WEBVTT - #445 Jason Flom with Donte West 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:07.760 On March eight, twenty sixteen, Dante West and four friends 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:11.639 from California were traveling across country in two separate cars 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:16.239 with different final destinations. The last stop they planned to 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:20.159 make together was in Manhattan, Kansas, at the apartment of 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:24.640 a mutual friend named Jacob Gadwood. As they neared the apartment, 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.200 a police officer on High seventy spotted the pair of 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.000 out of state cars and immediately suspected them of drug trafficking. 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.960 He figured one with carrying the load, while the other 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.479 was a decoy meant to draw heat from law enforcement. 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.920 When the officer pulled Dante's car over, he was disappointed 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.640 to have chosen what he felt must have been the decoy, 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:50.760 but took note of the destination under GPS. The officer's 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:54.840 suspicions appeared to be confirmed when several pounds of cannabis 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.880 were later found in the other car. Then, Jacob Gadwood 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.320 claimed that he planned on buying one of those pounds 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:05.520 from Dante, just enough way to incur a nearly eight 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:17.679 year sentence. But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.040 always given voice to innocent people in prison. Now we're 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:24.600 expanding that voice to you call us at eight three 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:28.039 three two oh seven four six sixty six and leave 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:31.360 us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:36.880 stories make you feel outraged, inspired, motivated. We want to know. 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.720 We may even include your story in a future episode. 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.000 Call us A three three two oh seven four six 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:55.080 sixty six. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. This is the 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.040 first time we featured the story of someone who was 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:01.280 wrongfully convicted of a crime that I think we all 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:03.920 agree now should never even be a crime in the 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.440 first place, and it isn't in most of the country, 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.840 which is cannabis. And I'm talking about Dante West, my 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:12.720 friend who is an inspiration to me and so many 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.560 other people. So Dante, first of all, welcome to the show. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.360 Yeah, thank you, Jason. It's incredible just to be on 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:19.240 this platform. 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.040 We also have an attorney named Chris Biggs who's been 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:26.679 practicing law for over forty years, who was a Secretary 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.080 of State of the State of Kansas. So Chris, thanks 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:31.239 for being here with us today. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.720 It's a pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity to share the story. 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:39.440 And it is a crazy, freaking story. It involves the misguided, 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.640 disastrous social policy known as the War on drugs, it 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.679 has over policing elements to it. It's got snitches, and 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.760 it happened in Kansas, but it could have happened almost anywhere. 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:53.400 And in fact, it could have happened to me when 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.320 I was growing up. Different being, I wouldn't have been innocent. 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:01.880 Full disclosure. So Dante, let's start with you. You didn't grow 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:03.079 up in Kansas, right. 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:07.120 No, I'm from a place called Stockton, California, right between 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:08.559 Oakland and Sacramento. 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.040 And this happened when you were a college student, right. 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:14.680 Yeah, this happened a couple of years after my high 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:15.800 school graduation. 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:16.120 You know. 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.680 I graduated twenty thirteen, went out there a few years later. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:21.880 Like I mentioned before, just being from Stockton, California, Jason 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.640 and living with my grandmother was the sole provider of 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:26.880 two younger brothers that were eight nine years old at 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.560 the time. My grandmother really encouraged me just to say, hey, 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.720 you've been taking care of me, you should definitely just 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:33.600 go out there on a leap of faith and check out, 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.880 you know, schools. My good cod Infinita, Sean Perkins, had 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.400 a football scholarship at Tabor University and we were just 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:41.600 really just going on a road trip, man, and I 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:43.640 was hoping I can continue it out there, first time 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:45.400 out of the state, and it was just, you know, 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:46.360 a wild experience. 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.760 Dante Deshaun sat out on the road in a Hundai. Well, 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:54.280 three friends of theirs, Victor Lara, Enrique Hinejosa and Jose 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:56.720 Jimenez joined them in their Alexus. 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:57.320 Yeah. 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:59.160 No, I've definitely knew the guys went to high school 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.440 with those guys friends for sure. They were going the 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:05.000 same direction, but different destinations. 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:06.120 And they had a different agenda. 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.800 I had like sebecsa CPOs, a couple pounds of marijuana. 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:10.720 I'm not too sure what was in there, and nothing 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:15.000 ever left the vehicle. Like I said, same direction, different destinations. 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:18.120 Well, unaware of the contents of the Alexis, Dante and 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.840 Deshaun planned on visiting a few colleges on their way 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.600 to Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, a state that hadn't 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.159 yet adopted its neighbors use on cannabis. 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:33.760 Kansas is surrounded by Colorado, which has recreational use, Oklahoma, 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.880 which has medicinal use. Missouri now has been medicinal use 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.360 and recreational use. And we're in between all those states, 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.599 and we still have very conservative state laws about using 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:49.520 or delivering marijuana. And there's also a lot of enforcement 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.520 that happens on the interstate highway. Profiling is not allowed. 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:57.360 The issue is whether the officers had an independent reason 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.800 to stop you. My experiences, if you who have out 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:04.000 of state tags and they're young people, that they probably 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.800 have a better opportunity of being stopped. The practice of 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.200 using a ruse is very common. They stop people for 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.200 things like following too closely, having a head lamp with 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.800 some dirt on it, things like that as a ruse, 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:18.160 which constitutionally is allowed. 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:22.320 On March eighth, twenty sixteen, Dante Deshaun were traveling down 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:24.760 Ice seventy in their Hyundai with Nimbata plates, while the 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.400 Lexus had only one California plate on the front. Officer 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.400 Nicholas Blake later testified that he believed that the two 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:34.839 cars were working in tandem to transport drugs, with one 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.800 car carrying the load while the other played the decoy 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.560 meant to draw law enforcement away from the drugs, but 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.920 which was which in this officer's imagination. He pulled over 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.440 to Shaun and Dante, presenting his ruse as a reason 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:49.800 for the. 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:53.120 Stop getting pulled over for having dirt on a license 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:56.640 plate on Ice seventy right, just actual rod grid dirt 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.159 on a license plate is pretty wild. I was a 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:01.920 passenger in the v the driver he got a ticket 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:05.240 for small amount of marijuana and a Swisher wrapper. 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.520 Simple possession of marijuana and Kansas as a misdemeanor. The 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:13.000 officer suspected that the particular vehicle was connected to another vehicle, 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.960 and rather than arrest them, they let him go and with. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.479 The state alleged. Right, it was a decoy load car, right, 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:22.720 And when you think a decoy load car, you think 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.000 it like smoky in a bandit, Right, You kind of 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.000 think of something that's someone that's going to deviate off 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:29.200 to kind of let. 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:29.640 The drugs go. 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:31.800 But really, when we got put over by the officer, 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.400 you told us to exit off the next exit. We 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.120 got off, went to the Shell gas station and I 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.599 started to clean my license plate off, and then we 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:42.040 glanced up. We just see these troopers just kind of 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:43.040 staring down at us. 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:46.520 Right, Perhaps they were alerted to a potential drug bust, 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.520 only to be sorely disappointed. And if there was anything 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:53.640 to this decoy load car theory, wouldn't Dantean Deshaun's car 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:55.840 have had something deliberately wrong with it. 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:58.080 They could read the licen plate to see who the 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.800 car was registered. You think the decoy car? What were 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.760 they saying that we put dirt on the license plate 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:06.400 in order to get pulled over so the drugs could 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:06.799 get away? 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:10.520 Is that? I don't know. The missing rear license plate 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.040 on the Lexus seems like a way more compelling reason 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.240 to pull someone over. It would stand to reason, after all, 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:19.040 that the officer believed that the Lexus was the decoy. 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.800 But when the officer found no load in the alleged 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:26.400 load car to Shaun's Hunday, somehow he held onto the 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:30.680 theory and continued his pursuit. However, it did not help 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.040 matters any When both cars arrived at Jacob Gadwood's apartment, 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.560 Officer Blake had pulled the address from Deshaun and Dante's 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:41.040 GPS and alerted the police in Manhattan, Kansas. 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:44.880 Ultimately, we get near Kansas State University, going to meet 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.400 a guy that I thought was someone I knew right 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.440 and just went upstairs in the twenty minutes later, I 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:52.840 came down the stairs to kind of greet the guys 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.520 that I traveled with, they went upstairs. As soon as 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.600 I get down to the parking lot, this guy pops 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.840 out and playing clothes and was like, hey, you're being 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:02.720 I was like being detained for what We just got 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.720 put over over the freeway for having the dirt on 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:05.600 our license plate. 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.360 So it turned out that although Dante and Deshaun had 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:12.800 no idea, there was reason to suspect. Victor Lara, Enriquehnejosa 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:15.360 and Jose Jimenez, who was skated out of a back 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:18.600 window of Goadwood's apartment, left in their Lexus and later 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.760 were captured in Tapeka, Kansas, with a small amount of 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:25.880 methamphetamine and over six and a half pounds of cannabis. Meanwhile, 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:28.200 the police searched Jacob Godwood's apartment. 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:30.920 The owner of the apartment the allegation was had his 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:34.000 own drugs at the apartment. They basically got that individual 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.760 to identify Dante as being involved, even though the drugs 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.400 were found in another car that he was not in. 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.160 The person at the apartment said, Hey, I was going 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.520 to buy a pound a weed off Dante, right. It 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:48.920 wasn't like oh text messages there wasn't any any other evidence, right, 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.480 and we ended up going to jail and the fight began. 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.520 In Kansas for certain drug offence is there all the 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.480 way up to level one, which is the same as 0:08:57.520 --> 0:08:59.960 first degree murder, And if you're charge of the level 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.240 through drag offens for marijuana, you can get a presumptive 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.000 sentence of up to one hundred and three months. And 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.720 if you'll also happen to be within a thousand feet 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.120 of a school, and often in the Midwest almost everything 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:15.400 is within the thousand feet of school property somewhere, and 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.280 they enhance that another level of the crime. But if 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.120 you kill somebody in the heat of passion at that 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.200 time it was sixty one months, we have laws that 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.319 make conspiracy to deliver a pound of marijuana or delivering 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.120 a pound in marijuana more serious than killing someone in 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.199 the heat of passion. That's just nuts. But nobody in 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.960 our conservative state wants to necessarily stand up and say 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.160 that at least not enough people that we can have 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:39.160 our laws changed. 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.520 Laws like these make it so that the smartest play 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.440 for the guys in the Lexus is taking a plea deal. 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:47.880 Victor Lauri ed up going to prison a couple of 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.680 those guys got probation. They took plea deals right because 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.040 they didn't want to go to a jury trial. 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.719 People cannot be punished by exercising the right to a 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.800 jury trial in theory, But what happens is people who 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:00.800 take a deal can get a bit a fit and 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.480 the person that goes to trial, even though they're theoretically 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:05.760 not being punished for going to trial, the end result 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:07.800 often is the person that goes to trial and get 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.800 convicted will get a longer sentence than the person that 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:11.840 inners a plea. 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.840 With these dynamics at play, taking a plea can also 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.920 be the most practical move. Brendan is a person like 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:18.880 the Shawn Perkins. 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.160 He ended up going to prison for three years and 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:25.760 he lost his scholarship and has beautiful family now. Great 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:27.959 dudes still stay in contact with him. In just so 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.360 fortunate man like, and I'm the only defendant that went 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.240 to a jury trial. It's not like I had any 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.440 good offers or anything like that. And quite frankly, I 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:36.800 didn't even want to take anything. I'd rather just take 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:38.280 my chances at the jury trial. 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:42.160 With Gadwood's word as the sole evidence against him. Dante 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.360 was charged with possession and conspiracy to distribute the small 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.319 amount of methamphetamine and one of the pounds of marijuana 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.240 that were found in the lexus, and of course, his 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:54.599 grandmother and younger brothers were absolutely devastated. 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:56.960 All I can think about is my two younger brothers 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.200 that were back home eight nine years old at the time. 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.000 Had to make an unfortunate call to my grandmother and 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.480 I literally just told her I was locked up, and 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:07.600 she couldn't believe it, broke down crying. She was from 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.520 Texas and she was just really worried about what could 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.199 happen because growing up she's seen so many people, including 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.760 my mother. Really didn't know. My mother never met my father, 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:18.320 and she just knew how the criminal justice system can 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.520 do you sometimes, right, especially if you're kind of far 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:22.679 away from home, and she ended up passing away. 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:24.800 Your grandmother died during. 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.080 The trial, Yeah, yeah, I during the trial of a 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:28.880 broken heart. 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:29.679 Yeah, of a. 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.760 Broken heart had a heart attack, and my world just crashed. 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:35.120 And I think that's the biggest issue, just people that 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.559 get separated for the families. I was fortunate enough to 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.760 get out on bail and get back to my younger 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.040 brothers and just to see all the things that they're 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.679 going through. It really just woke my mind up how 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.240 you'll never get time back for the people you love. 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.200 So I ended up hiring a lawyer, and I flew 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.800 out the week of jury trial February of twenty seventeen, 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:56.320 and I met with the council and he told me, 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:58.800 he was like, Dante, I didn't read your case, but 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:00.880 I have a motion here. I'm going to file a 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:04.079 continuance for jury trial. It's not because of you, It's 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.360 because I had a virus. Here's my doctor's note, and 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.079 I'm a presented to the judge and we should be 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:11.040 able to get some time. 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.040 Some lawyers operate on what they call flat fee. You 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.360 pay me X amount of money all representing in this case. 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.840 Other lawyers do it by the hour. Contingency fees are 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.680 not legal in a criminal case in Kansas. But the 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.120 problem with the flat fee is the lawyer's getting X 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.720 amount of money regardless of how much time's put in. 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.559 But just human nature, if I've got a case and 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.400 it might get resolved, I'm not necessarily going to want 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:35.600 to put a lot of time into it until I 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:39.200 have to write and the file. In this case clearly 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.880 indicated that a lot of the motions were filed towards 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:44.000 the end of the case. In other words, everybody else 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.040 is pled out, and then you see a flurry of 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.319 motions right before trial. So it looked like a lot 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.520 of preparation was happening just before trial. And the lawyer 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.440 was sick, and there was a comment made about the 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:55.280 doctor's note and. 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.480 End up going to that motion hearing with that attorney, 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.880 and that motion ultimately got denied and I had to 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.160 go to trial the next day when not so prepared counsel. 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:06.080 And it was super unfortunate on that. 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:10.920 I've never heard that before, either a doctor's note, Your 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.160 lawyer's got a doctor's note? What is he missing gym class? 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.079 And then the judge doesn't bother to give a continuance 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:18.240 and his reason. 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:20.400 Was that he had the case out for a year 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:22.480 and you didn't read any of it. It's just not 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:24.960 excuse and had to go to jury trial. 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.280 And so trial went forward with what appears to be 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:32.400 a built in violation of Dante's right to effective council. Meanwhile, 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:36.080 the state presented several officers that claimed packaging material from 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:40.040 inside Godwod's apartment match materials found inside the lexus. And 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:43.640 even though Godwould escaped any kind of accountability, officers and 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:47.600 the prosecutor claimed that Godwould had not received leniency in 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:51.120 exchange for testimony. And then Godwood took the stand. 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.800 The state's aformant went on standard testified that he was 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.040 going to buy a pound of marijuana from me, and 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.760 I eventually got found guilty of the pound of marijuana. 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.400 And also, do you weren't called selling it? This is 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:05.360 only that this character said that you were planning to 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.959 sell it to him, right, right, So it's a thought crime. 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:12.000 And on the way to sentencing, fifteen minutes from their airport, 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.160 just seeing my younger brothers crying in the back seat 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:17.920 and feel like they lost everybody. That kind of just 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.840 woke my brain up. And going out there to that 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.880 sentencing learning that ninety five percent of people across the 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.560 state of Kansas cape probation and I had a host 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:30.160 of people support me, you know's no criminal history, and 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.200 ultimately many just sentenced me to seven years a months 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:34.720 for a first time offense. 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:49.080 You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen to this 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:51.840 and all the Lava for Good podcasts one week early 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.280 and ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good plus 0:14:55.560 --> 0:15:01.040 on Apple podcasts. 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.920 As I got into the reception area of Valdeto and 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:07.960 other persons I went to, we would see these lifers 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:11.680 and they had various crimes that they allegedly committed, and 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.720 they would fight for their innocence and it was just 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.280 so inspiring to see. And I said, if I could 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.320 put that fight towards the cannabis offense and whether it 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.040 be the pill, I try to work on the pill end. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:21.600 Up losing it. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:23.480 But if I could put that effort in time and 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.720 those lifers, I felt like, if I fought my way 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:29.920 as much as I could, I would fulfill my promise. Right, 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:31.800 if I worked as hard as I can every day 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.800 to try to come home to my younger brothers. 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.160 They were just young kids, right, What were there nine 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:38.640 ten years old when this happened. 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.200 Yeah, there were babies at the time that happened. You know, 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.240 I had to pick a foster family form. It happens 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:45.600 across America all the time. 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:45.840 Man. 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.440 People just get separated from their families. And I think 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.480 that gave me that motivation every day to kind of 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:54.960 get up five thirty breakfasts, get to the law library 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.520 early in the morning and to try to educate myself, 0:15:57.560 --> 0:15:59.600 just like those lifer guys would do. Then, after I 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.800 lost that direct appeal, and I was thinking, like, I'm 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.080 going to get this clemency. I wrote one hundred and 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.400 twenty five state reps. I wrote forty senators. Four people 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.600 wrote me back. A state rep by the name of 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:12.960 Willie Debb but actually came and see me during COVID. 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.240 The Kansas City Star picked it up. It was getting 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:19.280 real good publicity. I'm thinking, I'm gonna get this clemency. Right, 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:23.040 Mayor of La stepped in former Congresswoman Karen Bass. And 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.960 it was around the time of legalization of Missouri cannabis. Right, 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.720 And first two days it sales out. And then you 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:31.880 got a guy like me, first time of fence, serving 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.200 nearly eight years for pound of marijuana. 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:35.880 Pound of marijuana that you didn't touch, didn't have, it 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:36.440 didn't sell. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.480 Yeah, yeah, it didn't say I mean allegedly there was 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:40.600 no money found. Right, someone said they're gonna buy a 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:42.480 pound of marijuana. But it wasn't even no money found 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.160 in the house. It was in another car. I mean, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.400 even my code offend and admitted to later on in 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:49.720 Affidavid that you know I had no knowledge of it. 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.680 Victor Lara wrote in an affid David, and this is 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:56.120 a direct quote. Dante at no point had knowledge of 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:58.680 the marijuana that was in my car. Dante and I 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.560 were on separate trips in the same direction. The only 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:03.800 reason I stopped at Gadwood's house was to take a 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.320 shower before I went to my final destination. End quote. 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.520 And this became part of a habeas petition that Dante 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.200 wrote but had yet to file, just as Chris Biggs 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:14.760 was being assigned as his counsel. 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:18.080 Thank god, man he was appointed to me. Even asked me, 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.840 you put this together right, And he was surprised and 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:22.200 he was like, man, I got to put my law 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.639 degree on it and fix some errors on it as well, 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:27.000 but you have a chance to go home. And I 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.320 was like, man, I didn't believe you. And Chris told 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.320 me KYLEI. He said, I'm an older guy. I wouldn't 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.000 drive this far. I could have just sent you a 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:35.200 letter if I didn't think you had a chance. 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.600 In addition to the obvious ineffective assistants claim, Chris was 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:41.040 also able to uncover a Brady violation. 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.959 When I read through the transcripts, it was obvious to 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.880 me when this informant testified that it was peculiar because 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:52.280 he had drugs in the apartment. He testified freely, he 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.840 did not have a lawyer. There was no grant of 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.720 immunity that was presented to the defense by the state 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:01.240 to show what kind of immunity he got, and there 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.280 was no plea agreement to show what kind of deal 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:05.840 he got. And in this kind of case where the 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.120 only real evidence introduced was the testimony of one person, 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.439 if the state fails to disclose things that could affect 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.879 his credibility, that can be grounds for a new trial. 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.000 And what I did is I simply called the person 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.400 who was the informant and I asked him, I said, 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.520 you get any kind of deal? He said, well, yeah, 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:26.439 he worked off his cases which were never filed, and 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:30.000 as it turns out, he even had a confidential informant number, 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.480 and none of that was disclosed to the defense in 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:37.080 the case, and in fact a trial, he testified that 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.520 he didn't have a deal, and the prosecutor argued to 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:41.320 the jury that there was no deal, and. 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.159 Then at least one of the cops got on the 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.480 stand and swore under oath that no deal was made. 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.399 If by saying there was no deal, he got no 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.760 formal plea agreement, that may be true, because he never did. 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:54.560 It's more like a wink and a nod. Huh. 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:56.480 Well, And in my motion I said, we have a 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:58.320 right to know of any deal, whether it's just a 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.720 wink in or nod or a tacit understanding. But aparently 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.920 the confidential informant agreement had been destroyed, so we didn't 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.199 have the contract with the police department to see what 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:10.600 the specifics were, but we knew that he had a 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:13.840 confidential informant number, which meant that there was some kind 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:17.280 of agreement. And if the case was that he got 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.800 something for testifying, there's a special instruction you get in 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:25.040 Kansas that says view this person's testimony with caution. And 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:27.879 so that instruction was not requested and was not given. 0:19:28.400 --> 0:19:30.359