine rebuild when a robber snatched the money and 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.599 took off on foot. Herman grabbed the mechanic's gun and 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.759 chased the robber, firing warning shots into the air. The 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.080 robber turned a corner and Hermann heard more gun shots. 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:28.720 When he reached the corner, he happened upon another crime scene. 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.560 There were cop cars and people wounded, and Hermann, frightened, 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:36.080 ditched the gun and retreated. After blanketing the area and 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.400 questioning the mechanic, police wanted Atkins in connection with the 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:43.200 shooting and wounding of three people, including two police officers, 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:47.320 something Herman would be totally unaware of until authorities caught 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.519 up with him while he was visiting family in Phoenix 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.640 in November of that year. Fingerprints on the gun found 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:56.040 that the crime scene did not match Herman, But with 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.800 two newborn sons and prosecutors promising a guilty verdict that 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.360 a terribly long sentence if he went to trial, Herman 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.000 pled no contest to the charges in exchange for a 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:11.120 lighter sentence. But this was just the beginning. On April eighth, 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.000 nineteen eighty six, while Herman Akins's picture was being circulated 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:18.240 by police in connection with the January twenty fifth incident, 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.280 an armed man forced a twenty three year old store 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:24.000 clerk into the back room of her shop to perform 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.639 oral sex on him in Lake Elsinore, California, a city 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.880 Hermann had never visited. During the rape, the assailant ejaculated 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.160 and wiped his seamen on her sweater, evidence that would 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:39.360 later clear Herman's name. The armbrobber and rapist fled with 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:42.440 one hundred and thirty dollars in cash and the victim's jewelry. 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:45.600 The victim and two other store clerks in the strip 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:50.200 mall identified Herman as the assailant from his circulating wanted poster. 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:55.960 With the prosecution relying on this ultimately mistaken eyewitness identification, 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:01.160 an incentivized jailhouse snitch, and misleading sorology fire, Herman was 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.600 sentenced to forty seven years plus eight months for a 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:09.960 crime he did not commit. This is raeful conviction with 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:22.760 Jason Flamm Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. Everyone, Today you're 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.320 going to hear a story that has so many layers, 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.080 so many twists and turns. It's a story that includes 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:37.440 mistaken eye witness identification, bad forensics, police misconduct, and in 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:41.119 the end of the day, what it's got is redemption 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:46.000 and forgiveness of a type that we have never covered 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:48.160 and I've never heard of before. So I hope you're 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.360 settled in because this is going to be an amazing ride, 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.760 and with me is the star of our show, Herman Atkins. 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:55.760 So Herman, welcome to Wrongful Conviction. 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:57.120 Thank you for having me. 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.280 And like I always say, I'm sorry you're here, but 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:00.120 I'm glad you're here. 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:05.880 Yeah, yeah, you know. It's it's been an interesting journey down. 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:10.880 A long road. It certainly has. And it all started 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.120 on the morning of April eighth, nineteen eighty six, a 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:17.040 long time ago. Correct eighty six, that's the year the 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:19.080 Mets won the World Series. That's how long ago that is. 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.000 And I'll just set the stage right. So, sometime around 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:26.440 eleven thirty in the morning, a thin, young black man 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.000 wearing a dark jacket, rebox shoes, and a gold ring 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.040 went into a shoe store in Lake, Elson, Or California, 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:34.000 which coincidentally hapens to with a place you've never been to. 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.240 We'll get into that. And he pretended to be interested 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.720 in some merchandise and then he being the only customer story, 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.880 he pulled a handgum and forced the clerk to perform 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.680 moral sex on him, threaten to kill it a horrible crime, 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.520 horrible crime. During the rape, the assailant ejaculated and he 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.200 left his seamen on her sweater, so there was plenty 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.520 of evidence to go on. And he took one hundred 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:57.400 and thirty dollars, making it the robbery and a rape. 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.400 But he also took her engagement ring in another ring, 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.800 so her sweater was preserved as evidence. And that's when 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.840 things get really crazy, right, because you would seem like 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.760 a very unlikely guy to be a suspect in this 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.400 crime or any crime. Yes, and that's because your stepfather. 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:18.360 He was a highway patrol officer, California Highway Patrol officer 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:19.640 out of the Torrents Division. 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.920 He raised me. He raised me in such a way. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.360 I grew up in a regiment type upbringing, where there 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.800 was rules, there were structures, there was high expectations, and 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.160 there was a lot of pride from him as well 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.440 as my mother. We lived at the time in south 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.839 central LA, which would be considered middle class at the time. 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.039 And you were the third of six kids. Yes, yes, 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.640 and you had ideas of becoming a patrolman yourself. 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.039 Yes, I wanted to follow my father's footsteps. My father 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.040 went to the military. You come from Jackson, Mississippi, and 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.680 you know it is horror stories after horror stories, racism, 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:56.960 the whole shebange when he grew up. So he was 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.799 one of the first out of eleven kids, nine boys 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:04.480 of girls, to leave Jackson, Mississippi. And so given the 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.520 stories that he told us, I wanted to follow in 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.800 his footsteps. He left Jackson, Mississippi, went into the military, 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.880 and then come from the military into law enforcement. So 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:19.120 my path was already cut from me. I distinctly remember 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.320 when the man went through the police academy and how 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.360 I had to shine shoes and belt buckles and anything 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.920 that had brass or chrome or silver to it. 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:32.320 And you were a star athlete as well. Oh yeah, 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.280 that comes back in the story later in a very 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:35.280 unexpected way. Ah. 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:38.359 Yes, yes, my whole life long, I had spent time 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:39.200 in sports. 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.760 He kept me and my brothers well into the community 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.000 and social activities. He felt that that was contribute to 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:48.920 a strong foundation and give us the opportunity of learning 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:51.679 what it means to work as a team, to follow 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.120 leadership and eventually become leaders. And so I took the 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:57.960 sports and excelled at it, from Pop Warner all the 0:05:57.960 --> 0:05:59.600 way on up to high. 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.440 School football, baseball, the hoostion bang Yes. 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:03.040 Yes. 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.040 And then this story, like I said, has a really 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:09.279 crazy twist right at the beginning of it. Actually, because, 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:12.560 as I said, you would seem to be an extremely 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.680 unlikely guy to be a suspect in any crime. Yes, 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:19.520 you were going to church, graduated high school, doing your thing, 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:20.920 never been in trouble. 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:21.320 Yes. 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:24.920 And then one day, January twenty fifth, nineteen eighty six, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:26.479 a crazy thing happened. 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:31.040 I was having an engine rebuilt for a nineteen seventy 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.039 four K five Blazer, which was the end cars for 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:38.479 teenagers at that time. I just turned eighteen, and the 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.280 guy wanted three hundred dollars to rebuild the engine. 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:42.120 I had given him one. 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.320 Hundred and fifty already when I took the engine to him, 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.719 and he calls me up a week later and says, hey, 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.560 the engine is complete, come when you can't. I couldn't 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.120 come into at night. And when I went to go 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.560 paying the money, unbeknown to us, there was an individual 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.960 watching us from across the street and he approached the 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.599 both of us, me and the auto mechanic, and the 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.000 guy pulls out a gun and tells us we know 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.120 what time it is and took the money that I 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.520 was given to the auto mechanic. He then took off 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.320 headed it to the corner where two shots was fired 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.760 and the police were everywhere because they were up on 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.960 the corner investigating a car accident. So everybody in the 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.320 area fled so that I period shortly after that. I 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.600 didn't think none of it. It's pure chaos and this 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:26.800 is a movie. 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:29.480 See yes. At the time, I didn't think nothing of it. 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.680 Went home, and at that particular time, I was expected 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:37.840 to have my first child being born. I had impregnated 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.000 a young lady who came for the summer and she 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.200 lived in Texas. So when she announced that the baby 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.960 was about to be born, I went to Texas and 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.160 I was there for three months, and. 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.440 While there, my first song was born. 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.680 And so while I was in Texas, this rate that 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:59.080 happened in April transpired, so I wasn't even in the 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.920 state of California when it had happened. Then I came back, 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.640 and then I went to Arizona visit family members there. 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:10.400 While I was there, they have a project system, and 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:15.480 so some guys inside the projects had caused harm to 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:19.120 somebody else. Police were called and everybody who was in 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:24.320 the area was lined up as usual and names were taken. 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.200 When I gave him my name, they just ran the 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:28.400 name and then came back. 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:30.720 And said, well, you're wanted in the city of Los 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:36.160 Angeles and you're wanted in Lake Elsinore for two council 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.400 of rate, two counds of oil copulation, one kind of robbery, 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:42.199 and one kind of kidnap. And I'm like, wait a minute, 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:44.360 I got the wrong guy, stop it, you know. And 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.720 so they was like, no, we're going to extradite you back, 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:50.800 no problem. They extradited me within days. When I got 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.520 back to California, I was able to address the robbery 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:57.120 incident and what have you. And the mistake I made 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:00.880 at that particular time, I didn't tell them who was 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.880 the perpetrator in the matter, because I actually knew the guy, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.120 and it was going to be one of those street 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.600 justice things. I'll catch up, which you're gonna give me 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:10.640 my money back because you're gonna get beat up, you know. 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:12.840 And so that was what my thought process was. 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.640 So I wound up having to plead no low contendrate 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.199 to that whole situation, meaning you can hold me responsible, 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.960 but I'm not admitting to what you claim I had done. 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:22.600 What have you. 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:24.840 I was the victim in the matter, and so the 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:26.760 mere fact that it was a two year of fence 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.199 clearly tell you the weakness. 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:29.320 Of the matter. 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.280 So while we were addressing that, they then shipped me 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:36.760 off to Riverside, California, where I learned about these charges. 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:41.120 And so in April of nineteen eighty six, a woman 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.760 called out of Lake Elsinore, California and said that she 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.200 had just been raped and robbed. There was a police 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.439 car in the vicinity, and she gave it quick description 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:57.240 of the perpetrator. Young, thin build, black male, young, about 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:59.959 sixteen years of age. He said his teeth were small. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.360 I got big t She said that he didn't have 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.080 no scars on his hands. I've had that scar on 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:08.960 my hand since you see that scar right there. I 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:11.280 used to box, you know, prize fight when I was young. 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.040 I was an athlete, and so I had that scar 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:17.240 there that ended the career. And she said that he 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:21.240 had a ring on this exact finger, but she didn't 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.200 describe the scar. She said that the perpetrator at the 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.640 shoes he had on was actually a pair of rebots 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:28.800 because it had a flag on it. And so she 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.719 was able to identify this person to the nine to 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:36.079 one one operator who gave that information to the police 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.000 officer who was raised there on the scene. He was 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:42.720 like in the neighborhood. Two minutes he arrived at the 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.040 scene of the crime. He said that they had combed 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.440 the neighborhood looking for a mail of this description. And 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:53.319 here's the problem, and that area it's all white, predominant white. 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.760 An African American man would have stuck out like a soord. 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.840 Yes, at eleven thirty in the morning and an out 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:04.240 a strip mall. This is a busy place. They couldn't 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.440 find an individual. A detective was then called out. The 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:11.240 detective took the young lady to the hospital where DNA 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.600 rape kit was formed. They gathered all of the evidence 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.640 and then they took her to the police station for 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:22.319 further investigation. When they got up there, coincidentally, the wanted 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:27.320 poster in the LA situation, the robbery incident where I 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.960 was robbed was laying on the table and she looked 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:32.840 at it and said, this is the guy that raped 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.240 me right here. And they was like, are you sure? 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:39.800 She said, yes, I'm real sure. And so when they 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:44.600 were able to get me into the courtroom where I 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.360 had an arrayment in Lake Elsa, North California, a place 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.320 I had never been in, never knew anything about. I 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:53.679 was born and raised in south central Los Angeles, and 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:56.439 to this very day I knew nothing about this city. 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.680 And having me to come there for arraiment, I am 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.280 brought out into the courtroom with nothing but white guys. 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.920 I'm the only black guy on his chain of white guys. 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:10.080 But the part that got me, he is, is we're 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:13.480 in a jury box right and the DA's desk is 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.280 about maybe three feet away from me. I mean, I 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:20.000 can hear conversations being held with the DA and his 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:25.160 party's assistant, and they called my name up and an 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.880 arrangement had taken place. Plead not guilty and what have you? 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:31.800 He said, Well, mister Atkins' attorney is not here yet, 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.320 and so we'll put him on the back end and 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.680 we'll proceed further. And so once the judge decided to 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.760 do that, he then got up, went right into the audience. 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.880 I'm looking at him, sits next to a woman and says, 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:46.560 do you see the man that raped you? 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.319 She looked right over and said, yeah, that's him right there. 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:50.679 I'm the only black guy. 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:52.520 Now, you got the bailiff in back of me, and 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.840 the bayliff tell me to look forward or when he 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:56.520 gets me back in the back, he's going to take 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:58.760 his billy cub and bust my head if I didn't 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.720 continue to look forward. And all the while I'm looking 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:03.760 at this and I'm like, yeah, okay, So I can't 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:06.240 wait for my attorney to get in so I can 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:10.400 tell her about this in court identification. And so when 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.880 she did come in, by then the bill had already 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:14.360 been rung. 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:16.040 You can't unwring it, right. 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.640 And this is I want to really dwell on this. U. Yes, right, 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:23.439 because you're the only guy a sea of white guys. Yes, 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:27.200 I mean you're you're you're fucked. 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:31.440 Yes, yes, And we went on with the arraiement and 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.240 the date was set for preliminary hearing, at which time 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:36.960 I then learned all the ins and out about the 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:37.800 case and what have you. 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:42.040 Now. Once the preliminary hearing came about, they. 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:47.720 Had stated that they had three witnesses that could put 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:48.960 me at the scene of the crime. 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.160 They had a informant who allegedly. 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.960 Stopped the detective as he was leaving the county jail 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.679 and said, hey, I heard your addressing a rape case 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.320 and in Lake Elsinor. I know something about it. I 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.520 can help you with it. So the detector pulls this 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.480 guy out and lo and behold. This informant was supposed 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.240 to tell him he knew me that I had relatives 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.160 in Lake Elsinor, and I was in Lake Elsinor around 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:16.760 about the time that this rape had taken place. 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:19.560 Then this is what the informant had told him, told 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:20.200 him what kind. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.840 Of car I drove, told him where I actually came from, 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.560 which was in the city of Los Angeles, and that 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.400 he had relatives in Los Angeles, and that's how he 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:30.120 was able to know. 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:30.760 Me as well. 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:35.200 Then, when the detectives had came to La County to 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.520 see me for the first time, they had taking items 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:41.840 that was in my property. At the time, I was 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:43.960 off into hip hop, you know, rapping and things of 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:46.120 that nature, and so quite naturally I fit the bill 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.000 of New York will call a bee boy or what 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:53.000 have you, with the big gold chain, the rebock tennis shoes. 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.800 I had a nugget ring. And so they took all 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:59.560 of this and took it to the victim and showed 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:01.120 it to the The victim told. 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:03.200 Him none of that. He didn't have none of that. 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.280 But what they did was is they put it all 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.400 in the bag, and when we went to trial, they 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.160 used it just saying we took this from mister Atkins, 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.200 this is what he had, this is what the victim 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:15.640 originally said that the perpetrator had, and it's here in 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:17.880 the bag, and so it was used as evidence. 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:20.520 So they mixed your clothes with the clothes that might 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:22.000 look like what she would have remembered. 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:27.640 Yes, wow, yes, yes, that's the police misconduct part of it. 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:33.000 Then there was the prosecutorial misconduct of it, where Prosecutor 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:40.440 Richard Bentley lines up with a roologist and manipulated numbers 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:45.120 to tell the jurys that I couldn't have been excluded 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:49.280 from the crime when in actuality I could have. They 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.720 said that I had a rare blood type, and this 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.880 blood type only five percent of the nation had this 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.440 blood type, and because I fit into that five percent 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.560 of the nation of blood I couldn't have been excluded, 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.400 when in actuality it was the other way around. I 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.840 was in the ninety five percent that could have excluded 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:10.960 me right there from the spot. And that's all that 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:14.120 Richard Bentley had to do was to be truthful with 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.440 the matter instead of manipulating the matter. Because what the 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.360 sorologists had done, it was proven in a civil trial 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.640 that he had in fact conspired with Richard Bentley to 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:29.240 misquote these numbers. In the civil trial, which I love, 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:33.320 that came, you know, almost two decades later and found 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.600 that Danny Miller, the lead detective, was liable for his 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.640 role that he played in my being wrongfully convicted. Richard 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:44.080 Bentley got to hide behind the badge of immunity where 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:47.240 he couldn't be held responsible for what role he played 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.520 in it. And James Hall, who was the sorologist, he 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:54.120 was able to escape because of an issue that the 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:56.360 Ninth Circuit Quarter of Appeals. 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:56.720 Released him on. 0:16:57.440 --> 0:16:58.320 Yeah, that's crazy. 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.840 I was shocked to see how the pieces to the 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:05.520 puzzle came about as a result that led to my 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:09.200 being wrongfully convicted. I realized that there was, in fact 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:14.000 a conspiracy. I realized that there was prosecutorial misconduct, there 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:20.080 was police misconduct, there was misidentification, there was junk science involved. 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:22.440 That all led to my being wrongly convicted. 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:25.679 First of all, before we even get to the jury 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:29.359 and the verdict, there's an important thing which hurts me 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.080 to even talk about it. I can't imagine how it 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:35.080 feels for you. But your father during this time, who 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.359 you obviously looked up to tremendously. You wanted to follow 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.040 his footsteps, yes, and he taught you so much, But 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:44.120 he didn't stand by you. No, he took the side 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:45.440 of the police over his own son. 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.679 In his exact words, quote unquote, I went with the 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.040 evidence instead of the love of the child. 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.960 And on top of everything else that you were going through, 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.480 I can't imagine how a young person like yourself at 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.240 this time, barely out of your teenage years can process 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.240 that abandonment. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.800 It was an act of treason too, a father son relationship. 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.639 The jury goes out, did you have any hope that 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:29.080 you would be found innocent after you had watched this 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:30.879 whole thing take place in front of your eyes. You 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.560 were living in it. Right. Did you think they were 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:37.280 gonna come back and find you guilty? No? I thought 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:38.960 that the truth would when. 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:39.520 Yeah, the truth. 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.360 See, my grandmother had a saying, she said, a lie 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.080 or die, the truth always live on, And so I 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:49.160 applied that to that situation. Unfortunately it didn't happen. Then 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.400 it happened later on. But everything my father had ever 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:57.440 taught me about the justice system that went out the window. Hermann, 0:18:57.800 --> 0:18:59.679 America got the best justice system. 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:01.840 It's not the worst in the world, but it needs 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:02.760 a lot of improvement. 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:07.280 Yeah, And as I have grown and have matured and 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.119 have walked through this journey, I realized what the justice is. 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.679 Nothing wrong with the Americans justice system. It's the people 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.719 that work within the justice system that has given it 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:18.480 a bad name. 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:20.439 Right, Because in your case, if they would have followed 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:22.119 the rules, you would have been exager It wouldn't have 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.920 even been brought to trial. Yes, nobody would have prosecuted 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:27.280 this case. They would have kept looking. They come back 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:31.560 in and find you guilty on all counts. So that 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:33.880 moment must have been the worst moment of your life. 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:38.560 Oh yeah, can you imagine hearing a sentence we give 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.160 you forty seven years and eight months in prison. 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:44.080 I was devastated. 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:48.600 I mean, you have to understand half the time, although 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:51.360 I was aged twenty one, I was one of the 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.280 late bloomers. So I steal five eleven. I weighed maybe 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:58.399 one hundred and forty five pounds wet. And when I 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:01.320 went back to the sale while being housed at there 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:02.399 was a police officer. 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:03.240 He believed in me. 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:05.560 And although I never talked to him about or anybody 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.520 for that matter, about the case, he knew that I 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:11.080 didn't commit that crime because he had came on his 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:13.800 shift and he had found out what had happened. 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:16.160 And he racked the door and. 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:17.840 He said, I can, you know, step out, And he 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.240 took me out, and he put me in a padded 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.280 cell and gave me a roll of toilet paper and 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:24.960 he said I'll be back to check on you. And 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.560 when he put me in that cell, I cried like 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.720 a baby. I that's when I realized you can lose 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:37.520 your you know, emotions, and just it just with three hours, 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:39.840 I just I just cried. I didn't have anybody to 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.960 console me. My father wasn't there to, you know, hey, 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:48.399 with that motivational speech. My mother wasn't there to, you know, 0:20:48.440 --> 0:20:50.600 with her solutions to every problem. 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:51.439 None of that. 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:54.480 I was just you know, stripped down to nothing. That 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:57.240 was just me right there. And I knew that at 0:20:57.240 --> 0:20:59.399 that moment I was about to go on the journey. 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:02.000 I was right, but I didn't know what to expect. 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:06.560