1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Wrongful Conviction, False Confessions. I'm Laura and I writer, 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: and I'm Steve Drison. In today's episode, the crime is 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: bad about as bad as it gets. But the way 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: police and prosecutors mishandled this case and condemned two innocent 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: men to death, that's a crime unto itself. Henry McCollum 6 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: and his younger brother, Leon Brown survived a decades long 7 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: fight for the truth from behind bars. Henry and Leon 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: are living proof that false confessions can send innocent people 9 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: to death row. 10 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 2: Twenty years ago, the Center on Wrongful Convictions, which Laura 11 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 2: and I co direct, was deeply involved in exonerating men 12 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 2: off of death row in Illinois. The numbers kept ticking up. 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 2: It went up to twenty people who had been wrongfully sentenced. 14 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: To death, twenty innocent people. Eventually, Illinois lost confidence that 15 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: the people on death row were actually guilty, and so 16 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: we got rid of the death penalty. 17 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,559 Speaker 2: When the death penalty was abolished in Illinois ten years ago, 18 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 2: there were some prosecutors who claimed that the sky would fall, 19 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 2: that crime rates would rise, that the system would miss 20 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 2: the ability and the power to use the death penalty 21 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 2: to right wrongs, and that hasn't happened. We've moved on, 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 2: we've evolved, and it's time for the rest of the 23 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 2: country to follow suit. 24 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: Here's the thing. The death penalty is supposed to be 25 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: reserved for the worst of the worst, but way too 26 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: often those are the cases where wrongful convictions happen. 27 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 2: These are the crimes where there is so much pressure 28 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 2: on law enforcement to come up with quick answers that 29 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 2: there are rushes to judgment. 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 3: Right. 31 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: That's the problem with the death penalty. People can get 32 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: so blinded with the horrificness of a crime that moral 33 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: outrage can distort the search for the truth. And that's 34 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: what happened in this case. Henry McCollum and his brother 35 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,679 Speaker 1: Leon Brown paid a terrible price for the police's rush 36 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 1: to judgment. 37 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 2: The facts of the crime often don't tell the whole story, 38 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 2: and sometimes tell a false story. So while on paper 39 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 2: this case looks like one that is deserving of the 40 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 2: ultimate punishment, in practice, it sent two innocent men to 41 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:42,679 Speaker 2: prison for more than thirty years. 42 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: Today's story starts in Robison County, North Carolina. It's a 43 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: rural area on the state's southern border, eighty miles inland 44 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: from the Atlantic coast. Since the eighteenth century, Robison County 45 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: has been known for social strata and racial strife. It's 46 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: a place where a small group of elite white men 47 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: descended from colonial landowners, dominate everything from the lumber business 48 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: to the illegal drug trade to the courtrooms. Meanwhile Native Americans, 49 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: poor whites, and black people get the scraps. On September 50 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: twenty fifth, nineteen eighty three, Ronnie Lee Buwie came home 51 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: to his tiny house in one of Robinson County's predominantly 52 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: black communities. It was a little after twelve am. He'd 53 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: just finished working the midnight shift. Within minutes, he noticed 54 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: that his eleven year old daughter, Sabrina, was missing from 55 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: her room. Sabrina's family calls the police. As the sunrises 56 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: and words spreads, Friends and neighbors fan out to search 57 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: for her, but there's no sign of Sabrina until the 58 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: next afternoon, September twenty sixth. That's when Sabrina Buoy is found, 59 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: and it's one of the worst discoveries imaginable. Sabrina is 60 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: lying in a soybean field, dead, surrounded by empty beer 61 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: cans and cigarette butts. She's been beaten and raped. She 62 00:03:57,800 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: isn't wearing anything except for a bra that's been pushed 63 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: up around her neck. And her cause of death Sabrina 64 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: had been suffocated by her own underwear. Someone had pushed 65 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: them into her throat with a stick. 66 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 2: Now, when I read about this crime, it just gutted me. 67 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,119 Speaker 2: My reaction was visceral. There's a level of depravity here 68 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 2: that shocks the conscience. 69 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: Police couldn't bring themselves to believe that someone from their 70 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: own community would have done this, so they started investigating outsiders. 71 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: Pretty soon, police caught wind of a rumor about a 72 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: nineteen year old who just arrived in Robison County to 73 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: visit his mom. The local high schoolers thought this new 74 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: kid might have killed Zabrina because, according to them, he 75 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 1: looked weird. That new kid's name was Henry McCollum. Even 76 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: though his mom lived in Robison County, Henry had grown 77 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: up in New Jersey with his grandma. Henry had been 78 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: diagnosed with intellectual disability when he was really young. For years, 79 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: he attended a special school, but he failed a bunch 80 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: of grades anyway and eventually dropped out. School wasn't Henry's 81 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: strong suit, but obedience to authority was he'd never been 82 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: associated with any kind of crime. With nothing more to 83 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: go on than a high school rumor, police go to 84 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: Henry's mom's house and on the evening of September twenty eighth, 85 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: they bring Henry in for interrogation. Three police officers question 86 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: him for more than four hours, all off camera. So 87 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: we don't know everything that happened in that room. What 88 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,840 Speaker 1: we do know is that some of Henry's interrogators were 89 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: familiar with the crime scene. They knew all the information 90 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,679 Speaker 1: that a killer would be expected to describe. Sometime around 91 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: two am, the interrogators emerged from the room with a 92 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: confession that named Henry as one of Sabrina's assailants. It 93 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,559 Speaker 1: had been written out by the cops. Henry had signed 94 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: it at the end in oversized letters that looked like 95 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: a child's handwriting. According to Henry, as soon as he 96 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: wrote his name on the last page, he looked up 97 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: at his interrogators and said, can I go home now? 98 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 4: I think Henry is a very kind person. He's a 99 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 4: very thoughtful person. 100 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: That's Representative Vernetta Alston. She's a member of the North 101 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: Carolina State Legislature. But before that she was a death 102 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: penalty lawyer who worked on Henry's case. 103 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 4: From the first time I met Henry in twenty twelve. 104 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 4: It's my impression that his deficits were very obvious. I 105 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 4: think anyone talking to him now, or five years ago 106 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 4: or thirty years ago would have noticed, and so as 107 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 4: a result of his deficits, he signed the statement. Now, 108 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 4: I think most folks in that circumstance would understand that 109 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 4: if they signed a confession to murder that they wouldn't 110 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 4: be allowed to walk out the front door of a 111 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 4: police station. But the statement used language that Henry was 112 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 4: very unlikely to have understood, and so he didn't know 113 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 4: what was happening at all. 114 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: While Henry's confession was light on details, its story tracked 115 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: exactly what an investigator who'd been at the scene would know, 116 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: everything from the pattern on Sabrina's shirt to the brand 117 00:06:58,000 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: of cigarettes left behind. 118 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 2: Here's the thing, Henry could not lead the police to 119 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 2: any evidence that they didn't already know about. His confession 120 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 2: only contained details that the police already knew. That's a 121 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 2: red flag. You have to wonder, is this the suspect's 122 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 2: confession or a confession that was scripted by law enforcement 123 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 2: to ensure that this suspect was going to get convicted. 124 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: Henry's confession didn't just implicate him. The story was that 125 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: he'd attacked Sabrina along with four other teenagers. Now, three 126 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: of those teens turned out to have strong alibis. One 127 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: of them had even been out of state at the 128 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: time of Sabrina's death. Prosecutors never filed charges against those three, 129 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: But the fourth person named it was Leon Brown, Henry 130 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: McCollum's fifteen year old brother. And while Henry was disabled, 131 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: Leon's limitations were far more profound. His IQ was in 132 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: the forties, on the border line between moderately and severely disabled, 133 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: and he was completely illiterate. 134 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 4: Both of these men, who were at that time boys, 135 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 4: their intellectual disabilities were exploited. Folks who have cognitive deficits 136 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 4: that make it difficult or complicated for them to make 137 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 4: everyday decisions to get dressed, to loan as schedule, to 138 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 4: make food for themselves, to drive cars, to learn in 139 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 4: school at a level that's consistent with their age. Folks 140 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 4: who are unable to do those things, we shouldn't be 141 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 4: holding them to the same standard in our criminal justice system. 142 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 4: And certainly not in our death penalty system. 143 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: When Henry implicated Leon in his confession, it turned out 144 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: the timing was pretty bad. While Henry was being questioned, 145 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: the boy's mom arrived at the police station, begging to 146 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,559 Speaker 1: see Henry. Police told her she'd have to wait until 147 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: he confessed. But here's the thing. Henry's mom brought Leon 148 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: with her to the station. He was almost surely too 149 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: disabled to be left home alone. So after Henry confessed 150 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: and the police came looking for Leon, they didn't have 151 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: to go any farther than their own lobby. Police put 152 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: Leon into an interrogation room, then marched his big brother 153 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,440 Speaker 1: in to show him what to do. Within minutes, Leon 154 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:16,319 Speaker 1: was signing a written out confession of his own, scratching 155 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: his name as best he could on the bottom of 156 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: a statement he couldn't even read. Based on their confessions, 157 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: the two brothers were arrested and charged with rape and 158 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: capital murder. 159 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 3: This episode is sponsored by AIG, a leading global insurance company, 160 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 3: and Paul Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton and Garrison, a leading international 161 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:46,319 Speaker 3: law firm. The AIG pro Bono program provides free legal 162 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 3: services and other support to many nonprofit organizations and individuals 163 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 3: most in need, and recently they announced that working to 164 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 3: reform the criminal justice system will become a key pillar 165 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 3: of the program's mission. Paul Weiss has law had an 166 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 3: unwavering commitment to providing impactful, pro bono legal assistance to 167 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 3: the most vulnerable members of our society and in support 168 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 3: of the public interest, including extensive work in the criminal 169 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 3: justice area. 170 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: The question of who killed Sabrina Buie gripped Robinson County. 171 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: The crime was terrible and the community wanted justice, so 172 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: the county's top prosecutor took over the case. The district 173 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: attorney himself, Joe Freeman Britt, was six foot six, a 174 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:39,679 Speaker 1: seasoned trial lawyer known for dramatic courtroom flourishes like pounding 175 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: bibles in front of the jury. But he was more 176 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: than just a flashy attorney. By the time Henry and 177 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: Leon's cases crossed his desk, Joe Freeman Britt had become 178 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: infamous nationwide for his success at obtaining the death penalty. 179 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: Over his career, Britt sent more than forty seven people 180 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: to death row. At one point, he obtained two dozen 181 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: death sentences in only twenty eight months. Britt was so 182 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,199 Speaker 1: prolific that He even ended up in the Guinness Book 183 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: of World Records, which called him the deadliest prosecutor. 184 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 2: Some prosecutors believe deeply in the eye for an eye mentality. 185 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 2: For some, it's almost a biblical calling, like religious fervor 186 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 2: that animates them. 187 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: Forty seven people, I mean, if he weren't a prosecutor, 188 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,440 Speaker 1: he'd be one of the most prolific serial killers in 189 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: the United States. 190 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 2: Forty seven people, that's unthinkable. 191 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,559 Speaker 1: It seems like Britt leaned into his hard ass reputation. 192 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: He'd run training conferences for other prosecutors where he taught 193 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 1: them to quote, rip that jugular out. When he felt 194 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: like waxing poetic. Britt would say, within each of us 195 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: burns a flame that constantly whispers, preserve life at any cost. 196 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: It's the prosecutor's job, he would add to extinguish that flame. 197 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 4: I think that that sums up he was as a 198 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 4: person and as a district attorney. Joe Freeman, Britt was 199 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 4: frankly a terror. He was a large, commanding presence, and 200 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 4: I think really leaned into that persona. I know that 201 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 4: he was very from what I've read, he was very 202 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 4: much into the theater of a courtroom and really played 203 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 4: into that to secure convictions. 204 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: Joe Freeman Britt was in full form, gearing up to 205 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: try Henry and Leon for Sabrina's murder and seeking the 206 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: death penalty for them both. But before trial, two major 207 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: problems emerged with Britt's case against the brothers. First of all, 208 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: Henry and Leon's confessions didn't match each other on several 209 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: important details, who was involved, how they met up with Sabrina, 210 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: and the details of the rape and murder. And of 211 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: course there was the matter of the three other boys 212 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: named in Henry's confession, all of whom were definitely innocent. 213 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,079 Speaker 2: Leon or Henry. There was nothing other than their words 214 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 2: that linked them to this crime. 215 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 4: You know. 216 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 2: And Henry and Leon were not the kinds of people 217 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 2: that would have committed a perfect crime. 218 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: Even the way in which the confessions were written didn't 219 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:11,959 Speaker 1: ring true. 220 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 4: In a statement used language that Henry was very unlikely 221 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 4: to have understood, and I think that's a product of 222 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 4: his age and most certainly a product of his intellectual disabilities. 223 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 4: And Leon's is similar. If you look at Leon's statement 224 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 4: is written in penmanship that Leon was incapable of because 225 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 4: of his deficits, and again used language in detail and 226 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 4: just sentence structure that Leon would have been incapable of creating. 227 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: The second problem, there was a pretty obvious alternative suspect, 228 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: a man named Roscoe Artists. Artists lived near the field 229 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: where Sabrina's body was found, and he had a disturbing history. 230 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: Only a few weeks after Henry and Leon were arrested, 231 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: Roscoe Artists had murdered an eighteen year old girl in 232 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: an attack eagerily similar to the attack on Sabrina. Both 233 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: victims were raped and asphyxiated. Both of them were also 234 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: found in fields wearing nothing but bras pushed up around 235 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 1: their necks. It gets worse. Roscoe Artist was also a 236 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 1: suspect in another rate murder case from nineteen eighty. In 237 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: that case, the victim was found with an object shoved 238 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: in her throat, another similarity that should have been impossible 239 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:17,439 Speaker 1: to miss. 240 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 2: Henry McCollum and Leon Brown did not have the kind 241 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 2: of background that suggested they were capable of the horrific 242 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 2: nature of this crime. This was the work of a 243 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 2: sexual predator, probably a single sexual predator. Because of the 244 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 2: way the crime scene presented itself. This is not some 245 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 2: huge community that is beset by violent crime, and the 246 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 2: first thing that police officers should have done is focus 247 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 2: on men in their own community who had a proclivity 248 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 2: for committing these kinds of crimes. Risco Artists showed a 249 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 2: history of doing this over and over again, and his 250 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 2: home was very close to where the body was found. 251 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: Now here's the really crazy thing about Roscoe Artists. One 252 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: month before Henry and Leon went to trial, Artists was 253 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: tried and convicted for the attack on the eighteen year 254 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: old girl. He was sentenced to death. And that fact 255 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: almost gives away the punchline, because sure enough, Roscoe Artists 256 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: was prosecuted by Joe Freeman Britt himself for a crime 257 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: nearly identical to the one Britt was prosecuting Henry and Leon. 258 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 2: Four. 259 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: The similarities between Artists's other murders and Sabrina's death should 260 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: have been unmistakable. 261 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 2: Those are a warning signs, stop lights to say, hey, 262 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 2: wait a minute, let's see what really happened here. Let's 263 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:49,479 Speaker 2: look at people who more fit the profile. 264 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: Well, Roscoe Artists was no stranger to law enforcement. That's 265 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: what's so mind boggling about this case. It was all 266 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: there ready to be done right done, so wrong. 267 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 2: So wrong. This horrible, tragic nightmare could have been averted 268 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 2: from the very get go, and the woman who Rascal 269 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 2: Artists killed less than a month after Sabrina Buie was killed, 270 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 2: her life might have been saved. 271 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: Not everyone overlooked the similarities between these murders. We know 272 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: this because of what happened with a piece of forensic 273 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: evidence in the case, a single unidentified fingerprint found on 274 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: one of the beer cans near Sabrina's body. Three days 275 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: before Henry and Leon's trial started. The police sent a 276 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: request to the state crime Lab to compare that beer 277 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: can fingerprint to the fingerprints of Roscoe Artists. But Joe 278 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: Freeman Britt, even before the crime lab had time to 279 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: do the testing. Britt charged ahead with Henry and Leon's trial, 280 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: and that trial was hardly a fair fight. You've got 281 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: the deadliest da facing off against two disabled teenagers. 282 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 2: Never stood a chance. It's going to be their word 283 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 2: against the word of the police when this case goes 284 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 2: to trial. How's somebody with a fifty six IQ or 285 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 2: a forty nine IQ supposed to try to match their 286 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 2: wits with a prosecutor like Joe Freeman Brett. 287 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: The heartbreaker was when Henry McCollum took the stand in 288 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: his own defense with his typical flare. Joe Freeman Britt 289 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: handled that cross examination himself. Didn't that touch your soul 290 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: at all? Britt asked, when that little girl was down 291 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: on the ground hollering, it didn't touch my soul. Henry answered, 292 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: because I didn't kill nobody. He added, I want to 293 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:41,680 Speaker 1: tell you something, Joe Freeman, God got your judgment right 294 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: in hell waiting for you. It wasn't enough. The jury 295 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: convicted both Henry and Leon based on the confessions. After 296 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: the verdict came back that fingerprint testing appears to have 297 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: been canceled. 298 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,399 Speaker 4: Joe Freeman Brett was much more concern and laser focus 299 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 4: on pursuing the death penalty against Tarry McCollum and Leon 300 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 4: Brown that he was in finding the real killer. They 301 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,879 Speaker 4: failed to pursue a fingerprint examination that I tend to 302 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 4: think would have been very much determinative in this case, 303 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 4: and I have to imagine that Jof Freeman Britt was 304 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 4: part of that decision making process. 305 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 1: The defense was never even told that police had requested 306 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: fingerprint testing. Instead, that information remained hidden, and Henry and 307 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: Leon were sent to North Carolina's death Row, right alongside 308 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 1: Roscoe artists. A few years later, in nineteen eighty eight, 309 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: a court overturned Henry and Leon's convictions, but Britt retried 310 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: them both separately. In nineteen ninety one, at Leon's second trial, 311 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: the judge dismissed the murder charges against him, so Leon 312 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,959 Speaker 1: was convicted only of rape and sentenced to life in prison, 313 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,959 Speaker 1: not death. But Henry still faced murder charges and he 314 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: was soon convicted again. His attorneys hoped that at least 315 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: they might be able to save his life this time, 316 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,399 Speaker 1: but they were wrong. When Henry's sentence was read, he 317 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: sat silently with his head down on the table, like 318 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: a scared child. He had to go back to death row. 319 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: The case of Sabrina Buoi's murder was closed, but not forgotten. 320 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: That disabled kid who became a murder suspect because some 321 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: high schoolers thought he looked weird was soon being singled 322 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: out by a justice on the United States Supreme Court. 323 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: But Henry McCollum's case was getting attention for all the 324 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: wrong reasons. It was nineteen ninety four and the Supreme 325 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,560 Speaker 1: Court was debating whether the United States should still have 326 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: the death penalty. In a case from Texas one, Justice 327 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: Harry Blackman wrote that the death penalty should be ruled unconstitutional. 328 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,679 Speaker 1: Justice Blackman described how lethal injection works, how one human 329 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: being injects drug into another human's body in front of 330 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:06,119 Speaker 1: an audience, until the condemned person dies in front of them. 331 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: The justice wrote about his experience of trying for twenty 332 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: years to develop rules that would ensure a perfect death 333 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: penalty process. After nearly two decades, he declared the task impossible. 334 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: No set of rules would be able to guarantee that 335 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: we only execute the guilty and only after the guilty 336 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:29,120 Speaker 1: receive a fair process. From this day forward, Justice Blackman wrote, 337 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: I shall no longer tinker with the machinery of death. 338 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a scathing rebuttal, and this is 339 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: where Henry and his brother Leon come in. Lethal injection, 340 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,560 Speaker 1: Justice Scalia wrote, looks pretty desirable compared to some of 341 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,159 Speaker 1: the worst murder cases. He urged readers to consider the 342 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: case of the eleven year old girl killed by stuffing 343 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: her panties down her throat. How enviable a quiet death 344 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: by lethal injection compared with that. Justice Skala was talking 345 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: about the case of Sabrina Buie. 346 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,440 Speaker 4: Justice Scalia said, if there's ever a case that warranted 347 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 4: the death penalty, it's this one. Knowing what we know 348 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 4: now about Henry Lyon's innocence, I think it completely undermines 349 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 4: any legal or moral argument behind that statement, because if 350 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,119 Speaker 4: this case could be held up as the poster case 351 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 4: for the death penalty, and now we've discovered what an 352 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 4: absolute mess of negligence and railroading it involved, then that 353 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 4: means the entire system is undermined. 354 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: The years ticked by and that railroading started coming to 355 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: light as the record of Joe Freeman Britt started getting 356 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,160 Speaker 1: some scrutiny. According to a report by Harvard Law School's 357 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: Fair Punishment Project, Britt committed misconduct in fourteen cases. In 358 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,640 Speaker 1: Henry McCollum's case, the report said, he failed to notify 359 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: the defense not only about the beer can fingerprint, but 360 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 1: also about a cigarette butt found near Sabrina's body. In 361 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 1: two thousand and five, more than twenty years after Sabrina died, 362 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: Henry's post conviction lawyers asked for DNA testing on the 363 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: traces of saliva left on the cigarette butt. That testing 364 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,679 Speaker 1: found a single male profile and it didn't belong to 365 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: Henry or Leon. That evidence should have been enough to 366 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: exonerate them right then and there. 367 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 4: The testing wasn't sophisticated enough at that point to match 368 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 4: it to someone else. Basically, we knew that it wasn't Henry's. 369 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:27,919 Speaker 4: We knew that it wasn't Leon's, but that's all that 370 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 4: we knew. 371 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: The profile couldn't be run through the national DNA database, 372 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: and so Henry and Leon were denied exoneration because their 373 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: lawyers couldn't tell the state whose DNA it really was. 374 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,199 Speaker 1: It took nearly nine years for the case to regain momentum. 375 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: In twenty fourteen, with. 376 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 4: The help of another inmate, Leon wrote to the North 377 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,880 Speaker 4: Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission and asked them to look into 378 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 4: his case. 379 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 2: The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission is an independent state 380 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:06,679 Speaker 2: agency charged with investigating claims of actual innocence. But the 381 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 2: Commission doesn't have an agenda. It's not here to prove 382 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 2: that the defendants did not commit this crime. It's here 383 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 2: to find the truth, and it's the only statewide agency 384 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:20,400 Speaker 2: like it in the country. 385 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,120 Speaker 4: As the Sincree Commission could say, we want to test 386 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 4: the sevidence. We want access to these records, We want 387 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 4: access to these boxes of evidence that it has been 388 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 4: sitting on your shelf for thirty years. Hand them over 389 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 4: to us right now. So that's an extraordinary power to have. 390 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 2: There was no stone left unturned. They tested every hair, 391 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 2: they tested wrappers found at the crime scene. They tested 392 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 2: beer cans. They tested all of her clothing, her blouse, 393 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 2: her shoes, her socks, her underpants. They tested cigarette butts. 394 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: This time, with more sophisticated testing, the cigarette butt DNA 395 00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: was able to be identified. 396 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 4: It wasn't Henry's, it wasn't Leon's. 397 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,440 Speaker 2: When they ran it through the North Carolina database, they 398 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 2: got a hit. They got a hit to Roscoe artists. 399 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 4: We knew of Roscoe artists, we knew how early similar 400 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 4: their crimes were. 401 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 2: Roscoe artists who was living in the very same community, 402 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 2: and a month later committed a very similar crime. 403 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,880 Speaker 1: That was enough. Henry and Leon's lawyers, including Representative Alston, 404 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,199 Speaker 1: asked the court to throw out their convictions based on 405 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: DNA evidence of the real killer, and on September second, 406 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were exonerated in 407 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:44,320 Speaker 1: a Robinson County courtroom as the burden of wrongful conviction 408 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: was lifted from him. Leon Brown smiled big, but all 409 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: Henry McCollum could do was sit back in his chair, 410 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: take a deep breath, and close his eyes. Both men 411 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 1: had served nearly thirty one years in prison. Now find 412 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: they were going home. 413 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 2: Await day, y'allo? 414 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: No, what's my name's name? 415 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 4: That's rights? 416 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: Yea love y'all y'all do you think to make a 417 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: doubly official? Both Henry and Leon received pardons from the 418 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: North Carolina governor in June twenty fifteen. Joe Freeman Britt 419 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: remained a firm believer in their guilt. When he heard 420 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 1: about the pardons, Britt called the governor a damn fool. Today, 421 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: Rosco Artist remains behind bars in North Carolina. On appeal, 422 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 1: his death sentence was converted to life in prison. 423 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 2: For his part. 424 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: Joe Freeman Britt died in twenty sixteen. So here's the thing. 425 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,400 Speaker 1: During the thirty one years that Henry spent on death row, 426 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: he went through two capital trials. Twenty four jurors evaluated 427 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: the evidence against him, and they all voted to convict. 428 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,120 Speaker 1: Over the years, more than twenty judges reviewed the case 429 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,879 Speaker 1: against him and said they found nothing wrong. Twelve defense 430 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: attorneys represented him over the years. They all did their 431 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: jobs just as the system expects them to. If it 432 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: weren't for the Innocence Inquiry Commission, Henry would probably be 433 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: dead today, executed by lethal injection. But North Carolina is 434 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 1: the only state with a commission like that, even though 435 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: twenty seven other states have the death penalty, and the 436 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: commission can only take a tiny fraction of the cases 437 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 1: that are brought to it. So I have to agree 438 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,080 Speaker 1: with Supreme Court Justice Blackman. We can have the best 439 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 1: process in the world, but there is no such thing 440 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:46,640 Speaker 1: as a perfect death penalty. 441 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,479 Speaker 2: They're going to be errors in the fact that in 442 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,199 Speaker 2: some parts of a state the death penalty is sought 443 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 2: more frequently than in other parts of the state. There 444 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 2: are going to be errors in the kinds of cases, 445 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 2: whether their high publicity cases or not, or in the 446 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 2: race of the victim. They are going to be disparities 447 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,760 Speaker 2: in the way these decisions are made. It's a human endeavor, 448 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 2: so there are going to be errors. 449 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: Henry McCollums not alone. To date, one hundred and seventy 450 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: two people have been exonerated off death rows nationwide, including 451 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: at least nine in North Carolina. Have we saved every 452 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,719 Speaker 1: innocent person sentenced to death? There's no way. We haven't 453 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 1: executed an innocent person, and it'll happen again until we 454 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:36,920 Speaker 1: abolish the death penalty for good. 455 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,919 Speaker 4: You know, someone hadn't written a letter on Leon's behalf 456 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 4: to the Ineces Inquiry Commission, we would not be here 457 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 4: having this conversation. Henry and Leon would not have been released. 458 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 4: And our criminal justice system, and our death penalty system 459 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,400 Speaker 4: in particular, shouldn't and can't, rely on luck to protect 460 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:55,159 Speaker 4: innocent people. 461 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,399 Speaker 1: Thanks to luck, perseverance, and good lawyering, Henry and Leon 462 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: are surviving instead of living on death row. They can 463 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: finally just live. 464 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 5: I try to stay busy every day. 465 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 2: That's Henry, my preaching wife. You know, she makes my days. 466 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 4: She's sweet. 467 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:17,400 Speaker 2: When I get up in the morning, like. 468 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:19,479 Speaker 4: Five o'clock in the morning. 469 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 5: You know, I make her coffee which she drinks thee cafee. 470 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 5: I drink mine's black with no sugar. 471 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,439 Speaker 2: It's a lot of food that I enjoy eating. 472 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 5: I like turn up greens, collar greens, and I say 473 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 5: my lady is the best one. Knew how to fix 474 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 5: that baked chicken. For me, it feel good to breathe 475 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 5: this air out here. It's good to have my freedom again. 476 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: And here's Leon. 477 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 6: My favorite thing to do is really listen to the radio, 478 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 6: ODIEES and R and B classes its seventies and eighties 479 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:02,040 Speaker 6: and nineties, some of tholse whoses so that they don't 480 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 6: make no mope. And here the group home. You know, 481 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 6: I try to treat everybody the way I would want 482 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 6: to be treated. I guess that's why they like me 483 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 6: the way they do. They keep me going, keep me laughing, 484 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,719 Speaker 6: and you know, night be here before you know it. 485 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 2: The way the day be going. Man, it's always something 486 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 2: to do. 487 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: This episode is dedicated to Henry and Leon and to 488 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 1: all the brave lawyers fighting to abolish the death penalty. 489 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: Steve and I salute you. That's the story of Henry 490 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: McCollum and Leon Brown. Join us next week when we 491 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: tell you about Tyra Patterson. Tyra was just nineteen when 492 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: she falsely confessed to stealing a necklace, but because of 493 00:29:56,280 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: an arcane legal rule, that confession to stealing was into 494 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: a conviction for murder. Wrongful conviction, false confessions is a 495 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 1: production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal 496 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: Company Number one Special thanks to our executive producers Jason 497 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: Flamm and Kevin Wardis. Our production team is headed by 498 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 1: Senior producer and Pope, along with producers Joshi Hammer and 499 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 1: Jess Shane. Our show is mixed by Genie Montalvo. John 500 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:29,800 Speaker 1: Colbert is our intrepid intern. Our music was composed by 501 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 1: Jay Ralph. You can follow me on Instagram or Twitter 502 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: at Laura and I Wrider. 503 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 2: And you can follow me on Twitter at s Drizzen. 504 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: For more information on the show, visit Wrongful Conviction podcast 505 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: dot com. 506 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 3: Be sure to 507 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: Follow the show on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook 508 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at wrong Conviction