1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: I am a very different person now than I was 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: thirty years ago. In certain ways, I'm still the same. 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: I'm still a very loving person, a very compassionate person, 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: a very affectionate person, but I have a mental illness 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: that is treated now. 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,479 Speaker 2: So over the last thirty years on death Row, a 7 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 2: lot has changed for Krista, even as much as stayed 8 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 2: the same. She's been medicated for her mental illness, She's 9 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 2: engaged in therapy and undergone brain scans. She says she 10 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 2: spent time trying to understand what she did and why 11 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 2: she did it, and how she might become a better person. 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: I feel like I was really misunderstood. I was very 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: loving and wanted to be loved, and I'm still very 14 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: buved and what they loved that. I know what that 15 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: means now as in a healthy way as you know. 16 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 3: Then. 17 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: I didn't understand what what healthy love looks like, and 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: I do now. I feel I don't know I'm someone 19 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: over my words. 20 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 2: The idea that Krista can and has changed even as 21 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 2: she sits in solitary is at the heart of the 22 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 2: final efforts to save her life, But her decades of 23 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 2: appeals focused on the problems at her trial, what the 24 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 2: jury heard, but more important, what they didn't hear about 25 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 2: her short life before her arrest. Her attorneys say that 26 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 2: she is now someone loving and remorseful and generous, someone 27 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 2: who deserves to live. But the decades long process of 28 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 2: trying to save her life by convincing a court that 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 2: she didn't get a fair trial, that her attorney was 30 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 2: ineffective hasn't been easy. I think we just need to 31 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: understand the appellate process. 32 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 4: So she's convicted a trial, there's a direct appeal that 33 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 4: I believe that her trial council handled that. Then at 34 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 4: that point, because it's a death case, that goes up 35 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 4: to the Tennessee Supreme Court. 36 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,799 Speaker 2: Sarah Trelevan and I are sitting in Randy Spidey's office. 37 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 2: He's a post conviction defense attorney in Nashville and he's 38 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 2: been a part of Christa's legal team for five years. 39 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 4: Then it comes back to our office, and then it 40 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 4: begins to work its way through the post conviction process, 41 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 4: which is back in the trial court but very limited 42 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 4: to constitutional issues and effective assistance of counsel, that kind 43 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:42,399 Speaker 4: of thing. 44 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 2: We're both staring at Randy trying to absorb this incredibly 45 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 2: dense and lengthy process. 46 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 4: This is what I did when I taught folks. 47 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 2: Randy takes out a post it note and he starts 48 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 2: to draw little boxes, leading to more little boxes until 49 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 2: we can clearly see the flow chart of three decades 50 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 2: of trying to save Christa's life. 51 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 4: So Trial CCA UH Spring Court, Tennessee Supreme Court, US 52 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 4: Spring Court is up here, and then I. 53 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 5: Might have to take this to Keinotsen. 54 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 2: Since her conviction in nineteen ninety six, Christa's case has 55 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 2: bounced around Tennessee's state and federal courts. The nine basic 56 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 2: steps in her appellate process primarily challenged the constitutionality of 57 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 2: issues at the trial, violations of the sixth Amendment right 58 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 2: to effective council, for example, and over the years, Christa's 59 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 2: team has made several key arguments, many of them stemming 60 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 2: from that right to effective council, but other issues raised 61 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 2: included that the court should have granted the motion for 62 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 2: a change in venue, that death by electrocution is cruel 63 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 2: and unusual punishment, that Christa has brain damage, likely from 64 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 2: her premature birth and from her mother's drink, which later 65 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 2: showed up in brain scans. It goes on and on 66 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 2: and the whole time Christa has been sitting in solitary. 67 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 6: Obviously she has run through all of her appeals, They've 68 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 6: all been denied. 69 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 2: This is Molly Kinkaid, another of Christa's lawyers. Christa's team 70 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 2: has only two options left. First, a request for a 71 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 2: certificate of commutation, meaning a request that her sentence be 72 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 2: reduced from death to life in prison, that is currently 73 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 2: before the Tennessee Supreme Court. The court is considering several 74 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 2: arguments already made in Christa's numerous appeals, but also that 75 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,359 Speaker 2: nearly two hundred females in Tennessee convicted of first degree 76 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:52,119 Speaker 2: murder receive life sentences, yet Christa, a traumatized, mentally ill teen, 77 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 2: received death, a sentence no female teen has received in 78 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 2: the US in the modern era. Second option, their Hail Mary, 79 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 2: is for clemency, essentially a plead to Governor Bill Lee 80 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 2: to show mercy on Christa's life. That's what her team 81 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 2: is currently focused on. One of the key arguments relates 82 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 2: to a two thousand and five US Supreme Court decision 83 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 2: that set a national standard that individuals under the age 84 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 2: of eighteen could not be executed for their crimes. Krista 85 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 2: was eighteen at the time she killed Colleen, so the 86 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 2: decision doesn't free her from death row, but her legal 87 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 2: team thinks maybe it could get a court or the 88 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 2: governor to start thinking differently about who she was at 89 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 2: the time of the murder and who she's become in 90 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 2: the decades, since. 91 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 6: She's grown a lot in prison, and she's become a 92 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 6: person that perhaps she always was meant to be. 93 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 2: I'm Beth Carris, and this is unrestorable Season two Proof 94 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 2: of Life, an original podcas asked from anonymous content and iHeartRadio. 95 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 2: So when it comes to that bright line of saying, 96 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 2: if you're this age, you can do this and or 97 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 2: you know you can't do that unless you're twenty one, 98 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 2: I mean, like, how old in Tennessee do you have 99 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 2: to be to drive a car? 100 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 4: Sixteen? Vote eighteen, drink twenty. 101 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 2: One, get married without parental permission. 102 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 4: I have no idea about eighteen. 103 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 2: I believe it's eighteen. 104 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 4: Die for your country, Oh eighteen, yeah, but rent a 105 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 4: car twenty five? 106 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 5: Yes? 107 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,679 Speaker 4: Yeah, because we don't trust them to drive a car, 108 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 4: and we shouldn't. 109 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 2: The idea of youth and diminished responsibility that teenagers simply 110 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 2: aren't capable of handling certain things is already well baked 111 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 2: into our system. But the US Supreme Court's decision Robri v. 112 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 2: Simmons in two thousand and five was a clear line 113 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 2: in the sand. The execution of juveniles those under eighteen 114 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 2: at the time of their crime violated the eighth and 115 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 2: fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, the prohibition on cruel and 116 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,679 Speaker 2: Unusual punishment, and the right to do process in equal 117 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 2: protection under the law. Just as Anthony Kennedy, writing for 118 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 2: a five to four majority decision, stated that quote society 119 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 2: views juveniles as categorically less culpable end quote than other defendants, 120 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 2: he also concluded that quote when a juvenile offender commits 121 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 2: a heinous crime, the state can exact forfeiture of some 122 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 2: of the most basic liberties, but the state cannot extinguish 123 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 2: his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding 124 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 2: of his own humanity end quote. The implication was clear, 125 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 2: Those who committed even heinous crimes at an early age 126 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 2: must be given the opportunity to change. 127 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 4: It's not that they're broken if they get better, and 128 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 4: we know they get better, but there's a diminished sense 129 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 4: of consequence. 130 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 2: And that is the case for everything young people do, 131 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 2: whether they're shoplifting or robbing someone or murdering. 132 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 4: Tattoos or whatever like, there's no sense of what's in 133 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 4: the future. 134 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 2: In his opinion, just as Kennedy acknowledged the arbitrariness of 135 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 2: imposing a line between seventeen and eighteen, the idea that 136 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 2: a few months or even a single day might be 137 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 2: the difference between life and death, Christa is the youngest 138 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 2: woman sentenced to death in the US in the modern era, 139 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 2: and that arbitrariness seems particularly stark in her case. Her 140 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 2: boyfriend to Daryl and Christa killed calling together. But to 141 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 2: Daryl is a year younger than Krista, so he was 142 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 2: sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for 143 00:08:58,200 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 2: parole later this year. 144 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 7: Knowing what we know about adolescent brain development, and there's 145 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 7: no distinction between a seventeen year old and an eighteen year. 146 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 2: Old, this is Kelly Gleeson, one of Christa's attorneys. 147 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 7: Then why should the State of Tennessee proceed with killing 148 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 7: an eighteen year old. 149 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 3: It's not normal to kill people, and it requires a 150 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 3: set of circumstances to place into some kind of context, 151 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:35,839 Speaker 3: and those circumstances have to include our brain and how 152 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:36,599 Speaker 3: it functions. 153 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 2: This is doctor Cecil Reynolds, emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology 154 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 2: and Professor of Neuroscience at Texas A and M University. 155 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 2: He's often called as an expert in cases involving youth 156 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 2: and the death penalty, and he says that adult and 157 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 2: adolescent brains are very different. 158 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 3: The frontal regions can control what the limbic system is 159 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 3: telling us to do and can modulate that behavior, and 160 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:11,319 Speaker 3: unfortunately those brain systems don't develop at the same time. 161 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 3: They don't mature at the same time. Your limbic system 162 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 3: matures years before your frontal systems do. 163 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 2: The limbic system dictates basic survival instincts, sometimes causing us 164 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 2: to lash out, while the frontal lobes manage self control. 165 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 2: What that means is that the parts of the brain 166 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 2: we rely on to rein in our most volatile and 167 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 2: least rational behavior simply haven't fully matured by the time 168 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 2: we hit eighteen. 169 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 3: The limbic system often wins that that battle or control. 170 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 3: So that's the fundamental basis of what some people will 171 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 3: refer to as the team brain Disconnected. It's not really 172 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 3: a disconnect. The connection's just not there yet in a 173 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 3: mature way that allows the system to function as it's 174 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 3: designed to function, because it's still developing, and there's a 175 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 3: lot of debate over when that maturation occurs, but there's 176 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 3: no debate that it's after twenty one. 177 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 2: Doctor Reynolds says that all of this means that a 178 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:26,200 Speaker 2: teenager or anyone younger than twenty one, is more prone 179 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 2: to impulsivity and poor decision making, less capable of meaningfully 180 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 2: considering not just consequences but the overarching morality of any action. 181 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:42,359 Speaker 3: They're just highly reactive. What's best for me in this nanosecond? 182 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 3: What do I need to do to get away? I 183 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 3: don't know how many times I've had a defendant tell 184 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 3: me when I asked, why did you kill them? I 185 00:11:54,640 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 3: didn't know anything else to do. And you particular hear 186 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 3: that the younger of the defendant, So that speaks volumes 187 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 3: as well. So the brain processes involved in that moment 188 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 3: of hot cognition and their inability to find alternative behaviors, 189 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 3: alternative ways of acting that wouldn't put them on death road. 190 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 3: And by the way, the prospect of being caught in 191 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,199 Speaker 3: charge with capital murder has zero to do with their 192 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 3: decision making. It doesn't deter a nineteen year old at all. 193 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 3: These are not carefully planned crimes where they set out 194 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 3: to kill somebody. 195 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 2: The answer to grappling with diminished responsibility, says doctor Reynolds, 196 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:53,199 Speaker 2: is by diminishing the consequences that people who commit their 197 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 2: crimes at eighteen, nineteen, and even twenty should not be 198 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 2: held to the same standards as fully mature adults. 199 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 3: Raising the age of eligibility for death from seventeen to 200 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 3: eighteen was steeped in science. So what we're trying to 201 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 3: do now is put the science that we have back 202 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 3: in front of the court system and legislatures and say 203 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 3: there's good scientific reason to raise this age of eligibility 204 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 3: for death as a penalty from eighteen to twenty one. 205 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 3: We're going to have proper development of those communication fibers. 206 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:38,199 Speaker 3: That's going to happen, which is another reason why people change. 207 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,079 Speaker 3: Not only can they change, they are going to change, 208 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 3: take some people longer than others. 209 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 5: And what do we do now that we didn't know 210 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 5: when Krista was sentenced to death. 211 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 3: Huge changes into science of brain function and our ability 212 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 3: to image brain is so much better now than it 213 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 3: was third years ago. You can appeal a guilt verdict 214 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,839 Speaker 3: on the basis of new science that would be persuasive 215 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 3: to a jury, that would demonstrate reasonable doubt or actual innocence. 216 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 3: But you can't get a new penalty here daring on 217 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 3: the basis of new science. And why shouldn't a jury 218 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 3: hear that before she's executed. 219 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: I feel old in so many ways, and still stuck 220 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: at eighteen in so many ways because I grew in 221 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: a concrete boxes here. I've been in solitary confinement for 222 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: thirty years, living in a room by myself. I just 223 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: turned forty nine, and I feel way older than that 224 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: in so many ways. 225 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 2: It's hard to compare Christa's life over the last thirty 226 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 2: years to anything familiar. So many of our common milestones, 227 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 2: going to college, finding a job, getting married, having kids, 228 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 2: finding a home, even worrying if you filed your taxes right, 229 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 2: they never happened to Krista. Instead, those years have been 230 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 2: spent in a concrete cell with one plexiglass window. Krista 231 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 2: has managed to carve out a life for herself inside 232 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 2: the debrak K Johnson Rehabilitation Center, but it's been a 233 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 2: long road, just. 234 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: Being able to wake up in the morning and want 235 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: to be awake, want to be alive, not having to 236 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: struggle to communicate with people, not feeling as it's like 237 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: when you're about polar and you're awake for days, you 238 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: feel like it really is an illness. 239 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 2: Christa's life improved significantly when she was finally properly diagnosed 240 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 2: with bipolar disorder and PTSD in her mid twenties. 241 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: It's like you're walking around with no skin, your nerves 242 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: are raw, you're physically in pain, you're mentally in pain. 243 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: It's horrible and there's no really from it. So everything 244 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: is a noxious stimuli that comes at you from every direction. 245 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: And so to just be able to walk around and 246 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: be normal and have normal conversations, normal interactions, eat normally, 247 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: sweet normally, and just live as a normal human being 248 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: is amazing. 249 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 2: As a death row inmate, Krista is not eligible for 250 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 2: formal rehabilitation programs, but she has had access to therapy. 251 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 8: When you have people who have been incarcerated for a 252 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 8: long time, they kind of experience burnout of their own. 253 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 2: Ali Winters is a social worker who started working with 254 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 2: Krista in twenty twelve. At the time, Krista was medicated 255 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 2: and stable, but she was frustrated with the turnover and 256 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 2: mental health professionals in the prison. 257 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 8: Like, I'm so tired of telling my story over and 258 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 8: over and over again, answering the same questions over and 259 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 8: over and over again, simply because I now have a 260 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 8: new therapist and over time there's a level of resistance. 261 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,120 Speaker 5: One of the things that really occurred to me when 262 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 5: I was reading through the reams of mitigation in Christa's case, 263 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 5: very very very revealing personal details. You know of the 264 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 5: worst moments in Christa's life, so you know, everyone now 265 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 5: knows who she was molested by, everyone knows about her 266 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 5: being raped. It's in the public record. Every aspect of 267 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,160 Speaker 5: your life becomes fodder for this system. 268 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:42,400 Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, And I think maybe this is why Christa 269 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 8: engaged in the therapeutic process so much. She got to 270 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 8: dictate what she needed from me, and that's exactly what 271 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 8: she got. 272 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 2: To gain back a small sice of control exactly. 273 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 9: Chris has been held in solitary confinement longer than I've 274 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 9: been alive. I don't know how to wrap my head 275 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 9: around that. I think it's a despicable thing to do. 276 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 9: To anybody. 277 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 2: This is Anna sent an investigator who works with Christa's 278 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 2: legal team, mostly tracking down mitigation evidence. 279 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:17,400 Speaker 9: Even if you consider those on death row the worst 280 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 9: of the worst, to torture somebody like that, it's inhumane. 281 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,360 Speaker 9: So Christa, in spite of the environment she's been in, 282 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 9: has chosen to be a compassionate person. Like she should 283 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 9: have evolved into just psychosis and she should be completely 284 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 9: detached from reality. She is not. Christa is a person 285 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 9: who builds relationships with people, who has intellectual interests, who 286 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 9: cares about others, who has a life, and that is 287 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 9: against the odds of an incredibly painful and dehumanizing life 288 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 9: that she lives. So I think if you look at 289 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 9: Christa in the context of that, and say thirty years 290 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 9: after this crime, Chris is somebody who shows remorse who 291 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 9: other people who are incarcated with her, they describe her 292 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 9: as a light on the unit, somebody who booies everybody 293 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 9: else's emotions. She doesn't get to see people face to face. 294 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 9: What Christa does is she talks to people through the events. 295 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 9: She encourages them when people get on the unit. I'm 296 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:17,240 Speaker 9: gonna cry because Chris is a remarkable person. When people 297 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 9: come and they don't have support, she sends them food, 298 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 9: she sends them hygiene products. It is incredible to see 299 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 9: somebody who has been through so much, who has been 300 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 9: ostracized and made out to be entreated like a monster. 301 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 9: To see somebody with that history, with that narrative, in 302 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,239 Speaker 9: these conditions who chooses to give things, not because she 303 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 9: receives anything. She isn't getting things from the women who 304 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 9: she gives food and hygiene products to. She doesn't get 305 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 9: things from the other people that she chooses to be 306 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 9: compassionate towards. She does that because that's who she is. 307 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:59,159 Speaker 9: So if you're thinking about Krista and her progression as 308 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 9: the person I think we see now is the person 309 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 9: that could have been thirty years ago had she received 310 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 9: the right supports. 311 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 2: We heard over and over from the people closest to 312 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 2: Christa that she has become a loving, caring, generous person 313 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 2: who has worked very hard to create some kind of 314 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:24,199 Speaker 2: better life for herself, even though confined to a prison cell. 315 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 2: But does that make what she did forgivable enough to 316 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,679 Speaker 2: overturn her death sentence. That is a question now for 317 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 2: the Tennessee Supreme Court or the governor. 318 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,119 Speaker 10: The anger that people feel when they hear about violent 319 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 10: crime is just this instinctive revulsion and disgust, and they 320 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 10: want to hit back. It's like, you know, being hit 321 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 10: by somebody on the playground as a kid. Your first 322 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 10: reaction is you want to hit him right back. 323 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 2: Sandra Babcock, a law professor at Cornell University and an 324 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 2: expert on women in the death penalty, says that part 325 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 2: of the sticking power of a death sentence is that 326 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 2: we gravitate towards the simplicity of retribution, and that's. 327 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 10: The challenge I think with people who know how the 328 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 10: death penalty is applied in practice, and they know that 329 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 10: it doesn't deter, they know the social science data, and 330 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 10: they also know that it doesn't protect, it doesn't make 331 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 10: people safer, and it's also bad penal policy. But those 332 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 10: kinds of rational arguments don't land with people emotionally. When 333 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 10: they hear about violent crime. They just want to punish 334 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 10: because it makes them feel like that person is getting 335 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 10: their just desserts. Executing ten more people in the year 336 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 10: that Christa was arrested for her crime would not have 337 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 10: stopped that crime. What would have stopped that crime is 338 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 10: if the state has invested in child protection services that 339 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 10: were thoughtful and that were attentive, and that were focused 340 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:15,120 Speaker 10: on providing meaningful support to families that needed it, that 341 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 10: were able to pick up on the red flags that 342 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 10: were present in Christa's case, Like that's what could have 343 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 10: stopped that crime. But it's so much more complicated, right 344 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 10: than that very clean, Like she was just evil and 345 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,720 Speaker 10: because she's evil, the only way that we can put 346 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 10: an end to this is just by killing her. 347 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 5: To look at a case like Christa's and say, well, fundamentally, 348 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 5: maybe there are there's no villain. That doesn't mean that 349 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 5: somebody you know didn't do something absolutely horrific, But this 350 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:51,680 Speaker 5: isn't a battle between good and evil. 351 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 10: One of the things that I find oddly uplifting about 352 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 10: doing death penalty work is the not knowledge that there 353 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,160 Speaker 10: are no evil people in the world. Like you grow 354 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 10: up thinking that there are evil people. It's what we're 355 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:13,120 Speaker 10: told by movies and TV shows and the media, and 356 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 10: we grow up terrified of these evil people that are 357 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:21,120 Speaker 10: out there. And if there's nothing else that I've learned 358 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 10: in the nearly thirty five years that I've been defending 359 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 10: people on death row, it is that there are no 360 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 10: evil people. There are people who do evil things, but 361 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 10: those people are deeply human, They are deeply flawed, and 362 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 10: they are very damaged. That is the story of violent 363 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 10: crime that nobody is telling. 364 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 2: Sandra says that the clemency process, the official mechanism for 365 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,920 Speaker 2: requesting mercy for someone on death row and decided by 366 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 2: the governor, is. 367 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 10: Brokenriginally, clemency was an act of grace. Clemency was a 368 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 10: fail safe. It wasn't designed to prevent innocent people from 369 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,280 Speaker 10: being executed, because those people should be pardoned, they should 370 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 10: not be in prison at all. It was designed as 371 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:21,400 Speaker 10: a way of recognizing people who had either turned themselves 372 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 10: around or had something that called out for an act 373 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 10: of grace and mercy. Clemency as it is currently practiced 374 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 10: in most states has lost that original purpose. It is 375 00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:42,719 Speaker 10: now seen as something that is only available for people 376 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:48,879 Speaker 10: who are typically possibly innocent, and that is simply not 377 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 10: its function. So there is no fail safe. There is 378 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 10: no way that the legal system has sort of built 379 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 10: in a way of taking account of redemption and rehabilitation. 380 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,679 Speaker 10: And that's one way in which our current prison system 381 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 10: has gotten so far removed from its original purpose. Right 382 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 10: its original purpose Departments of Corrections was to get people 383 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 10: ready to re enter society. You know, implicit in the 384 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 10: name Department of Corrections is that people can be corrected, 385 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 10: that people can change, and we have lost that. 386 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,199 Speaker 5: Why do you think we've lost that? 387 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 10: I think partly it's politics. Politicians feel that they are 388 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 10: going to be punished for exercising mercy. I think that 389 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,959 Speaker 10: they see it as a sign of weakness rather than 390 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,680 Speaker 10: a sign of strength. And it's also due to these 391 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 10: narratives that we tell about people. The United States is 392 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:58,119 Speaker 10: such a punitive country. It always has been, and I 393 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 10: think that tendency is only getting worse. 394 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 11: I think we have a myth about our justice system 395 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,600 Speaker 11: that comes through the news and popular media. 396 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,920 Speaker 2: This is Steve Ferrell, one of Christa's lawyers. 397 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 11: But I think that there's something about how doing this 398 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:28,200 Speaker 11: fixes problems and that victims are made whole once someone 399 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 11: has been the victim. However, in a murder, rape, even robbery, 400 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 11: so it changes the victim and the victim will never 401 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 11: be whole. And we've developed a myth about our super 402 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 11: effective justice system that it does make people whole and 403 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 11: it can't. 404 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,719 Speaker 2: At the heart of the retribution narrative, is the idea 405 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,159 Speaker 2: that the balancing of the scales is possible. When we 406 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 2: talk about Christa spending twenty three hours a day in 407 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,160 Speaker 2: a cell, others point out that Colleen doesn't even have that, 408 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,160 Speaker 2: That Kristom might demonstrate some kind of generosity to her 409 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 2: fellow inmates, but Colleen never got the chance to show 410 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 2: the world how generous she could be. That Christa robbed 411 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 2: Colleen and Colleen's family of everything, and the only way 412 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 2: to make things right is to take everything from Christa, 413 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:24,160 Speaker 2: including her life. 414 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,119 Speaker 11: When we talk about justice, I think we ignore that 415 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,879 Speaker 11: real justice is impossible on certain things, and that real 416 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 11: fairness will never be achieved in any way. 417 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 2: Perceptions of injustice and isolation have cultivated what seems like 418 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,680 Speaker 2: unique devotion on the parts of Christal's lawyers as they 419 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:50,200 Speaker 2: try to save her life. But death row lawyers often 420 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,360 Speaker 2: develop close relationships with their clients in part because there's 421 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,719 Speaker 2: some of the few people exposed to their client's humanity 422 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 2: in the context of a wildly dehumanizing situation. 423 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 7: I see you as a human being. I see what 424 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,480 Speaker 7: you've alleged to have done, and if you did it, 425 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 7: you know I don't. That doesn't matter to me. I 426 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 7: still care about you, and I will fight for you 427 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 7: and we will get the best outcome possible. And it's 428 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,119 Speaker 7: very rewarding to me because it's asking people to trust 429 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 7: to reveal the darkest, hardest secrets, the scratches on their heart. 430 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,640 Speaker 2: That's next time on Proof of Life. 431 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,920 Speaker 5: Unrestorable is executive produced and hosted by Me, Sarah Tchulevin, 432 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 5: and Beth Carris, Mixing and sound design by Rezadiya for 433 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 5: Anonymous Content. Jessica Grimshaw is our executive producer, Jennifer Sears 434 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 5: is our executive in charge of production, and Nicole Pronk 435 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 5: is our legal counsel for iHeart executive producer Christina Everett 436 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 5: and supervising producer Abu Zaphar