WEBVTT - #564 Maggie Freleng with Dr. Marvin Cotton Jr.

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<v Speaker 1>On the west side of Detroit. In the summer of

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty, year old Marvin Cotton Junior sold a gun.

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<v Speaker 1>He thought it belonged to his distant cousin, but that

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't the case.

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<v Speaker 2>I get a knock at the door and it's him

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<v Speaker 2>and an older guy, and I knew immediately that it

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<v Speaker 2>had something to do with this gun. So I opened

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<v Speaker 2>the door and make it away from my house. So

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<v Speaker 2>as I closed the door, I heard the older guy

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<v Speaker 2>say he don't know who he's fm with. Next thing

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<v Speaker 2>I know, two police cars pull up. They gear up

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<v Speaker 2>and break in my house without a warn He kept

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<v Speaker 2>saying that it was a department issue gun, but there

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<v Speaker 2>wasn't a gun that a police offical carry was like

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<v Speaker 2>a huge chrome automatic weapon. They really wanted it back.

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<v Speaker 2>They ramsacked my house. They took money. Other guns that

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<v Speaker 2>I had with the gun that they were looking for

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<v Speaker 2>wasn't there. He said, I got a thousand dollars for

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<v Speaker 2>this gun. We're gonna leave. Just go hide it somewhere,

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<v Speaker 2>call me and tell me where you hit the gun at.

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<v Speaker 1>But instead of playing along, Marvin filed a complaint, which

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<v Speaker 1>led to an investigation and eventually consequences for these officers,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as Marvin being routinely harassed by the police.

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<v Speaker 1>Fast forward to January twenty fourth, two thousand and one,

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<v Speaker 1>gunfire erupted on Marvin's friend Jamon McIntyre's porch. Jaman ran

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<v Speaker 1>into the alley across the street, where he was fatally shot.

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<v Speaker 1>When witnesses at the scene could not identify the shooters,

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<v Speaker 1>the blame eventually found its way to Marvin and to others.

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<v Speaker 2>When I was arrested, one of the detectives told the

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<v Speaker 2>other detectives, you know, he really fed up some good officers' lives.

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<v Speaker 2>My name is doctor Marvincott Junior, and I spent nighteteen

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<v Speaker 2>seven months and twelve days of prison for a crime

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't commit.

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<v Speaker 1>From Lava for good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie

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<v Speaker 1>Freeling today, Doctor Marvin Cotton Junior. Marvin Cotton Junior grew

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<v Speaker 1>up in the nineteen eighties and nineties on the West

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<v Speaker 1>side of Detroit.

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<v Speaker 2>The neighborhood that I'm from, a street called Myers. Myers

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<v Speaker 2>was the center of the universe for that area, or

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<v Speaker 2>at least it was the center of my universe. We

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<v Speaker 2>had restaurants on this block. We had elementary school on

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<v Speaker 2>this block. It was like everything that you would need

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<v Speaker 2>a community to be. It was all on this block,

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<v Speaker 2>and it was a lot of families lived there. It

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<v Speaker 2>was a lot of guys. We grew up together in

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<v Speaker 2>my age group and those that were older. My co

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<v Speaker 2>defendant in this case, Anthony Legion, who also did this

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<v Speaker 2>show Brilliant paralegal here in Michigan, he grew up on

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<v Speaker 2>Myers as well. He lived down the street from me,

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<v Speaker 2>several years older. He gave my first haircut as a child.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, I kind of grew up up under him

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<v Speaker 2>and the older guys that was in the area. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>Myers was really a close knit community.

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<v Speaker 1>Marvin's co defendant, Anthony Legion, managed to stay largely uninvolved

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<v Speaker 1>in the streets, while Marvin's situation was different.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm the middle child of an older sister and a

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<v Speaker 2>younger brother. We were raised primarily by my mother. My

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<v Speaker 2>biological father struggled with drugs and alcohol for maybe thirty

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<v Speaker 2>seven years of his life. Wow, he was very abusive

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<v Speaker 2>in the household, and eventually she got away from that. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I grew up. I grew up very poor. I remember

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<v Speaker 2>it creating the desire to want more, to want to

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<v Speaker 2>have things, to not want to be singled out or

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<v Speaker 2>bullied in school for not having things. You know, children

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<v Speaker 2>could be very cruel. And my stepfather, the man who

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<v Speaker 2>eventually married my mother, he helped raise myself and my

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<v Speaker 2>brother and my sister from maybe about the age where

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<v Speaker 2>I was twelve years old into the time that I

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<v Speaker 2>was wrongfully convicted. He introduced me to the streets and

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<v Speaker 2>I got involved with selling drugs and selling guns and

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<v Speaker 2>just being involved in that whole life.

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<v Speaker 1>And while hustling in the streets, Marvin was a senior

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<v Speaker 1>in high school when he found out that he was

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<v Speaker 1>going to be a dad when.

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<v Speaker 2>I was seventeen years old, and I remember, like immediately

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<v Speaker 2>when I found out, I just felt the pressure of

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<v Speaker 2>being responsible for another human being that was coming. And

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<v Speaker 2>you know, I went to every single doctor's appointment. I

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<v Speaker 2>made sure that I fed her mother everything that I

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<v Speaker 2>thought she should be eating. And I was very excited.

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<v Speaker 2>But since I didn't have the two to organize my

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<v Speaker 2>life the way that it should be, my plan was

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<v Speaker 2>drop out of high school and then enroll in a

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<v Speaker 2>GED course so that I can quickly get my GED

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<v Speaker 2>and when I dropped myself from high school. I went

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<v Speaker 2>to go and roll and they was like you a

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<v Speaker 2>week late, Like you have to wait till next year

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<v Speaker 2>to enroll in our ged program. So it was like

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<v Speaker 2>I could have stayed in school, but I had a

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<v Speaker 2>problem that no one knew about. I couldn't read and write.

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<v Speaker 2>So I had made it all the way to this

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<v Speaker 2>point in school without being able to read and write,

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<v Speaker 2>because I just used my ability to communicate. I had

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<v Speaker 2>a great memory, so if I heard something in class,

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<v Speaker 2>I would answer all of the questions. I would never

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<v Speaker 2>do anything on paper, and teachers automatically knew, like you're smart,

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<v Speaker 2>you know everything, just do the work, so they would

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<v Speaker 2>pass me because they thought I knew it. And the

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<v Speaker 2>reason I couldn't read and write is because when I

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<v Speaker 2>was a child and I was worried about my mother

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<v Speaker 2>and whatever fight that just happened the night before, or

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<v Speaker 2>what was going on in the home.

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<v Speaker 1>So Marvin wasn't exactly set up for success, but he

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<v Speaker 1>survived and cared for his daughter with the tools that

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<v Speaker 1>he had, and that's how it went until the summer

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<v Speaker 1>of two thousand, when his distant cousin brought him a

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<v Speaker 1>gun to sell.

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<v Speaker 2>One of my cousin's cousin. He knew that I indulged

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<v Speaker 2>in that world. So I took the firearm. I gave

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<v Speaker 2>him some money, and I went and I sold it.

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<v Speaker 2>Several hours later, I get a knock at the door.

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<v Speaker 2>It's him and an older guy, probably in his forties.

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<v Speaker 2>I knew immediately it had something to do with the gun.

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<v Speaker 2>So I opened the door, and you know, I told,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, man, get away from my house. I didn't

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<v Speaker 2>just get away from my house. So as I closed

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<v Speaker 2>the door, I heard the older guy say he don't

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<v Speaker 2>know who he's fing with. Next thing I know, two

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<v Speaker 2>police cars pull up. They gear up and put their

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<v Speaker 2>vests and everything on my front line. They break in

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<v Speaker 2>my house without a warrant. They ramsacked the house. They

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<v Speaker 2>took money, other guns that I had, but the gun

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<v Speaker 2>that they were looking for wasn't there. So they handcuffed me,

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<v Speaker 2>put me in the bathroom, and one of the guys

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<v Speaker 2>come in and says, look, I got a thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 2>He said it on the bathroom sync He said, gonna

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<v Speaker 2>let you out of these handcuffs. We're gonna leave. Here's

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<v Speaker 2>my phone number. Just go hide it. Somewhere, call me

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<v Speaker 2>and tell me where you hit the gun, and I

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<v Speaker 2>owe you one.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think he lost his gun like he was

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<v Speaker 1>in trouble maybe, like you know.

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<v Speaker 2>He kept saying that it was a department issue gun.

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<v Speaker 2>But I have seen department issue guns before, and it

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<v Speaker 2>didn't have that extra serial number with DPD on it.

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<v Speaker 2>And it wasn't a gun that a police officer will carry.

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<v Speaker 2>It was like a huge chrome automatic web and it

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<v Speaker 2>was no way that it was a department issue gun.

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<v Speaker 2>But they really wanted it back. And the gun was

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<v Speaker 2>not worth a thousand dollars, you know, it was brand new.

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<v Speaker 2>It was probably a four hundred dollars gun. But they

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<v Speaker 2>were willing to pay in pretty penny for this firearm back.

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<v Speaker 2>And he said, go hide it somewhere and just tell

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<v Speaker 2>me where it's at. So me being twenty years old

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<v Speaker 2>at that time and my egos bruise, they essentially robbed

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<v Speaker 2>me because they took things that I wasn't supposed to have,

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<v Speaker 2>but they took them, and you know, they didn't charge

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<v Speaker 2>me with it or anything. So one day I filed

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<v Speaker 2>a complaint with internal Affairs and the person that was

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<v Speaker 2>leading the raid was the head of narcotics, and they

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<v Speaker 2>was like, why is a narcotic person trying to retrieve

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<v Speaker 2>a gun that was never reported stolen? And it started

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<v Speaker 2>a real big investigation.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think this kind of put you on their

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<v Speaker 1>radar for when doomas?

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<v Speaker 2>That absolutely did. They would just pick me up for

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<v Speaker 2>no reason at all, Take me to jail, let me

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<v Speaker 2>out sometimes, come get me the same day, take me

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<v Speaker 2>back to jail, keep me in there for a couple

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<v Speaker 2>of days, let me out. Every time they seen me,

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<v Speaker 2>they was pulling me over. I got to the point

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<v Speaker 2>to where I would just pull my car over, get out,

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<v Speaker 2>and hit the alarm as I'm running, lock my doors

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<v Speaker 2>as I'm running, just because I didn't feel like going

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<v Speaker 2>to jail again for no reason, which led to me

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<v Speaker 2>filing additional complaints. And eventually I filed a complaint and

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<v Speaker 2>a police officer came to my house arresting me. The

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<v Speaker 2>police PRECID is like five minutes away. They drove me

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<v Speaker 2>around for like forty five minutes, you know, cussing and raving.

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<v Speaker 2>The officer that was driving had his gun in his

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<v Speaker 2>hand the whole time he was pulling up on people,

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<v Speaker 2>pointing his gun at people. He actually shot somebody that night.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh my gosh, after they took me to jail, he

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<v Speaker 2>was just like unhinged. I thought they were gonna kill

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<v Speaker 2>me that night. To be honest, I thought, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>being a nobody black man from the streets of Detroit

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<v Speaker 2>where you know, constitutional rights didn't exist at all back then,

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<v Speaker 2>and you know, I just thought it was over. And

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<v Speaker 2>then the pressure that they were placing on me at

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<v Speaker 2>that time, I knew that something was coming. I just

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<v Speaker 2>didn't know what it was.

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<v Speaker 1>Which brings us to the victim in this case, Marvin's

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<v Speaker 1>friend Jamon McIntyre, who lived at thirty nine to fifty

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<v Speaker 1>one third Street in Detroit with a guy named Kenny Lockhart.

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<v Speaker 1>But the house belonged to Jamon's powerful relatives. As we

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<v Speaker 1>learned from Anthony Legion's attorney, Wolf Muller, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Just know from all the police reports and what the

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<v Speaker 3>police officers knew is this was a drug house maintained

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<v Speaker 3>and kept by Jamon McIntyre, who was related either by

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<v Speaker 3>blood or they call them plain nephews with the Johnson

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<v Speaker 3>crime family that ran a lot of dope out of

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<v Speaker 3>Detroit at that time in the early two thousands, late nineties.

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<v Speaker 3>So this was a notorious drug house. In fact, one

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<v Speaker 3>of the defendants in our lawsuit, Santonian Adams, was a

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<v Speaker 3>nephew of the Johnsons, and he was a Detroit Police

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<v Speaker 3>officer there at the time of the crime. He we

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<v Speaker 3>found out later, was actually running security for the Johnson

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<v Speaker 3>crime family as a Detroit Police officer.

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<v Speaker 1>So shortly after midnight on January twenty fourth, two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and one, Santonian Adams was out in the driveway. Kenny

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<v Speaker 1>Lockhart and his girlfriend Renee Tate were in an upstairs bedroom,

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<v Speaker 1>and Jamon McIntyre was on the porch, allegedly with three

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<v Speaker 1>other men.

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<v Speaker 3>Three guys were hanging around on a porch, apparently a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit after midnight, McIntyre's sister comes over and she's

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<v Speaker 3>looking for some money. He gives her some money, she leaves.

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<v Speaker 3>She doesn't recognize any of the three. Shortly after she leaves,

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<v Speaker 3>Adams is in the driveway and all of a sudden,

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<v Speaker 3>here shots being fired and McIntyre calls to him tone

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<v Speaker 3>as he's running out of the house being chased by

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<v Speaker 3>these guys, runs down an alley across the street and

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<v Speaker 3>gets undown. Now at this time, Lockhart is in the

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<v Speaker 3>bedroom with his girlfriend. He first told the officers he

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<v Speaker 3>didn't see what happened. Here's the shooting, closes his door

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<v Speaker 3>because he's trying to protect his girlfriend and waste till

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<v Speaker 3>the shooting.

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<v Speaker 1>Stops, as did his girlfriend, Renee Tate. Police collected about

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<v Speaker 1>thirty shell casings, ten near the porch and another twenty

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<v Speaker 1>in the alley. An officer Santonian Adams, not really explaining

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<v Speaker 1>his presence there, said that he had gotten off a

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<v Speaker 1>few shots as well.

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<v Speaker 3>Santonian Adams claims that he couldn't find his official police

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<v Speaker 3>gun in the van he was driving at the time.

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<v Speaker 3>He says, I couldn't find my gun, but as I

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<v Speaker 3>was ducking when I heard the shots, I saw a

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<v Speaker 3>gun under the front passenger seat, so I grabbed that

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<v Speaker 3>and I got off about four shots. Well, he never

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<v Speaker 3>turned in his official law enforcement handgun to have it analyzed.

0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.400
<v Speaker 3>When they did take a look at it, they found

0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.679
<v Speaker 3>there were four bullets missing. His story never added up.

0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:01.200
<v Speaker 3>Didn't pursue him.

0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:05.600
<v Speaker 1>Instead, nearly a month later, they went back to Kenny Lockhart,

0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:09.559
<v Speaker 1>who inexplicitly had a new story to tell involving three

0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.560
<v Speaker 1>young men from the neighborhood. Marvin Cotton, Anthony Legion, and

0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:15.880
<v Speaker 1>twenty nine year old Devonte Parks.

0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:19.760
<v Speaker 3>Lockhart claims he hears the shooting, then he comes out

0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.400
<v Speaker 3>says that the guys are in his house, and a

0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.360
<v Speaker 3>guy he identifies as Cotton tells another guy shoot him,

0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:31.400
<v Speaker 3>shoot Lockhart. Lockhart claims he finds a gun and takes

0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.920
<v Speaker 3>a shot. Only the problem is there are no bullet

0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:35.720
<v Speaker 3>holes in the house.

0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.880
<v Speaker 1>And not only was this account contradicted by Renee Tate,

0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.360
<v Speaker 1>but also of the three guns that the police found

0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.920
<v Speaker 1>in the house, none of them could be linked to

0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.720
<v Speaker 1>the shellcasings that were collected from the scene.

0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.440
<v Speaker 3>Even one of the police officers who first interviewed Lockhart

0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.480
<v Speaker 3>wrote in his notes, the guy is not telling the truth.

0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.360
<v Speaker 3>I don't believe what word he says. And mind you,

0:13:57.840 --> 0:13:59.760
<v Speaker 3>he first told the officers he didn't see what it

0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:04.680
<v Speaker 3>has and second he knew Cotton, so if Cotton had

0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.439
<v Speaker 3>been there, he would have identified Cotton.

0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:11.679
<v Speaker 1>Nevertheless, all three young men were arrested separately, and with

0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:15.040
<v Speaker 1>all the harassment that preceded this arrest, Marvin thought this

0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:16.840
<v Speaker 1>was just more of the same.

0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.160
<v Speaker 2>You know, I had got kind of used to it

0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.480
<v Speaker 2>at this point. I did not know why they were

0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.520
<v Speaker 2>picking me up and they took me downtown. They put

0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:30.680
<v Speaker 2>me in a bathroom size interrogation room, you know, bright lights.

0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.240
<v Speaker 2>They left me in there for about thirteen hours. No

0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.880
<v Speaker 2>one came to check on me. Couldn't use the bathroom.

0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.200
<v Speaker 2>About thirteen fourteen hours later and they took me into

0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:43.200
<v Speaker 2>an office. There was three detectives in that office. One

0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:46.440
<v Speaker 2>of the detectives told the other detectives, you know, he

0:14:46.600 --> 0:15:07.600
<v Speaker 2>really fed up some good officers' lives. Here I go

0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.840
<v Speaker 2>in this interrogation role, twenty one years old, not knowing

0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:15.120
<v Speaker 2>why I'm down here. It was Sergeant Walter Bates, Sergeant

0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:19.480
<v Speaker 2>Ernest Wilson, and Inspector Donald Hughes. It was a lot

0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.120
<v Speaker 2>of threats saying they were going to do this and

0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:25.040
<v Speaker 2>do that to me, some acts of violence. And I

0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.120
<v Speaker 2>told them that I didn't have anything that I wanted

0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:31.240
<v Speaker 2>to talk about. I told him a lawyer that shut

0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:35.840
<v Speaker 2>it down. And just so you know, Walter Bates went

0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:40.240
<v Speaker 2>to prison for Robin thirteen banks. Ernest Wilson high speed

0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.480
<v Speaker 2>chased from a different police department, drunk for a second

0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.680
<v Speaker 2>DUI and had an illegal gun on him. And then

0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:50.480
<v Speaker 2>I have a recording of Donald Hughes talking about how

0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:51.280
<v Speaker 2>they set me up.

0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:56.320
<v Speaker 1>Before their misconduct was revealed, Marvin, Anthony and Davante had

0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:00.440
<v Speaker 1>to find ways to impeach the identification that these menduced

0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.840
<v Speaker 1>via Kenny Lockhart, while also trying to corroborate their alibis

0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:06.640
<v Speaker 1>from pre trial detention.

0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.560
<v Speaker 2>Like I said, I grew up not knowing how to

0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.800
<v Speaker 2>read and write. And it's interesting because my wrongful conviction

0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.120
<v Speaker 2>is the very thing that corrected that. I had a

0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:21.320
<v Speaker 2>lot of motivation because when they gave me that big

0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.200
<v Speaker 2>old stack of discovery papers, it was about forty five

0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:26.320
<v Speaker 2>pages and I couldn't read it.

0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.120
<v Speaker 3>Kenny Lockhart said that he was absolutely one hundred percent

0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.600
<v Speaker 3>certain of the three guys who were charged, Legion, Cotton,

0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.960
<v Speaker 3>and DeVante Parks on Parks had in airtight alibi. Well,

0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.160
<v Speaker 3>then there goes Lockhart's whole identification.

0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.800
<v Speaker 1>It appears the state had verified Parks's alibi, which directly

0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:50.160
<v Speaker 1>undermined Lockhart's identification, but instead of dropping all charges, they

0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:54.040
<v Speaker 1>found a jailhouse informant named Ellis Frasier to hold the

0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.880
<v Speaker 1>case together. Meanwhile, Marvin had taught himself how to read

0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.840
<v Speaker 1>and write, just in time to find out out how

0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.400
<v Speaker 1>Detroit Police operates.

0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.639
<v Speaker 2>Four days before Trout, my attorney came to visit me

0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.960
<v Speaker 2>in the county jail and he slid a statement to me.

0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.320
<v Speaker 2>So I'm looking over this statement and my blood pressure

0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:15.080
<v Speaker 2>is just going through the roof as I'm trying to

0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:18.080
<v Speaker 2>read it. And my attorney he says, listen, this guy

0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.000
<v Speaker 2>is saying that you can confessed him, and I'm like,

0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:20.879
<v Speaker 2>this didn't happen.

0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.760
<v Speaker 3>It is the Detroit Police Department, and particularly the homicide

0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:28.400
<v Speaker 3>section in the late nineteen eighties through the nineteen nineties

0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.840
<v Speaker 3>and even into extending the early two thousands, if they

0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:36.200
<v Speaker 3>had a weak case, they would recruit some snitch, typically

0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.000
<v Speaker 3>from what would be the ninth floor jail, where you're

0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.080
<v Speaker 3>only supposed to be held there for about forty eight

0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.840
<v Speaker 3>hours before you get transferred to the county jail. But

0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.119
<v Speaker 3>some of these guys on a ninth floor were in

0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.880
<v Speaker 3>the ninth floor lockup for a year or more and

0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:53.119
<v Speaker 3>they had sheets over their cells, they had VCRs, they

0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.800
<v Speaker 3>had TVs, they had food, they had drink, they had

0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.840
<v Speaker 3>everything because they were regular snitches for the DPD. And

0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:02.760
<v Speaker 3>three of them have said under oath is, we would

0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:06.679
<v Speaker 3>get discovery packages from the detectives told to memorize it.

0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.480
<v Speaker 3>A handwritten statement from the homicide detective saying, how this

0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.439
<v Speaker 3>guy confessed and all you had to do was sign it.

0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:19.040
<v Speaker 2>I don't even consider Ellis Fraser or jail house informists

0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:23.760
<v Speaker 2>a snitches, because a snitch tells something they know, But

0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:27.760
<v Speaker 2>when detectives give you the information for you to testify to,

0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:29.919
<v Speaker 2>that's just something completely different.

0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.879
<v Speaker 1>But in the time before this informant system was exposed,

0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:38.159
<v Speaker 1>it seems that the pattern weaved this case together as well.

0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.000
<v Speaker 1>Ellis Fraser said that Marvin confessed to him an implicated

0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:47.480
<v Speaker 1>legion and importantly not Parks. But there are some problems

0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:48.320
<v Speaker 1>with this statement.

0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.440
<v Speaker 2>He says this happened in the county jail, which has

0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:56.040
<v Speaker 2>huge bullopeans. As you're going to court, they're putting people

0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.720
<v Speaker 2>in different bullpens depending on what judge they're going to see.

0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:03.240
<v Speaker 2>In his state, he said that Anthony Legion, myself, and

0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:06.720
<v Speaker 2>my third cod defended were all on the docket to

0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.879
<v Speaker 2>go see the trial judge. I went and see my

0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:14.280
<v Speaker 2>probation judge on this day that this jail house informant

0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:16.840
<v Speaker 2>says that I was in a different bullpen, So.

0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.600
<v Speaker 1>Wrong, Judge He also said that Marvin had changed into

0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:25.640
<v Speaker 1>street clothes, but that doesn't happen when seeing the probation judge.

0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:29.320
<v Speaker 1>And then the statement placed them all in the trial

0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:31.520
<v Speaker 1>judge bullpen together.

0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.000
<v Speaker 2>Anthony never came down that day, even though on the

0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.600
<v Speaker 2>computer it says that he had court that day, but

0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:41.119
<v Speaker 2>we got documents showing that they never signed him to

0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:44.000
<v Speaker 2>come down to court. My other co defendant had to

0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:46.440
<v Speaker 2>go see a different judge in a completely different county,

0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.720
<v Speaker 2>so he wasn't even in the bull pen. And then

0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:51.920
<v Speaker 2>I went and seeing a different judge because I was

0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.760
<v Speaker 2>seeing my probation judge. So none of us was in

0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:58.840
<v Speaker 2>the bullpen with Ellis Fraser Junior. Although they thought that

0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:00.840
<v Speaker 2>they had set it up like that, did.

0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:03.680
<v Speaker 1>This get brought up at trial? Did your defense attorney

0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:04.320
<v Speaker 1>bring this up?

0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.639
<v Speaker 2>Well? When he went and showed the judge and the

0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:08.960
<v Speaker 2>prosecutor they had a sidebar to then that's when they

0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.520
<v Speaker 2>changed the story and Illustrazer was like, no, nobody was

0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:15.240
<v Speaker 2>in the bullpayn with me. I talked to him through

0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:19.080
<v Speaker 2>a wall and he told me his first and last name,

0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.480
<v Speaker 2>victims first and last name, the street where this happened.

0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.719
<v Speaker 2>Witnesses first and last name, all of these details that

0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.400
<v Speaker 2>you can get out of policy ports and preliminary transcripts,

0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.040
<v Speaker 2>and it was like literally a perfectly written statement that

0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:34.639
<v Speaker 2>no one would ever say, and no one would ever

0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.720
<v Speaker 2>share this information through a wall in a bullpen with

0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:41.800
<v Speaker 2>forty to fifty people in his bullpen, forty to fifty

0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.440
<v Speaker 2>people in my bullpen. People don't even use their real

0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:45.679
<v Speaker 2>names in jail.

0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:50.000
<v Speaker 1>Fraser also testified that he was receiving nothing in return

0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:54.080
<v Speaker 1>for his testimony, even though he was released soon after.

0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:59.480
<v Speaker 1>And the surprises didn't stop there. Without explanation, DeVante Parks

0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:03.320
<v Speaker 1>was severed from Marvin and Anthony's trial all of a.

0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:07.280
<v Speaker 3>Sudden, Parks severed from the case. Why it turns out,

0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:11.360
<v Speaker 3>right before trial they verified Park had an airtight alibi,

0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:15.800
<v Speaker 3>and so they dismissed charges against Parks, but only after

0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:17.480
<v Speaker 3>the Cotton legion trial.

0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.560
<v Speaker 1>Which gave the appearance that Parks was still being charged.

0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:24.600
<v Speaker 1>While this information could not be used to impeach Lockhart,

0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:27.560
<v Speaker 1>who had said that he was one hundred percent certain

0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:31.760
<v Speaker 1>when he identified Parks, but at trial, Lockhart only had

0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:35.080
<v Speaker 1>to identify the two defendants in front of him.

0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:39.760
<v Speaker 3>The state's evidence simply came to Lockhart and being backed

0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:44.120
<v Speaker 3>up by a snitch witness, which then would give credibility

0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:46.479
<v Speaker 3>to Lockhart, right, because they're saying the same thing. And

0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.920
<v Speaker 3>they never got to hear about the Duponte Parks misidentification.

0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:52.960
<v Speaker 3>As much as the defense tried to punch holes in Lockhart,

0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.000
<v Speaker 3>Lockhart could say, I knew Cotton, so I knew who

0:21:56.000 --> 0:21:59.120
<v Speaker 3>it was. And then this other guy legion, I saw

0:21:59.200 --> 0:21:59.640
<v Speaker 3>him too.

0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:04.840
<v Speaker 2>We called two witnesses, a detective that Kenneth Lockhart had

0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:10.359
<v Speaker 2>told several different variant stories too. And we called another

0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:15.880
<v Speaker 2>witness that was the girlfriend of Lockhart, and she had

0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:20.479
<v Speaker 2>told a story in her statement that conflicted with Lockhart.

0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:22.440
<v Speaker 1>Right, because she was in the house with him, right,

0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:24.520
<v Speaker 1>they allegedly had heard the gunshot.

0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:27.040
<v Speaker 2>Yes, So we wanted to call her to show that

0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:30.320
<v Speaker 2>this guy is lying, he's not telling the truth. But

0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:33.840
<v Speaker 2>when she came in court, she was crying, shaking, She

0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.760
<v Speaker 2>kept looking at Anthony and I and you know, we've

0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:40.159
<v Speaker 2>never seen this woman before in our life. But the

0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:43.800
<v Speaker 2>jury don't know why she's crying looking at us in

0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:44.280
<v Speaker 2>this way.

0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:48.880
<v Speaker 1>So without context or how Lockhart came to name these men,

0:22:49.440 --> 0:22:52.840
<v Speaker 1>or how Parks's charges were just about to be dismissed,

0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:56.400
<v Speaker 1>or how Frasier was definitely receiving a deal for testifying.

0:22:56.560 --> 0:23:01.120
<v Speaker 1>On October nineteenth, two thousand and one, the jury Anthony

0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:04.760
<v Speaker 1>and Marvin a first degree murder and illegal use of

0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:09.120
<v Speaker 1>a firearm, sending them away for life without the possibility

0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:13.200
<v Speaker 1>of parole, and in the process, another generation of the

0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:15.359
<v Speaker 1>Cotton family was in jeopardy.

0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:20.159
<v Speaker 2>Once I was wrongfully convicted. I knew that my daughter

0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:26.400
<v Speaker 2>was in danger fathers in prison, a young black female

0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:29.840
<v Speaker 2>in the city of Detroit. I did not want her

0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.119
<v Speaker 2>to be a statistic so I knew that I needed

0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:38.000
<v Speaker 2>to draw as many lines and connections and communication with

0:23:38.040 --> 0:23:41.240
<v Speaker 2>her as possible. So even before she learned how to read,

0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:44.320
<v Speaker 2>I was writing her letters. I wanted her to have

0:23:44.359 --> 0:23:47.520
<v Speaker 2>a drawer full of letters that she can always see,

0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:49.680
<v Speaker 2>and I would put lessons in it. I would talk

0:23:49.720 --> 0:23:54.879
<v Speaker 2>to her about protecting her space and just communicating and

0:23:54.920 --> 0:23:57.439
<v Speaker 2>being kind to people. I would just put lessons in

0:23:57.520 --> 0:23:59.960
<v Speaker 2>every letter. I will send her cards, I will send

0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:04.639
<v Speaker 2>her Teddy Bears money. I would call her all the time.

0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:09.760
<v Speaker 2>So I just drew as many lines to build the

0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:15.320
<v Speaker 2>relationship as possible. Because I knew that our relationship may

0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:18.240
<v Speaker 2>give her a little bit of what she need not

0:24:18.400 --> 0:24:21.040
<v Speaker 2>to fall and be a statistic in any way.

0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:23.760
<v Speaker 1>You know, the relationship you had with your mother and

0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:26.000
<v Speaker 1>your father and these different men in your life, did

0:24:26.040 --> 0:24:30.399
<v Speaker 1>that affect or inform the way you parented with your daughter.

0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:36.359
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely. I didn't have a perfect guide on what to be,

0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:39.000
<v Speaker 2>but I knew what I did not want to be.

0:24:39.640 --> 0:24:41.760
<v Speaker 2>You know, our biological father. You know, we've been building

0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:43.919
<v Speaker 2>relationships since I've been out. I go see him a

0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:46.440
<v Speaker 2>few times a year. But what I got from him

0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:48.480
<v Speaker 2>that he wasn't trying to give me. But what I

0:24:48.520 --> 0:24:51.600
<v Speaker 2>got from him is my discipline when it comes to

0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:56.000
<v Speaker 2>alcohol and drugs because of what I witnessed and what

0:24:56.080 --> 0:24:59.119
<v Speaker 2>I seen, and you know, all of the broken promises

0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:02.720
<v Speaker 2>growing up, all of that stayed with me, and I'm

0:25:02.760 --> 0:25:06.679
<v Speaker 2>able to practice opposite in a positive way. You know,

0:25:06.720 --> 0:25:08.640
<v Speaker 2>he was never present, so I make sure that I'm

0:25:08.800 --> 0:25:12.280
<v Speaker 2>very present. You know, drugs was his priority. And you

0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:14.840
<v Speaker 2>know drug addicts are not interested in asking you how

0:25:14.880 --> 0:25:17.840
<v Speaker 2>are you doing? They actually you know you have anything

0:25:17.880 --> 0:25:20.600
<v Speaker 2>for me? Can I borrow some money? So his communication

0:25:20.760 --> 0:25:23.399
<v Speaker 2>is not the best, So I make sure my communication

0:25:23.520 --> 0:25:26.240
<v Speaker 2>with my daughter is solid.

0:25:26.000 --> 0:25:28.080
<v Speaker 1>That it's not about needing or wanting.

0:25:28.160 --> 0:25:30.639
<v Speaker 2>It's absolutely yeah, wow, it's all about me getting in

0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:46.560
<v Speaker 2>their business. Like in prison, I understood that these detectives

0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:48.760
<v Speaker 2>that was doing the wrong things. I recognized that they

0:25:48.760 --> 0:25:52.400
<v Speaker 2>were smart because they were able to hide things from

0:25:52.440 --> 0:25:56.120
<v Speaker 2>me in my face. So I knew that the battle

0:25:56.280 --> 0:25:59.760
<v Speaker 2>was a mental battle. I have to become smarter because

0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:02.800
<v Speaker 2>they're not planned. So my initial motivation was to turn

0:26:02.840 --> 0:26:04.920
<v Speaker 2>myself into a weapon so that I could fight back

0:26:05.359 --> 0:26:09.040
<v Speaker 2>against the system that had rolled over my life. I

0:26:09.080 --> 0:26:11.359
<v Speaker 2>read a lot of books, I studied a lot. I

0:26:11.400 --> 0:26:13.680
<v Speaker 2>did a lot of work on myself. So I turned

0:26:13.680 --> 0:26:16.560
<v Speaker 2>my prison sale into a university. But when you can

0:26:16.600 --> 0:26:20.320
<v Speaker 2>think in prison, everybody starts coming to you for askers.

0:26:20.359 --> 0:26:23.400
<v Speaker 2>They want you to save them. So now I'm a mentor.

0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:26.080
<v Speaker 2>Now I'm a leader, And then I started to feel

0:26:26.240 --> 0:26:29.040
<v Speaker 2>a duty to help more than just myself.

0:26:30.359 --> 0:26:33.400
<v Speaker 1>So Marvin went from a young father who couldn't read

0:26:33.720 --> 0:26:38.800
<v Speaker 1>into a man who understands the law, parenting, and leadership

0:26:39.119 --> 0:26:43.480
<v Speaker 1>as only doctor Marvin Cotton Junior can, all while fighting

0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:46.760
<v Speaker 1>for his freedom, which began in the denial of his

0:26:46.800 --> 0:26:51.280
<v Speaker 1>initial appeals and federal habeas So by twenty ten, Marvin

0:26:51.480 --> 0:26:53.600
<v Speaker 1>needed to find new evidence.

0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:56.879
<v Speaker 2>I hired a private investigator and he went and talked

0:26:56.920 --> 0:26:59.840
<v Speaker 2>to Elis Fraser. Elis Fraser did not know who he was,

0:27:00.600 --> 0:27:04.200
<v Speaker 2>who was working for, and he just revealed everything.

0:27:04.840 --> 0:27:08.040
<v Speaker 1>Fraser said how he initially told Detective Hughes that he

0:27:08.119 --> 0:27:12.160
<v Speaker 1>never saw anyone, but had overheard two men talking. One

0:27:12.200 --> 0:27:14.240
<v Speaker 1>said I wasn't even there man.

0:27:14.600 --> 0:27:19.760
<v Speaker 3>Elie Fraser says in an affidavit that the officer in charge, Hughes,

0:27:20.320 --> 0:27:23.280
<v Speaker 3>walks him into court and has to explain to him

0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:26.840
<v Speaker 3>who these guys are, so he makes sure that he

0:27:26.920 --> 0:27:30.879
<v Speaker 3>picks them out and identifies cotton as cotton and doesn't

0:27:30.920 --> 0:27:31.840
<v Speaker 3>confuse the guys.

0:27:32.359 --> 0:27:35.520
<v Speaker 1>Fraser also claims that he was promised early release by

0:27:35.520 --> 0:27:39.679
<v Speaker 1>both the detective and prosecutor and was reminded not to

0:27:39.840 --> 0:27:45.320
<v Speaker 1>mention that deal at trial. Then the investigator visited Detective Hughes.

0:27:45.480 --> 0:27:48.600
<v Speaker 3>Private investigator who used to be with the Detroit PD,

0:27:49.240 --> 0:27:53.080
<v Speaker 3>makes a secret recording with Donald Hughes, the officer in charge,

0:27:53.440 --> 0:27:57.520
<v Speaker 3>and Hughes tells him, Yeah, Lockart hadn't seen anything. This

0:27:57.800 --> 0:28:00.399
<v Speaker 3>drug dealer told me, and then I told Lockhart. So

0:28:00.480 --> 0:28:04.280
<v Speaker 3>Lockhart's story then lined up with whoever was the suspect

0:28:04.560 --> 0:28:07.840
<v Speaker 3>that the drug dealer had identified, and that became Cotton

0:28:07.880 --> 0:28:09.160
<v Speaker 3>and Legion and Parks.

0:28:09.320 --> 0:28:13.840
<v Speaker 1>The investigator also visited Lockhart's girlfriend, Renee Tate, about why

0:28:13.920 --> 0:28:17.320
<v Speaker 1>she backed up Lockhart's story at trial, and her answer

0:28:17.720 --> 0:28:21.040
<v Speaker 1>might identify who this drug dealer was.

0:28:21.680 --> 0:28:24.720
<v Speaker 2>She said she was receiving pressure from detectives as well

0:28:24.760 --> 0:28:27.600
<v Speaker 2>as the victim family, one of which was the head

0:28:27.640 --> 0:28:31.000
<v Speaker 2>of this criminal organization that was pressuring her to come

0:28:31.040 --> 0:28:32.440
<v Speaker 2>in and say a particular thing.

0:28:33.040 --> 0:28:37.879
<v Speaker 3>Lockhart's girlfriend said that Lockhart never saw anybody, because neither

0:28:37.920 --> 0:28:41.440
<v Speaker 3>of them saw anybody. But she won't sign an affidavit

0:28:41.600 --> 0:28:45.360
<v Speaker 3>and has basically said, if you subpoena me to testify,

0:28:45.960 --> 0:28:47.760
<v Speaker 3>I'm just gonna lie and I say I never said

0:28:47.760 --> 0:28:51.520
<v Speaker 3>that because she's terrified of the Johnson crime family. Word

0:28:51.560 --> 0:28:54.320
<v Speaker 3>on the curb was that Johnson was the one orchestrating

0:28:54.360 --> 0:28:59.080
<v Speaker 3>all of this. Johnson wanted McIntyre out of there. Santonian Adams,

0:28:59.160 --> 0:29:02.600
<v Speaker 3>the Detroit please officer there at the time of the crime,

0:29:02.800 --> 0:29:06.760
<v Speaker 3>who was a nephew of the Johnsons, set McIntyre up,

0:29:07.040 --> 0:29:10.840
<v Speaker 3>and maybe Lockhart set McIntyre up too, because think about it,

0:29:10.880 --> 0:29:12.600
<v Speaker 3>if he had been in the house, he'd have been killed.

0:29:12.640 --> 0:29:12.760
<v Speaker 2>Two.

0:29:12.800 --> 0:29:15.720
<v Speaker 3>If this was just a robbery for drugs, they would

0:29:15.720 --> 0:29:19.719
<v Speaker 3>have killed everybody. And so because Cotton and McIntyre are

0:29:19.760 --> 0:29:23.880
<v Speaker 3>buddies and doing stuff together, have the cops go get Cotton.

0:29:24.240 --> 0:29:26.840
<v Speaker 1>And that word on the street was corroborated for the

0:29:26.880 --> 0:29:29.960
<v Speaker 1>detectives in this case. Before trial, a.

0:29:29.920 --> 0:29:35.240
<v Speaker 3>Guy named Kurt Nerd was living with Lockhart just a

0:29:35.320 --> 0:29:39.000
<v Speaker 3>couple weeks later, and Lockhart told him Johnson offered him

0:29:39.040 --> 0:29:41.880
<v Speaker 3>ten thousand dollars depended on Cotton and Legion, and so

0:29:41.920 --> 0:29:45.120
<v Speaker 3>he ended up telling Kurt Neard, I never saw those guys,

0:29:45.440 --> 0:29:48.040
<v Speaker 3>but ten thousand dollars a lot of money. Nard went

0:29:48.080 --> 0:29:52.760
<v Speaker 3>to a Detroit Police homicide detective, Walter Bates, and told

0:29:52.840 --> 0:29:57.800
<v Speaker 3>him exactly what happened. Even gave Bates the handwritten napkins

0:29:57.840 --> 0:30:00.640
<v Speaker 3>that he took notes on after Lockhart told them this.

0:30:01.080 --> 0:30:03.360
<v Speaker 3>Bates never turned that evidence over.

0:30:04.000 --> 0:30:08.640
<v Speaker 1>Surprisingly, this Brady material and new evidence didn't make much

0:30:08.680 --> 0:30:09.800
<v Speaker 1>difference on appeal.

0:30:10.240 --> 0:30:14.440
<v Speaker 3>The court system is much more focused on procedure than

0:30:14.520 --> 0:30:17.000
<v Speaker 3>whether you're innocent or what do you get screwed at trial?

0:30:17.320 --> 0:30:20.320
<v Speaker 3>So they submitted their case to the Wayne County Conviction

0:30:20.400 --> 0:30:23.920
<v Speaker 3>Integrity Unit, and the CiU took a fresh look at

0:30:23.960 --> 0:30:28.560
<v Speaker 3>the case, and then they were able to understand, especially

0:30:28.600 --> 0:30:31.960
<v Speaker 3>with this tape that the PI had with Donald Hughes

0:30:32.000 --> 0:30:35.760
<v Speaker 3>where Hughes admitted that Lockhart hadn't seen anything. Now you

0:30:35.800 --> 0:30:38.520
<v Speaker 3>start getting into a whole lot of police misconduct and

0:30:38.560 --> 0:30:41.320
<v Speaker 3>their right to affair trial. They were robbed a due process,

0:30:41.880 --> 0:30:45.600
<v Speaker 3>and the CiU came to that conclusion that they couldn't

0:30:45.640 --> 0:30:48.560
<v Speaker 3>say one hundred percent that these guys were.

0:30:48.360 --> 0:30:51.280
<v Speaker 1>Innocent, couldn't or wouldn't.

0:30:51.480 --> 0:30:53.840
<v Speaker 3>What they did was they said there was so much

0:30:53.840 --> 0:30:56.520
<v Speaker 3>police misconduct they were entitled to a new trial. And

0:30:56.560 --> 0:30:59.680
<v Speaker 3>then a Wayne County prosecutor's office realized the flaws with

0:30:59.720 --> 0:31:02.920
<v Speaker 3>the case and dismissed the charges. But I think the

0:31:02.960 --> 0:31:06.240
<v Speaker 3>new evidence that really rocked this case, other than what

0:31:06.240 --> 0:31:09.640
<v Speaker 3>we've talked about, is that the prosecutor's office was very

0:31:09.800 --> 0:31:14.960
<v Speaker 3>likely involved in this miscarriage of justice with not allowing

0:31:15.440 --> 0:31:18.280
<v Speaker 3>Parks to take the stand because they didn't dismiss the

0:31:18.320 --> 0:31:19.760
<v Speaker 3>charges until after this conviction.

0:31:20.240 --> 0:31:23.479
<v Speaker 1>So that was October one, twenty twenty, when Marvin was

0:31:23.600 --> 0:31:26.880
<v Speaker 1>finally able to be an even more present father.

0:31:27.480 --> 0:31:30.320
<v Speaker 2>Now we talked all the time, We text all the time.

0:31:30.760 --> 0:31:33.840
<v Speaker 2>My daughter is not a statistic She's twenty seven years old,

0:31:33.880 --> 0:31:37.320
<v Speaker 2>she don't have any children. She's a business owner, she works,

0:31:37.480 --> 0:31:40.920
<v Speaker 2>she's college educated, graduated college early. I got out the

0:31:41.040 --> 0:31:46.760
<v Speaker 2>day before her surprise college graduation celebration. Wow, I was

0:31:46.800 --> 0:31:47.520
<v Speaker 2>able to make that.

0:31:47.880 --> 0:31:49.040
<v Speaker 1>And so you surprised her.

0:31:49.640 --> 0:31:51.760
<v Speaker 2>Oh she came and picked me up from prison for mom.

0:31:52.040 --> 0:31:52.320
<v Speaker 2>So she.

0:31:54.880 --> 0:31:57.800
<v Speaker 1>Oh, I love that. When Marvin got out, he continued

0:31:57.840 --> 0:32:00.960
<v Speaker 1>being the leader that he became inside. He and a

0:32:01.000 --> 0:32:04.800
<v Speaker 1>few other men founded the Organization of Exouneries.

0:32:05.360 --> 0:32:09.000
<v Speaker 2>The Organization of Exneries is a group of exouneries here

0:32:09.000 --> 0:32:12.440
<v Speaker 2>in Michigan. You know, we started coming together as a

0:32:12.480 --> 0:32:16.200
<v Speaker 2>support group. Valerie Noman, the director of the Conviction Integrity Unit,

0:32:16.600 --> 0:32:19.840
<v Speaker 2>started bringing all the exuneries together. I think she really

0:32:19.920 --> 0:32:22.720
<v Speaker 2>just wanted to just look in our eyes every month

0:32:22.840 --> 0:32:27.120
<v Speaker 2>and make sure we was good, and to start opening

0:32:27.200 --> 0:32:31.200
<v Speaker 2>up resources and finding out what we needed. And you know,

0:32:31.360 --> 0:32:33.560
<v Speaker 2>just the way things landed. We got a great group

0:32:33.560 --> 0:32:36.920
<v Speaker 2>of guys that can think and that was motivated and

0:32:36.960 --> 0:32:42.480
<v Speaker 2>wanted to get involved in activism and advocacy, and we

0:32:42.640 --> 0:32:46.680
<v Speaker 2>founded the Organization of Exouneries. Because there's so many gaps

0:32:46.920 --> 0:32:49.840
<v Speaker 2>when it comes to someone being exonerated. You know, when

0:32:49.840 --> 0:32:52.560
<v Speaker 2>people get out on parole, they do have some access

0:32:53.040 --> 0:32:57.600
<v Speaker 2>to resources. But when you're exonerated, everybody washes their hands

0:32:57.640 --> 0:33:00.520
<v Speaker 2>and like they go hire lawyers to fight you. But

0:33:00.560 --> 0:33:03.320
<v Speaker 2>they're not concerned about your vitem documents. They're not concerned

0:33:03.320 --> 0:33:06.800
<v Speaker 2>about your housing, they're not concerned about therapy, they're not

0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:10.680
<v Speaker 2>concerned about any of these things. Yet we're suffering. We

0:33:10.760 --> 0:33:12.720
<v Speaker 2>noticed that a lot of our guys were getting out

0:33:12.840 --> 0:33:16.160
<v Speaker 2>and were struggling, taking us several months to get IDs.

0:33:16.640 --> 0:33:19.000
<v Speaker 2>Couldn't even cash checks that people have for us because

0:33:19.000 --> 0:33:21.160
<v Speaker 2>we couldn't set up a bank account without an ID.

0:33:21.760 --> 0:33:25.640
<v Speaker 2>So we went to work creating those resources. So in

0:33:25.680 --> 0:33:29.080
<v Speaker 2>our organization here in Michigan, when you get out, we

0:33:29.160 --> 0:33:32.880
<v Speaker 2>have a straight line to almost everything you need. We're

0:33:32.880 --> 0:33:34.640
<v Speaker 2>gonna put some money in your hands out of our

0:33:34.640 --> 0:33:37.840
<v Speaker 2>Walking Free Fund. I'm usually want to take them shopping

0:33:38.040 --> 0:33:39.800
<v Speaker 2>clothes and cosmetics.

0:33:39.840 --> 0:33:41.360
<v Speaker 1>Where are you getting this money from?

0:33:41.480 --> 0:33:43.800
<v Speaker 2>Well, we raise money. We are nonprofit with the five

0:33:43.840 --> 0:33:47.480
<v Speaker 2>and one C three. We have gallas every year. I'll

0:33:47.480 --> 0:33:50.000
<v Speaker 2>make sure you get to invite before October. We always

0:33:50.000 --> 0:33:52.760
<v Speaker 2>do it in October. But we raised money We've made

0:33:52.840 --> 0:33:56.640
<v Speaker 2>a lot of friends that really wants to see us successful.

0:33:56.880 --> 0:33:59.600
<v Speaker 2>And we also apply for grants to make sure that

0:33:59.600 --> 0:34:01.200
<v Speaker 2>we can so for our people to where we can

0:34:01.360 --> 0:34:05.080
<v Speaker 2>do reparow services for exigneries here in Michigan. As you know,

0:34:05.120 --> 0:34:07.720
<v Speaker 2>we travel around the country doing advocacy though it helps

0:34:07.720 --> 0:34:09.000
<v Speaker 2>some people out in other states.

0:34:09.160 --> 0:34:14.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you guys are really such an amazing support group.

0:34:14.360 --> 0:34:19.200
<v Speaker 1>So you Ken Nixon, Eric Anderson really cultivated this amazing

0:34:19.239 --> 0:34:22.080
<v Speaker 1>group of exguneries that you travel. I mean recently, a

0:34:22.080 --> 0:34:25.280
<v Speaker 1>good friend of mine being from New York, Andre Brown,

0:34:25.640 --> 0:34:29.880
<v Speaker 1>his conviction was vacated, but the prosecution was fighting that

0:34:30.000 --> 0:34:32.160
<v Speaker 1>and trying to send him back to prison, and that

0:34:32.200 --> 0:34:34.120
<v Speaker 1>looked like it was something that was going to happen

0:34:34.160 --> 0:34:37.000
<v Speaker 1>after he had been out for a few years at

0:34:37.000 --> 0:34:39.520
<v Speaker 1>this point with his family and his son, and you

0:34:39.560 --> 0:34:43.600
<v Speaker 1>guys flew from Detroit to the Bronx to support Andre.

0:34:43.800 --> 0:34:46.640
<v Speaker 1>You do things like that, and you know, coming up

0:34:46.640 --> 0:34:50.280
<v Speaker 1>in Detroit, drell Ewing is having the same situation happened

0:34:50.320 --> 0:34:52.120
<v Speaker 1>to him right now. Are you guys going to be

0:34:52.160 --> 0:34:53.160
<v Speaker 1>there to support Durell?

0:34:54.200 --> 0:34:57.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Well, in Michigan, as you know, it's a lot

0:34:57.719 --> 0:35:01.239
<v Speaker 2>more progressive here. We have a lot of allies that

0:35:01.560 --> 0:35:05.120
<v Speaker 2>work within the criminal justice system as well as allies

0:35:05.239 --> 0:35:09.120
<v Speaker 2>that's outside the criminal justice system. You know, there's more

0:35:09.160 --> 0:35:12.520
<v Speaker 2>of a willingness than it is just to oppose. Do

0:35:12.600 --> 0:35:18.479
<v Speaker 2>opposition happen? Absolutely, dreil Ewing very brilliant guy, growing into

0:35:18.520 --> 0:35:22.840
<v Speaker 2>a great organizer as well, and he's organizing an event

0:35:23.440 --> 0:35:26.319
<v Speaker 2>around his case. Definitely support Derail Union.

0:35:26.840 --> 0:35:30.200
<v Speaker 1>We will link to info about Derell's mobilization event, his Instagram,

0:35:30.280 --> 0:35:33.200
<v Speaker 1>and our coverage of his case in the episode description.

0:35:33.680 --> 0:35:37.759
<v Speaker 1>Please scroll down and get involved. We cannot let this

0:35:38.040 --> 0:35:42.680
<v Speaker 1>clearly innocent man be dragged back to prison for the

0:35:42.840 --> 0:35:47.160
<v Speaker 1>sake of a finality and conviction. We so hope those

0:35:47.160 --> 0:35:49.799
<v Speaker 1>in power are called to do the right thing. And

0:35:49.840 --> 0:35:52.359
<v Speaker 1>we're also going to link to Marvin's books as well

0:35:52.360 --> 0:35:53.720
<v Speaker 1>of some of his other work.

0:35:54.239 --> 0:35:56.319
<v Speaker 2>The entire time that I was in prison, I was

0:35:56.400 --> 0:35:58.879
<v Speaker 2>planning the day that I walked out of prison, even

0:35:58.920 --> 0:36:01.000
<v Speaker 2>though it felt differently different than the way I plan

0:36:01.800 --> 0:36:05.600
<v Speaker 2>but all of my structural plans with setting up my life,

0:36:05.880 --> 0:36:10.120
<v Speaker 2>starting a business, being a motivational speaker, being an author

0:36:10.520 --> 0:36:14.040
<v Speaker 2>of not one but two books, I knew everything that

0:36:14.080 --> 0:36:15.759
<v Speaker 2>I would do and I knew how I.

0:36:15.719 --> 0:36:19.320
<v Speaker 1>Would do it, Doctor Cotton, Where did the doctor come from?

0:36:19.960 --> 0:36:23.480
<v Speaker 2>I have an honorary doctorate in humanities from a university

0:36:23.680 --> 0:36:26.040
<v Speaker 2>that wastow to honor on me. Because of the work

0:36:26.040 --> 0:36:28.239
<v Speaker 2>that I do and the people that I help, I'm

0:36:28.280 --> 0:36:31.600
<v Speaker 2>considered to be an expert in humanitarian work. Some of

0:36:31.600 --> 0:36:34.640
<v Speaker 2>the things we talked about today. I service not only

0:36:34.719 --> 0:36:39.080
<v Speaker 2>people that were wrongfully convicted, but also people that were

0:36:39.120 --> 0:36:42.279
<v Speaker 2>directly impacted by the criminal justice system and deserve a

0:36:42.320 --> 0:36:44.319
<v Speaker 2>second chance. And I try to make sure that they

0:36:44.360 --> 0:36:48.120
<v Speaker 2>second chance is something that society can benefit from.

0:36:48.480 --> 0:36:52.239
<v Speaker 1>I have in my notes that you have helped get

0:36:52.680 --> 0:36:55.920
<v Speaker 1>twenty nine people out of prison. Is that an accurate number?

0:36:56.560 --> 0:37:00.000
<v Speaker 2>Yes, both both innocent and those that deserve a second

0:37:00.800 --> 0:37:04.680
<v Speaker 2>I do commutation packages, parole packages. I walk them through

0:37:04.680 --> 0:37:08.439
<v Speaker 2>the entire process. I have other experts that I partner with,

0:37:08.600 --> 0:37:13.240
<v Speaker 2>but support letters, but resources. We outline what their life

0:37:13.280 --> 0:37:16.080
<v Speaker 2>is going to look like if they have the privilege

0:37:16.080 --> 0:37:20.160
<v Speaker 2>of being released early. Now, if somebody refuse to see

0:37:20.200 --> 0:37:24.640
<v Speaker 2>that people are redeemable, that's more of a them issue

0:37:24.800 --> 0:37:27.200
<v Speaker 2>and it has nothing to do with the person. I

0:37:27.280 --> 0:37:31.480
<v Speaker 2>mean people all the time that refuse to forgive. Imagine

0:37:31.480 --> 0:37:34.880
<v Speaker 2>me refusing to forgive my biological father. And there's people

0:37:34.880 --> 0:37:37.000
<v Speaker 2>in my family that's upset that I deal with them

0:37:37.600 --> 0:37:43.040
<v Speaker 2>that were directly impacted by him. But he's clean, he's

0:37:43.040 --> 0:37:46.520
<v Speaker 2>off drugs, he doesn't drink, he goes to church, he

0:37:46.600 --> 0:37:49.800
<v Speaker 2>goes to therapy for the first time in his life.

0:37:50.000 --> 0:37:53.360
<v Speaker 2>He's good for him. Who am I to have a

0:37:53.400 --> 0:37:57.840
<v Speaker 2>forever judgment when God is still working and bringing beautiful

0:37:57.880 --> 0:38:01.480
<v Speaker 2>things out of his life. Now, I'm just not willing

0:38:01.520 --> 0:38:04.279
<v Speaker 2>to put a period on someone before God put a

0:38:04.280 --> 0:38:05.280
<v Speaker 2>period on them.

0:38:06.400 --> 0:38:09.839
<v Speaker 1>Doctor Marvincotton Jr. Thank you so much for speaking with

0:38:09.880 --> 0:38:13.359
<v Speaker 1>me and sharing your story. Is there anything else that

0:38:13.400 --> 0:38:18.600
<v Speaker 1>we missed? You want to say to the listeners.

0:38:17.680 --> 0:38:20.040
<v Speaker 2>If you have a loved one that you believe has

0:38:20.080 --> 0:38:23.480
<v Speaker 2>been wrongfully convicted and you're really trying to help and

0:38:23.560 --> 0:38:26.279
<v Speaker 2>serve them and you just don't know how. Now, I

0:38:26.320 --> 0:38:28.480
<v Speaker 2>can't tell you what to do, and I'm not even

0:38:28.520 --> 0:38:30.560
<v Speaker 2>giving you advice. I'm not a lawyer. Let me say

0:38:30.560 --> 0:38:33.720
<v Speaker 2>that I'm not an attorney, but just know that there's

0:38:33.800 --> 0:38:36.880
<v Speaker 2>things you can do that will help you in the

0:38:36.960 --> 0:38:42.080
<v Speaker 2>battle with this beast number one. This is my personal policy.

0:38:42.200 --> 0:38:46.040
<v Speaker 2>I like to refrain from attacks. So I know it

0:38:46.560 --> 0:38:50.800
<v Speaker 2>feels good and it feels natural to attack the police officers,

0:38:50.840 --> 0:38:54.400
<v Speaker 2>to attack the prosecutor, attack the judge. But just remember

0:38:54.440 --> 0:38:58.040
<v Speaker 2>you dealing with human beings and nobody likes to be attacked.

0:38:58.600 --> 0:39:01.680
<v Speaker 2>You can get more things out of a human being

0:39:01.840 --> 0:39:05.040
<v Speaker 2>by treatment. With their respect doesn't mean you can't hold

0:39:05.040 --> 0:39:08.680
<v Speaker 2>people accountable. We love our children, we hold them accountable.

0:39:08.880 --> 0:39:12.280
<v Speaker 2>We don't abuse our children. But you can hold people

0:39:12.320 --> 0:39:17.480
<v Speaker 2>accountable without being abusive. Build relationships. Go to coffee hours.

0:39:17.560 --> 0:39:20.319
<v Speaker 2>Go see what politicians are talking about. Go see what

0:39:20.360 --> 0:39:23.200
<v Speaker 2>the person is running for, prosecutors talking about. Go sit

0:39:23.280 --> 0:39:25.680
<v Speaker 2>in an audience, stand up, ask questions, Ask them about

0:39:25.719 --> 0:39:28.719
<v Speaker 2>wrongful convictions, Ask them about cases that they've worked on.

0:39:29.360 --> 0:39:33.839
<v Speaker 2>That's number one. Number two, start from the beginning. Learn

0:39:33.840 --> 0:39:37.120
<v Speaker 2>about freedom information acts requests. Send it to the prosecutor

0:39:37.160 --> 0:39:40.040
<v Speaker 2>office so that you can get files. Because oftentimes we're

0:39:40.080 --> 0:39:44.000
<v Speaker 2>wrongful convictions. You have information that's hitting in files that

0:39:44.200 --> 0:39:47.960
<v Speaker 2>was never turned over. It can be a single sheet

0:39:48.000 --> 0:39:51.319
<v Speaker 2>of paper that can lead to freeing your loved one

0:39:51.719 --> 0:39:55.440
<v Speaker 2>from a wrongful conviction. So start from the beginning. Of course,

0:39:55.719 --> 0:39:58.600
<v Speaker 2>it's always good to support financially if you can afford

0:39:58.600 --> 0:40:01.759
<v Speaker 2>a private investigator, I would say a private investigator even

0:40:01.800 --> 0:40:05.400
<v Speaker 2>over an attorney, especially if you're trying to get the

0:40:05.440 --> 0:40:08.919
<v Speaker 2>wheels to start turning, look at private investigators that worked

0:40:08.920 --> 0:40:11.640
<v Speaker 2>on innocent cases before. If you're trying to figure out

0:40:11.640 --> 0:40:14.239
<v Speaker 2>what attorney to get, look at attorneys that work on

0:40:14.440 --> 0:40:19.160
<v Speaker 2>innocent cases. It is a difference between a good attorney

0:40:19.600 --> 0:40:22.160
<v Speaker 2>and an attorney that works on innocent cases. They come

0:40:22.160 --> 0:40:25.080
<v Speaker 2>from a certain pedigree. They have the energy, they have

0:40:25.200 --> 0:40:28.400
<v Speaker 2>the passion. They love to spend all this energy on

0:40:28.480 --> 0:40:31.319
<v Speaker 2>a single case because that's what it's take in order

0:40:31.360 --> 0:40:34.040
<v Speaker 2>to free somebody that's been wrongfully convicted. So if you

0:40:34.080 --> 0:40:36.880
<v Speaker 2>really want to help your love one out, send them letters,

0:40:36.960 --> 0:40:39.640
<v Speaker 2>be supportive. The institution needs to know that they have

0:40:39.760 --> 0:40:43.960
<v Speaker 2>somebody that loved them. Send cards, send letters, send messages,

0:40:44.360 --> 0:40:46.319
<v Speaker 2>let them call every now and then if you can

0:40:46.360 --> 0:40:50.080
<v Speaker 2>afford it. But on the legal front, there's little things

0:40:50.080 --> 0:40:53.480
<v Speaker 2>that you can do to be helpful and to just

0:40:53.560 --> 0:40:54.960
<v Speaker 2>get that ball to roll.

0:40:58.760 --> 0:41:02.160
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for listening to Conviction with Maggie Freeling. I'd

0:41:02.200 --> 0:41:05.360
<v Speaker 1>like to thank our production team Connor Hall and Kathleen Fink,

0:41:05.520 --> 0:41:09.560
<v Speaker 1>as well as executive producers Jason Flam, Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wortis,

0:41:09.719 --> 0:41:13.160
<v Speaker 1>and Jeff Clyburn. The music in this production was supplied

0:41:13.160 --> 0:41:17.000
<v Speaker 1>by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure

0:41:17.000 --> 0:41:20.360
<v Speaker 1>to follow us across all social media platforms at Lava

0:41:20.400 --> 0:41:23.600
<v Speaker 1>for Good and at Wrongful Conviction. You can also follow

0:41:23.640 --> 0:41:27.480
<v Speaker 1>me on all platforms at Maggie Freeling. Wrongful Conviction with

0:41:27.560 --> 0:41:31.120
<v Speaker 1>Maggie Freeling is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts

0:41:31.280 --> 0:41:33.799
<v Speaker 1>in association with Signal Company Number One.

0:41:34.120 --> 0:41:36.480
<v Speaker 3>We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported

0:41:36.520 --> 0:41:37.800
<v Speaker 3>in this show are accurate.

0:41:37.880 --> 0:41:40.520
<v Speaker 2>The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in

0:41:40.560 --> 0:41:43.200
<v Speaker 2>this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect

0:41:43.200 --> 0:41:44.839
<v Speaker 2>those of Lava for Good