Latest / Nightmare Success In and Out / 3 innocent men wrongly convicted of murder - All Star Roundtable Discussion
Transcript
- 0:01What happens when he works here? Becomes your reality.
- 0:04Hi. I'm Brian Cassidy.
- 0:05Welcome to the nightmare. Success in and out podcast,
- 0:08where we explore a, how to overcome your fears.
- 0:11And Nightmares is set yourself free.
- 0:13We're going to be exploring this topic with guys that was in
- 0:15Leavenworth with and others who survived their own nightmare.
- 0:20These stories can be inspiring. Sometimes sad, there's some
- 0:24humor but hopefully you can come away with a nugget of something
- 0:27that will help you knock down some of the prisons.
- 0:29You It up in your own mind. All right, now, I measure
- 0:34success in and out listeners. We are back with a special
- 0:37edition. This one is not your normal
- 0:41number success podcast because Marvin cotton, one of my
- 0:44all-time favorite interviews. If you guys are playing the
- 0:48board game, he was on a few months ago and one heck of a
- 0:54story if you if you remember Marvin was sentenced to life
- 1:00without Parole in. As an innocent man and served 19
- 1:07years, 7 months, 12 days. And there is a big case that's
- 1:13going on. It's a hearing with Lamar
- 1:16Johnson. And one of the cool things about
- 1:19this is is this is a call these exoneree Crusaders because these
- 1:24guys, they follow around and, and it's a group.
- 1:27I mean, there's there's a lot of these people out there that were
- 1:30wrongly convicted of murder and we're fine.
- 1:33Finally released. And if you guys are listening to
- 1:35the most recent podcast that came out Thursday, Durrell
- 1:40Burton is one of those guys who serve 24 years and finally got
- 1:43free. But anyway, I want to welcome
- 1:45everybody in Marvin cotton. Welcome my man, good to have you
- 1:51louder. Always about her and then I've
- 1:53got kin Nixon down here in the corner.
- 1:55We're on a little Zoom here. Ken did 16 years and finally is
- 2:01sitting in front of us as a free man.
- 2:03And then Eric Anderson, who was nine years and you guys are are
- 2:08you all from the Michigan area? Yes, sir.
- 2:12Yeah, we are from Detroit. Michigan.
- 2:15If I'm not mistaken and I might be wrong about this, but I think
- 2:19I'm somewhat right? There was an Integrity unit put
- 2:24in play. Was it three or four years ago?
- 2:28I can't remember the time period, but there was like
- 2:31thirty four and a half years, three and a half years old for
- 2:34and am I right about the number? There was like 34 men that have
- 2:38been released since that Integrity unit was put into
- 2:41play. Yeah, it's up to about 36 now.
- 2:44But you pretty much all point. So guys, tell me, you've
- 2:49actually been sitting in the hearing every day with Lamar,
- 2:54the Lamar Johnson hearing and man, it makes your head spin
- 2:59when you hear what happened, and but it.
- 3:04But what is interesting though, is you find out as you read
- 3:08through all these different cases like this, it's not
- 3:11unusual. It's just one of these cases
- 3:14that this happened. This way.
- 3:16What do you what's your always take on?
- 3:17On MAR Johnson and what is going on this week in the courtroom?
- 3:26I think what we're seeing and Lamar Johnson's case is
- 3:29historic, the judge is No Nonsense.
- 3:33You know, he's not tolerating any rhetoric, the repetitive
- 3:36behavior that you typically see in these types of hearings, the
- 3:42judges definitely not tolerating it.
- 3:44I think the other the just from the visual effects of what we're
- 3:47seeing in the courtroom. It's not very often that you see
- 3:51a local prosecutor team up with an Innocence Project.
- 3:54No, to free. Somebody know that A bet that
- 3:57that's that's a new one, but it's also a trend that you're
- 3:59starting to see around the country where you have
- 4:03like-minded people that are really trying to see Justice
- 4:05served, right? It's not about stacking
- 4:09convictions. It's about getting it right?
- 4:11As long as there's an innocent person in prison, there's a true
- 4:14killer that is free to roam the streets and victimized Society,
- 4:19people like him Gardner, Tricia Bushnell Rojo, these are people
- 4:24that are true Advocates that roof Years and to see both of
- 4:27them would. And what would traditionally be
- 4:31an adversarial position to be on the same team?
- 4:34Now is Monumental, and I think there was a new law that was
- 4:38passed in 2021 and Missouri that this couldn't have even taken
- 4:41place before that. Before they pass this new
- 4:45statute where new people could. Our people could actually have
- 4:48these hearings before a judge and that's Missouri's a little
- 4:53bit behind on the curve here, from, from Allah.
- 4:56Other states. But at least we're getting into
- 4:58a situation where these these cases can be heard yet.
- 5:05And that's, that's interesting in and of itself is because, you
- 5:09know, in Michigan, for example, we didn't have to go through the
- 5:12legislator to put some law on the books to tell prosecutors
- 5:17that they can do something that the law doesn't prevent them
- 5:20from doing. And we should never put public
- 5:24pool or innocence. We should never put the value of
- 5:28a dollar on innocence. So when we see that type of
- 5:33thing when we've said in prison for so many years being
- 5:36innocent, you know, that's, that's like one of the most
- 5:39ugliest sites to us, you know, we don't get paid to be here, we
- 5:44don't have any personal interest with the exception of wanting to
- 5:48see Justice and someone not go through something that we went
- 5:51through. Right.
- 5:53You know, but the fact that he even had to be a battle to say,
- 5:59you know, here in Missouri with with Kevin Strickland and Lamar
- 6:03Johnson case, they putting procedure over innocence, right.
- 6:07Wait, did he bring up Kevin Strickland?
- 6:09Marvin, was he released last year?
- 6:14Yeah. Yes.
- 6:14And that was in the kiss. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
- 6:17We started coming down here for Kevin Strickland, as well as
- 6:21Lamar Johnson last year, and we've been advocating heavily
- 6:26for them as well as prisoners all over the country.
- 6:29You know, in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan.
- 6:31Of course, we've had several hearings that we participated in
- 6:37and testified in on behalf of me and that we believe are innocent
- 6:42back home in Michigan. So we Here in Missouri right
- 6:44now. But we're still on Zoom cause
- 6:48and, and, and trying to Advocate and help people back in
- 6:51Michigan, get out of prison as well.
- 6:52Innocent people, that's imprisonment as well as get them
- 6:55resources. Yeah, because you put a voice to
- 6:57it and that's what has to be done.
- 6:59I, I've had several friends call and talk about it because you're
- 7:03the timing of Daryl Burton's podcast this week.
- 7:07And then you guys being in town. It's got a conversation going
- 7:11with in groups and St. Louis here about.
- 7:15Wow, how does this happen? Can you guys give the high
- 7:18points of what you see went wrong?
- 7:21In this case, the bar Johnson's case, I think different things,
- 7:26stand out for all of us but can definitely start that off.
- 7:31We were just talking about this. Yeah, we're definitely were just
- 7:34talking about this. I think the number one issue is
- 7:41the misidentification. Historically.
- 7:44Statistically we have, what can be considered a highly highly
- 7:51red flag when it comes to identification statistic?
- 7:55Lee cross-racial identification is inherently suspect.
- 7:59Not only is it inherently suspect and this particular case
- 8:03that same witness is not coming forward saying I screwed up but
- 8:07I'm sure I didn't see what I saw when I said I saw what I saw.
- 8:10So now you're put in a situation where this is a double
- 8:13misidentification. He, he's telling you he did
- 8:16wrong and it's cross-racial where we know this has been
- 8:20ineffective throughout the years.
- 8:22The other thing that is you can't buy S is the government
- 8:26misconduct. You have documented evidence
- 8:30that the government compensated, a witness to do, what they
- 8:33needed him to do at that particular time without it on
- 8:36the record. It's been stated without that
- 8:39witness, there's no case against the Mark Johnson, right?
- 8:43So without the incentive to testify, there is no witness for
- 8:47Lamar Johnston, the Mark Johnson doesn't go to prison.
- 8:49So I mean when you combine those two things for me there is no
- 8:53case here. Marvin.
- 8:58You're on mute. Yeah, and for me along the same
- 9:03lines because it's kind of hard to find many points.
- 9:06Although we can find many points within the same issue because
- 9:10literally the only thing that they had in order to charge and
- 9:14convict him, was this particular witness and the witness said
- 9:18that the two men that he sing has ski masses on and with the
- 9:23eyes cut out. So he made identification with
- 9:26what you see here. This area right in here is where
- 9:31he made his identification to sent a man to prison for the
- 9:33rest of his life. So and his first two lineups, he
- 9:42didn't pick anybody out, right? And he went and according to his
- 9:46own testimony and his affidavit. But according to his own
- 9:50testimony, when he told the officers that he didn't, he
- 9:53can't pick anybody out. He acts to office.
- 9:57He actually Therefore, who do you want me to pick up?
- 10:00You tell me who you want to God. And I said, he actually said
- 10:02this. And the detective.
- 10:05According to this witness said, pick three and four.
- 10:10He said, okay, three and four. And that's exactly what he did.
- 10:13And that should never rob a man of twenty-eight years of his
- 10:19life. That's shouldn't Rob, that
- 10:20shouldn't rob a person for 28 minutes of their life, right?
- 10:25That didn't even warn a conversation because that wasn't
- 10:28Um, a real identification. Well, I think one of the things
- 10:32that identification, Marvin, I think one of the things that is
- 10:37so important is to bring light to this, because I think
- 10:40everybody, if they woke up in the middle of night, one of
- 10:43their biggest nightmares would be to be identified in a police
- 10:46lineup and not be guilty. And and especially if you're
- 10:50talking about something like murder, you know, that carries
- 10:54life without parole that that is has got to be Ranked in the top
- 11:001, 2 3 of somebody's nightmare of how do you, how do you deal
- 11:05with that? After that happens?
- 11:07Because you know, going back to Darryl Burton situation his
- 11:14thing. He wasn't even in town when it
- 11:16happened and the person who Miss identified him.
- 11:21The characteristics was a person was 54 55, and he's 510 511.
- 11:26There's a light skinned person to are durable It was a
- 11:28dark-skinned person, so everything was wrong, but it
- 11:32didn't matter. It only took 30 minutes for that
- 11:34deliberation to happen with the jury.
- 11:36And he ended up to go to the 47 bloodiest, acres in the
- 11:42Americas. What Time Magazine dubbed it at
- 11:43the time? That that's the thing.
- 11:47You know what, what you what you guys are doing bringing light to
- 11:51this? It's got his stay.
- 11:54There's got to catch momentum to it because and I think you know
- 11:58what you were saying, can I think there is some momentum to
- 12:01it? I feel like there were talking
- 12:03more about it now than we have. I just feel like there's some
- 12:08type of General conversation like was said, I don't think you
- 12:13see a situation where you've got the Missouri attorney general,
- 12:16and and the st. Louis attorney that, that are on
- 12:20opposite sides of the fence here.
- 12:22That doesn't really happen, very often.
- 12:24Unless your you've got some momentum behind the situation of
- 12:28the that is so out of bounds it's just so far out that you're
- 12:33like man we gotta do something about this.
- 12:37Absolutely. You want to go Eric.
- 12:41Hey, I'm going to go with that being said, that's part of the
- 12:45reason why we're here. We're here to bridge the gap,
- 12:47you know, to put a face to the issue.
- 12:51The issue is that The mean Progressive prosecutors a nice
- 12:58commission until you units. They need people that cares
- 13:02about the issue at hand is no reason why the murder Johnson
- 13:04should still be sent to prison after 28 years and they know
- 13:08that the identification was suggestive.
- 13:11They know he was compensated for this testimony is nothing that
- 13:17signifies that he did this other than the person that was paid to
- 13:20make a statement to say, yes, the market, the one I did it.
- 13:23Other than that, we'll do. They have there should be more
- 13:27hair attorney, general, right? She should be way more.
- 13:30They have an attorney general fighting the conviction, so you
- 13:32just going to fight every conviction.
- 13:35I mean you only going to fight every convention we do.
- 13:41Right? Let the man now.
- 13:43Why are you? Why are you fighting Justice?
- 13:45No. Part of their duty is to stand
- 13:47on Justice to make sure just to serve just not sir.
- 13:51So now give this man just as day from the unjust is that you all
- 13:55gave him? Yes.
- 13:57And I think that's one of the other things that's really tough
- 13:59is that once you're put into the system and once you're convicted
- 14:02it is so tough to untangle that it is almost like, you know,
- 14:07just you trying to, you're trying to change something.
- 14:11That the system, as you know, a huge weight is you got to push
- 14:16it back up and try to Scurry underneath it to get through
- 14:20and, man, that's a tough lift. What's even what's even more
- 14:24unique about Lamar situation, though?
- 14:27Lamar and Kevin Strickland. What's even more unique
- 14:31specifically to them? Is we're looking at a situation
- 14:34where it's the government, fighting the government.
- 14:36Yes, about somebody's life. Like, when you boil this down
- 14:39to, what's happening in this court, Vroom.
- 14:42It's the government fighting the government.
- 14:45Somebody's life hangs in the balance because the government
- 14:47can't figure out who's right. Who's wrong, right?
- 14:50That man's life is hanging in the balance right now, over
- 14:54politics, literally. I don't think it gets any.
- 14:58You can't simplify it any more than that.
- 15:02And then to go back to earlier point that you made about this
- 15:07new law in Missouri. Yes, this is a historic law.
- 15:11This is something that changes the landscape, the legal
- 15:13landscape in Missouri. But how many people had to die
- 15:17before that law was passed? How many people suffered through
- 15:20prison sets and died in prison or on Missouri death row?
- 15:26Before there was an Avenue to actually prove innocence in the
- 15:30state of Missouri. At that law was passed in 2021.
- 15:34There's a lot of people that didn't make it to see 2021, a
- 15:37lot of innocent people that didn't make it.
- 15:39See 2021. So guys what a lot of go ahead?
- 15:45Eric sorry. Um honestly I would say a lot of
- 15:47innocent people living livid see the age of 21 in the Free World.
- 15:52Yeah. It's a deep deep thought when
- 15:56you think about it that way that you know there's so many people
- 16:00that actually being innocent in an environment that they
- 16:04obviously didn't choose and should have been there died in
- 16:07there and it's that's disturbing beyond what disturbing can mean.
- 16:12But guys, what is the what somebody's listening to this?
- 16:18What, what should they be doing? You know, we're very big on
- 16:25accountability and the only people that can hold a
- 16:30government agency or entity accountable is the people.
- 16:34So, that starts with awareness, that starts with educating
- 16:38ourselves with what should be happening.
- 16:41What we want to see happening and and and after awareness
- 16:46becomes engagement, people have to engage elected officials.
- 16:51They have to engage. Age those that are sitting in
- 16:54seats that are that have control over the masses of our lives,
- 16:59like we have to engage. So what we do is we put a face
- 17:04to it, we give as much education as we can and then we hit the
- 17:09ground and we get in our cars and we drive and get on
- 17:12airplanes. And we actually come out here
- 17:14and engage with people. We know that the government was
- 17:17set up on the premise of the People by the people and we
- 17:21really believe that Even though a lot of our experiences prove
- 17:27otherwise, we're going to hold to what the Constitution saying,
- 17:30we're going to hold people to account and every member of
- 17:32society have that same obligation responsibility and
- 17:36Duty. Hold our elected officials
- 17:39accountable. Yeah.
- 17:41No one will want to lay in their bed every night while their
- 17:44family member. And they know that their family
- 17:47member is innocent sitting in a cold prison cell.
- 17:52Only we can change that. Only the public can engage
- 17:56government in a way you know? Yes they are endowed with this
- 18:00power that we give them. We have to hold them accountable
- 18:04and check it when we see they're not doing something right, they
- 18:07have to be held accountable and only we can do it.
- 18:10That has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat
- 18:14Progressive or Concerta has nothing to do with that because
- 18:17innocence don't have a political party.
- 18:19I got that from my brother Ken. Nixon innocence do.
- 18:22Of a political party, it does not.
- 18:25And and and people have to stop siding with politics when it
- 18:30comes to human life because he could easily be you, anytime the
- 18:35government get away with doing the wrong thing.
- 18:37That just me, it just made it easier for them to do it to you.
- 18:40Yeah, good point really good point for those that, Are not
- 18:50engaged in the political aspect of it.
- 18:52There's other ways that you can get involved as well.
- 18:54There's Criminal Justice Reform, organizations, all across this
- 18:57country. There's National ones.
- 18:59There's local ones their Statewide ones, there's always
- 19:03something to do. There's always something whether
- 19:06it's volunteering on the weekends or donating money or
- 19:10lending yourself to being able to lend a helping hand making
- 19:14copies. There's an innocence
- 19:16organizations all over the country.
- 19:19Innocence projects take volunteers, they take interns
- 19:22for college students, there's all sorts of ways that we're now
- 19:25profit. You know, the work that we're
- 19:27doing it is self-funded, right? There's there's all sorts of
- 19:32startups that are showing a Criminal Justice Reform to be
- 19:37honest. It's sexy right now.
- 19:38Everybody's talking about Criminal Justice Reform.
- 19:41I guarantee you there's a space for anybody and it doesn't make
- 19:45a difference. You know, what you're gifted at,
- 19:47whether it's, you know, web, Design or creative stuff.
- 19:51There is a space for you. In this industry, we need help
- 19:55lawyers progressives conservatives, conservatives,
- 19:59have a voice in this movement, whether you believe it or not,
- 20:01conservatives have a voice, right?
- 20:03If everything was all one side, we would never get anywhere.
- 20:06We need to hear from people. We need to hear the good, the
- 20:09bad, the ugly, that's how we make change.
- 20:12And this country by respecting each other's opinions and coming
- 20:15to a compromise. There's a space for everyone
- 20:18here. But when it comes to issues of
- 20:21Innocence, I don't think there's a compromise when it comes to
- 20:23that nobody should die in prison for a crime.
- 20:25They didn't commit that. It's just it's hurtful to think
- 20:30about that. This is what our country is
- 20:32still. Talking about going into 2023
- 20:35that there's innocent people locked in cages that can do
- 20:38nothing about it themselves and yeah, we know, Lamar Johnson's
- 20:42name, we know Kevin Strickland's names but what about all the
- 20:45names? We don't hear what about all the
- 20:47names that don't bubbles. To the top, right?
- 20:50I mean, that's it takes Advocates.
- 20:52It takes people to get off their couches and do something about
- 20:55it in order to change the system.
- 20:57So, I would say, for everybody, that's listening, if you're
- 21:00sitting on your couch and you want to get involved, find a
- 21:03way, there's always a way. I was going to say, what
- 21:07follow-up on that toucan. Is it?
- 21:09The one scary thing that I see in our society right now is that
- 21:12we are narrowcasting, you know, the people listened to the what
- 21:16they want to listen to go to the place that only.
- 21:19Here's what they want to hear and I think for us to break
- 21:23through this is that we've got to get away.
- 21:25Communication has to be hearing each other so that the movement
- 21:31can be what it needs to be, you know, I hope that the Pendulum
- 21:36starts swinging, back to normality with people, just
- 21:39being able to talk, you know, just being able to discuss
- 21:44important issues without one being evil.
- 21:47You know, this is we're talking about real things that need to
- 21:51change and only way to do that is to have conversations about
- 21:55it, and it's got to be that way. Or it doesn't swing the pendulum
- 22:00the right way. I agree.
- 22:05Definitely, agree, two-way, communication effective,
- 22:08listening compromise. These are all things that we
- 22:12need, especially, especially and the wrongful conviction
- 22:18Community, being able to listen to each other and really hear
- 22:22what the other side is saying, is we have to compromise, we
- 22:27have to do, you think there's issues to of?
- 22:30And do you guys think is changing where You know, a
- 22:34narrative takes one path and they go down that path and they
- 22:38don't investigate what they should be investigating and War
- 22:41for the expediency of of, you know, you get a conviction, you
- 22:45get a promotion, you get a conviction, you get movement.
- 22:50And it doesn't seem like there's been a lot of What should I say?
- 22:55It's the freedom to be able to do that and at tell somebody you
- 23:02know to hey that's is three and four but as far as their job
- 23:06security and what happens if that conviction happens?
- 23:08It's usually in a positive thing that happens, you know it's
- 23:11another notch. Another conviction you know the
- 23:14further we get away from that. The further the justice is just
- 23:17for justice instead of what it does for you in the system you
- 23:22know because I feel like that goes all the way.
- 23:24Way up. I mean, I think the the justice
- 23:27department all the way through from the local level, all the
- 23:30way to the federal level. There's there's a, there's a
- 23:33piece there that needs to be balanced back to that.
- 23:36There's some harm if you cause harm that shouldn't be something
- 23:40that goes on reprimanded and unnoticed, There's most
- 23:46certainly no accountability on behalf of the government and the
- 23:50current when it comes to criminal justice, when it comes
- 23:53to Justice, period. There's no, absolutely, no
- 23:55accountability. They are protected by law and
- 24:00their job security, and I think that you are correct it
- 24:03perpetuates the problem, historically it, perpetuates the
- 24:06problem. When there's no accountability,
- 24:08it leaves them with the freedom to be as destructive and harmful
- 24:12as they wish and in some situations, Nations it even
- 24:16incentivizes them to do. So when you boil down This
- 24:21bigger problem of no accountability.
- 24:25It's about case numbers. Right solving crime that the
- 24:29police as we know are pressurized, sometimes they're
- 24:33incentivized to solve cases. Statistics show that
- 24:36historically, you know, closing cases, and case rates are have
- 24:41been historically low. So the pressure from the top to
- 24:45bring those numbers up causes people, sometimes to do things
- 24:49that should be done. Or unjust.
- 24:52And I think that that's that's something that that there's a
- 24:58lot of good police officers out there, putting their life on the
- 25:01line, you know, I know that but for those those those few that
- 25:06take away people's freedom and and and put innocent people
- 25:11away. Those are the, you know, there
- 25:12has to be accountability for that.
- 25:15And without that I think the system doesn't quite close the
- 25:18gap. Because what it does, is it puts
- 25:21It puts unjustly a black mark on the good men and good women,
- 25:25doing good things out there, trying to protect the
- 25:28communities trying to do the good things because they do.
- 25:32But for the people that don't it without them having
- 25:36accountability, it gives a black mark and, and unfairly to, to
- 25:42the hole and I think the more that we could close that Gap.
- 25:44So that those people are held accountable, but the rest are
- 25:47recognized for the great job, they do would also be a A great
- 25:51turn in the wheel. I want to highlight one point
- 25:55when it comes to that video because I know Marvin are gonna
- 25:57jump in on this one, but let me highlight one extremely very
- 26:00important point when it comes to the police, right?
- 26:02We're here this narrative about, you know, it's One Bad Apple was
- 26:05too bad apples, that was just a bad cop, but we never hear is
- 26:10the good cops getting rid of the bad cops, right?
- 26:14If you know that person is bad. Why is it on society?
- 26:17Why is it society's responsibility to discover this
- 26:19when you knew it was happening for 20 years?
- 26:21Yep, if you don't What that black mark on your name?
- 26:24Then you do something about right.
- 26:26Why is it left to society to come back later on and discover
- 26:30that? 30 years later, this guy had a
- 26:32documented history of being a bad cop.
- 26:34Knew it all along and you did nothing to address it.
- 26:37So in my opinion it makes the good cops look.
- 26:40Just as bad as the back because you knew it was happening.
- 26:43You did nothing to address it. So so I mean it exactly it's
- 26:47complicit behavior and then everybody cries out about, well,
- 26:50it was just one bad person. Well, you knew it was happening.
- 26:53So, why didn't you do anything about if you didn't want that to
- 26:56blow back on your name? You should have addressed it
- 26:58years before. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 27:02Pretty much stole my point. You know, we've kind of we've
- 27:10suffered under some of the same, some of the same things.
- 27:13So, and I know it's kind of hard for a lot of people in society,
- 27:19not to really understand that. And we understand that, At, you
- 27:25know, our experience we had in our case is all of our cases as
- 27:29well as a lot of other exonerees that we represent and cases that
- 27:33we follow all of those cases had corrupt, bad detectives, not
- 27:40bad. Detective work, right?
- 27:42No intentional, right decisions intentional, things being
- 27:46withheld, intentional things being done, lies being injected.
- 27:52Not starting with Witnesses but starting with detectives and
- 27:58it's not one detective in Detroit, you know, there's been
- 28:02many detectives in Detroit that have led to many wrongful
- 28:06convictions, some of those Detectives Dozens of out of
- 28:14Chicago. Illinois is in in New York.
- 28:17We're just a couple of detectives had hundreds of
- 28:22wrongful convictions thrown out but it's hard for bad cops to
- 28:26exist when they existing amongst a lot of good cops, right.
- 28:31We need human beings to really step up.
- 28:33I think going into 2023 and Beyond, we really need good.
- 28:37Human beings on every level whether Are there police officer
- 28:40not we work with law enforcement, I'm doing speaking
- 28:43engagements at high schools. So so we're not anti-cop or
- 28:46anything like that. We come to the table and give
- 28:49our suggestions and put our truce in every opportunity, we
- 28:53get not only to make a better Department because, you know,
- 28:56they public servants, they work they work for us but also to
- 29:00help make a better department for everybody.
- 29:03So we come to the table if they have a nonprofit organization
- 29:06that they working with, we come to the table.
- 29:08So we're not I clap. However, we don't accept
- 29:12Injustice on no level from anybody.
- 29:15You know, any fear that any of us had got left a long time ago
- 29:19when they bark way into this, you know, and in the in the
- 29:23experiences that we undergone, what we use our fearlessness and
- 29:28and and we really give our fearlessness like a charity to
- 29:32society and we can we do and say what people won't do and say for
- 29:35the greater good of everybody, I love that kind of Going around,
- 29:40the horn here wrapping up, anything else you guys want to
- 29:42get out there while we're talking this up?
- 29:48You know, I'm just like to say I'll just like to say not to
- 29:54that point many things that point I would like to say, man.
- 29:58I love st. Louis.
- 29:59All right, let me very. I think we all can agree to when
- 30:06we first came down here, it was a challenge.
- 30:08Yeah, you know we are from Detroit.
- 30:11But we have faith and we had confidence in our self and our
- 30:15story and our desire to want to change the world to keep coming
- 30:20around to invest our time and our resources into better in
- 30:27Missouri. You know I know it's one step at
- 30:31a time we stood out whole lot of work to do but I can vouch for
- 30:37all of us day. We invested to try to change
- 30:39Missouri, one step at a time. I'm that's a big deal and and
- 30:43you know, the fact that you guys are doing what you're doing is
- 30:45so cool because you are giving a face to the problem and that's
- 30:52probably more important than anything.
- 30:53A given a face to give it a voice to something that people
- 30:56need to know. They might not want to know.
- 30:58I mean, I think it scares people to think that these things can
- 31:01happen because if it means if it could happen to, you can happen
- 31:04to them. And I think sometimes that's
- 31:06hard for people to face scares them true.
- 31:10And it makes it easy. People to ignore.
- 31:12That's what that's what makes it easy for people to, ignore what
- 31:15you just said, right there. Marvin, let's talk about your
- 31:19book. I've been, I've been looking
- 31:22better, not broken, is running. Running wild on Amazon in the
- 31:26number one category. What it go man?
- 31:30Yeah. Yeah.
- 31:32You know, I talk about a lot of what we've been through, but you
- 31:34know, more about my personal experience, just the pain of and
- 31:38you know, about it as well, just the pain of being incarcerated
- 31:41being there, you know, wrongfully convicted that the
- 31:44mental anguish, the emotional damage, the loss of
- 31:47relationships, I lost, maybe 95% of my relationships and my first
- 31:50year of being incarcerated. So you here I go out, you know,
- 31:54in there for something I didn't do and I'm losing everything.
- 31:59So, My book is a way of giving back in and bringing you know,
- 32:02more and more awareness to these issues that we talking about.
- 32:05Now here today, I'll tell you this, is it one of the things
- 32:07about this podcast is what happens when your worst fear
- 32:10becomes your reality. How do you adapt?
- 32:11How do you survive? And I think the other part of it
- 32:14is, is that after you dab survive, how to use your
- 32:17experience? You guys are using your
- 32:19experience for the good, you're making a difference and man if
- 32:23you guys just keep doing that, we need to put an umbrella over
- 32:26the United States to make this stuff happen. so I want to hear
- 32:31what you do, you know, with your podcast and and showing how a
- 32:37directly impacted person can come out of that accident and
- 32:43start a process of repairing themselves, and become a success
- 32:47in a lot of cases, like, almost everybody that I've seen, if not
- 32:51every single episode, I've seen that you've done you,
- 32:54highlighted these amazing success stories that don't Even
- 32:59compared to people that haven't never even experienced that type
- 33:04of impact. So I love what you're doing.
- 33:07You give it a voice you putting on the right face on what change
- 33:12looks like and giving it a voice.
- 33:14And I appreciate sharing is your platform with exonerees.
- 33:18Absolutely, I appreciate that. Marvin well guys thanks for
- 33:21coming to st. Louis Eric, thanks for the shout
- 33:23out for st. Louis st.
- 33:24Louis needs that. Appreciate that.
- 33:28I appreciate you for making it happen.
- 33:29Happen. All right.
- 33:30Marvin Ken, Eric thanks for coming to st.
- 33:34Louis, thanks for giving your voice.
- 33:35Thanks for supporting Lamar Johnson and hopefully, we can
- 33:38get this guy home before Christmas.
- 33:40Absolutely a with you soon. Alright guys, see you soon.