Latest / Wrongful Conviction / #491 Jason Flom with Tyree Wallace

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#491 Jason Flom with Tyree Wallace · Wrongful Conviction

0:02
Speaker 1: On October twenty sixth, nineteen ninety seven, a group of
0:06
Speaker 1: Philadelphia teenagers planned a robbery that took place the following
0:10
Speaker 1: night at a local Delhi. After closing up, the deli owner,
0:15
Speaker 1: mister John Sue Kang, was held up and fatally shot
0:19
Speaker 1: in front of the store. After canvassing the neighborhood, police
0:23
Speaker 1: were unable to find out who had pulled the trigger,
0:26
Speaker 1: but finding those who were part of the conspiracy was
0:29
Speaker 1: a much easier task. Those present at the October twenty
0:33
Speaker 1: sixth meeting were willing to testify against three neighborhood kids,
0:37
Speaker 1: one of whom was Tyree Wallace. Despite a wide age
0:41
Speaker 1: gap between Tyree and his co defendants, as well as
0:44
Speaker 1: multiple false testimonies exposed that trial, Tyree was sentenced to
0:48
Speaker 1: life without parole. But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction
0:59
Speaker 1: has always gave voice to innocent people in prison, and
1:02
Speaker 1: now we're expanding that voice to you. Call us at
1:05
Speaker 1: eight three three two O seven four six sixty six
1:09
Speaker 1: and tell us how these stories make you feel and
1:11
Speaker 1: what you've done to help the cause, even if it's
1:13
Speaker 1: something as simple as telling a friend or sharing on
1:16
Speaker 1: social media, and you might just hear yourself in a
1:20
Speaker 1: future episode call us eight three three two oh seven
1:23
Speaker 1: four six sixty six. Welcome back to Ronfuel Conviction, where
1:36
Speaker 1: another Philadelphia case has come to our attention, in which
1:40
Speaker 1: our guest, Tyree Wallace, was not tied to the October
1:43
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven crime scene. But when you're prosecuted for
1:46
Speaker 1: felony murder in the second degree, you don't have to be.
1:50
Speaker 1: And we'll look get into what that means in a minute,
1:52
Speaker 1: But first let me introduce Tyree, who's joining us from
1:54
Speaker 1: a Pennsylvania correctional facility, a place he doesn't belong in.
1:58
Speaker 1: He never belonged there. But Tyree, thank you for calling in.
2:02
Speaker 2: You're welcome, thank you for doing and.
2:04
Speaker 1: Here with us to help share this harrowing story. His attorney,
2:08
Speaker 1: David Perry, thanks for having me so, Tyree, you grew
2:12
Speaker 1: up in Philadelphia in the eighties and nineties.
2:14
Speaker 3: Right, yes, I did. I was born at Children's Hospital.
2:17
Speaker 3: My mother lived on Cleveland Street in South Philadelphia, but
2:22
Speaker 3: she had an alcohol addiction, and as a result of that,
2:25
Speaker 3: I bounced back and forth between she my father, sometimes
2:28
Speaker 3: my grandmother. But South Philadelphia. It was pleasant enough, but
2:32
Speaker 3: it was starting to go downhill a little bit based
2:34
Speaker 3: off of drugs in the community, but at its core
2:37
Speaker 3: was still good decent people. For the most part.
2:40
Speaker 4: What you had at that time is a war on drugs,
2:44
Speaker 4: aggressive policing, fear in the community about recidivism, some headline
2:50
Speaker 4: making situations that caused a bit of a pendulum swing
2:55
Speaker 4: to an extremely aggressive police and district attorney approach to
3:01
Speaker 4: crime in the city of Philadelphia in the late nineties,
3:04
Speaker 4: where a lot of people would say that there was
3:07
Speaker 4: more of an emphasis on clearing cases than there was
3:11
Speaker 4: on finding justice.
3:13
Speaker 1: And these are familiar touchdowns for the crack epidemic era
3:16
Speaker 1: and its aftermath all throughout this country, with most citizens
3:20
Speaker 1: just barely surviving both the crime that emanated from this
3:23
Speaker 1: scourge as well as a police force that acted with impunity,
3:27
Speaker 1: and the communities pulled through on the strength of folks
3:30
Speaker 1: like the victim in this case, mister John Sukang Rest
3:33
Speaker 1: in peace.
3:35
Speaker 3: He was just the giant in our community. He ran
3:38
Speaker 3: the Salt and Peperative Deli on Seventeenth in Ellsworth and
3:44
Speaker 3: most of the other Korean American establishments in South Philly.
3:48
Speaker 3: They normally only hired other people from the Korean American community,
3:51
Speaker 3: with the John intentionally hired from the people who lived.
3:56
Speaker 2: In South Philly.
3:57
Speaker 3: The store had a familiar feel as a result of
4:01
Speaker 3: that intentionality. But then you had a bunch of people
4:04
Speaker 3: with jobs who would not otherwise have them if not
4:07
Speaker 3: for mister John.
4:08
Speaker 1: But not everyone is a pillar of the community, like
4:11
Speaker 1: the armed young man or men potentially even boys who
4:15
Speaker 1: may or may not have conspired to rob mister John.
4:17
Speaker 1: As he closed up shop one night in the Salt
4:20
Speaker 1: and Pepper Deli.
4:22
Speaker 4: At that time of night, there is mister Kang working there,
4:26
Speaker 4: of course, and there is Levanne Griffin, the clerk. Levan
4:30
Speaker 4: Griffin talked of three individuals, perhaps including a woman, come
4:34
Speaker 4: in moments or minutes before the murder. They leave as
4:40
Speaker 4: they're closing up the shop as they would normally do.
4:42
Speaker 4: Mister Kang is holding a bag of money. Levan Griffin
4:46
Speaker 4: has already exited the store, heading towards home, and mister
4:51
Speaker 4: Kang heads towards his car. Levan Griffin hears a loud bang,
4:57
Speaker 4: turns around and sees mister Kang having fallen to the ground.
5:02
Speaker 4: Levan Griffin takes off running. There was never really any
5:06
Speaker 4: physical evidence. There's no DNA element to this case, and
5:10
Speaker 4: Levan Griffin spoke with detectives soon after this. Griffin could
5:14
Speaker 4: gives some statement about somebody shorter and more heavy set
5:18
Speaker 4: or chunkier than Tyree and also darker skinned. Levan said,
5:23
Speaker 4: they told me the people who walked into the store
5:26
Speaker 4: right before closing were involved in the shooting, and I
5:29
Speaker 4: personally had no knowledge of this.
5:31
Speaker 1: We're really not sure where they got that information, considering
5:34
Speaker 1: that the loan witness had just told them that he'd
5:37
Speaker 1: only seen one shooter. Perhaps they were trying to get
5:40
Speaker 1: him to identify the people who had come into the
5:42
Speaker 1: store since he had actually seen them and could then
5:44
Speaker 1: serve as a reliable eyewitness regardless of if those folks
5:48
Speaker 1: were involved or not. Now we're really not sure of
5:51
Speaker 1: their motives other than the significant pressure on them to
5:54
Speaker 1: close this case.
5:55
Speaker 3: It was the absolute talk of the neighborhood, and I
5:59
Speaker 3: remember thinking clearly that they are going to absolutely bury
6:02
Speaker 3: somebody for this, and that would be justified. I'm like,
6:05
Speaker 3: who would do this to mister King?
6:07
Speaker 2: Right?
6:07
Speaker 3: The Korean American community was in an uproar, and rightfully so,
6:11
Speaker 3: about what happened to missus. John Young's who came and
6:14
Speaker 3: they were demanding results. The officer, Charles Boyle and others
6:20
Speaker 3: and my cads decided that we're going to get a conviction.
6:23
Speaker 1: So the police began canvassing the neighborhood and putting pressure
6:27
Speaker 1: on a number of neighborhood kids. Raheem Shackelford, Matthew Corporu,
6:31
Speaker 1: James Davis, the first two of whom ended up becoming
6:34
Speaker 1: Tyree's co defendants.
6:36
Speaker 3: So I was from a block that was called nineteenth
6:39
Speaker 3: and eighty. All of these guys you just named were
6:41
Speaker 3: all guys from seventeenth Street. Now, while there's not a
6:44
Speaker 3: great distance, it was to rivaling communities that wouldn't have
6:50
Speaker 3: anything to do with each other. All of the guys
6:52
Speaker 3: again that you just named, were all fifteen year olds
6:54
Speaker 3: and fourteen year olds. I was nineteen years old. We
6:57
Speaker 3: weren't in the same social circles. We were from rivaling community.
7:00
Speaker 3: These we just did not interact.
7:02
Speaker 1: But there was one source from Tyree's social circle that
7:04
Speaker 1: helped the police link him with Raheem Shackelford and Matthew Corporal.
7:09
Speaker 3: An associate of mine at the time, Brian Brooks had
7:12
Speaker 3: a girlfriend named Tracy Drayton. Tracy's nephew was Matthew Corporal.
7:17
Speaker 3: On one occasion at Tracy Dreaton's house, I was introduced
7:20
Speaker 3: into Matthew Corporrew we shook Haynes never saw him again
7:24
Speaker 3: until I was on trial with him for a robbery.
7:26
Speaker 2: Howm is that?
7:28
Speaker 1: And the narrative eventually became Tyree and Brian attended a
7:31
Speaker 1: planning meeting with these fourteen year olds the day prior
7:34
Speaker 1: October twenty six, But no one is exactly sure of
7:37
Speaker 1: how this narrative came to be.
7:40
Speaker 4: I'm not exactly sure if I'll ever really know the
7:44
Speaker 4: order of events. I think there is a degree I
7:47
Speaker 4: suppose of going to the usual suspects, and I think
7:50
Speaker 4: one person pointed to another and it just sort of
7:53
Speaker 4: became what a lot of these guys have said is
7:56
Speaker 4: sort of any two will do. And when it got
7:58
Speaker 4: to a point where they found that had any two
8:01
Speaker 4: or in this case three, they could clear the case
8:05
Speaker 4: and sell it to the jury. But they sort of
8:07
Speaker 4: ricochet off of each other. They knew Brian Brooks was
8:11
Speaker 4: a bad actor because he had about four other robberies.
8:16
Speaker 1: Interestingly, while under investigation for those robberies, Brian Brooks was
8:20
Speaker 1: arrested just hours before this robbery homicide for an unrelated charge,
8:25
Speaker 1: allegedly with information to trade on So.
8:28
Speaker 4: At four point fifty pm he's in custody and they're
8:31
Speaker 4: interviewing him about the list of crimes. The murder takes
8:35
Speaker 4: place later that night. Now it's not like Brian says,
8:39
Speaker 4: I'm aware that something's going to go down tonight, So
8:41
Speaker 4: there's no foreshadowing by Brian Brooks. In December, when Brian
8:45
Speaker 4: Brooks is questioned by the police, he says he knows
8:48
Speaker 4: nothing about the murder. Brian Brooks's December and police statement
8:52
Speaker 4: is never written down. It's only ever talked about. But
8:56
Speaker 4: how do we know that it occurred? At least we
8:58
Speaker 4: believe it occurred because Brian Brooks would be questioned in
9:03
Speaker 4: a police statement which is written down in February of
9:06
Speaker 4: nineteen ninety eight, which basically begins with the police saying, Brian,
9:11
Speaker 4: you're here to talk to us on your own free will. Yes,
9:15
Speaker 4: it's about the murder of John King. Well, we interviewed
9:18
Speaker 4: you in December. You said you didn't know anything about it, right, Yes,
9:23
Speaker 4: that was a lie, right, Yes, why are you coming
9:25
Speaker 4: now to tell us what you know, Well, because there's
9:28
Speaker 4: a rumor going around that me and my brother had
9:30
Speaker 4: something to do with it, and I don't like that. However,
9:33
Speaker 4: the police knew that couldn't possibly have been plausible because
9:39
Speaker 4: they could have easily said, well, Brian, of course you
9:41
Speaker 4: had nothing to do with it. You were in custody.
9:44
Speaker 1: So even his alleged motive to come forward was incredible.
9:48
Speaker 1: In fact, Brooks had a much more credible motive for
9:51
Speaker 1: making this statement.
9:52
Speaker 3: Brian Brooks was a court for a whole host of
9:55
Speaker 3: arm robberies. Each arm robbery had assault and we shortages
10:00
Speaker 3: of takes to him, and Brian was facing two hundred
10:03
Speaker 3: to four hundred years and so Brian helped these officers
10:07
Speaker 3: in multiple different cases that he just didn't have knowledge about.
10:10
Speaker 3: He was just willing to say whatever needed to be
10:12
Speaker 3: said to take two hundred to four hundred years down
10:15
Speaker 3: to five years.
10:16
Speaker 4: Brian Brooks would go into excruciating detail about the planning
10:22
Speaker 4: of the murder. On the day before the murder that
10:26
Speaker 4: Tyree and others came by James Davis's house. They're talking
10:30
Speaker 4: all about this big plan for the following night, and
10:33
Speaker 4: if this is to be believed, the day of the murder,
10:37
Speaker 4: Brian is being questioned in custody, ostensibly about a variety
10:41
Speaker 4: of crimes. He's not trying to work that down by saying, well,
10:44
Speaker 4: I've got something for you. There's something going down tonight.
10:47
Speaker 4: He doesn't do that. Fast forward. Now it's February, and
10:50
Speaker 4: not only does he know everything, he knew it the
10:52
Speaker 4: day before it happened.
10:54
Speaker 1: Now, how is that? That's a good question now. By
10:57
Speaker 1: this time, James Davis also made a statement about them
11:00
Speaker 1: where he allegedly declined an invitation from Tyree Wallace and
11:03
Speaker 1: Raheem Shackleford to participate, that Matthew Corporal and Raheem Shackleford
11:07
Speaker 1: showed him a soft off shotgun shortly before the crime,
11:10
Speaker 1: and that Shackleford told him that they got one hundred
11:13
Speaker 1: dollars off mister King. In addition, Matthew Corporal admitted to
11:17
Speaker 1: being a lookout and implicated Shackleford and Tyree, and then
11:21
Speaker 1: the police went to Lvan Griffin with a photo array
11:24
Speaker 1: featuring Tyree, Corporal and Shackleford.
11:27
Speaker 4: And Lavan Griffin had his own issues and would later
11:30
Speaker 4: say that he was basically harassed by the police, and
11:34
Speaker 4: his testimony would later be a very weak and loose
11:40
Speaker 4: attempt to identify assailants. It was some loose reference to
11:46
Speaker 4: having a similar bust or a similar body because Levanne
11:51
Speaker 4: Griffin didn't see the shooting.
11:54
Speaker 1: All of this together was enough to charge Tyree Wallace,
11:57
Speaker 1: Matthew Corporal, and Raheem Shackleford with conspiracy to commit robbery
12:01
Speaker 1: and second degree felony murder, and Tyree was arrested on
12:04
Speaker 1: February twentieth, nineteen ninety eight.
12:07
Speaker 3: Yes, I was at my father's house in the phone ring.
12:10
Speaker 3: My father answered the phone upstairs. The ass was Tyrie there,
12:14
Speaker 3: and he calls down and says, Tyree, pick up the phone,
12:17
Speaker 3: and the front door gets kicked in.
12:19
Speaker 2: I get arrested once I get there.
12:22
Speaker 3: I was being interviewed by Detective Charles Boyle, and again
12:26
Speaker 3: I'm nineteen years old. Nervous is on him, so I
12:29
Speaker 3: say to him, I said, listen, sir, you have the
12:31
Speaker 3: one person I had nothing to do with the grown.
12:33
Speaker 3: So he looked behind him and closed the door, turned around,
12:37
Speaker 3: looked me right in my eyes and said, you know
12:39
Speaker 3: what he said. I believe you said. I don't give
12:44
Speaker 3: a fuck.
12:57
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12:59
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13:02
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13:06
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts.
13:14
Speaker 3: In the commission of a felony, if anybody has killed,
13:18
Speaker 3: everybody involved in that conspiracy receives a life sentence. So
13:24
Speaker 3: what people like Charles Boyle has been able to do
13:28
Speaker 3: is to weaponize that law. So he wasn't guessing this
13:33
Speaker 3: was a blueprint that he was so confident that he
13:37
Speaker 3: was just willing to reveal it to me. He said,
13:40
Speaker 3: let me tell you what the rest of your life is.
13:41
Speaker 2: Going to look like.
13:43
Speaker 3: You're gonna spend the next two years at CFCF then
13:46
Speaker 3: you're gonna get convicted of second degree murder. They never
13:50
Speaker 3: had to accuse me of killing mister King. They never
13:53
Speaker 3: had to accuse anyone of killing mister King. All they
13:55
Speaker 3: had to do was convince a jury that these three
13:58
Speaker 3: young black men who didn't know each other, we're in
14:01
Speaker 3: a conspiracy to roy mister King, and as a result
14:05
Speaker 3: of that, he died and everybody gets a life sentence.
14:08
Speaker 4: Rahim Shaka Ford says that when he goes into a
14:11
Speaker 4: courtroom for the first time to see Tyree, he says
14:14
Speaker 4: who's that guy?
14:16
Speaker 1: And as Tyree said earlier, he had only met Matthew
14:18
Speaker 1: Karprou once in passing. Nevertheless, just like detective Boil predicted,
14:23
Speaker 1: Tyree awaited trial for nearly two years and he was
14:26
Speaker 1: tried along with his co defendants in October nineteen ninety nine.
14:30
Speaker 3: So I did have a quarter pointed attorney, Daniel Green,
14:34
Speaker 3: and in retrospect, having some standing of how the system
14:37
Speaker 3: works when you think about the fact that the courts
14:40
Speaker 3: are in business and the de's are in business of
14:44
Speaker 3: punishing crime, of getting convictions. So when they are appointing
14:47
Speaker 3: you a coin appointed attorney, your immediate thought and this
14:51
Speaker 3: person is here to save the day, and that's not
14:54
Speaker 3: necessarily the case.
14:55
Speaker 2: This person is.
14:57
Speaker 3: Here to meet the standard of right he or she
15:00
Speaker 3: he had representation, and a lot of times they are
15:03
Speaker 3: there to help facilitate this process. And nothing stood out
15:06
Speaker 3: more to me than during the trial when my father
15:10
Speaker 3: said he came into a courtroom and Daniel Green and
15:14
Speaker 3: Evan Luiz, who was the discrease fired eighty A in
15:18
Speaker 3: my case, were just like just chumming it up.
15:21
Speaker 2: So my father went in, put the.
15:23
Speaker 3: Money together to get a paid attorney, put in a
15:25
Speaker 3: motion to have this attorney come on. This was two
15:28
Speaker 3: days before trial, and the judge said, well, listen, I
15:31
Speaker 3: can't stop you from bringing in a paid attorney, but
15:33
Speaker 3: I am not postponing this trialdy.
15:35
Speaker 2: So the attorney has two days to learn his keys.
15:38
Speaker 1: So they stuck with Daniel Green, and it appears that
15:41
Speaker 1: every state's witness was coerced and or incentivized.
15:45
Speaker 4: The narrative in the theory of the crime is that
15:49
Speaker 4: shackle Ford and Tyree Wallace accost Kang, shoot him take
15:55
Speaker 4: his money, with corporal present as a lookout, and Griffin
16:01
Speaker 4: hears it. He turns around quickly enough to see mister
16:05
Speaker 4: Kang slump onto the ground, and he takes off running scared.
16:10
Speaker 1: Remember, the state's narrative was that the assailants had entered
16:13
Speaker 1: the store before the crime. Now le Van Griffin was
16:17
Speaker 1: coerced into making IDs with the threat of his own charges.
16:21
Speaker 1: In addition, he had seen only one shooter, who he
16:24
Speaker 1: described as short, chubby, and dark skinned. Tyree is six',
16:28
Speaker 1: too slim and light. Skinned Yet griffin still Id shackelford And,
16:33
Speaker 1: tyree So tyree's lawyer was able to Impeach griffin on Cross.
16:38
Speaker 3: He read the description, though and as you pointed, OUT
16:41
Speaker 3: i was the polar opposite not only height but, weight skin.
16:45
Speaker 3: Color Danny green Asked Levan griffin, directly are you saying
16:51
Speaker 3: that my client is the person that came into the.
16:53
Speaker 3: Store his response, is, no he fit the. Description so
16:57
Speaker 3: my lawyer, said, listen you're, honor please tell him to
16:59
Speaker 3: stop singing it and just answer my. Question so my
17:02
Speaker 3: lawyer asked him, again are you saying that he's the
17:05
Speaker 3: person who came into the. Store he's, saying, no he
17:08
Speaker 3: fit the. Description so he, said you're, honor please make
17:10
Speaker 3: him stop saying. That so the court stipulates that this
17:12
Speaker 3: was not an, identification that it was something.
17:15
Speaker 1: Lesser, Dan you Had Matthew, corporu who claimed to be a,
17:19
Speaker 1: lookout but his statement presented a familiar constitutional. Issue corporal
17:23
Speaker 1: has His Fifth amendment right against self, incrimination and, conversely
17:27
Speaker 1: his co defendants have the right to confront their. Accuser
17:29
Speaker 1: so to satisfy everyone's, rights they had a redacted version
17:33
Speaker 1: Of corporal's statement read into the.
17:35
Speaker 3: Record they Put Charles boyle on the stain who read
17:40
Speaker 3: his statement into, evidence where he would, say me and
17:43
Speaker 3: two guys planned to do this. Robbery so it's three
17:46
Speaker 3: people in Proud he's, saying me and two. Guys the
17:49
Speaker 3: fact that this detective is reading this into the evidence
17:53
Speaker 3: gives it.
17:53
Speaker 1: Validity and even Though tyree And shackle for his names
17:57
Speaker 1: were carefully left, Out levang had made his. Identification, however
18:02
Speaker 1: impeachd may have been and remember to convict them of
18:05
Speaker 1: conspiracy and second degree fellowing. Murder they didn't have to
18:08
Speaker 1: prove who killed Mister.
18:10
Speaker 5: KING i didn't realize that THE da wasn't even trying
18:13
Speaker 5: to prove a legitimate connection between me and the. Scene
18:17
Speaker 5: she was only trying to convince these twelve people that
18:21
Speaker 5: these three young black men were in a conspiracy to
18:24
Speaker 5: rob Mister. King now that was not, true, obviously but
18:28
Speaker 5: that's a much lower.
18:29
Speaker 1: Standard so they heard testimony about The october twenty sixth planning,
18:33
Speaker 1: meeting starting With James davis and his Mother Sonya.
18:35
Speaker 4: Godfrey his, MOTHER i think lied on the stand about
18:39
Speaker 4: time of day and what she. Said when she turns
18:41
Speaker 4: out she was at work and wasn't even, home and
18:43
Speaker 4: so she was caught in her. Lie it sort of
18:47
Speaker 4: smelled like an effort to Shield James davis from being
18:51
Speaker 4: sucked into this whole, thing and it sounds like it.
18:53
Speaker 5: Worked when she was court In, alie she said that
18:56
Speaker 5: they made her say.
18:57
Speaker 2: It she didn't want to see.
18:58
Speaker 5: It, then when her son undercrossed, examination said that the
19:01
Speaker 5: police harassed, him that they brought him and his mother
19:05
Speaker 5: to the station three or four.
19:06
Speaker 2: Times for whatever.
19:08
Speaker 4: Reasons James davis never became engulfed in the police's efforts back,
19:15
Speaker 4: then but there's seemingly a pretty consistent chorus of people
19:19
Speaker 4: who are incredulous of What James davis had to.
19:22
Speaker 1: Say James davis said that at the planning, Meeting shackelford
19:26
Speaker 1: And tyree asked him to, participate but he, declined and
19:29
Speaker 1: Then shackelford And corporu showed him a shot off shotgun
19:33
Speaker 1: prior to the crime and after the fact told him
19:36
Speaker 1: that they only got one hundred dollars from Mister. King
19:38
Speaker 1: and Then Brian brooks also claimed to have witnessed the
19:42
Speaker 1: meeting and that after the, Crime tyree told him That
19:45
Speaker 1: shackelford was the.
19:46
Speaker 4: Shooter brian tells this story and then after he's finished
19:51
Speaker 4: giving his, testimony he goes back to the holding area
19:55
Speaker 4: of the courtroom and he turns To Sheriff John hamilton
19:59
Speaker 4: and he says to the sh, Sheriff, Hey, sheriff what's
20:01
Speaker 4: the penalty for? Perjury and the sheriff says a three
20:05
Speaker 4: to five.
20:05
Speaker 2: Years.
20:05
Speaker 4: Why it's, like, WELL i just lied up. There they
20:08
Speaker 4: made me say. That so the sheriff goes and reveals
20:11
Speaker 4: to the judge what this witness has just said to
20:14
Speaker 4: him within minutes of. Testifying in this, case there would
20:18
Speaker 4: be some delay. There the sheriff told me. That as
20:22
Speaker 4: that was all, unfolding some of the other police around
20:27
Speaker 4: actually said to the sheriff, like what are you an inmate?
20:30
Speaker 1: Lover an inmate?
20:31
Speaker 4: Lover it was clearly very revealing about the culture in
20:35
Speaker 4: which a lot of these guys, operated And Sheriff hamilton was, like,
20:39
Speaker 4: NO i know right from. WRONG i have to tell the.
20:41
Speaker 4: Court so they brought the sheriff on the. Stand they
20:43
Speaker 4: Brought Brian brooks back on the, stand and that's when
20:46
Speaker 4: The ASSISTANT da basically said To Brian, brooks hold on a,
20:49
Speaker 4: minute what happens to people who tell on other people in?
20:53
Speaker 4: Prison what are?
20:53
Speaker 2: They they're?
20:54
Speaker 4: Snitches so you're just really worried about being a, snitch,
20:57
Speaker 4: Right your testimony was.
20:58
Speaker 5: Accurate realized that THE da did a lot of things
21:03
Speaker 5: in that trial that she wasn't supposed to do as a.
21:06
Speaker 5: Prosecutor but NOW i understand the purpose of. It the
21:09
Speaker 5: way she was able to Explain Brian brooks's recantation was
21:13
Speaker 5: just not. True but she did these things over and over.
21:17
Speaker 5: Again she had a pattern in. Practice SO i need
21:20
Speaker 5: people to UNDERSTAND dh they have immunity for doing. Anything
21:24
Speaker 5: they have to be seriously corrupt in order to get,
21:29
Speaker 5: fired and she wound up being, fired.
21:32
Speaker 1: But that was many years after it would have Done
21:34
Speaker 1: tyree any. Good, meanwhile the attorneys for all three were
21:38
Speaker 1: able to expose inconsistencies and falsehoods From Levon, Griffin James,
21:42
Speaker 1: davis And Sonia, godfrey followed By Brian brooks's in court,
21:45
Speaker 1: recantation and Then tyree's. Alibi witnesses told the jury where
21:50
Speaker 1: he was that.
21:51
Speaker 4: Night he was At Damon milligan's house With Damon milligan's
21:54
Speaker 4: mother and. Girlfriend but this house that they used to
21:57
Speaker 4: hang out with was a bit of a, party not
22:01
Speaker 4: exactly the most credible witness to put in front of a.
22:04
Speaker 4: Jury they were easily discredited by the DA's. Office so
22:09
Speaker 4: the alibi just sort of frittered.
22:11
Speaker 1: Away it also didn't clear him from The october twenty sixth.
22:15
Speaker 4: Meeting there was another witness who would never be Called Jonathan.
22:20
Speaker 4: Muldrew mouldrew had gone down and spoken to either THE
22:26
Speaker 4: da Or summon in the office and he actually expected
22:29
Speaker 4: to be somehow called as a witness by the. Prosecution
22:32
Speaker 4: muldrow was At James davis home where this supposed the
22:37
Speaker 4: planning session took, place And muldrow was, like, No i'll
22:41
Speaker 4: tell you the, truth and who was there and who wasn't.
22:43
Speaker 4: There muldrow Professes tyree's innocence and complete. Uninvolvement tyree's lawyer
22:50
Speaker 4: tried to Get muldrow to come, testify And muldrow was
22:54
Speaker 4: in the, hospital and there's an exchange where the judge, says,
22:58
Speaker 4: look i'll help you, Help i'll serve a, subpoena will
23:01
Speaker 4: get him to the court if you need him, testify
23:03
Speaker 4: and they just gave.
23:04
Speaker 1: Up just gave up on the independent witness who could
23:08
Speaker 1: have destroyed the planning meeting, evidence so that left only
23:11
Speaker 1: his alibi witnesses against Cor pru's redacted. Statement The Van
23:15
Speaker 1: griffins lesser than id supported by the parade of discredited state's.
23:20
Speaker 2: Witnesses to me and.
23:21
Speaker 5: The people who supported, me it seemed like an absolute no.
23:24
Speaker 5: Brainer when people are being court and, lies when people
23:26
Speaker 5: were saying they didn't want to, say THE da made
23:28
Speaker 5: me saying when people are recanting like At, troud this
23:31
Speaker 5: stuff is, happening you know WHAT i. Mean on top
23:34
Speaker 5: of the mindset THAT i can't be found guilty for
23:37
Speaker 5: something that didn't, new SO i was almost certain THAT
23:39
Speaker 5: i was going to be found not.
23:41
Speaker 1: Guilty but remember the standard was much. Lower they just
23:46
Speaker 1: needed to get the jury to believe that these guys
23:48
Speaker 1: must have been involved in some way and the events
23:50
Speaker 1: that led to robbery and the resulting, death whether that was,
23:53
Speaker 1: planning actually robbing and shooting Mister, king or even merely
23:58
Speaker 1: just being a. Lookout when there appeared to be doubts
24:01
Speaker 1: About corporal's, GUILT.
24:02
Speaker 4: I think there was at least a jury question or
24:05
Speaker 4: note that had been, passed and they gave the prosecution
24:09
Speaker 4: a little bit of nervousness about getting a conviction On.
24:12
Speaker 4: Corporal so for whatever reason or for those, reasons they
24:16
Speaker 4: would strike a deal With corporal before the verdict would
24:20
Speaker 4: come down on Shackle.
24:21
Speaker 1: Ford And, wallace so corporal was not included in the
24:26
Speaker 1: verdict that led to life imprisonment for Both Raheem shackelford
24:29
Speaker 1: And Tyree.
24:30
Speaker 2: Wallace my mindset was THAT i couldn't be found guilty.
24:34
Speaker 5: BECAUSE i didn't do it LIKE i genuinely absolutely believe that.
24:39
Speaker 5: Right so of course that afforded, hope, right but then
24:43
Speaker 5: they read the verdict.
24:44
Speaker 2: And the verdict was. Guilty it's hard for me to
24:46
Speaker 2: put in words how that. Felt it was. Disbelief it
24:50
Speaker 2: was not.
24:51
Speaker 5: Understanding as soon as they gave me the, OPPORTUNITY i
24:54
Speaker 5: spoke out immediately at trial and, said you're HONOR i
24:56
Speaker 5: did not commit this.
24:57
Speaker 2: Crime it wasn't viewed as someone wh.
25:00
Speaker 5: Didn't commit the crime fighting for their life, right which
25:03
Speaker 5: is what it. Was it was viewed as this convicted
25:06
Speaker 5: murderer being. Disruptive so AFTER i was sentenced to, life
25:26
Speaker 5: THEN i wasn't shipped. Upstate it was absolutely what you
25:31
Speaker 5: think prison is supposed to be. Like it was extremely,
25:34
Speaker 5: violent it was extremely sexually. Violent that was my first
25:38
Speaker 5: encounter With Central pennsylvania CEOs and how they don't like
25:45
Speaker 5: people From, philly how they particularly don't like black men
25:48
Speaker 5: And it's my first time ever encountering this type of. Energy,
25:51
Speaker 5: Right it's like the stain for, me for people who
25:54
Speaker 5: don't know, me there was a violent. Energy, Now fortunately
25:57
Speaker 5: the neighborhood THAT i come From South philadelphia had a
26:00
Speaker 5: strong presence in the.
26:01
Speaker 2: INSTITUTION i went right into that.
26:03
Speaker 3: Fold but THEN i immediately switched my mind to all,
26:07
Speaker 3: RIGHT i have to fight, this AND i got introduced
26:09
Speaker 3: to the law library and really got focused on. Learning
26:12
Speaker 3: BUT i saw at a really quick face that this
26:16
Speaker 3: is language that.
26:17
Speaker 5: Is created by this. System these are rules that are
26:20
Speaker 5: created by this. System and then the people who want
26:24
Speaker 5: to keep you in, prison they are the arbiter of
26:26
Speaker 5: whether you are successful or.
26:27
Speaker 1: Not his initial appeals were, denied as was his first
26:31
Speaker 1: post conviction motion or but it's known as A pcra
26:35
Speaker 1: in two thousand and, two which was based on an
26:37
Speaker 1: Effective assistance Of, council While tyree filed successive. Pcras Matthew
26:42
Speaker 1: corporal swore an Affid david For Raheem shakle for his
26:45
Speaker 1: attorney in two thousand and, seven saying that he alone
26:48
Speaker 1: committed the robbery homicide Which tyree only heard about in
26:52
Speaker 1: two thousand and, nine but In finally a NEW pcra
26:54
Speaker 1: based on that Affid, david the state presented paperwork stating
26:58
Speaker 1: That corporal was mentally ill and requested a psychologist to
27:02
Speaker 1: demonstrate what they had known at the time of.
27:05
Speaker 3: Trial corporu was clinically insane at the time of front
27:09
Speaker 3: the major, depression bipolar, schizophrenia and projection, issues and it
27:14
Speaker 3: dates back to when he was a. Child the only
27:17
Speaker 3: REASON i know this is BECAUSE i had access to
27:20
Speaker 3: his records as a result of the competency. Here so
27:23
Speaker 3: they knew this about this man and still took a
27:26
Speaker 3: statement from.
27:27
Speaker 1: Him, obviously THE pcra was, denied but corproof should have
27:30
Speaker 1: never been relied on in the first. Place, then in twenty,
27:34
Speaker 1: thirteen The Pennsylvania Innists project signed on To tyree's case
27:37
Speaker 1: and they unearthed much of the exculpatory evidence that you've heard.
27:40
Speaker 5: Today their private investigator went, out combed the, community spoke
27:44
Speaker 5: To Van. Griffin he wanted to come, Forward Rashie, grant same,
27:48
Speaker 5: Thing Ricky, wilson same, thing on and on and on
27:51
Speaker 5: and on and.
27:52
Speaker 2: On there is all of this.
27:53
Speaker 1: Evidence Le Van griffin said that police threatened him with
27:56
Speaker 1: his own charges if he didn't say exactly what they
27:59
Speaker 1: wanted him to. Say Rashid grant And Ricky wilson said
28:02
Speaker 1: the same thing That john muldro had. Said tyree was
28:05
Speaker 1: not at The october twenty six planning meeting At James davis's,
28:09
Speaker 1: house and ANOTHER pcira was.
28:11
Speaker 4: Filed there was a moment there around twenty nineteen where
28:15
Speaker 4: it looked like witness interviews that With muldrow and some
28:19
Speaker 4: other witnesses they were going to maybe get some assistance
28:23
Speaker 4: from the. Court But Levanne griffin was supposed to show.
28:25
Speaker 4: Up he didn't show. Up and that was right BEFORE
28:28
Speaker 4: i got.
28:29
Speaker 1: Involved and even though The pennsylvania And This Is project
28:32
Speaker 1: routinely reaches out to private council to help with, cases
28:35
Speaker 1: that's not How david got. INVOLVED i, mean after, all
28:38
Speaker 1: he's an intellectual property.
28:39
Speaker 5: Lawyer SO i started this movement, here which was called Main.
28:43
Speaker 5: Up in just a quick, nutshell how that. Happened WHEN
28:46
Speaker 5: i was seeing all of this gun violence ON, tv
28:49
Speaker 5: it was really the only people that was standing up
28:51
Speaker 5: to it were the women in the. Community so my
28:54
Speaker 5: thought process was, like where are the? Men SO i,
28:56
Speaker 5: said what CAN i do about?
28:57
Speaker 2: It in?
28:58
Speaker 5: Here AND i knew that a lot of the young
29:00
Speaker 5: guys who were here would be back in the. Outside
29:02
Speaker 5: SO i wanted to create a movement of men understanding
29:06
Speaker 5: what it was to be a, man what that meant for,
29:09
Speaker 5: yourself for your, family and your. Community and we created
29:12
Speaker 5: this movement Called Man. Up so every week we would
29:16
Speaker 5: have four hundred and fifty. Men we had to turn
29:19
Speaker 5: away hundreds of people to get to the chapel every,
29:21
Speaker 5: week and the only thing that we were there for
29:24
Speaker 5: was to talk about being better. Men each week there
29:27
Speaker 5: would be a different. Topic so if this week's topic
29:30
Speaker 5: was about community, restoration we would have fives people would
29:35
Speaker 5: act out a, skit somebody to do a song, outside
29:38
Speaker 5: guests come in and give speeches about community. Restoration but
29:41
Speaker 5: then we would lay out plans for how we impact our,
29:45
Speaker 5: community which is how The Street Capin initiative was. Born
29:48
Speaker 5: jobs came from. This my father one c three nonprofit,
29:51
Speaker 5: Organization Man up came as a result of. This we
29:54
Speaker 5: did street, cleanings we had a Man up hubs and
29:57
Speaker 5: different communities on the, outside so we did a lot
29:59
Speaker 5: of positive things based off of.
30:01
Speaker 4: It the program was being so well received that there
30:04
Speaker 4: were questions about replicating it at other, prisons so he
30:08
Speaker 4: had some intellectual property.
30:10
Speaker 2: Questions So dave came to See may and up it.
30:14
Speaker 4: Was an amazing almost revival like, programs and they would
30:17
Speaker 4: tackle topics like toxic masculinity or anchor, management or being
30:22
Speaker 4: a better, father or fiscal. Responsibility and, eventually through probably
30:28
Speaker 4: some deat subliminal messaging From tyree to, me you, know
30:33
Speaker 4: he wanted me to play that council. Role AND i
30:37
Speaker 4: sort of resisted it for quite a while because it
30:41
Speaker 4: was not my. Lane BUT i, eventually with the support
30:44
Speaker 4: of my Firm Blank rom and then collaborating With Ker
30:47
Speaker 4: Bradford gray And kier having been the chief public defender
30:52
Speaker 4: In Montgomery, county having headed up The Defenders association In,
30:56
Speaker 4: philadelphia we became co counsel For.
30:59
Speaker 1: Tyree david and Kir Bradford gray continued down the same
31:03
Speaker 1: path as The Pennsylvania innis's, project interviewing and reinterviewing.
31:07
Speaker 4: WITNESSES i, Mean brooks has told Us tyree's. Innocent shack
31:11
Speaker 4: Of ford has told Us tyree's. Innocent muldrew Knows tyree
31:15
Speaker 4: had nothing to do with. It davis said as.
31:17
Speaker 2: Much James davis.
31:19
Speaker 3: Has since acknowledged.
31:20
Speaker 2: IT i had no involvement in it that wasn't at his.
31:23
Speaker 4: Home there's nobody in this entire chorus that Says tyree
31:27
Speaker 4: actually had anything to do with.
31:29
Speaker 1: It as we understand, it the chorus to Whom david
31:32
Speaker 1: is referring has unanimously named an alternate suspect who may
31:36
Speaker 1: or may not have been one of the state's trial. Witnesses,
31:39
Speaker 1: now we're certainly not in the business of making accusations
31:42
Speaker 1: that might lead to another wrongful, Conviction so we're going
31:45
Speaker 1: to refer to the chorus of state witnesses and others
31:48
Speaker 1: who Proclaim tyree's.
31:50
Speaker 4: Innocence Levan griffin knows That Tyree, WALLACE i mean that
31:54
Speaker 4: how many more. People the, sheriff who sat in the,
31:57
Speaker 4: courtroom who has a pretty healthy experience of watching people,
32:01
Speaker 4: testify believes That Brian brooks's recantation was actually the truth coming.
32:07
Speaker 4: Out so the sheriff Supports Tyree. Wallace the sheriff came
32:11
Speaker 4: up here and talked with us about. It he was
32:13
Speaker 4: shocked when he was contacted and found out That Tyree
32:16
Speaker 4: wallace had been sitting in prison for. Years he thought
32:19
Speaker 4: for sure there had been a mistrial After Brian brooks's, Recantation.
32:23
Speaker 1: So david And Kir Bradford gray filed ANOTHER pcra in
32:26
Speaker 1: which all of the witnesses at trial have either recanted
32:29
Speaker 1: or been, discredited and with the court's typical reluctance to
32:33
Speaker 1: admit wrongdoing and the goal of at least Getting tyree,
32:35
Speaker 1: Home david And keir got the court to agree to.
32:38
Speaker 4: Resentencing tyree's sentence was life without parole under second degree founy,
32:43
Speaker 4: murder and On june, tenth twenty twenty, four we got
32:46
Speaker 4: his life sentence, vacated having been sort of put into
32:50
Speaker 4: a position where he would end up pleading to conspiracy
32:53
Speaker 4: to commit murder.
32:54
Speaker 5: Three so this unwillingness to truly be accountable for the
33:00
Speaker 5: ills of the, system that is another part that has
33:04
Speaker 5: to be.
33:04
Speaker 1: Confronted so the fight to Clear tyree's name is not.
33:08
Speaker 1: Over as far as his resentencing hearing On, Monday november,
33:11
Speaker 1: fourth twenty twenty, four there were a number of possible,
33:14
Speaker 1: outcomes the worst one being twenty to forty years with parole.
33:18
Speaker 1: Eligibility with optimism and, Anticipation tyree registered to, vote and
33:23
Speaker 1: we're happy to announce that he was released on time
33:26
Speaker 1: served and got a chance to vote for the very
33:29
Speaker 1: first time the following. Day we're so happy For tyree
33:33
Speaker 1: and his, family and again we hope for their continued
33:36
Speaker 1: success as they continue to fight his. Case in the,
33:39
Speaker 1: meantime we're going to link a fundraiser For tyree's re
33:42
Speaker 1: entry in the episode, description as he's not only going
33:45
Speaker 1: to need help to get, by but also to hit
33:47
Speaker 1: the ground running with the work he's been doing. Inside
33:50
Speaker 1: and with, that we're going to go to closing arguments
33:52
Speaker 1: as we originally recorded them before this tremendous.
33:56
Speaker 4: News i'm optimistic that we're going to have justice For.
34:00
Speaker 4: Tyree he's the kind of voice that we should want
34:04
Speaker 4: in our. COMMUNITY i think anyone who meets him feels
34:07
Speaker 4: like it's a bit of a privilege to have crossed
34:10
Speaker 4: his path and hear what he has to. Say so
34:13
Speaker 4: we're going to bring him. Home i'm confident about. That
34:15
Speaker 4: But tyree's fight won't end. Then he still deserves to
34:19
Speaker 4: be fully. Exonerated he's going to want support not only
34:23
Speaker 4: for himself personally to some, degree But tyree is going
34:28
Speaker 4: to sort of set things, ALIGHT i think in terms
34:31
Speaker 4: of fighting for, others trying to change, policy and he's
34:34
Speaker 4: going to want people who are listening and who are
34:37
Speaker 4: set by his story or energized by it to join,
34:40
Speaker 4: him because it's going to take a whole chorus of
34:43
Speaker 4: people to make changes to the things that he faced
34:46
Speaker 4: so that he and others don't continue to have this.
34:50
Speaker 2: HAPPEN i am extremely grateful for the.
34:54
Speaker 5: Opportunity, again it is not acceptable that my name still
34:57
Speaker 5: be attached to the robbery and killing position young Who.
35:00
Speaker 5: King ONCE i am, OUT i am want to fight
35:03
Speaker 5: to make sure that my name is, clear that what
35:06
Speaker 5: happened to missus young youngs who cling is made. CLEAR
35:09
Speaker 5: i want to do some things to honor his name
35:11
Speaker 5: and to respect his name and. PERPETUITY i am an open.
35:14
Speaker 5: Book there are no questions THAT i do not want
35:17
Speaker 5: to ask or.
35:18
Speaker 2: Answered and, again thank you for this.
35:20
Speaker 1: Opportunity thank you for listening To Wrongful. Conviction you can
35:29
Speaker 1: listen to this and all The lava For good podcasts
35:31
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Speaker 1: For Good plus On Apple. PODCASTS i want to thank
35:37
Speaker 1: our production, Team Connor hall And Kathleen, fink as well
35:41
Speaker 1: as my fellow executive Producers Jeff, Kempler Kevin, wartis And Jeff.
35:44
Speaker 1: Cliber the music in this production was supplied by three
35:47
Speaker 1: TIME oscar nominated Composer Jay. Ralph be sure to follow
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36:02
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36:05
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36:06
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