WEBVTT - #491 Jason Flom with Tyree Wallace 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:06.240 On October twenty sixth, nineteen ninety seven, a group of 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:10.280 Philadelphia teenagers planned a robbery that took place the following 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:15.280 night at a local Delhi. After closing up, the deli owner, 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:19.040 mister John Sue Kang, was held up and fatally shot 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:23.639 in front of the store. After canvassing the neighborhood, police 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.280 were unable to find out who had pulled the trigger, 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.600 but finding those who were part of the conspiracy was 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:33.680 a much easier task. Those present at the October twenty 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.240 sixth meeting were willing to testify against three neighborhood kids, 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.480 one of whom was Tyree Wallace. Despite a wide age 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:44.360 gap between Tyree and his co defendants, as well as 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:48.519 multiple false testimonies exposed that trial, Tyree was sentenced to 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:59.200 life without parole. But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.960 has always gave voice to innocent people in prison, and 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:05.880 now we're expanding that voice to you. Call us at 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.039 eight three three two O seven four six sixty six 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.520 and tell us how these stories make you feel and 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:13.920 what you've done to help the cause, even if it's 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.679 something as simple as telling a friend or sharing on 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:20.039 social media, and you might just hear yourself in a 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.839 future episode call us eight three three two oh seven 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:36.800 four six sixty six. Welcome back to Ronfuel Conviction, where 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.400 another Philadelphia case has come to our attention, in which 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.520 our guest, Tyree Wallace, was not tied to the October 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.520 nineteen ninety seven crime scene. But when you're prosecuted for 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:49.480 felony murder in the second degree, you don't have to be. 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.080 And we'll look get into what that means in a minute, 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.800 But first let me introduce Tyree, who's joining us from 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.520 a Pennsylvania correctional facility, a place he doesn't belong in. 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.080 He never belonged there. But Tyree, thank you for calling in. 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.440 You're welcome, thank you for doing and. 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.520 Here with us to help share this harrowing story. His attorney, 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.079 David Perry, thanks for having me so, Tyree, you grew 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.840 up in Philadelphia in the eighties and nineties. 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.480 Right, yes, I did. I was born at Children's Hospital. 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:21.960 My mother lived on Cleveland Street in South Philadelphia, but 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:25.360 she had an alcohol addiction, and as a result of that, 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.560 I bounced back and forth between she my father, sometimes 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:32.160 my grandmother. But South Philadelphia. It was pleasant enough, but 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.400 it was starting to go downhill a little bit based 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.520 off of drugs in the community, but at its core 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.440 was still good decent people. For the most part. 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.239 What you had at that time is a war on drugs, 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:50.840 aggressive policing, fear in the community about recidivism, some headline 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:55.320 making situations that caused a bit of a pendulum swing 0:02:55.480 --> 0:03:01.120 to an extremely aggressive police and district attorney approach to 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:04.480 crime in the city of Philadelphia in the late nineties, 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:07.880 where a lot of people would say that there was 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.520 more of an emphasis on clearing cases than there was 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:13.119 on finding justice. 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:16.360 And these are familiar touchdowns for the crack epidemic era 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.000 and its aftermath all throughout this country, with most citizens 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.639 just barely surviving both the crime that emanated from this 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:27.560 scourge as well as a police force that acted with impunity, 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.560 and the communities pulled through on the strength of folks 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.960 like the victim in this case, mister John Sukang Rest 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:34.360 in peace. 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.160 He was just the giant in our community. He ran 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:43.360 the Salt and Peperative Deli on Seventeenth in Ellsworth and 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:48.200 most of the other Korean American establishments in South Philly. 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.480 They normally only hired other people from the Korean American community, 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:56.480 with the John intentionally hired from the people who lived. 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:57.160 In South Philly. 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:01.000 The store had a familiar feel as a result of 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:03.960 that intentionality. But then you had a bunch of people 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.080 with jobs who would not otherwise have them if not 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:07.840 for mister John. 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.680 But not everyone is a pillar of the community, like 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:15.080 the armed young man or men potentially even boys who 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:17.640 may or may not have conspired to rob mister John. 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:20.559 As he closed up shop one night in the Salt 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:21.719 and Pepper Deli. 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:26.760 At that time of night, there is mister Kang working there, 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.119 of course, and there is Levanne Griffin, the clerk. Levan 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:34.600 Griffin talked of three individuals, perhaps including a woman, come 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:39.960 in moments or minutes before the murder. They leave as 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.640 they're closing up the shop as they would normally do. 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:46.040 Mister Kang is holding a bag of money. Levan Griffin 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:51.400 has already exited the store, heading towards home, and mister 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:57.640 Kang heads towards his car. Levan Griffin hears a loud bang, 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.680 turns around and sees mister Kang having fallen to the ground. 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:06.120 Levan Griffin takes off running. There was never really any 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:10.039 physical evidence. There's no DNA element to this case, and 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:14.600 Levan Griffin spoke with detectives soon after this. Griffin could 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.359 gives some statement about somebody shorter and more heavy set 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:23.560 or chunkier than Tyree and also darker skinned. Levan said, 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.520 they told me the people who walked into the store 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.520 right before closing were involved in the shooting, and I 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:31.200 personally had no knowledge of this. 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.799 We're really not sure where they got that information, considering 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.200 that the loan witness had just told them that he'd 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:40.440 only seen one shooter. Perhaps they were trying to get 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:42.320 him to identify the people who had come into the 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.840 store since he had actually seen them and could then 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.640 serve as a reliable eyewitness regardless of if those folks 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.360 were involved or not. Now we're really not sure of 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.400 their motives other than the significant pressure on them to 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:55.360 close this case. 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.880 It was the absolute talk of the neighborhood, and I 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:02.920 remember thinking clearly that they are going to absolutely bury 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.840 somebody for this, and that would be justified. I'm like, 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:07.120 who would do this to mister King? 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:07.680 Right? 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.359 The Korean American community was in an uproar, and rightfully so, 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.280 about what happened to missus. John Young's who came and 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:19.960 they were demanding results. The officer, Charles Boyle and others 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:22.960 and my cads decided that we're going to get a conviction. 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.920 So the police began canvassing the neighborhood and putting pressure 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:31.400 on a number of neighborhood kids. Raheem Shackelford, Matthew Corporu, 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.240 James Davis, the first two of whom ended up becoming 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:35.640 Tyree's co defendants. 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.960 So I was from a block that was called nineteenth 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.520 and eighty. All of these guys you just named were 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.680 all guys from seventeenth Street. Now, while there's not a 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:49.960 great distance, it was to rivaling communities that wouldn't have 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.279 anything to do with each other. All of the guys 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.559 again that you just named, were all fifteen year olds 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.960 and fourteen year olds. I was nineteen years old. We 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.000 weren't in the same social circles. We were from rivaling community. 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:01.920 These we just did not interact. 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:04.800 But there was one source from Tyree's social circle that 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:09.200 helped the police link him with Raheem Shackelford and Matthew Corporal. 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:12.280 An associate of mine at the time, Brian Brooks had 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:17.240 a girlfriend named Tracy Drayton. Tracy's nephew was Matthew Corporal. 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:20.920 On one occasion at Tracy Dreaton's house, I was introduced 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:24.160 into Matthew Corporrew we shook Haynes never saw him again 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:26.760 until I was on trial with him for a robbery. 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:27.280 Howm is that? 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.920 And the narrative eventually became Tyree and Brian attended a 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.600 planning meeting with these fourteen year olds the day prior 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.800 October twenty six, But no one is exactly sure of 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:39.920 how this narrative came to be. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:44.480 I'm not exactly sure if I'll ever really know the 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:47.760 order of events. I think there is a degree I 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.679 suppose of going to the usual suspects, and I think 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.360 one person pointed to another and it just sort of 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.080 became what a lot of these guys have said is 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.680 sort of any two will do. And when it got 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.120 to a point where they found that had any two 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.880 or in this case three, they could clear the case 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.600 and sell it to the jury. But they sort of 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:11.440 ricochet off of each other. They knew Brian Brooks was 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:15.560 a bad actor because he had about four other robberies. 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:20.280 Interestingly, while under investigation for those robberies, Brian Brooks was 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.840 arrested just hours before this robbery homicide for an unrelated charge, 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.320 allegedly with information to trade on So. 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.480 At four point fifty pm he's in custody and they're 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:35.600 interviewing him about the list of crimes. The murder takes 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.240 place later that night. Now it's not like Brian says, 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.880 I'm aware that something's going to go down tonight, So 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.800 there's no foreshadowing by Brian Brooks. In December, when Brian 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.600 Brooks is questioned by the police, he says he knows 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.360 nothing about the murder. Brian Brooks's December and police statement 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.920 is never written down. It's only ever talked about. But 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.800 how do we know that it occurred? At least we 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:03.440 believe it occurred because Brian Brooks would be questioned in 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.600 a police statement which is written down in February of 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:11.040 nineteen ninety eight, which basically begins with the police saying, Brian, 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:15.240 you're here to talk to us on your own free will. Yes, 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.680 it's about the murder of John King. Well, we interviewed 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.360 you in December. You said you didn't know anything about it, right, Yes, 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:25.520 that was a lie, right, Yes, why are you coming 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.520 now to tell us what you know, Well, because there's 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.760 a rumor going around that me and my brother had 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.360 something to do with it, and I don't like that. However, 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:39.040 the police knew that couldn't possibly have been plausible because 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:41.880 they could have easily said, well, Brian, of course you 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.040 had nothing to do with it. You were in custody. 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:48.319 So even his alleged motive to come forward was incredible. 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.400 In fact, Brooks had a much more credible motive for 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:52.440 making this statement. 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.600 Brian Brooks was a court for a whole host of 0:09:55.760 --> 0:10:00.439 arm robberies. Each arm robbery had assault and we shortages 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.040 of takes to him, and Brian was facing two hundred 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:07.599 to four hundred years and so Brian helped these officers 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.840 in multiple different cases that he just didn't have knowledge about. 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:12.720 He was just willing to say whatever needed to be 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.679 said to take two hundred to four hundred years down 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:16.600 to five years. 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:22.680 Brian Brooks would go into excruciating detail about the planning 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.400 of the murder. On the day before the murder that 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:30.640 Tyree and others came by James Davis's house. They're talking 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.760 all about this big plan for the following night, and 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:37.119 if this is to be believed, the day of the murder, 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:40.960 Brian is being questioned in custody, ostensibly about a variety 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.880 of crimes. He's not trying to work that down by saying, well, 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.360 I've got something for you. There's something going down tonight. 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.600 He doesn't do that. Fast forward. Now it's February, and 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:52.599 not only does he know everything, he knew it the 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:53.760 day before it happened. 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.040 Now, how is that? That's a good question now. By 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.880 this time, James Davis also made a statement about them 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.120 where he allegedly declined an invitation from Tyree Wallace and 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:07.480 Raheem Shackleford to participate, that Matthew Corporal and Raheem Shackleford 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.640 showed him a soft off shotgun shortly before the crime, 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.720 and that Shackleford told him that they got one hundred 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.920 dollars off mister King. In addition, Matthew Corporal admitted to 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.800 being a lookout and implicated Shackleford and Tyree, and then 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.280 the police went to Lvan Griffin with a photo array 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.720 featuring Tyree, Corporal and Shackleford. 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.480 And Lavan Griffin had his own issues and would later 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.720 say that he was basically harassed by the police, and 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:39.640 his testimony would later be a very weak and loose 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:46.600 attempt to identify assailants. It was some loose reference to 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:51.080 having a similar bust or a similar body because Levanne 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.760 Griffin didn't see the shooting. 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.160 All of this together was enough to charge Tyree Wallace, 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:01.000 Matthew Corporal, and Raheem Shackleford with conspiracy to commit robbery 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.920 and second degree felony murder, and Tyree was arrested on 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:06.760 February twentieth, nineteen ninety eight. 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.280 Yes, I was at my father's house in the phone ring. 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.320 My father answered the phone upstairs. The ass was Tyrie there, 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.400 and he calls down and says, Tyree, pick up the phone, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:19.320 and the front door gets kicked in. 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.080 I get arrested once I get there. 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:26.680 I was being interviewed by Detective Charles Boyle, and again 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.720 I'm nineteen years old. Nervous is on him, so I 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:31.320 say to him, I said, listen, sir, you have the 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.600 one person I had nothing to do with the grown. 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.040 So he looked behind him and closed the door, turned around, 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.880 looked me right in my eyes and said, you know 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:44.000 what he said. I believe you said. I don't give 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:44.360 a fuck. 0:12:57.000 --> 0:12:59.640 You're listening to ron for conviction. You can listen to 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.600 this all the Lava for Good podcasts one week early 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.040 and ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:14.080 on Apple Podcasts. 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.720 In the commission of a felony, if anybody has killed, 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:24.600 everybody involved in that conspiracy receives a life sentence. So 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:28.400 what people like Charles Boyle has been able to do 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:33.199 is to weaponize that law. So he wasn't guessing this 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:37.720 was a blueprint that he was so confident that he 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.160 was just willing to reveal it to me. He said, 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:41.959 let me tell you what the rest of your life is. 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:42.520 Going to look like. 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.520 You're gonna spend the next two years at CFCF then 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:50.360 you're gonna get convicted of second degree murder. They never 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.120 had to accuse me of killing mister King. They never 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.679 had to accuse anyone of killing mister King. All they 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.760 had to do was convince a jury that these three 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.800 young black men who didn't know each other, we're in 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.440 a conspiracy to roy mister King, and as a result 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.240 of that, he died and everybody gets a life sentence. 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.480 Rahim Shaka Ford says that when he goes into a 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.520 courtroom for the first time to see Tyree, he says 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:15.680 who's that guy? 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.920 And as Tyree said earlier, he had only met Matthew 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:23.280 Karprou once in passing. Nevertheless, just like detective Boil predicted, 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.680 Tyree awaited trial for nearly two years and he was 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:30.320 tried along with his co defendants in October nineteen ninety nine. 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:33.840 So I did have a quarter pointed attorney, Daniel Green, 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.600 and in retrospect, having some standing of how the system 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.800 works when you think about the fact that the courts 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.720 are in business and the de's are in business of 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.640 punishing crime, of getting convictions. So when they are appointing 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.920 you a coin appointed attorney, your immediate thought and this 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:54.440 person is here to save the day, and that's not 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:55.760 necessarily the case. 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:57.080 This person is. 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.920 Here to meet the standard of right he or she 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.080 he had representation, and a lot of times they are 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:06.760 there to help facilitate this process. And nothing stood out 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.440 more to me than during the trial when my father 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.800 said he came into a courtroom and Daniel Green and 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:18.440 Evan Luiz, who was the discrease fired eighty A in 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.800 my case, were just like just chumming it up. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.160 So my father went in, put the. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.520 Money together to get a paid attorney, put in a 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.200 motion to have this attorney come on. This was two 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.240 days before trial, and the judge said, well, listen, I 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.600 can't stop you from bringing in a paid attorney, but 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:35.720 I am not postponing this trialdy. 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.280 So the attorney has two days to learn his keys. 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:40.800 So they stuck with Daniel Green, and it appears that 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:45.640 every state's witness was coerced and or incentivized. 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:49.040 The narrative in the theory of the crime is that 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:55.240 shackle Ford and Tyree Wallace accost Kang, shoot him take 0:15:55.320 --> 0:16:00.760 his money, with corporal present as a lookout, and Griffin 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.920 hears it. He turns around quickly enough to see mister 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:09.920 Kang slump onto the ground, and he takes off running scared. 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.960 Remember, the state's narrative was that the assailants had entered 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.960 the store before the crime. Now le Van Griffin was 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:21.000 coerced into making IDs with the threat of his own charges. 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.000 In addition, he had seen only one shooter, who he 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:28.400 described as short, chubby, and dark skinned. Tyree is six', 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:33.480 too slim and light. Skinned Yet griffin still Id shackelford And, 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:38.280 tyree So tyree's lawyer was able to Impeach griffin on Cross. 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.120 He read the description, though and as you pointed, OUT 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:45.760 i was the polar opposite not only height but, weight skin. 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:50.680 Color Danny green Asked Levan griffin, directly are you saying 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:53.080 that my client is the person that came into the. 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.960 Store his response, is, no he fit the. Description so 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:59.160 my lawyer, said, listen you're, honor please tell him to 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:02.320 stop singing it and just answer my. Question so my 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:05.199 lawyer asked him, again are you saying that he's the 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.840 person who came into the. Store he's, saying, no he 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:10.640 fit the. Description so he, said you're, honor please make 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:12.720 him stop saying. That so the court stipulates that this 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.600 was not an, identification that it was something. 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.199 Lesser, Dan you Had Matthew, corporu who claimed to be a, 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:23.480 lookout but his statement presented a familiar constitutional. Issue corporal 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:27.199 has His Fifth amendment right against self, incrimination and, conversely 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.840 his co defendants have the right to confront their. Accuser 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:33.639 so to satisfy everyone's, rights they had a redacted version 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:35.280 Of corporal's statement read into the. 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:40.000 Record they Put Charles boyle on the stain who read 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:43.600 his statement into, evidence where he would, say me and 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.600 two guys planned to do this. Robbery so it's three 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.879 people in Proud he's, saying me and two. Guys the 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.320 fact that this detective is reading this into the evidence 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:53.840 gives it. 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.520 Validity and even Though tyree And shackle for his names 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:02.439 were carefully left, Out levang had made his. Identification, however 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:05.760 impeachd may have been and remember to convict them of 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:08.960 conspiracy and second degree fellowing. Murder they didn't have to 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:09.960 prove who killed Mister. 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.919 KING i didn't realize that THE da wasn't even trying 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.600 to prove a legitimate connection between me and the. Scene 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:21.040 she was only trying to convince these twelve people that 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.080 these three young black men were in a conspiracy to 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:28.119 rob Mister. King now that was not, true, obviously but 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:29.280 that's a much lower. 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:33.000 Standard so they heard testimony about The october twenty sixth planning, 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.679 meeting starting With James davis and his Mother Sonya. 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.560 Godfrey his, MOTHER i think lied on the stand about 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:41.640 time of day and what she. Said when she turns 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.639 out she was at work and wasn't even, home and 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.320 so she was caught in her. Lie it sort of 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:51.400 smelled like an effort to Shield James davis from being 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:53.359 sucked into this whole, thing and it sounds like it. 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.919 Worked when she was court In, alie she said that 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:57.200 they made her say. 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:58.080 It she didn't want to see. 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:01.919 It, then when her son undercrossed, examination said that the 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:05.040 police harassed, him that they brought him and his mother 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:06.919 to the station three or four. 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:08.840 Times for whatever. 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:15.760 Reasons James davis never became engulfed in the police's efforts back, 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.720 then but there's seemingly a pretty consistent chorus of people 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.560 who are incredulous of What James davis had to. 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.160 Say James davis said that at the planning, Meeting shackelford 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:29.640 And tyree asked him to, participate but he, declined and 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.360 Then shackelford And corporu showed him a shot off shotgun 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.400 prior to the crime and after the fact told him 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:38.440 that they only got one hundred dollars from Mister. King 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:42.199 and Then Brian brooks also claimed to have witnessed the 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.879 meeting and that after the, Crime tyree told him That 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:46.920 shackelford was the. 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:51.720 Shooter brian tells this story and then after he's finished 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:55.520 giving his, testimony he goes back to the holding area 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.000 of the courtroom and he turns To Sheriff John hamilton 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:01.680 and he says to the sh, Sheriff, Hey, sheriff what's 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:05.040 the penalty for? Perjury and the sheriff says a three 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:05.400 to five. 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:05.680 Years. 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:08.520 Why it's, like, WELL i just lied up. There they 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:11.160 made me say. That so the sheriff goes and reveals 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:13.960 to the judge what this witness has just said to 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:18.280 him within minutes of. Testifying in this, case there would 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:22.480 be some delay. There the sheriff told me. That as 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:26.840 that was all, unfolding some of the other police around 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.000 actually said to the sheriff, like what are you an inmate? 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:31.560 Lover an inmate? 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:35.560 Lover it was clearly very revealing about the culture in 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.600 which a lot of these guys, operated And Sheriff hamilton was, like, 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:41.480 NO i know right from. WRONG i have to tell the. 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:43.879 Court so they brought the sheriff on the. Stand they 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:46.120 Brought Brian brooks back on the, stand and that's when 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.879 The ASSISTANT da basically said To Brian, brooks hold on a, 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:53.239 minute what happens to people who tell on other people in? 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:53.880 Prison what are? 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:54.360 They they're? 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:56.879 Snitches so you're just really worried about being a, snitch, 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:58.560 Right your testimony was. 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:03.360 Accurate realized that THE da did a lot of things 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:06.240 in that trial that she wasn't supposed to do as a. 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.199 Prosecutor but NOW i understand the purpose of. It the 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:13.719 way she was able to Explain Brian brooks's recantation was 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:17.320 just not. True but she did these things over and over. 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:20.800 Again she had a pattern in. Practice SO i need 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:24.120 people to UNDERSTAND dh they have immunity for doing. Anything 0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:28.960 they have to be seriously corrupt in order to get, 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.240 fired and she wound up being, fired. 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:34.880 But that was many years after it would have Done 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:38.120 tyree any. Good, meanwhile the attorneys for all three were 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:42.080 able to expose inconsistencies and falsehoods From Levon, Griffin James, 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:45.800 davis And Sonia, godfrey followed By Brian brooks's in court, 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:50.400 recantation and Then tyree's. Alibi witnesses told the jury where 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:50.879 he was that. 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:54.119 Night he was At Damon milligan's house With Damon milligan's 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:57.800 mother and. Girlfriend but this house that they used to 0:21:57.840 --> 0:22:00.879 hang out with was a bit of a, party not 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:04.159 exactly the most credible witness to put in front of a. 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:09.080 Jury they were easily discredited by the DA's. Office so 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:11.920 the alibi just sort of frittered. 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:15.679 Away it also didn't clear him from The october twenty sixth. 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:20.200 Meeting there was another witness who would never be Called Jonathan. 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:26.520 Muldrew mouldrew had gone down and spoken to either THE 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:29.320 da Or summon in the office and he actually expected 0:22:29.359 --> 0:22:31.720 to be somehow called as a witness by the. Prosecution 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:37.040