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Cruel Justice Episode 41: Sabrina Butler-Smith and Nathalie Greenfield — Transcript

by Witness To Innocence · 6,960 words · 1,205 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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  1. 0:01okay
  2. 0:02hi everyone um
  3. 0:06okay sam
  4. 0:07live stream yes we're live stream
  5. 0:10uh so hi everyone welcome to the 41st
  6. 0:15uh episode of crude justice
  7. 0:18uh my name is herman lindsey i'm
  8. 0:19florida's death for exoneree and
  9. 0:22there was secretary of water witness to
  10. 0:24innocent for those that don't know what
  11. 0:25witness innocence we are an organization
  12. 0:28mainly built of death roy's honorees
  13. 0:31around the united states where our
  14. 0:34mission is to go around and abolish the
  15. 0:36death penalty
  16. 0:37our show is to go around and educate
  17. 0:40people of this miscarriage that involved
  18. 0:44the um death penalty not only just the
  19. 0:47role for convictions but main issues
  20. 0:50that is so damaging that shows that we
  21. 0:52shouldn't have a deal here in the united
  22. 0:55states you know and one of the hopes is
  23. 0:57not only that we educate people that are
  24. 1:01potential jurors to understand that um
  25. 1:06their decisions when dealing with a
  26. 1:07definitive case or any case is very very
  27. 1:11vital that they pay attention to the
  28. 1:13evidence and question what they feel
  29. 1:15they need the question
  30. 1:17also we hope to reach uh legislators and
  31. 1:21all other people that use this case this
  32. 1:24show to uh get them to call us upon
  33. 1:28action
  34. 1:29you know call upon action to help us uh
  35. 1:32get rid of this mechanism or call the
  36. 1:35death penalty
  37. 1:36today
  38. 1:37our subject is which
  39. 1:40a couple of weeks back i had a
  40. 1:43show and it was like the most amazing
  41. 1:46show where
  42. 1:47i
  43. 1:48learned about the problems that women on
  44. 1:52death row have you know i never
  45. 1:55you know me going through trial
  46. 1:57and me going through uh death row and
  47. 2:00being exonerated you know i had a tunnel
  48. 2:03vision of
  49. 2:04how it was for me and i
  50. 2:07i suspected it was like that with
  51. 2:08everyone but then when i find out how
  52. 2:12the women are treated so much
  53. 2:15differently
  54. 2:16and it's like back in in the early
  55. 2:20early early years of society being
  56. 2:23brought together i mean in the 1800s way
  57. 2:26back you know
  58. 2:28civilization how
  59. 2:30uh
  60. 2:31people perceive women to be a certain
  61. 2:33way
  62. 2:34you know changes have came about you
  63. 2:36know before it was like a woman had to
  64. 2:39always wear dress you know and you know
  65. 2:42i didn't think that america had those
  66. 2:45type of codes
  67. 2:46i know when you go across seas you know
  68. 2:50the muslim witness have to have certain
  69. 2:52um
  70. 2:54coverage
  71. 2:55but i didn't know america had that and
  72. 2:58when i found that
  73. 3:00those type of things play a part
  74. 3:03in the trials over here with women where
  75. 3:06they are perceived to have to be a
  76. 3:08certain way in society
  77. 3:10and they scrutinize them and it also
  78. 3:13blinds the jury to see
  79. 3:16the evidence that's against them or to
  80. 3:18to to evaluate the case in a fair way
  81. 3:21because they jump to a prejudice mark
  82. 3:24because
  83. 3:25she
  84. 3:26uh
  85. 3:27wore excuse my language thongs as
  86. 3:29underwears you know that she is not
  87. 3:32appropriate woman and you know
  88. 3:36me personally i know i would love to see
  89. 3:39my wife and don't sometimes you know and
  90. 3:42that's appropriate she's trying to be
  91. 3:44sexy for her husband or whatever but to
  92. 3:47judge a woman by the underworld
  93. 3:50or judge the woman to say she's an unfit
  94. 3:53mother or this and that and don't even
  95. 3:56look at the evidence and here today we
  96. 3:58have sabrina butler who was the first
  97. 4:00lady and this is a
  98. 4:03a thing about sabrina case
  99. 4:06they looked at
  100. 4:07to me from reading her case they looked
  101. 4:09at she looked that looked at her that
  102. 4:11she was an unfit mother too they didn't
  103. 4:13pay attention to the evidence where
  104. 4:16uh the evidence was being
  105. 4:18uh manipulated
  106. 4:20to to say that she committed the crime
  107. 4:22she committed and
  108. 4:24you know
  109. 4:25it's just
  110. 4:27sad to see
  111. 4:28that
  112. 4:29we are people of society
  113. 4:32actually think like that then we have uh
  114. 4:35miss natalie greenfield who was uh from
  115. 4:38the cornell center of the deaf community
  116. 4:40worldwide you know she's
  117. 4:42kind of endless because she deal with
  118. 4:44these uh cases of of so many different
  119. 4:47cases with with women on death row and
  120. 4:51some of the things that she sees man is
  121. 4:54like
  122. 4:56it's like
  123. 4:57women are being
  124. 5:00uh
  125. 5:02how can i say very it's they're being
  126. 5:04very prejudiced against women and
  127. 5:06classifying them
  128. 5:08just because some of the things that
  129. 5:11they be has been a natural moment
  130. 5:14and i didn't think we had that here in
  131. 5:16the united states so we had to put this
  132. 5:18show together so first i'm gonna let uh
  133. 5:21sabrina introduce herself and tell you a
  134. 5:23little bit about her
  135. 5:29um yes thank you herman my name is
  136. 5:31sabrina bulla smith and i'm the first
  137. 5:33woman to be exonerated in the united
  138. 5:35states from death row
  139. 5:37my case was in mississippi
  140. 5:39i was
  141. 5:40convicted and sentenced to death march
  142. 5:4313 1990 my death date was july the
  143. 5:46second
  144. 5:47i spent six and a half years all
  145. 5:49together
  146. 5:50two and a half years on death row i was
  147. 5:53exonerated in 95
  148. 5:56and i currently now work with witness to
  149. 5:58innocence um death row exonerees
  150. 6:00speaking around the world against the
  151. 6:02death penalty and things that we could
  152. 6:03change as far as the justice system is
  153. 6:06concerned
  154. 6:12i just have one question for you sabrina
  155. 6:15what was the cause of your exoneration
  156. 6:18the cause of my exoneration was that my
  157. 6:20son i didn't kill my child he had heart
  158. 6:23lung kidney problems and chronic bowel
  159. 6:25syndrome and it was already there they
  160. 6:28knew my son was sick they just held the
  161. 6:30evidence in order you know to get a
  162. 6:32conviction
  163. 6:34and
  164. 6:36one of the things was the
  165. 6:37medical examiner reports was wrong right
  166. 6:41yes
  167. 6:42okay so
  168. 6:43despite that
  169. 6:45that we had an expert speaking do you
  170. 6:48believe because you was a woman and that
  171. 6:51it was your child involved do you
  172. 6:53believe that played a big part of being
  173. 6:55prejudiced against
  174. 6:57and and could affect the the verdict of
  175. 7:00the jury i do think so because they
  176. 7:03called me a monster an unfit mother
  177. 7:05uh i was living in poor situations and
  178. 7:08they knew that this kind of stuff would
  179. 7:10happen
  180. 7:11um and just
  181. 7:12all kind of labels was put you know on
  182. 7:14upon me without really just looking at
  183. 7:16the evidence the lawyers just didn't do
  184. 7:18their jobs as as to
  185. 7:20you know what happened to my son and the
  186. 7:23district attorney just was able to get
  187. 7:25away with with everything
  188. 7:29so my next guest you know she's looking
  189. 7:31very beautiful with her curly hair also
  190. 7:34i i i feel kind of bad but women got
  191. 7:37curly hair and i feel like you know
  192. 7:40but uh they both are beautiful
  193. 7:43my next guest is natalie greenfield can
  194. 7:46you tell the people uh
  195. 7:49a little bit about yourself and what you
  196. 7:51how you are involved in this with the
  197. 7:53women on delta
  198. 7:56thank you herman um and thanks for
  199. 7:58having me on your show tonight it's real
  200. 7:59privilege to be here with sabrina
  201. 8:02um i work at the cornell center on the
  202. 8:04death penalty worldwide
  203. 8:06and we focus on the cases of women we've
  204. 8:09um launched a big project that's really
  205. 8:12looking at women's cases because our
  206. 8:14research um
  207. 8:16and the the clients with whom we're
  208. 8:17working are really pointing to the fact
  209. 8:20that although women are minority on
  210. 8:22death row
  211. 8:23in the united states and around the
  212. 8:25world and there are actually very
  213. 8:28gendered reasons for which women are
  214. 8:29sentenced to death what we're seeing
  215. 8:32is that women are typically sentenced to
  216. 8:35death for being bad women so for being
  217. 8:38bad mothers i mean sabrina's told us
  218. 8:40about her case and and tragically that's
  219. 8:43not rare
  220. 8:44um and and we see juries
  221. 8:47fairly commonly sentencing women to
  222. 8:49death for
  223. 8:51for
  224. 8:53the death of their own children and um
  225. 8:55prosecutors bringing in evidence about
  226. 8:57how how these women are monsters and
  227. 9:00dreadful mothers because we have this
  228. 9:01this view of women in society that your
  229. 9:04number one role is to be a mother and to
  230. 9:06be a good mother so um
  231. 9:09a lot of the research we were doing was
  232. 9:12showing that women are centered for
  233. 9:13these genders gender reasons and that's
  234. 9:16led us to really try and pursue um what
  235. 9:18is going on here and and the center now
  236. 9:21represents
  237. 9:23and consults on a number of cases around
  238. 9:25the country and around the world um of
  239. 9:27women who are facing the death penalty
  240. 9:31so
  241. 9:32you know
  242. 9:34i'm not an attorney i do a lot of
  243. 9:36educational things you know like
  244. 9:38um and working towards mitigation
  245. 9:40litigation work um
  246. 9:43are women cases when dealing with such
  247. 9:48uh thoughts and um
  248. 9:52i mean it doesn't quite fit up under
  249. 9:54prosecuted misconduct
  250. 9:56uh presenting this stuff because
  251. 9:59it's up to the jury to decide
  252. 10:01but then here you know most people in
  253. 10:04society
  254. 10:05um
  255. 10:06you know
  256. 10:08a man probably
  257. 10:09on the jury might don't
  258. 10:12don't have so much prejudice against um
  259. 10:16the type of underwear a dress code
  260. 10:19but a woman name
  261. 10:21so
  262. 10:22how difficult or challenged it is to get
  263. 10:26over this hurdle of such prejudice in
  264. 10:29these cases
  265. 10:31it's a really good question and i think
  266. 10:33something that really compounds how
  267. 10:35difficult it is and everything you've
  268. 10:37just been saying herman is is the media
  269. 10:40coverage i mean we could spend all night
  270. 10:41talking about media coverage of women's
  271. 10:43cases but um the me because women are
  272. 10:47less commonly um involved in homicide
  273. 10:50trials and facing the death penalty the
  274. 10:52media really tends to journalists can go
  275. 10:55all in on women and can really really
  276. 10:57demonize women we've had clients talk to
  277. 11:00us about how um they were
  278. 11:03slandered all over the press for
  279. 11:06what they were accused of doing one of
  280. 11:08our clients in oklahoma her case
  281. 11:11got more coverage in the press all about
  282. 11:14her
  283. 11:15her mothering and what she was wearing
  284. 11:17and her supposed boyfriends and she got
  285. 11:19more coverage than the oklahoma city
  286. 11:20bombings which is is
  287. 11:23really quite scandalous and so
  288. 11:25jurors are coming into these cases with
  289. 11:29um this background of media coverage
  290. 11:31that they've been exposed to and then
  291. 11:33there's a common narrative that we're
  292. 11:34that's coming through from the
  293. 11:35prosecution and all of it really
  294. 11:38compounds to draw on these stereotypes
  295. 11:40and so
  296. 11:41really ask
  297. 11:42you know ask the question are these
  298. 11:44women being sentenced because they're
  299. 11:46stereotypically bad women
  300. 11:49um and is that the standard we really
  301. 11:51want to be applying here in this
  302. 11:53incredibly unjust system and then you
  303. 11:56add to that the fact that a lot of women
  304. 11:58and
  305. 12:00on death row you know overwhelmingly
  306. 12:02have experienced a lot of trauma in
  307. 12:03their lives and so that's you know
  308. 12:06either not brought in at all
  309. 12:08or um it might affect how they're
  310. 12:10presenting and so all of this comes
  311. 12:13together to add to the story of how this
  312. 12:16woman is a bad woman is a transgressive
  313. 12:18woman
  314. 12:19and um
  315. 12:20and jurors are a convicting base and
  316. 12:22sentencing based on this information
  317. 12:27i want to touch on that
  318. 12:29trauma stuff because i believe
  319. 12:31uh that plays a big part but i want to
  320. 12:34go to sabrina for a second um
  321. 12:38you spoke about how they
  322. 12:41try to dehumanize women during the
  323. 12:45process of trial
  324. 12:46sabrina
  325. 12:48if i may ask you
  326. 12:51how did that apply to you
  327. 12:54during the course of going to trial
  328. 12:57well one thing in particular they look
  329. 12:59at how
  330. 13:00you cry if you're not crying enough if
  331. 13:03you're not looking a certain way then
  332. 13:05you must have did it if you know you
  333. 13:07know what i'm saying me going through
  334. 13:09trial i was only 17. so i really i just
  335. 13:12had a
  336. 13:13little stoic look on my face because i
  337. 13:14you know i didn't know what to ex
  338. 13:17oh i didn't know what i was going to
  339. 13:19what was going to happen to me i didn't
  340. 13:21really understand so therefore i just
  341. 13:23you know i was scared inside but i tried
  342. 13:26to hold up and show that hey i'm not
  343. 13:28scared that's what most of us do and so
  344. 13:31they took that as though you know she
  345. 13:32looked this kind of way and she didn't
  346. 13:34have this
  347. 13:35she was angry and she was you know what
  348. 13:38i'm saying that and they use a lot of
  349. 13:40that in in media coverage against me and
  350. 13:42that's why they made me like a monster
  351. 13:44talk to you know talked about me
  352. 13:46as if i was a you know didn't care about
  353. 13:48my children and none of that wasn't a
  354. 13:51good mom none of that because of the way
  355. 13:52i look
  356. 13:55what's your treatment
  357. 13:57towards you would you say the treatment
  358. 13:59towards you going through this process
  359. 14:01of being incarcerated on death row and
  360. 14:04uh you know going back and forth to
  361. 14:07trial do you feel that if that was uh
  362. 14:10you was treated differently than what
  363. 14:11they would do with a man
  364. 14:13i think so because like is as far as
  365. 14:16going to jail and stuff like that
  366. 14:18personal hygiene they didn't care about
  367. 14:20that you were on your own trying to get
  368. 14:22personal things from the the jailers or
  369. 14:25anybody like that you know like as far
  370. 14:27as sanitary napkins things women need
  371. 14:30when incarcerated we suffer more so than
  372. 14:33i think i mean i'm not saying men don't
  373. 14:36suffer but i think it's harder for women
  374. 14:37because a lot of us come to prison with
  375. 14:40our you know have children
  376. 14:42those children are just out there you
  377. 14:44got to figure out where they're going
  378. 14:45who's going to keep them you know you go
  379. 14:47through a lot so that's added trauma as
  380. 14:50as a compare you know as uh it's added
  381. 14:53trauma and plus you're in incarcerated
  382. 14:56so
  383. 14:57i think it's much more harder for us and
  384. 14:59then we're
  385. 15:00i think we're treated as second-class
  386. 15:02citizens i don't think they look at us
  387. 15:04because the prison that i was in
  388. 15:06they kind of let the guys took over and
  389. 15:08they just put us in buildings that was
  390. 15:11for the females but they took the
  391. 15:12females out and put them in open
  392. 15:14and put us in smaller cramped areas that
  393. 15:16were worse off so yeah we were treated a
  394. 15:19lot different and as far as uh people
  395. 15:22the way they were talking to me and all
  396. 15:24that yeah i was a baby killer they
  397. 15:26called me child killer baby killer all
  398. 15:28kind of stuff you know i heard it all
  399. 15:31and i mean that's just that was
  400. 15:32humiliating and sad at the same time
  401. 15:34because i lost my son and nobody cared
  402. 15:37you know they you know i'm just this
  403. 15:39guilty person so
  404. 15:41that's the way it was you know until i
  405. 15:43proved my innocence
  406. 15:45which for all that's worth but i'm just
  407. 15:47saying that's another chapter but yeah
  408. 15:50and from my opinion you know it's just
  409. 15:53my opinion uh from listening to you
  410. 15:56uh you know i know
  411. 15:58as a man going through trials and things
  412. 16:00like that georgia guards are more afraid
  413. 16:03of us and then they're afraid of the man
  414. 16:06because the crime that they're arrested
  415. 16:08for and they feel like the person don't
  416. 16:10have nothing to lose and you know do you
  417. 16:12want to take on it's like an
  418. 16:13intimidation thing
  419. 16:15and then you know some
  420. 16:17uh
  421. 16:18do it but they do it when you they lock
  422. 16:20make sure they lock the doors before
  423. 16:22they uh scrutinize you or try to
  424. 16:24dehumanize you
  425. 16:26uh so i can i can kind of relate and
  426. 16:29understand what you're saying about
  427. 16:31how
  428. 16:32they
  429. 16:33the the the guards treat you because you
  430. 16:36know they can't they don't just go up in
  431. 16:38the man face majority time and talk
  432. 16:41trash they wait before they lock behind
  433. 16:44the bars as for a woman they feel like
  434. 16:47you know you you you're weaker or
  435. 16:49because you're crying or you know it's
  436. 16:52bothering you that you know they can
  437. 16:55uh what they call boo you up more
  438. 16:58you know and i can sense that but i want
  439. 17:00to go back to you natalie uh
  440. 17:03you know one of the things like i said i
  441. 17:05wanted to touch on this trauma
  442. 17:08you know is is
  443. 17:10is like for instance uh
  444. 17:13sabrina for instance
  445. 17:16she had
  446. 17:17trauma just by
  447. 17:19losing her child
  448. 17:21and
  449. 17:23they didn't care about that because they
  450. 17:24felt like she was the one who committed
  451. 17:26it so they hardly trump they pounded the
  452. 17:29trump pounded the order then you have
  453. 17:32other cases such as and i always go to
  454. 17:36this case because when i this is what
  455. 17:38sparked me on this women thing is that
  456. 17:40lisa montgomery case who was executed
  457. 17:44and
  458. 17:44how she was actually
  459. 17:48went to the police a couple of times
  460. 17:50but about the abuse that she was going
  461. 17:53through and about the raping she was uh
  462. 17:56going through and
  463. 17:58you know
  464. 17:59and every time she most time she went to
  465. 18:01the police they took a rap back to the
  466. 18:03same environment where to the same
  467. 18:05person that was accused of wanting but
  468. 18:08society is not looking at that mr
  469. 18:11psychic not looking at the trauma that
  470. 18:14pushes a person that pushes them
  471. 18:16slamming slamming a person to the fact
  472. 18:19that
  473. 18:20they they are so traumatized and
  474. 18:23sometimes they're not i know for me i
  475. 18:26suffer uh i don't know what the the the
  476. 18:30diagnosable cause of it but sometimes in
  477. 18:33life i'll be feeling so long to operate
  478. 18:36normally
  479. 18:37but
  480. 18:38because of the trauma of what i've been
  481. 18:40through i i
  482. 18:43you know i'm not grasping and everything
  483. 18:45in
  484. 18:46on one so i can imagine
  485. 18:48how the trauma of someone who's going
  486. 18:51through consonant abuse and counsel
  487. 18:54uh consistent uh uh uh
  488. 18:57raping and and stuff like that they'll
  489. 18:59go to help then this is like they have
  490. 19:02nowhere to turn and a lot of these
  491. 19:04women's that's on death row
  492. 19:07suffer dramatically
  493. 19:09with trauma before they committed these
  494. 19:11crimes
  495. 19:12can you elaborate a little bit about
  496. 19:15that trouble and
  497. 19:19receive a trial
  498. 19:22it's so important herman um what you're
  499. 19:24saying there it's
  500. 19:27women who are um serving extreme
  501. 19:30sentences death sentences life sentences
  502. 19:34um
  503. 19:35overwhelmingly have experienced
  504. 19:38gender-based violence in their life that
  505. 19:40is um perhaps domestic violence sexual
  506. 19:43abuse
  507. 19:44physical abuse abuse when they were
  508. 19:46children
  509. 19:48and
  510. 19:48um i'm glad you mentioned lisa
  511. 19:50montgomery's case because it is a very
  512. 19:53clear example of how
  513. 19:56um
  514. 19:57abuse at the hands usually of men can
  515. 20:00shape
  516. 20:01a woman's life and almost become a
  517. 20:03pipeline to the point where she
  518. 20:06might commit an offense i know you
  519. 20:08primarily work with and people who are
  520. 20:10innocent at winners to innocence um and
  521. 20:14a lot of our clients are not actually
  522. 20:16um
  523. 20:17innocent in in the sense that you know
  524. 20:20they they might have some involvement in
  525. 20:22an offense but this
  526. 20:24what
  527. 20:25the system completely neglects to
  528. 20:28account for
  529. 20:29is the state's own complicity
  530. 20:32in how someone might get to the point
  531. 20:34where where they um are involved in a
  532. 20:36crime
  533. 20:37because as you said you know if someone
  534. 20:40is experiencing abuse and has no
  535. 20:42protection from the state at all and
  536. 20:44turns to whether it's law enforcement
  537. 20:46officers teachers parents anybody for
  538. 20:49help and doesn't receive that
  539. 20:52that has a psychological impact on a
  540. 20:55person and that can really affect how
  541. 20:57someone behaves and how they respond to
  542. 21:00others around them
  543. 21:02some a case that really comes to mind is
  544. 21:04that of erica shepard erica is um on
  545. 21:07death row in texas at the moment and she
  546. 21:10repeatedly turned to people for help so
  547. 21:13a very very traumatic childhood and
  548. 21:15adolescence
  549. 21:17and she
  550. 21:18went to um
  551. 21:20two different shelters she ran away from
  552. 21:22her multiple times and went to a
  553. 21:23homeless shelter once and was turned
  554. 21:25right back to her home where she was
  555. 21:27suffering physical abuse later in her
  556. 21:29life she went to a women's shelter
  557. 21:31because she was suffering domestic
  558. 21:33violence and was kicked out of that
  559. 21:35shelter
  560. 21:36she um was in hospital for for
  561. 21:39pregnancies and also for trauma related
  562. 21:41to
  563. 21:42injuries that her um her husband was
  564. 21:45inflicting on her and all of the time
  565. 21:47the state
  566. 21:48actors were just turning her back into
  567. 21:51an abusive situation
  568. 21:53and and we've really got to ask
  569. 21:54ourselves you know
  570. 21:56at what point is
  571. 21:58are we saying that
  572. 22:00you know where should the state be
  573. 22:01stepping in here where women
  574. 22:03have a human right to be free from
  575. 22:05violence and are in need of protection
  576. 22:08and um where people are repeatedly being
  577. 22:11denied that right at what point uh
  578. 22:14is society complicit in actions that may
  579. 22:17then later result
  580. 22:19speaking of erica i just um if you don't
  581. 22:21mind want to read a quote from her she
  582. 22:24wrote to us recently and i think she
  583. 22:26really encapsulates this point that that
  584. 22:29you've been making her and about how um
  585. 22:32people seek help and are continually
  586. 22:34turned away so these are erica's own
  587. 22:36words she says
  588. 22:37using capital punishment our
  589. 22:39incarceration as the sole response to
  590. 22:41violence fails to achieve justice
  591. 22:43because you're simply sending people
  592. 22:45especially black and brown people into a
  593. 22:47system that has already failed them
  594. 22:50and i think what she's saying there is
  595. 22:52really powerful
  596. 22:54and the thing about it is that uh
  597. 22:59who's the actually at fault
  598. 23:02you know i understand the person
  599. 23:04that commits the crime is actually um uh
  600. 23:09guilty for most are guilty for if you're
  601. 23:12talking about the ones that are guilty
  602. 23:13right here
  603. 23:14talking about the ones that gives you
  604. 23:15right
  605. 23:16the ones that are guilty you know they
  606. 23:19they do commit the crime okay we get
  607. 23:21this they are guilty
  608. 23:23of that
  609. 23:24but
  610. 23:25as a person that worked with mitigations
  611. 23:28and litigation and finding mitigation
  612. 23:31reasons to to say no don't give this
  613. 23:35person death you know
  614. 23:37these
  615. 23:40these things that that actually we
  616. 23:43obtain
  617. 23:44where
  618. 23:45we have so much trouble
  619. 23:47from abuse
  620. 23:48and sometimes they start from childhood
  621. 23:51in the home you know um people been
  622. 23:53raped about ever men been raped you know
  623. 23:56we're not just talking about women here
  624. 23:58we talk about men being brave and we
  625. 24:01it's so much stuff that
  626. 24:03people been bullied so much
  627. 24:06until this very things that society is
  628. 24:10it
  629. 24:11says they're stepping up for
  630. 24:12we would not have bullying in school
  631. 24:15a person that's raping we don't tolerate
  632. 24:17this but then when we get into
  633. 24:20the penalty phase where we're asking
  634. 24:23for society to to think about the trauma
  635. 24:27what this person went through
  636. 24:29why this person don't deserve death it's
  637. 24:32like it's totally blind to it because of
  638. 24:36the crime they actually happen
  639. 24:38and everybody know is for instance if
  640. 24:41you take a woman that is is working
  641. 24:45right i hate to put it this way but
  642. 24:48a woman that is working
  643. 24:51she has four young kids
  644. 24:54she's trying to do work and they're
  645. 24:55driving her crazy driving the crazy
  646. 24:57at some point she's gonna get up from my
  647. 25:00work and say and put a foot down and say
  648. 25:03hey
  649. 25:04y'all sit down i'm trying to do mommy's
  650. 25:06trying to do work
  651. 25:08you know and try to put him in the bed
  652. 25:10or whatever and go back to hard work
  653. 25:13and i'm just using that as a point as
  654. 25:16the this the trauma
  655. 25:18keep coming on you baby and to a point
  656. 25:21where
  657. 25:22you you you you pushed
  658. 25:24you pushed
  659. 25:26so she had pushed herself from the hard
  660. 25:28work to settle the kids you know and
  661. 25:31sometimes it doesn't be so easy in that
  662. 25:34way as you know you could talk so calm
  663. 25:38sometimes it'd be pushed in a way where
  664. 25:40it consists of abuse
  665. 25:43applied abuse to someone else and it's
  666. 25:46not right but that's
  667. 25:48that's the it's like what they say
  668. 25:51pressure bust a pipe
  669. 25:53and that's what trauma does is just
  670. 25:55pushes pushes pushes pushes a person
  671. 25:58over
  672. 25:59and
  673. 26:00you know
  674. 26:02my thing about this is natalie is
  675. 26:07what
  676. 26:08message would you tell society
  677. 26:12dealing with
  678. 26:13the cases
  679. 26:14and
  680. 26:16mitigations reason we don't want to say
  681. 26:19society failure
  682. 26:21because
  683. 26:22somewhere in society they might have
  684. 26:24would have got help from somebody who
  685. 26:26really cares
  686. 26:28but majority government programs or
  687. 26:30majority of these other uh
  688. 26:33people that we run to
  689. 26:36they they just give money and not really
  690. 26:38care
  691. 26:39i mean women are running from domestic
  692. 26:41violence all the time
  693. 26:43well if you had a
  694. 26:45uh
  695. 26:47the audience as the jury on a case right
  696. 26:50now
  697. 26:52what would you
  698. 26:53tell them
  699. 26:55to get them to understand that this
  700. 26:56trouble is really serious and they need
  701. 26:59to be taken into consideration
  702. 27:03yeah absolutely i think um something
  703. 27:06that we we really need to ask is
  704. 27:09is
  705. 27:10the castle system really the right place
  706. 27:13for somebody who is traumatized you're
  707. 27:15speaking a lot about domestic violence
  708. 27:17for him and and the effects that that
  709. 27:19can have you know people can could
  710. 27:21develop post-traumatic stress disorder
  711. 27:23people can develop all kinds of mental
  712. 27:25illnesses from repeated traumatic
  713. 27:27experiences
  714. 27:29and is the best place for somebody
  715. 27:32really is is the best we can do a
  716. 27:34society to send somebody to
  717. 27:37a system that is incredibly cruel and
  718. 27:39dehumanizing and is not going to benefit
  719. 27:42anybody sabrina mentioned um how you
  720. 27:45know with her children it was traumatic
  721. 27:47because she had to raise child care you
  722. 27:49know we're taking somebody away from
  723. 27:50potentially their family and their
  724. 27:52children and not giving them the help
  725. 27:54that they need
  726. 27:56when really society has failed this
  727. 27:58person and has failed to step up before
  728. 28:01to provide that person with with the
  729. 28:03protection that they would need so
  730. 28:06um
  731. 28:07you know we
  732. 28:08it's
  733. 28:09really
  734. 28:10tough to try and change mentalities um
  735. 28:13especially when you know to back to
  736. 28:15something we've seen earlier some of the
  737. 28:16stereotypes about women are so deeply
  738. 28:18rooted
  739. 28:19especially with regard to
  740. 28:21to motherhood and being chaste and those
  741. 28:24kind of things
  742. 28:25but we've got to really keep pushing at
  743. 28:26it and i really do believe that we can
  744. 28:28do so much better for people who are in
  745. 28:31abusive situations than
  746. 28:34sending them off to death row or to a
  747. 28:37prison to serve a life sentence it's
  748. 28:39it's
  749. 28:40so unacceptable and
  750. 28:43compound trauma
  751. 28:45and it was very interesting to hear
  752. 28:47sabrina talking earlier about her
  753. 28:48experiences within
  754. 28:50the prison system it would be great to
  755. 28:52hear more i think but um it resonated a
  756. 28:54lot with some of what our clients have
  757. 28:56told us about the conditions that they
  758. 28:58have
  759. 28:58in prisons which also compound trauma
  760. 29:02people are facing sexual harassment from
  761. 29:04from prison guards for example prisons
  762. 29:06are entirely ill-equipped to serve
  763. 29:08women's needs the prison system
  764. 29:10was designed by men with men in mind
  765. 29:14and so you know we've got um
  766. 29:16women in in texan prisons that are
  767. 29:19incredibly hot who are going through
  768. 29:20menopause who you know
  769. 29:22that's such a difficult situation
  770. 29:25that um
  771. 29:27that people who menstruate have to face
  772. 29:29um and and the sexual harassment people
  773. 29:32who are having to show their breasts to
  774. 29:34get a cup of water when it's a really
  775. 29:36hot day and it's um
  776. 29:38all of this comes together to to
  777. 29:41compound trauma and to do absolutely
  778. 29:44nothing to serve people's needs
  779. 29:47sabrina
  780. 29:48have you just sent a message to all the
  781. 29:51viewers and all the viewers are juries
  782. 29:55what would
  783. 29:56you
  784. 29:58ask them to consider a little bit more
  785. 30:01that they didn't consider in your tribe
  786. 30:04first of all women's rights i mean we've
  787. 30:06always had to fight to get what i point
  788. 30:08across it's not about being barefoot
  789. 30:11pregnant in the kitchen you know what
  790. 30:12i'm saying no rights at all
  791. 30:14god dog i mean i'm you know every every
  792. 30:17woman doesn't want to be pregnant i'm
  793. 30:19just here to tell you we got strong
  794. 30:21women independent women out here that
  795. 30:23have the right to do what they need to
  796. 30:25do at any point in time my daughter's
  797. 30:26one of them she doesn't want any kid
  798. 30:28so what i'm saying is
  799. 30:31look at me for the case and and
  800. 30:34that's what i would have wanted them to
  801. 30:35do look at me for the case and do the
  802. 30:37right thing don't just look at me and
  803. 30:39say oh i'm an unfit mother and all this
  804. 30:41kind of stuff because you got this over
  805. 30:43here
  806. 30:44do the invest you should have done the
  807. 30:46investigative work because i should not
  808. 30:48have went to prison at all
  809. 30:50if you would have done but they had
  810. 30:52their own way of doing things and they
  811. 30:54looked at me like i was a crack headed
  812. 30:56and i have never done drugs before in my
  813. 30:58life but
  814. 30:59this case i was a crackhead i was a a
  815. 31:02monster i was this i was that that was
  816. 31:05crazy i mean
  817. 31:07women have rights too yes we have uh hot
  818. 31:10flashes and all that and it is important
  819. 31:12hot flashes kill you
  820. 31:15if they are
  821. 31:16horrible and i mean you know in prison i
  822. 31:20i saw the male guards the canine unit
  823. 31:22they come down they beat up the women
  824. 31:25you should have women over women not men
  825. 31:28over women
  826. 31:30you know what i'm saying that because i
  827. 31:31think that
  828. 31:32you know women will appeal to other
  829. 31:34women as as opposed to it being a
  830. 31:37strictly male situation now i'm not
  831. 31:40bashing the mail so don't get on me
  832. 31:42don't come after me i'm just saying
  833. 31:46we we deserve rights too man we have
  834. 31:48rights too as women
  835. 31:50we really do and we shouldn't have to
  836. 31:52fight as hard as we are to to have a
  837. 31:54place in this world we shouldn't but we
  838. 31:57do and it's sad
  839. 31:59it's like beating your chest oh i'm the
  840. 32:01man oh
  841. 32:02women go sit down no that ain't the way
  842. 32:04it should be
  843. 32:05we got rice too
  844. 32:09i'm still i'm still a thousand spot uh
  845. 32:14well i mean a lot back in the day that's
  846. 32:16the way they thought i'm serious that's
  847. 32:18the way they thought
  848. 32:19we could not talk we couldn't say
  849. 32:21anything if the husband whatever he said
  850. 32:23that's what went i mean he could go out
  851. 32:25and find 50 women we had to stay at the
  852. 32:28house barefoot pregnant in the kitchen
  853. 32:30that just let you guys know how old i am
  854. 32:34we're not going to talk about age but
  855. 32:35yeah
  856. 32:36question what
  857. 32:38was your judge of male or female male
  858. 32:43it mostly was male all around me
  859. 32:45mostly was male 1 a lot of people
  860. 32:49and in mississippi you have a good old
  861. 32:51connection
  862. 32:53oh boy system in place yes in my trial
  863. 32:56that's what it was
  864. 32:59kangaroo
  865. 33:01kangaroo that's right
  866. 33:05well you know we coming close to the end
  867. 33:07i have a video i'm gonna uh play right
  868. 33:10quick uh
  869. 33:11if alison can go ahead and share the
  870. 33:13screen but hopefully the
  871. 33:16visual uh the audio part will work
  872. 33:24[Music]
  873. 33:29i'm here today because i believe that
  874. 33:32julius jones is innocent i believe it
  875. 33:34down to the core of my heart and i think
  876. 33:36it's important as a community that we
  877. 33:39come out and show up for him
  878. 33:43this is amazing and it's just amazing
  879. 33:46that everybody came together no matter
  880. 33:48what background just to do the right
  881. 33:50thing
  882. 33:51i have a son just a couple years younger
  883. 33:54than julius and if something like this
  884. 33:56ever happened to him
  885. 33:58i would hope and pray that other people
  886. 34:00would get involved to help
  887. 34:05and we believe that
  888. 34:08god is a god of love not hate god is a
  889. 34:10god of life not death and what it means
  890. 34:12to love god and love our neighbors is to
  891. 34:14advocate for their lives and not their
  892. 34:16execution
  893. 34:21[Music]
  894. 34:26okay melinda will you please call the
  895. 34:28vote
  896. 34:29kelly doyle
  897. 34:31as i stated last month i
  898. 34:33continue to believe that there is doubt
  899. 34:35in this case
  900. 34:36in which
  901. 34:38the ultimate punishment should not be
  902. 34:40utilized i'm yes for clemency
  903. 34:43and at this point i am convinced that
  904. 34:47he is deserving of that and my vote is
  905. 34:50yes for clemency
  906. 34:52for the reasons previously stated at the
  907. 34:54commutation hearing my vote is yes to
  908. 34:55recommend clemency
  909. 35:03so we need everyone
  910. 35:05to now
  911. 35:07turn attention to governor kevin stitt
  912. 35:10he is the one who has to make the fun
  913. 35:17did they freeze up
  914. 35:25allison i think it froze up
  915. 35:27the recommendation that the board has
  916. 35:29now given him twice
  917. 35:31take the recommendation of the oklahoma
  918. 35:33pardon a parole board
  919. 35:35the governor stood
  920. 35:37you know i just pray that he's on the
  921. 35:38right side of history
  922. 35:41there's a lot of eyes on this case and
  923. 35:43he has the opportunity to to give julius
  924. 35:45the second lease on life and so i pray
  925. 35:47that he does that
  926. 35:49please don't let oklahoma execute an
  927. 35:51innocent man named julius darius jones
  928. 35:54who is my brother
  929. 35:57[Music]
  930. 36:02you know
  931. 36:03i just want to say
  932. 36:07this this is
  933. 36:10two things for me
  934. 36:12you know i've
  935. 36:14it's a great progress here at julius
  936. 36:16jones quesos we're here with the
  937. 36:18citizens
  938. 36:19has been supporting uh
  939. 36:22julius jones case and we
  940. 36:25i was recently out of oklahoma um
  941. 36:29in the capital
  942. 36:30you know it was amazing because they
  943. 36:32capital have a whole whale rat on the
  944. 36:34capitol
  945. 36:35grounds
  946. 36:37so it was amazing experience
  947. 36:39but what i want to also take out of this
  948. 36:41is that here
  949. 36:44this is a prime example
  950. 36:46you know we talk about we want justice
  951. 36:49in our system
  952. 36:50you know and to get justice in our
  953. 36:53system
  954. 36:54we as society has to pull together and
  955. 36:57get on the same level
  956. 36:59we have to understand that trauma plays
  957. 37:02a big part
  958. 37:03of people that's committing crimes
  959. 37:06we have to understand that we need to
  960. 37:08stop these people from suffering
  961. 37:12during this time of trauma
  962. 37:14we have to sit help the women out there
  963. 37:17that is getting abused taken
  964. 37:20advantage of and let them know that it
  965. 37:23is people out there that care
  966. 37:26we have to let them know that we as
  967. 37:28society
  968. 37:30is there to help try to protect her
  969. 37:33so she can live her life without having
  970. 37:37fear
  971. 37:38where she can leave her life we're
  972. 37:41getting the re rehabilitation that she
  973. 37:43needs
  974. 37:44to overcome this trauma
  975. 37:47and stay in a productive life
  976. 37:50not having her feel
  977. 37:53you know
  978. 37:54there's nowhere to turn
  979. 37:57that she's in the land of free and all
  980. 37:59of
  981. 38:01all that matters is
  982. 38:03you know
  983. 38:05money
  984. 38:06and the reason i save money is because
  985. 38:09that's what pushes political
  986. 38:12um things that's what pushes our justice
  987. 38:14system
  988. 38:15they make a lot of money off our justice
  989. 38:17system
  990. 38:18and you know when we talk about domestic
  991. 38:21violence we talk about rape
  992. 38:24when we talk about the slandering
  993. 38:26of a woman
  994. 38:28during her trial
  995. 38:30where she should be able which she
  996. 38:33should be able to sit comfortably
  997. 38:34because she is innocent until proven
  998. 38:38guilty
  999. 38:41she is still innocent until proven
  1000. 38:44guilty
  1001. 38:45but from the day one of her arrests she
  1002. 38:48has to take torture
  1003. 38:50as if she's guilty off top
  1004. 38:53where people pre-judging her
  1005. 38:56by
  1006. 38:57the crying
  1007. 38:59by the things that
  1008. 39:02people say about her
  1009. 39:04and taking away her self-esteem to fight
  1010. 39:07in the courtroom to be
  1011. 39:11a productive
  1012. 39:12person
  1013. 39:14and i think that today's show
  1014. 39:17is a show
  1015. 39:18that symbolized that
  1016. 39:21we
  1017. 39:22fighting causes in the justice system
  1018. 39:26but
  1019. 39:27i've been here
  1020. 39:29speaking around the world for 10 years
  1021. 39:32about 10 years
  1022. 39:34i've had shows i've been in front of
  1023. 39:36legislators and everything
  1024. 39:38and majority of the time when we
  1025. 39:41talking about cases and how broken the
  1026. 39:44justice system is we're talking about
  1027. 39:47witnesses uh
  1028. 39:49um
  1029. 39:50false witnessing
  1030. 39:52false confessions uh
  1031. 39:54police harassment prosecutor conduct
  1032. 39:58but we never talked about those that's
  1033. 40:00in society that's in that system
  1034. 40:03that's badgering
  1035. 40:05and badgering these women
  1036. 40:08while they're going to trial
  1037. 40:10and that is an issue that is a real flaw
  1038. 40:13in our justice system
  1039. 40:16i'm not an attorney
  1040. 40:17i'm a person that been in that system
  1041. 40:20sabrina is a person that's been in that
  1042. 40:23system natalie is a person that has to
  1043. 40:26work around that system and try to help
  1044. 40:29get the best results
  1045. 40:31for those that have suffered
  1046. 40:33that has suffered and no one came to the
  1047. 40:36rescue but the minute they've done wrong
  1048. 40:40here it is
  1049. 40:41they're getting
  1050. 40:43beamed and beaten and punished in all
  1051. 40:45types of method
  1052. 40:47mutually
  1053. 40:48everything
  1054. 40:52before i go natalie
  1055. 40:55sabrina i'm gonna go to natalie first
  1056. 40:58uh
  1057. 41:00is there anything you would like to say
  1058. 41:02before
  1059. 41:03we um
  1060. 41:04come to the end of this show
  1061. 41:08i would like to thank everybody for
  1062. 41:10listening because i think that's how we
  1063. 41:12start to change minds is by engaging
  1064. 41:14people in conversation
  1065. 41:16um and anyone who's on social media or
  1066. 41:18who have access to social media i would
  1067. 41:20really encourage you to get involved and
  1068. 41:23you know
  1069. 41:24we just saw the video about um julius
  1070. 41:26jones and all of our thoughts are within
  1071. 41:28but there's some really great activism
  1072. 41:30going on online and people are really
  1073. 41:32trying to push the needle and move us
  1074. 41:35towards a day where we no longer have
  1075. 41:37this absolutely barbaric punishment in
  1076. 41:39the united states
  1077. 41:41so
  1078. 41:42i'd encourage people to check that out
  1079. 41:45i enjoyed doing my show and i
  1080. 41:47need to get in contact with you to
  1081. 41:50you know whatever i can assist with
  1082. 41:53where what the centers consist with
  1083. 41:56we will proudly support
  1084. 42:00your calls
  1085. 42:01and i'm sure we'll have uh another show
  1086. 42:04of this because this is something i want
  1087. 42:06to hamburger out just like they hammer
  1088. 42:08the women i want to hammer this out
  1089. 42:10so that it reaches many people as
  1090. 42:12possible
  1091. 42:14um
  1092. 42:15you know a lot of people don't know what
  1093. 42:17actually goes on in prison or what goes
  1094. 42:19on through uh the trial process
  1095. 42:23of dealing with a case
  1096. 42:25they just
  1097. 42:27look at what's on the news or what's on
  1098. 42:29the television show and we need to let
  1099. 42:31them know from people that actually been
  1100. 42:34involved how it really is
  1101. 42:37so sabrina before i leave would you like
  1102. 42:40to say anything
  1103. 42:42i just like to say uh piggyback off what
  1104. 42:44ms natalie said um yes um
  1105. 42:47whenever you can anywhere you can just
  1106. 42:50join us i mean just look at what's going
  1107. 42:51on in the justice system if any way you
  1108. 42:54can speak out any any voice that you
  1109. 42:56want to use any platform just you know
  1110. 42:59speak out and women have rights like i
  1111. 43:02said and i think that we need to look at
  1112. 43:04these these cases and we also need to
  1113. 43:06look at them at the system as a whole
  1114. 43:09and try to make a change and that's
  1115. 43:10basically what you know i'm here to
  1116. 43:13do
  1117. 43:14thank you for having me
  1118. 43:16miss natalie
  1119. 43:18if it was i know i said one question but
  1120. 43:21um
  1121. 43:22as i go to my thought process
  1122. 43:25is it
  1123. 43:26in what ways uh is there any way that
  1124. 43:30people in society right now
  1125. 43:33can help you in your organization
  1126. 43:36who's fighting hard for these women
  1127. 43:38um do you have life for instance you
  1128. 43:40have a website you have information
  1129. 43:43you can share
  1130. 43:45can you
  1131. 43:46tell us absolutely
  1132. 43:48um if people want to go to our website
  1133. 43:50is www.deathpenaltyworldwide
  1134. 43:55all of our social media links are on
  1135. 43:56there and if you're on instagram you can
  1136. 43:59check out at her whole truth
  1137. 44:02and where we're telling the stories of
  1138. 44:05some of the women who are on the inside
  1139. 44:07and trying to spread awareness about um
  1140. 44:10about their lives and about the abuses
  1141. 44:12that they've suffered and and the
  1142. 44:14conditions in which they now are forced
  1143. 44:16to live
  1144. 44:17and so if people want to help educate
  1145. 44:19themselves and the people around them
  1146. 44:22then then check out our website and
  1147. 44:23check out our social media and spread
  1148. 44:25the word
  1149. 44:27and you know i want people to understand
  1150. 44:32we had we here i know especially here
  1151. 44:35witness dennis
  1152. 44:36i know our staff will be very busy and i
  1153. 44:39have amazing stuff
  1154. 44:41uh amazing ed amazing board
  1155. 44:44um
  1156. 44:46i want y'all to understand if y'all
  1157. 44:47trying to learn this stuff if anything
  1158. 44:50we can help you with you contact our
  1159. 44:52organization contact ms natalie
  1160. 44:54organization you know and ask questions
  1161. 44:57because you know the education on this
  1162. 45:00is very very important because guess
  1163. 45:02what you may be a potential juror
  1164. 45:05you make it with you educated or you may
  1165. 45:09have someone you know going through a
  1166. 45:11case or something and you will be able
  1167. 45:13to identify some of this stuff that is
  1168. 45:15seriously a problem just by educating
  1169. 45:18yourself on it now you know it may never
  1170. 45:20be used
  1171. 45:23hopefully it never be used where you
  1172. 45:25have to be on uh
  1173. 45:27a case and we have to defend you but
  1174. 45:30you know it it's good to be educated
  1175. 45:33instead of waiting for it to hit you at
  1176. 45:35your back door before you try to learn
  1177. 45:38and understand about it
  1178. 45:40so with that being said you know i went
  1179. 45:42over my 30 minutes
  1180. 45:44um
  1181. 45:46luckily i don't get fined from doing
  1182. 45:48that but
  1183. 45:49uh
  1184. 45:50i want to thank everybody for joining us
  1185. 45:53uh this week at crude justice and i ask
  1186. 45:55that everyone that sees this video
  1187. 45:58please share it
  1188. 46:00please share it the more you share it is
  1189. 46:03some information in this video that will
  1190. 46:06allow
  1191. 46:07someone
  1192. 46:09to
  1193. 46:10grasp what but they didn't know you know
  1194. 46:14on what they needed to know
  1195. 46:16and if we can reach one person every
  1196. 46:18share guess what
  1197. 46:20it's it's it's
  1198. 46:22it's spreading it's spreading and that's
  1199. 46:25helping us get the justice system in
  1200. 46:28society on one page to understand that
  1201. 46:31we want justice
  1202. 46:33justice
  1203. 46:35thank you from cruel justice
  1204. 46:38thank you
  1205. 46:39thanks so much

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This page contains the full transcript of Cruel Justice Episode 41: Sabrina Butler-Smith and Nathalie Greenfield by Witness To Innocence, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 6,960 words across 1,205 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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