WEBVTT - #292 Guest Host Patrick Pursley with Eric Blackmon 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.840 I'm Jason Flamm. Since I began recording Rafel Conviction back 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:08.280 in twenty sixteen, I've interviewed hundreds of xanneries, but unfortunately 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:11.920 that's just the tip of the criminal injustice Iceberg. So 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.360 I've invited new voices to host the show, including people 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.720 who have personally experienced the horror of that system. This 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:20.320 is one of those interviews. 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:26.640 It's July fourth, twenty oh two, and thirty six year 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:29.720 old Tony Cox is meeting up with Richard Rico, the 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.000 owner of Fat Alberts, a restaurant on the West Side 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.080 of Chicago. They lead the restaurant together. A regal turns 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.879 to lock the door behind him, and that's when he 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:45.120 hears two gunshots. Tony Cox is shot dead. A regal 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.239 stance at a close distance to the shooters, but he 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:52.120 doesn't recognize him. As they flee to scene, two women 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:55.400 witness the crime from their cars. Both of them called 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:57.800 nine to one to one, and both would later be 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:02.760 asked identify the shooters from photograph, even though they barely had. 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:03.800 Time to see them. 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:09.320 Chicago police officers Gregory Jones, Eugene Schletter, and James Sanchez 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.800 investigated the murder and they believe it had to be 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.920 gang related because Tony Cox was a member of the 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:20.360 local gang, the New Breeds. At first, they investigated New 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:24.200 Breed members but made no arrest, but within a month 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:28.000 of the crime, for reasons they are still unknown, they 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.520 turned their attention to Eric Blackman. On the day of 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:36.000 the murder, Eric was hosting a barbecue and between twenty 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:40.280 and forty people saw him there. Two months later, in September, 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:43.040 Eric showed up at court to deal with the unrelated 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:46.920 misdemeanor charge, but the police arrested them there on the 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:51.280 spot as he entered the courthouse. Despite having dozens of 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:55.920 alibi witnesses and no connection to the victim. Eric Blackman 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.000 was found guilty of murder and Tony Cox on septem 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.040 number twenty seven, twenty oh four. He was since sixty 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:18.760 years in prison this this wrongful conviction. My name is 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:22.920 Patrick Persley, also known as Free Patrick Persley. I've been 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:24.840 a guest on this show to talk about my own 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:28.120 wrongful conviction, but now I'm here as your guest host. 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.760 In April twenty twenty two, I had the honor of 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:38.120 sitting down with Eric Blackman to talk about his incredible story. Today, 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.639 I have a very distinguished guest, a friend, a brother 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:46.239 of fellow Axandery, a very positive person, someone I've known 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:51.320 for more than a decade. Eric Blackman. How are you today? 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.000 I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. I definitely definitely 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.400 appreciate you being here. And we knew each other a 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:57.440 lot longer than the. 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.959 Decade, at least a decade. 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:04.360 Yeah out two fifteen to twenty years ago when I really. 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:05.880 Think we were at Stateville together. 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:07.799 Yeah, stay here. 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.360 Yeah, I know you've come a long way and you've 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.480 done a lot. You've really done a lot to save 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:16.960 your own life. Did you ever face any criticism where 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.000 they say, like your house lord, you know, how gave 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:20.959 way out with yourself? You never heard that one. 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.960 Yeah, in the way people think that way, or one 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.480 of the biggest criticisms is people will tell y'all man 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.800 that petition will never work. Oh you know, hey, that'd 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:33.320 be what you get a lot. Uh sometimes, And I 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.600 heard a lot about the very petition that got me here, 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:37.440 So I really, you know, you just really got to 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.440 go on with what you research and how you feel 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.120 and what you believe in, and if it's right, you 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:44.680 just hope that a court ends up seeing it that way. 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.520 You know, country every to what anybody else may say. 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.040 So, where where are you from. 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.560 I'm from the West Side of Chicago. I was born 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.600 and raised there. Yeah. It was it dangerous, very much 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:03.080 like any other place. It was you know, ripple with gangs, drugs, violence, 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.120 you know what I'm saying. It was you know, it 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.320 was just things that were around. You know, you do 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:09.560 your best to stay away from it, but it's there 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:11.280 things that you see every day. 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.320 In Eric's neighborhood. Gang violence and drugs went hand in 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:18.880 hand with police brutality. 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:21.280 In our neighborhood. They came up with this what they 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.039 called what was later called the Black Site, which is 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.960 a home and square police station. There was this station 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:31.000 where people would be disappeared, where you would go and 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.520 you would hear the stories of people riding past, hearing 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.240 screams at night. But it was just a place where 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.840 people where all of your rights was just violated. People 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.000 were just going there and people wouldn't hear from for 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.320 loan periods of time, and people were arrested and healed, 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.120 and it would later revealed that people were you know, 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.240 unconstitutionally held there at that jail. 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.000 Now, people have to remember the setting in Chicago in 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:00.120 the late nineties. You know, they had record amounts of murders, 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:04.680 and you have these cadres of police who are basically 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:08.560 acting outside of the law. People would be amazed the 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:14.120 level of brutality that's leveled against someone being interrogated who 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.640 is nine out of ten times a young black male. 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:21.040 A twenty fifteen investigation by the Guardian revealed that the 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.560 Home and Square facility had detained and interrogated more than 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:30.080 seven thousand people in Chicago since nineteen ninety five, and 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.719 estimated eighty percent of those people were black, and only 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.520 a handful were allowed legal representation. 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:39.840 You know, it's like, hey, you hear about these things, 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:44.120 and you know people and you so you know, it's 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.520 very much real. Like the Bookiyman. 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:52.800 On July fourth, two thousand and two, you have Tony 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:58.400 Cox in Cook County, Illinois. He shot to death. There's 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.719 witnesses people dropping down the street, at least two or 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.279 three of those. There's someone next door in barbershok two people. 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:08.479 There's kind of according to the record, it's like this 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.520 strange meet up right, he gets a message like a 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.400 meet in front of fat Alberts or meet at Fat Alberts, 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:20.320 he meets Richard Rego. I believe they kind of say 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:26.799 inside the restaurant for about twenty minutes and they're excellent restaurant. 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:31.880 Two people pop up and shoot Tony Cox Debt. I 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:35.440 believe that's that's the state's that was the state's case. 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.320 I believe, yeah, that is what they uh ultimately you know, 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.880 presented at court as to being what actually happened that day. 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.400 I know when the shooting happened, there was like a 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.800 handful of witnesses from your record or from like where 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.240 are some things that we're saying about the actual shooter. 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.560 I know they had made nine one one calls. 0:06:56.360 --> 0:07:00.919 Or according to the record, french Line Reese and Lisa 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:05.440 McDowell were two people who were driving past the crime. 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.280 They both were stopped at this same. 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.520 Light at different viewpoints. 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.880 Yeah. Yeah, both one was heading north the other were 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.800 heading south, but they were both you know, on opposite 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.840 sides of the same light. According to Miss Frenshawn Reee, 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.720 the light turned green, she see these people standing up 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:24.880 half a block in front of her. The light turns 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:28.559 green and she proceeds up. She sees one of these 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:30.320 men shoot the other. 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:34.520 Do you recall, like her identification, what description. 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:37.320 She gave a description. I can't recall, but it wasn't 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.640 a description that fit me. I believe her description was 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:43.320 somebody like five, teen thirties, twenties thirties. I was a 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.200 teen then, but it was something that definitely didn't fit me. 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:50.800 I'm six', FOUR i was a teenager at the. Time 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.400 so you, know it was a very for a crime 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.160 from WHO i am. Now miss McDowell says that she 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:01.440 was still there and when the crime, happened she heard the, 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:03.720 shots looked over her and the kids were in the. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.400 Car she seen this person or somebody two people come 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:09.640 around the build in and walk up on this man 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.400 that was already on the ground where she's seeing the 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.760 white man who we. Suspected she was saying Mister rego 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:16.120 had a. 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:20.200 Gun she actually puts a gun In origo's. Hand, yeah 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.840 that's what she did at her initial statement to the. 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.520 Police sometime later she would go on to change. That 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.600 it really cut a lot of people's eye, because, like 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:34.280 if what she's saying is, true then Mster frigo was 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.320 not a, witness he was a participant in this. 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.480 Crime you know What i'm. Saying i'm not sure if 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.160 everything that happened or what the actual you, know uh 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.920 relationship with what actually went. On it was a lot 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:50.120 of questions around what actually happened then who was actually 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:50.720 involved that? 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:52.800 Day you know a lot of cases take a lot 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:55.480 twists and, turns but your case is almost like a 0:08:55.520 --> 0:09:00.520 direct like a direct. Shot like you're at a you're 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:05.880 hosting a, party, right and you, know like your barbituning 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:07.920 Is july. Fourth it went out, there, right so you 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:12.679 got twenty to forty, witnesses right That can you tell 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:13.079 me about? 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:17.520 That, well we threw a barbecue on myself and some 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.760 friends AND i over on the block where we normally 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:27.040 hung and we were out there throughout that. Afternoon uh 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:29.439 the time that they say this murder happened to, occurred 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:32.160 we were definitely out. THERE i had a dozen to 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:34.920 two dozen people that could verify WHERE i. 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.280 Was how how the hell they tie, you, like how 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:38.920 they drag you? 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.400 In you, KNOW i don't. Know that's SOMETHING i don't 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.119 know to this. Day HOW i ever became a, Suspect 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.880 HOW i had no link to the, gang no. TIES 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:52.839 i wasn't a part of that gang or any gang 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.319 for that. Matter i'm not, sure and to this day 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.439 that's still the. Question, NO i never had any dealings 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:03.560 with the victor them or anybody that was allegedly involved 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.000 in this. CRIME i do. 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:09.280 Nothing so how did they like effectuate the, Rest, like 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.240 how was it the same day or? 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.200 Later, No, SIR i was arrested like months. LATER i 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.400 believe it was like two. MONTHS i got Arrested september 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.839 the fifth of that, year which is exactly like two months. 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:27.959 Later in between the time of the murder and my actual, 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.280 arrest which was a couple of, MONTHS i had been 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:36.600 arrested for some type of disorder to conduct of gambling 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.360 or something like. That you, know in our neighborhood the 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:40.800 police you, know soup you. 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:44.280 Us, slaughtering, yeah lordman or those type of out here 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:44.559 on these. 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.960 Blocks and it's not a real big. Infraction it's in 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.760 fraction that you normally go to like a misdemeanor corridor 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.240 or something for and they just threw it. Out normally 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:56.000 in my, neighborhood it's just the way to ring up. 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:57.600 Guys it's almost like a. 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:02.040 Taxation, yeah it's a few quotas type of. Things and there. 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:02.960 Let everybody, know who's in. 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.640 Charge, yeah basically and The chicago P. 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:09.280 D you're gonna respect A. Doherty yeah, really that's definitely. 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.560 Know so SO i get one of. Those it was nothing, major, 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.640 up didn't do. Anything so this particular morning of my, 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.040 Rest september the, fourth was the DAY i actually had 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.680 court for this on the. Fence SO i go there 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:25.520 the same WAY i. Would you have a court, date 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:30.120 nothing to. Miss WHEN i walk in the, building police are. 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.040 There these aren't the regular. Police these are like the tactical. 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:34.679 Guys they're waiting on. 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.040 You, yeah they're waiting. There as soon AS i go 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.040 through the metal, detector they act, like, so what's your? 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.800 Name AND i tell them my, name and these officers 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.360 grab me and rough. Me you, know you know how 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.199 they do you know What i'm. Saying so, yeah the. 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.199 Thing, yeah the extra, yeah your hands. 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.640 On, yeah so it's a grab you, up And i'm 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:55.800 like for what you, KNOW whi y'all grabbing me for 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.040 my attorney's right in the. Courtroom so the whole thing 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.600 was to prevent me from getting a chance to notify my. 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:05.880 Attorney oh that's something else, too because if they know 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.160 you have, attorney they're not supposed to ask you. 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:13.280 Nothing, well, right but they knew my attorney was there 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.880 in their. COURTROOM i was going to, court he was. 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:21.800 There you, know there's usually a very clear path to 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:26.080 why the police picked. Somebody. Right one of the things 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.480 THAT i hear a lot from people who have not 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:32.199 lived the life that we have. Lived it's, like come, 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.240 on what they do just pick the name out of a. 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:37.600 HAT i could never figure out in your, Case, like 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:40.959 how the hell did they pick? You you, know. 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:44.680 That's still a mystery to this day for, me just 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.640 as well as my legal team going. FORWARD i can't 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.560 really tell you why they picked me. OUT i don't 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:54.440 know that. Would that's something that baffles me to this. 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.720 Day even when you aren't guilty and you know you 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.240 haven't done, anything you still question, yourself like why? Me 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:03.480 why the hell DID? I what COULD i have done? 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:08.400 Differently you will and to this, day LIKE i questioned 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.680 myself about, THAT i don't know WHAT i could have 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.040 done differently BECAUSE i don't know anything in regards to 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:14.720 what happened that. 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:26.800 Day this episode is sponsored by THE Aig Pro Bono. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.960 PROGRAM aig is a leading global insurance, company and THE 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.719 aig Pro bono program provides free legal, services as well 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:38.400 as other support to many nonprofit organizations as well as 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:42.559 individuals who are most in, need and they recently announced 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:46.280 that working to reform the criminal justice system will become 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:48.400 a key pillar of the program's. 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:55.719 Mission the police Arrested eric without him, warrant and they 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.880 took him to the. Station but he has no idea 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.080 what's going. On you can imagine just being dragged away 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:05.360 from your, family dragged away from your, house and the 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.880 police took their time in telling him what this was all. 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.160 About eventually they tell me That i'm there for. Murder 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.040 the only THING i could tell you is that's like 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:19.920 the most, earthshaking earth shattering like moment THAT i could tell. 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.240 You you, know it was like you, know hearing the, 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:27.000 record you, know like, Murder, yeah. MURDER i never been 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.880 nobody accused of nothing remotely like. That, now it's like hold, 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.560 on they tell you, murder and they leave out, again 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.920 and they leave you for a while and then, yeah, 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.400 Yeah then they come back in and they're, like, okay 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:41.800 you want to tell us what happened, Now AND i 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:46.760 don't know what, happened And i'm, denying and they steady 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.840 tried to do. It you, know, hey well maybe it 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.520 didn't happen this, Way maybe it happened that. Way we 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.360 know you. Weren't, yeah we know you weren't the. Person 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:58.160 and those are things that they go, out go, over 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.800 they say and do a lot of different things do 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:04.520 out those three. Days it really was LIKE i never 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.040 been so broke down and so dejected and so defeated 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:10.880 in my. Life i'll just say, that like just being 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:14.560 in that just having people constantly yell and badger you 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.800 and tell you and talk to you like you the, 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:21.840 lowest thirtiest thing in the world and accused you of 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.680 doing something like so. Horrific you, know it just shoters. 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:27.640 You it broke. ME i was a nineteen year old. 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:32.200 KID i never went through nothing like that. BEFORE i 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:36.800 was just you, KNOW i was. SCARED i was. DEFEATED 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.960 i was. HURT i didn't know and, like, man you 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.440 just don't know what to do in that. Situation you 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.160 a kid in. There, man the stuff that those grown 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:48.840 men subject kids, too like in, That like you know 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:49.080 What i'm. 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:53.080 Saying one of the detectors on this case Was James, 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.000 sanchez and since all this, happened he got promoted to 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.960 commander despite having at least ninety formal complaints and miscind. 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.800 Them so, yeah this is this character right, here he's 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:06.280 the one actually Interrogating. 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.040 Eric, yeah Mister. Sanchez LIKE i called him out his, 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:11.960 NAME i cursed at. Him he said something to. ME 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.000 i cursed at, him like, GAME i ask a nice 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:19.720 one on the, face, yeah just the. Face yeah, yeah. 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:20.560 Let you know it means. 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.680 Business, yeah, yeah he got his point. Across, YEAH i 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:24.440 ain't say that no. 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:29.040 More after its, interrogation he waited for his trial behind 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.840 bars and cook kinde of jail for two years. 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:37.640 Being stuck in that. Place it's one of the most, dreadful, 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.840 crepit dilapidated places that you could ever Throw so many 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:50.000 people in is, rats, roaches, knives, violence, gangs if you name, 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:55.800 it you get tyrannical police officers or corrections officers that 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.600 would just do what like it was. ROUGH i seen 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:04.800 people be stabbed if you name, it choke. STRANGLED i 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:08.000 seen all kinds of things like happened to people. THERE 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:11.680 i seen one guy like set on. Fire like it's 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:13.440 some of the things that you wake up to when 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.000 you have nowhere to. Go no whether, run you just, 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:16.959 stuck you just. 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.720 There so by the time you get the, trial it's 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:24.320 almost like it's almost like a. Relief what is the states, 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.600 like what's their case in? Chief what do they? 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:30.560 Present, well we started trial about two years, later and 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:35.359 the state's whole case in chief was the identifications Of 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.680 miss McDowell And Miss. Reese and that was the only 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:46.400 Thing i'll never forget. It miss French On rees testified 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:49.920 to seeing the offender's face for probably four to five. 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:55.159 Seconds miss McDowell testified to seeing it only for like 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:55.800 two or. 0:17:55.840 --> 0:18:01.480 Three before, Trial errigan's mother put together list potential alibi 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.320 witnesses that could confirm he was at The fourth Of 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:08.320 july barbecue and not down At Fat albert's restaurant where 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:08.960 the crime was. 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.760 Committed my mom made the calls to two people that 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:17.480 day to ultimately come to my trial and testify and 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.560 my defense with those two alibi. Witnesses two of the 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:26.320 people from twenty or Forty, yeah that he hadn't even 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:30.159 spoken to until my trial attorney hadn't even spoken to until. 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:31.400 That more thing that they showed. 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.040 Up you're waiting for, Trial just for the, record you're 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:36.800 waiting for trial two years and he hasn't even spoke 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:39.560 to two, witnesses but a few hours before. 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:43.600 Trial, yeah according to, them that is the first time 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:47.280 they ever met or spoke with. Him was like and 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:51.160 it wasn't even hours he spoke to, them like probably 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:55.600 for a short period prior to them getting UNDERSTAND i 0:18:55.680 --> 0:19:01.320 kind of felt, like, okay not really, Okay BUT i 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:02.919 KNOW i got an. ALABIM i KNOW i got a 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.359 bunch of people that know WHERE i would you, KNOW 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:07.400 i just know that there's a, mistake that this would 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:07.920 be straightened. 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:12.760 Out but the, lawyer he he doesn't really follow. 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.199 Up he, didn't the police didn't follow, up the lawyer 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.200 didn't follow. Up at that, POINT i was a. LAYMAN 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.000 i knew nothing about the law going. IN i. Didn't 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.000 it's like you're really learning as you go, along and 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.240 the sad part is you're learning with your. Life. 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:30.320 Yeah no room for, Error, yeah. 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:30.840 No room for er. 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.920 Room before his, Trial rick's attorney convinced him to take 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:40.040 a bench. Trial in a jury, trial you pick your twelve. Jurors, 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:44.520 however in a bench, trial the judge is the sole trial. 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:48.200 Fact he's the one who hears the evidence and determines 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.560 guilt or. Innocence so you're putting all your eggs in one. 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:56.159 Basket he said that in my, situation it was better to. 0:19:56.160 --> 0:19:58.240 Go and he definitely convinced. Me he gave me a 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:02.679 lot of different reasons and AND i really didn't want to, 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:07.080 Go LIKE i really didn't want. It but like you a, 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.440 kid it's your first time going through, this who would 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:13.119 you listen to other than the person that's supposed to 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:13.840 defend you your. 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:17.880 Attorney an attorney and his client are in a fiduciary. 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.960 Relationship he's supposed to look out for your best. Interests 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.399 he's supposed to defend you. Zealously in, retrospect as a 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:27.960 jail house, LAWYER i could tell you taking a bench 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.560 trial is a terrible. Idea it closes out a bunch 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:33.919 of chances for your appeal to be heard because a 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:38.040 lot of the issues actually become non issues because the 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:40.800 judge is presumed to know the. Law But, eric he 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:41.720 didn't know this at the. 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:42.639 Time he was just a. 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:46.840 Kid On september twenty, seventh the judge Found Eric blackman 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:49.919 guilty of murder and was sentenced to sixty years in. 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:55.160 Prison i'll never forget my mom was in that courtroom 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:59.000 and like just the shriek that she let out was 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:04.000 like Some i'll never forget because we KNOW i hadn't done. 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:10.159 It everybody knew, it, everybody the whole, neighborhood, everybody the, 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:12.879 police they even knew even when they were seeing it 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.120 in that, room they knew THAT i hadn't done. It 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:17.880 they knew. It but they told, me you gonna say 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.159 as to, Jail you're gonna go through all of, this 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:24.639 and those things played through my. Mind what was gonna 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:29.320 happen WHEN i got to the, penitentiary my, kids my. 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:34.359 Family hearing that Guilty verdy was like hand one of the, 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:38.520 worst if not the worst there of my life. Ever 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:42.639 just KNOWING i didn't do, it it was hard to 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:48.160 sleep at. NIGHT i. COULDN'T i COULDN'T i couldn't, REST 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:53.320 i couldn't, SLEEP i couldn't. EAT i thought about killing 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:55.399 myself so many, times even tried. 0:21:55.480 --> 0:22:15.720 Once by the TIME i Met, eric he's working hard 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:17.320 to save his own. LIFE i met him in a 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:20.600 law library and he was deep deep in the, books 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:23.919 trying to learn everything he could to get himself out of. 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:26.480 THERE i think you were the one that told, me 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:29.320 BECAUSE i used to tell everybody pro say gets no 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:32.080 play like that's like one of my, things like you represent, 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:34.400 yourself forget about? It, Right SO i think you were 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:38.439 the first one told me uh uh. RIGHT i was, like, 0:22:38.520 --> 0:22:42.160 man what you mean IF i ain't got a, lorder 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:44.280 YOU i ain't getting out of. Jail so you file 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:49.760 stuff yourself and actually got some type of, rhythm, RIGHT 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:51.640 i mean not at first, obviously. 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:55.960 Right so, yeah we went through the process AND i 0:22:56.000 --> 0:23:01.760 went through the direct appeal process the posting process that was. 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:03.200