1 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: Hi there, it's Laurini writer, and this time I'm here 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,120 Speaker 1: with some really encouraging news for anyone committed to true 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: justice in this country. This is a case that was 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: used by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to justify 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: why the death penalty exists. But as we'll hear in 6 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: this episode, the murder he was using as proof that 7 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: the death penalty should remain in place was in fact 8 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: an egregious, wrongful conviction, exactly the reason why we should 9 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: question death sentences in every case. Eventually, justice was served 10 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: for Henry McCollum and Leon Brown. After thirty one years 11 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: on death row. They were exonerated on the basis of 12 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: actual innocence, and we're thrilled to tell you that since 13 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: our episode first aired, they've also received compensation for what 14 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: they went through. In May twenty twenty one, the brothers 15 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: were awarded seventy five million dollars, the largest wrongful conviction 16 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: verdict in US history. Over the years, their cases were 17 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: reviewed by dozens of judges, lawyers, and jurors who couldn't 18 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: see the truth of their innocence. With this settlement, finally, 19 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: Henry and Leon were believed welcome to wrongful conviction, false confessions. 20 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: I'm Laura and I writer, and I'm Steve Drewson. In 21 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: today's episode, the crime is bad about as bad as 22 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: it gets. But the way police and prosecutors mishandled this 23 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: case and condemned two innocent men to death, that's a 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: crime unto itself. Henry McCollum and his younger brother, Leon 25 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: Brown survived a decades long fight for the truth from 26 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: behind bars. Henry and Leon are living proof that false 27 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: confessions can send innocent people to death row. 28 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 2: Twenty years ago, the Center on Wrongful Convictions, which Laura 29 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 2: and I codirect, was deeply involved in exonerating men off 30 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 2: of death row in Illinois. The numbers kept ticking up. 31 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 2: It went up to twenty people who had been wrongfully 32 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 2: sentenced to death. 33 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: Twenty innocent people. Eventually, Illinois lost confidence that the people 34 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: on death row were actually guilty, and so we got 35 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: rid of the death penalty. 36 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 2: When the death penalty was abolished in Illinois ten years ago, 37 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 2: there were some prosecutors who claimed that the sky would fall, 38 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 2: that crime rates would rise, that the system would miss 39 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 2: the ability and the power to use the death penalty 40 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 2: to right wrongs, and that hasn't happened. We've moved on, 41 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 2: we've evolved, and it's time for the rest of the 42 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 2: country to follow suit. 43 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: Here's the thing. The death penalty is supposed to be 44 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: reserved for the worst of the worst, but way too 45 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: often those are the cases where wrongful convictions happen. 46 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 2: These are the crimes where there is so much pressure 47 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 2: on law enforcement to come up with quick answers that 48 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 2: there are rushes to judgment. Right. 49 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: That's the problem with the death penalty. People can get 50 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: so blinded with the horrificness of a crime that moral 51 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: outrage can distort the search for the truth. And that's 52 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: what happened in this case. Henry McCollum and his brother 53 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: Leon Brown paid a terrible price for the police's rush 54 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: to judgment. 55 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 2: The facts of the crime often don't tell the whole story, 56 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 2: and sometimes tell a false story. So while on paper 57 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 2: this case looks like one that is deserving of the 58 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 2: ultimate punishment, in practice it sent two innocent men to 59 00:03:53,360 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 2: prison for more than thirty years. 60 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 3: To day. 61 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: Story starts in Robison County, North Carolina. It's a rural 62 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: area on the state's southern border, eighty miles inland from 63 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Coast. Since the eighteenth century, Robison County has 64 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: been known for social strata and racial strife. It's a 65 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: place where a small group of elite white men descended 66 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: from colonial landowners, dominate everything from the lumber business to 67 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: the illegal drug trade to the courtrooms. Meanwhile Native Americans, 68 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: poor whites, and black people get the scraps. On September 69 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: twenty fifth, nineteen eighty three, Ronnie Lee Buie came home 70 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: to his tiny house in one of Robison County's predominantly 71 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 1: black communities. It was a little after twelve am. He'd 72 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: just finished working the midnight shift. Within minutes, he noticed 73 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: that his eleven year old daughter, Sabrina, was missing from 74 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: her room. Sabrina's family calls the police. As the sunrises 75 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: and words spreads, Friends and neighbors fan out to search 76 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: for her, but there's no sign of Sabrina until the 77 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: next afternoon, September twenty sixth. That's when Sabrina Buoy is found, 78 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: and it's one of the worst discoveries imaginable. Sabrina is 79 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: lying in a soybean field, dead, surrounded by empty beer 80 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: cans and cigarette butts. She's been beaten and raped. She 81 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: isn't wearing anything except for a bra that's been pushed 82 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: up around her neck. And her cause of death Sabrina 83 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: had been suffocated by her own underwear. Someone had pushed 84 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: them into her throat with a stick. 85 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 2: Now, when I read about this crime, it just gutted me. 86 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 2: My reaction was visceral. There's a level of depravity here 87 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 2: that shocks the conscience. 88 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: Police couldn't bring themselves to believe that someone from their 89 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: own community would have done this, so they started investigating outsiders. 90 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: Pretty soon, police caught wind of a rumor about a 91 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: nineteen year old who just arrived in Robison County to 92 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: visit his mom. The local high schoolers thought this new 93 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: kid might have killed Zabrina because, according to them, he 94 00:05:55,720 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: looked weird. That new kid's name was Henry McCollum. Even 95 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: though his mom lived in Robinson County, Henry had grown 96 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: up in New Jersey with his grandma. Henry had been 97 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: diagnosed with intellectual disability when he was really young. For years, 98 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: he attended a special school, but he failed a bunch 99 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,239 Speaker 1: of grades anyway and eventually dropped out. School wasn't Henry's 100 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: strong suit, but obedience to authority was he'd never been 101 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: associated with any kind of crime. With nothing more to 102 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: go on than a high school rumor, police go to 103 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: Henry's mom's house, and on the evening of September twenty eighth, 104 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: they bring Henry in for interrogation. Three police officers questioned 105 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: him for more than four hours, all off camera. So 106 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: we don't know everything that happened in that room. What 107 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 1: we do know is that some of Henry's interrogators were 108 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: familiar with the crime scene. They knew all the information 109 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: that a killer would be expected to describe. Sometime around 110 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: two am, the interrogators emerged from the room with a 111 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: confession that named Henry as one of Sabrina's assailants. It 112 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: had been written out by the cops. Henry had signed 113 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: it at the end in oversized letters that looked like 114 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: a child's handwriting. According to Henry, as soon as he 115 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: wrote his name on the last page, he looked up 116 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: at his interrogators and said, can I go home now? 117 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 3: I think Henry is a very kind person. He's a 118 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 3: very thoughtful person. 119 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: That's Representative Vernetta Alston. She's a member of the North 120 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: Carolina State Legislature, but before that, she was a death 121 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: penalty lawyer who worked on Henry's case. 122 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 3: From the first time I met Henry in twenty twelve. 123 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 3: It's my impression that his deficits were very obvious. I 124 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 3: think anyone talking to him now, or five years ago 125 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 3: or thirty years ago would have noticed, and so as 126 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 3: a result of his deficits, he signed the statement. Now, 127 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 3: I think most folks in that circumstance would understand that 128 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 3: if they signed a confession to murder, that they wouldn't 129 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 3: be allowed to walk out the front door of a 130 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 3: police station. But the statement used language that Henry was 131 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 3: very unlikely to have understood, and so he didn't know 132 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 3: what was happening at all. 133 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: While Henry's confession was light on details, its story tracked 134 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: exactly what an investigator who'd been at the scene would know, 135 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: everything from the pattern on Sabrina's shirt to the brand 136 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: of cigarettes left behind. 137 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 2: Here's the thing. Henry could not lead the police to 138 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 2: any evidence that they didn't already know about. His confession 139 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 2: only contained details that the police already knew. That's a 140 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 2: red flag. You have to wonder, is this the suspect's 141 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 2: confession or a confession that was scripted by law enforcement 142 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 2: to ensure that this suspect was going to get convicted. 143 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: Henry's confession didn't just implicate him. The story was that 144 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: he'd attacked Sabrina along with four other teenagers. Now, three 145 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: of those teens turned out to have strong alibis. One 146 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: of them had even been out of state at the 147 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: time of Sabrina's death. Prosecutors filed charges against those three, 148 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: but the fourth person named it was Leon Brown, Henry 149 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: McCollum's fifteen year old brother. And while Henry was disabled, 150 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: Leon's limitations were far more profound. His IQ was in 151 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: the forties, on the borderline between moderately and severely disabled, 152 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: and he was completely illiterate. 153 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 3: Both of these men, who were at that time boys, 154 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:29,839 Speaker 3: their intellectual disabilities were exploited. Folks who have cognitive deficits 155 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 3: that make it difficult or complicated for them to make 156 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 3: everyday decisions to get dressed, to loan as schedule, to 157 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 3: make food for themselves, to drive cars, to learn in 158 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 3: school at a level that's consistent with their age. Folks 159 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 3: who are unable to do those things, we shouldn't be 160 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 3: holding them to the same standard in our criminal justice system, 161 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 3: and certainly not in our death penalty system. 162 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: When Henry implicated Leon in his confession, it turned out 163 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: the timing was pretty bad. While Henry was being questioned, 164 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: the boy's mom arrived at the police station begging to 165 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,839 Speaker 1: see Henry. Police told her she'd have to wait until 166 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 1: he confessed. But here's the thing. Henry's mom brought Leon 167 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: with her to the station. He was almost surely too 168 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 1: disabled to be left home alone. So after Henry confessed 169 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: and the police came looking for Leon, they didn't have 170 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: to go any farther than their own lobby. Police put 171 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: Leon into an interrogation room, then marched his big brother 172 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: in to show him what to do. Within minutes, Leon 173 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: was signing a written out confession of his own, scratching 174 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: his name as best he could on the bottom of 175 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 1: a statement he couldn't even read. Based on their confessions, 176 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: the two brothers were arrested and charged with rape and 177 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: capital murder. 178 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 4: This episode is sponsored by AIG, a leading global insurance company, 179 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 4: and Paul Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton and Garrison, a leading international 180 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 4: law firm. The u AIG pro Bono program provides free 181 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 4: legal services and other support to many nonprofit organizations and 182 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 4: individuals most in need. And recently they announced that working 183 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 4: to reform the criminal justice system will become a key 184 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 4: pillar of the program's mission. Paul Weiss has long had 185 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 4: an unwavering commitment to providing impactful, pro bono legal assistance 186 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 4: to the most vulnerable members of our society and in 187 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 4: support of the public interest, including extensive work in the 188 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 4: criminal justice area. 189 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: The question of who killed Sabrina Buie gripped Robinson County. 190 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: The crime was terrible and the community wanted justice, so 191 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: the county's top prosecutor took over the case. The district 192 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: attorney himself, Joe Freeman Britt, was six foot six, a 193 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 1: season trial lawyer known for dramatic courtroom flourishes like pounding 194 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: bibles in front of the jury. But he was more 195 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: than just a flashy atturn me. By the time Henry 196 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 1: and Leon's cases crossed his desk, Joe Freeman Britt had 197 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 1: become infamous nationwide for his success at obtaining the death penalty. 198 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: Over his career, Britt sent more than forty seven people 199 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: to death row. At one point, he obtained two dozen 200 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: death sentences in only twenty eight months. Britt was so 201 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: prolific that he even ended up in the Guinness Book 202 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,199 Speaker 1: of World Records, which called him the deadliest prosecutor. 203 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 2: Some prosecutors believe deeply in the eye for an eye mentality. 204 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 2: For some, it's almost a biblical calling, like religious fervor 205 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 2: that animates them. 206 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,199 Speaker 1: Forty seven people, I mean, if he weren't a prosecutor, 207 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: he'd be one of the most prolific serial killers in 208 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: the United States. 209 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 2: Forty seven people, that's unthinkable. 210 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 1: It seems like Britt leaned into his hard ass reputation. 211 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: He'd run training conferences for other prosecutors where he taught 212 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: them to quote ripped that jugular out. When he felt 213 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: like waxing poetic, Britt would say, within each of us 214 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: burns a flame that constantly whispers, preserve life at any cost. 215 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: It's the prosecutor's job, he would add to extinguish that flame. 216 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 3: I think that that sums up who he was as 217 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 3: a person and as a district attorney. Joe Freeman. Britt 218 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 3: was frankly a terror. He was a large, commanding presence, 219 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,719 Speaker 3: and I think really leaned into that persona. I know 220 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 3: that he was very from what I've read, he was 221 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 3: very much into the theater of a courtroom and really 222 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 3: played into that to secure convictions. 223 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: Joe Freeman Britt was in full form, gearing up to 224 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: try Henry and Leon for Sabrina's murder and seeking the 225 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: death penalty for them both. But before trial, two major 226 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: problems emerged with Britt's case against the brothers. First of all, 227 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: Henry and Leon's confessions didn't match each other on several 228 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 1: important details, who was involved, how they met up with Sabrina, 229 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 1: and the details of the rape and murder. And of 230 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: course there was the matter of the three other boys 231 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: named in Henry's confession, all of whom were definitely innocent. 232 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 2: Leon or Henry. There was nothing other than their words 233 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 2: that linked them to this crime, you know. And Henry 234 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 2: and Leon were not the kinds of people that would 235 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 2: have committed a perfect crime. 236 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: Even the way in which the confessions were written didn't 237 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: ring true. 238 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 3: In a statement used language that Henry was very unlikely 239 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 3: to have understood, and I think that's a product of 240 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 3: his age and most certainly a product of his intellectual disabilities. 241 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 3: And Leon's is similar. If you look at Leon's statement 242 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 3: is written in penmanship that Leon was incapable of because 243 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 3: of his deficits, and again used language and detail and 244 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 3: just cent in structure that Leon would have been incapable 245 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 3: of creating. 246 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: The second problem. There was a pretty obvious alternative suspect, 247 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: a man named Roscoe Artists. Artists lived near the field 248 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: where Sabrina's body was found, and he had a disturbing history. 249 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: Only a few weeks after Henry and Leon were arrested, 250 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: Roscoe Artists had murdered an eighteen year old girl in 251 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: an attack eerily similar to the attack on Sabrina. Both 252 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: victims were raped and asphyxiated. Both of them were also 253 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: found in fields wearing nothing but bras pushed up around 254 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: their necks. It gets worse. Roscoe Artists was also a 255 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: suspect in another rape murder case from nineteen eighty. In 256 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: that case, the victim was found with an object shoved 257 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: in her throat, another similarity that should have been impossible 258 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: to miss. 259 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 2: Henry McCollum and Leon Brown did not have the kind 260 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 2: of background that suggested they were capable of the horrific 261 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 2: nature of this crime. This was the work of a 262 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 2: sexual predator, probably a single sexual predator. Because of the 263 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 2: way the crime scene presented itself. This is not some 264 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 2: huge community that is beset by violent crime, and the 265 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 2: first thing that police officers should have done is focus 266 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:13,239 Speaker 2: on men in their own community who had a proclivity 267 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 2: for committing these kinds of crimes. Rosco Artists showed a 268 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 2: history of doing this over and over again, and his 269 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 2: home was very close to where the body was found. 270 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: Now here's the really crazy thing about Roscoe Artists. One 271 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: month before Henry and Leon went to trial, Artists was 272 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: tried and convicted for the attack on the eighteen year 273 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: old girl. He was sentenced to death. And that fact 274 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: almost gives away the punchline, because sure enough, Roscoe Artists 275 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: was prosecuted by Joe Freeman Britt himself for a crime 276 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: nearly identical to the one Britt was prosecuting Henry and Leon. 277 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 2: For. 278 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: The similarities between Artists's other murders and Sabrina's death should 279 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:55,359 Speaker 1: have been unmistakable. 280 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 2: Those are a warning signs, stop lights to say, hey, 281 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 2: wait a minute, let's see what really happened here, Let's 282 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 2: look at people who more fit the profile. 283 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,879 Speaker 1: Well, Roscoe Artists was no stranger to law enforcement. That's 284 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: what's so mind boggling about this case. It was all 285 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 1: there ready to be done, right, and it was done 286 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: so wrong, so wrong. 287 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 2: This horrible, tragic nightmare could have been averted from the 288 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 2: very get go, and the woman who Rascal Artists killed 289 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 2: less than a month after Sabrina Buie was killed, her 290 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:32,479 Speaker 2: life might have been saved. 291 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: Not everyone overlooked the similarities between these murders. We know 292 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: this because of what happened with a piece of forensic 293 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: evidence in the case, a single unidentified fingerprint found on 294 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: one of the beer cans near Sabrina's body. Three days 295 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: before Henry and Leon's trial started, the police sent a 296 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: request to the state crime Lab to compare that beer 297 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: can fingerprint to the fingerprints of Roscoe Artists. But Joe Freeman, 298 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,120 Speaker 1: even before the crime lab had time to do the testing, 299 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 1: Britt charged ahead with Henry and Leon's trial. And that 300 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: trial was hardly a fair fight. You've got the deadliest 301 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: da facing off against two disabled teenagers. 302 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 2: Never stood a chance. It's going to be their word 303 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:21,160 Speaker 2: against the word of the police when this case goes 304 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 2: to trial. How's somebody with a fifty six IQ or 305 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 2: a forty nine IQ supposed to try to match their 306 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 2: wits with a prosecutor like Joe Freeman Britt. 307 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 1: The heartbreaker was when Henry McCollum took the stand in 308 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: his own defense with his typical flare. Joe Freeman Britt 309 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: handled that cross examination himself. Didn't that touch your soul 310 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,360 Speaker 1: at all? Britt asked, when that little girl was down 311 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: on the ground hollering, it didn't touch my soul. Henry answered, 312 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: because I didn't kill nobody. He added, I want to 313 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: tell you something, Joe Freeman, God got your judgment right 314 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: in hell waiting for you. It wasn't enough. The jury 315 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: convicted both Henry and Leon based on the confessions. After 316 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: the verdict came back that fingerprint testing appears to have 317 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: been canceled. 318 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,240 Speaker 3: Jeff Freeman Brett was much more concerned and laser focus 319 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 3: on pursuing the death penalty against Tenry McCollum and Leon 320 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 3: Brown than he was in finding the real killer. They 321 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 3: failed to pursue a fingerprint examination that I tend to 322 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,439 Speaker 3: think would have been very much determinative in this case, 323 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:34,680 Speaker 3: and I have to imagine that Joe Freeman Britt was 324 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 3: part of that decision making process. 325 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: The defense was never even told that police had requested 326 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: fingerprint testing. Instead, that information remained hidden, and Henry and 327 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: Leon were sent to North Carolina's death Row, right alongside 328 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: Roscoe artists. A few years later, in nineteen eighty eight, 329 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:56,159 Speaker 1: a court overturned Henry and Leon's convictions, but Britt retried 330 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: them both separately. In nineteen ninety one, at Leon's si 331 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,120 Speaker 1: second trial, the judge dismissed the murder charges against him, 332 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: so Leon was convicted only of rape and sentenced to 333 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: life in prison, not death. But Henry still faced murder 334 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:14,200 Speaker 1: charges and he was soon convicted again. His attorneys hoped 335 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 1: that at least they might be able to save his 336 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: life this time, but they were wrong. When Henry's sentence 337 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: was read, he sat silently with his head down on 338 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 1: the table, like a scared child. He had to go 339 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: back to death Row. The case of Sabrina Buie's murder 340 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: was closed, but not forgotten. That disabled kid who became 341 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: a murder suspect because some high schoolers thought he looked 342 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: weird was soon being singled out by a justice on 343 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: the United States Supreme Court. But Henry McCollum's case was 344 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: getting attention for all the wrong reasons. It was nineteen 345 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: ninety four, and this the Preme Court was debating whether 346 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: the United States should still have the death penalty in 347 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,719 Speaker 1: a case from Texas one, Justice Harry Blackman wrote that 348 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:13,359 Speaker 1: the death penalty should be ruled unconstitutional. Justice Blackman described 349 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: how lethal injection works, how one human being injects drugs 350 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: into another human's body in front of an audience, until 351 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: the condemned person dies in front of them. The justice 352 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 1: wrote about his experience of trying for twenty years to 353 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: develop rules that would ensure a perfect death penalty process. 354 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: After nearly two decades, he declared the task impossible. No 355 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: set of rules would be able to guarantee that we 356 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,119 Speaker 1: only execute the guilty and only after the guilty receive 357 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: a fair process. From this day forward, Justice Blackman wrote, 358 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: I shall no longer tinker with the machinery of death. 359 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a scathing rebuttal, and this is 360 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 1: where Henry and his brother Leon come in. Lethal injection, 361 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 1: Justice Scalia wrote, looks pretty desirable compared to some of 362 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: the worst murder cases. He urged readers to consider the 363 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: case of the eleven year old girl killed by stuffing 364 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: her panties down her throat. How enviable a quiet death 365 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: by lethal injection compared with that. Justice Scalia was talking 366 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,400 Speaker 1: about the case of Sabrina Buwie. 367 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,360 Speaker 3: Justice Scalia said that if there's ever a case that 368 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 3: warranted the death penalty, it's this one. Knowing what we 369 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 3: know now about Henry Leon's innocence, I think it completely 370 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 3: undermines any legal or moral argument behind that statement, because 371 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 3: if this case could be held up as the poster 372 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 3: case for the death penalty, and now we've discovered what 373 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 3: an absolute mess of negligence and railroading it involved, then 374 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:49,640 Speaker 3: that means the entire system is undermined. 375 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: The years ticked by and that rail roading started coming 376 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,679 Speaker 1: to light as the record of Joe Freeman Britz started 377 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: getting some scrutiny. According to a report by Harvard Law 378 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:04,880 Speaker 1: School's Fair Punishment Project, Britt committed misconduct in fourteen cases. 379 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: In Henry McCollum's case, the report said he failed to 380 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:13,160 Speaker 1: notify the defense not only about the Beercan fingerprint, but 381 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: also about a cigarette butt found near Sabrina's body. In 382 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: two thousand and five, more than twenty years after Sabrina died, 383 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: Henry's post conviction lawyers asked for DNA testing on the 384 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: traces of saliva left on the cigarette butt. That testing 385 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: found a single male profile and it didn't belong to 386 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: Henry or Leon. That evidence should have been enough to 387 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,400 Speaker 1: exonerate them right then and there. 388 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 3: The testing wasn't sophisticated enough at that point to match 389 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,640 Speaker 3: it to someone else. Basically, we knew that it wasn't Henry's. 390 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 3: We knew that it wasn't Leon's, but that's all that 391 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 3: we knew. 392 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: The profile couldn't be run through the national DNA database, 393 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,640 Speaker 1: and so Henry and Leon were denied exoneration because their 394 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,880 Speaker 1: lawyers couldn't tell the state whose DNA it really was. 395 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: It took nearly nine years for the case to regain momentum. 396 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:02,640 Speaker 1: In twenty fourteen, with. 397 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 3: The help of another inmate, Leon wrote to the North 398 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 3: Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission and asked them to look into 399 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 3: his case. 400 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 2: The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission is an independent state 401 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 2: agency charged with investigating claims of actual innocence. But the 402 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,879 Speaker 2: Commission doesn't have an agenda. It's not here to prove 403 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 2: that the defendants did not commit this crime. It's here 404 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 2: to find the truth, and it's the only statewide agency 405 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:37,640 Speaker 2: like it in the. 406 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 3: Countrys Inquiry Commission could say, we want to test this 407 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 3: evidence we want access to these records. We want access 408 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,640 Speaker 3: to these boxes of evidence that it has been sitting 409 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 3: on your shelf for thirty years. Hand them over to 410 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 3: us right now. So that's an extraordinary power to have. 411 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:55,159 Speaker 2: There was no stone left unturned. They tested every hair, 412 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:59,360 Speaker 2: they tested rappers found at the crime scene. They tested 413 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 2: beer ca They tested all of her clothing, her blouse, 414 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 2: her shoes, her socks, her underpants. They tested cigarette butts. 415 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,680 Speaker 1: This time with more sophisticated testing, the cigarette butt DNA 416 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:16,399 Speaker 1: was able to be identified. 417 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 3: It wasn't Henry's, it wasn't Leon's. 418 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 2: When they ran it through the North Carolina database, they 419 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 2: got a hit. They got a hit to Roscoe artists. 420 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 3: We knew of Roscoe artists, we knew how early similar 421 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 3: their crimes were. 422 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,879 Speaker 2: Roscoe artists who was living in the very same community, 423 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:39,359 Speaker 2: and a month later committed a very similar crime. 424 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: That was enough. Henry and Leon's lawyers, including Representative Alston, 425 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: asked the court to throw out their convictions based on 426 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: DNA evidence of the real killer, and on September second, 427 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:56,679 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were exonerated in 428 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:01,919 Speaker 1: a Robinson County courtroom as the burden of wrongful conviction 429 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: was lifted from him. Leon Brown smiled big, but all 430 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: Henry mccoum could do was sit back in his chair, 431 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: take a deep breath, and close his eyes. Both men 432 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: had served nearly thirty one years in prison. Now finally 433 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:19,119 Speaker 1: they were going home. 434 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 5: Oh I wait, yallow, no, what's my name? That's right, 435 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 5: that's right. 436 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:34,160 Speaker 1: That's the gut us. 437 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,440 Speaker 4: Y'all, y'ave y'all, y'all. 438 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 1: Do you think to make a doubly official? Both Henry 439 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 1: and Leon received pardons from the North Carolina governor in 440 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:49,639 Speaker 1: June twenty fifteen. Joe Freeman Britt remained a firm believer 441 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: in their guilt. When he heard about the pardons, Britt 442 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: called the governor a damn fool. Today, Roscoe Artist remains 443 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,479 Speaker 1: behind bars in North Carolina. On appeal, his death sentence 444 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,120 Speaker 1: was converted to life in prison. For his part, Joe 445 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: Freeman Britt died in twenty sixteen. So here's the thing. 446 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: During the thirty one years that Henry spent on death row, 447 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:19,680 Speaker 1: he went through two capital trials. Twenty four jurors evaluated 448 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: the evidence against him, and they all voted to convict. 449 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: Over the years, more than twenty judges reviewed the case 450 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: against him and said they found nothing wrong. Twelve defense 451 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 1: attorneys represented him over the years. They all did their 452 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: jobs just as the system expects them to. If it 453 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: weren't for the Innocence Inquiry Commission, Henry would probably be 454 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: dead today, executed by lethal injection. But North Carolina is 455 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 1: the only state with a commission like that, even though 456 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,480 Speaker 1: twenty seven other states have the death penalty, and the 457 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,399 Speaker 1: commission can only take a tiny fraction of the cases 458 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: that are brought to it. So I have to agree 459 00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,639 Speaker 1: with Supreme Court Justice Blackman. We can have the best 460 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: process in the world, but there is no such thing 461 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 1: as a perfect death penalty. 462 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 2: They're going to be errors in the fact that in 463 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 2: some parts of a state the death penalty is sought 464 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 2: more frequently than in other parts of the state. There 465 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 2: are going to be errors in the kinds of cases, 466 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 2: whether they are high publicity cases or not, or in 467 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 2: the race of the victim. They're going to be disparities 468 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,359 Speaker 2: in the way these decisions are made. It's a human endeavor, 469 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 2: so there are going to be errors. 470 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:35,880 Speaker 1: Henry McCollums not alone to date, one hundred and seventy 471 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: two people have been exonerated off death rows nationwide, including 472 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: at least nine in North Carolina. Have we saved every 473 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: innocent person sentenced to death? There's no way. We haven't 474 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: executed an innocent person, and it'll happen again until we 475 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 1: abolish the death penalty for good. 476 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 3: You know, someone hadn't written a letter on Leon's behalf 477 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 3: to the Ince's Inquiry Commission not be here having this conversation. 478 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 3: Henry and Leon would not have been released. And our 479 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 3: criminal justice system, and our death penalty system in particular, 480 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 3: shouldn't and can't, rely on luck to protect innocent people. 481 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: Thanks to luck, perseverance, and good lawyering, Henry and Leon 482 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: are survivors. Instead of living on death row, they can 483 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: finally just live. 484 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 5: I try to stay busy every day. 485 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 2: That's Henry, my future wife. You know, she makes my days. 486 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 3: She's sweet. 487 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 5: When I get up in the morning, like five o'clock 488 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 5: in the morning, you know, I make her coffee which 489 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 5: she drinks deep cafee. I drink mine's black with no shiver. 490 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 5: It's a lot of food that I enjoy eating. I 491 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 5: like turn up greens, collar greens, and I said, my 492 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 5: lady is the best one knew how to fix that 493 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,479 Speaker 5: baked chicken. For me, it feels good to breathe this 494 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 5: air out here. It's good to have my freedom again. 495 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: And here's Leon. 496 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 6: My favorite thing to do is really, uh, listen to 497 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 6: the radio odies and R and B classics, the seventies 498 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 6: and eighties and nineties, some of the old school Stones 499 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 6: songs that they don't make no more. 500 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 2: And here the group won. 501 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 6: You know, I try to treat everybody the way I 502 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 6: would want to be treated. I guess that's why they 503 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 6: like me the way they do. They keep me going, 504 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 6: keep me laughing, and you know, night be here before 505 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 6: you know it. 506 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 2: The way the day be going. Man, it's always something 507 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 2: to do. 508 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: This episode is dedicated to Henry and Leon and to 509 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 1: all the brave lawyers fighting to abolish the death penalty. 510 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: Steve and I salute you. Wrongful Conviction, False Confessions is 511 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with 512 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: Signal Company Number one Special thanks to our executive producers 513 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,960 Speaker 1: Jason Flamm and Kevin Wardis. Our production team is headed 514 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: by Senior producer and Pope, along with producers Joshi Hammer 515 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 1: and Jess Shane. Our show is mixed by Genie Montalvo. 516 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: John Colbert is our intrepid intern. Our music was composed 517 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: by Jay Ralph. You can follow me on Instagram or 518 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,480 Speaker 1: Twitter at Laura and I Rider, and you. 519 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,240 Speaker 2: Can follow me on Twitter at s Drisen. 520 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: For more information on the show, visit Wrongful Conviction podcast 521 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: dot com. Be sure to follow the show on Instagram 522 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and 523 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: on Twitter at wrong Conviction