Exonerated - Cornelius Dupree, Wrongfully Behind Bars For 30 Years — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00he spent 30 years behind bars for a
2. 0:03crime he did not commit mr cornelius
3. 0:06duprey how are you sir
4. 0:08oh doing fine thank you
5. 0:10ah thank you so much
6. 0:12your story is really incredible uh you
7. 0:14were released back in 2010
8. 0:17so it's been uh 11 years
9. 0:20you went behind bars back in 1970
10. 0:231979 you were arrested when you were 19
11. 0:26years old
12. 0:27so i always start here mr dupree before
13. 0:30we get into what happened just tell me
14. 0:32the the young man that you were before
15. 0:34all this happened to you
16. 0:36well uh
17. 0:38i was a young man uh
18. 0:40in search of my own identity at the time
19. 0:43uh fresh out of high school and
20. 0:46you know and i was working numerous jobs
21. 0:48you know uh
22. 0:49like i say trying to find
23. 0:51you know trying to find my way i guess
24. 0:53you could say
25. 0:54oh
26. 0:56you know
27. 0:57you know it was just uh
28. 1:00it was just really shocking you know
29. 1:02during the time all this happened uh
30. 1:06words cannot you know express uh
31. 1:10you know how i felt
32. 1:13so if i have this right let me make sure
33. 1:15i have this right this happens in dallas
34. 1:16texas
35. 1:17uh there is a a robbery that happens and
36. 1:22a rape
37. 1:24and
38. 1:25you and somebody else and a friend of
39. 1:27yours i believe
40. 1:29you randomly get stopped because they
41. 1:31think you may look like the people that
42. 1:33committed this crime
43. 1:35then the the the victims of the crime
44. 1:39they see you in a lineup
45. 1:41and they say
46. 1:43that's him
47. 1:44is that accurate
48. 1:47pretty much
49. 1:49first of all we were identified by photo
50. 1:52photograph uh photography
51. 1:55yes it was about
52. 1:56supposedly
53. 1:58uh allegedly i guess i could say uh
54. 2:00but let me start here uh
55. 2:02my companion and i which is his name is
56. 2:05anthony massinger
57. 2:07uh this particular night we were on our
58. 2:09way to a party a house party uh this is
59. 2:1179 so back then house party was a kind
60. 2:14of common thing back then
61. 2:16you know
62. 2:17and so we on our way to high school it
63. 2:19was like a block or two away from where
64. 2:21we lived and we had to you know we were
65. 2:24walking and so we had to cross over some
66. 2:25tracks to get to the location
67. 2:28so prior to us crossing the tracks to go
68. 2:30you know on our way to the party we see
69. 2:32uh
70. 2:33you know three cars of you know squad
71. 2:35cars
72. 2:36and they at that point you know
73. 2:38called us over and asked us where we
74. 2:40were going and then to proceed to
75. 2:43capricious
76. 2:44you know to see if we had anything
77. 2:46and at this time uh you know back then
78. 2:49marijuana was you know known things so
79. 2:51we had a bag of marijuana and uh he had
80. 2:54a little little pistol of during the
81. 2:56pistol
82. 2:57and uh
83. 2:59and at that point you know we was
84. 3:01thinking that we was going to be
85. 3:02arrested for the marijuana and the
86. 3:03pistol
87. 3:04and uh lo and behold uh
88. 3:07after taking us down they charged with
89. 3:09two counts of aggravated rape two counts
90. 3:11of aggravated robbery which was
91. 3:13which was you know it was mind blowing
92. 3:15to us both
93. 3:18and you said you're identified via
94. 3:20photos from from the victims and i
95. 3:23always because i do so many of these
96. 3:25stories and it's a lot of times
97. 3:27especially if it is late 70s early 80s
98. 3:30they are identified by an eyewitness and
99. 3:33an entire
100. 3:34somebody's entire life uh depends on one
101. 3:37eyewitness
102. 3:38but
103. 3:39do you think that
104. 3:41the victims really thought it was you
105. 3:44and your companion or do you think that
106. 3:47they
107. 3:48they knew they were lying
108. 3:52honestly i believe that they were
109. 3:54coerced
110. 3:55into uh
111. 3:58picking us out of the lineup uh because
112. 4:01to my knowledge uh we didn't fit the
113. 4:04description
114. 4:05you know uh i was described as being six
115. 4:08one and
116. 4:10light skin and i'm five nine and gosh
117. 4:13skin
118. 4:15and uh
119. 4:17so with with and and i was i was also
120. 4:20told that the perpetrators was
121. 4:23somewhere in the area trying to sell
122. 4:25some
123. 4:26some type of meat coat
124. 4:28and uh
125. 4:29and so i was uh you know so
126. 4:32it was said that the police went in this
127. 4:34area and showing pictures you know of us
128. 4:37and
129. 4:38and everyone said that that those guys
130. 4:41don't fit the description
131. 4:43so how we come up
132. 4:45guilty i don't know
133. 4:48were the victims white
134. 4:50yes
135. 4:51they were white and you had an all-white
136. 4:53jury as well
137. 4:55that's correct
138. 4:57so
139. 4:58you go behind bars again you're 19 years
140. 5:00old you're arrested december 1st 1979 at
141. 5:0419 years old
142. 5:05uh you're convicted june 25th 1980 but
143. 5:09tell me how you're feeling
144. 5:11when you uh
145. 5:12first go behind bars as a teenager
146. 5:17wow i mean it was like it was like night
147. 5:20and day you know coming from
148. 5:23what we call the free world
149. 5:25society
150. 5:26and uh
151. 5:28and being placed
152. 5:29in a cage
153. 5:31like an animal
154. 5:33uh
155. 5:35you know having to
156. 5:36adjust and re-learn a whole different
157. 5:39world
158. 5:40it was uh
159. 5:43it was uh it was very troubling i mean
160. 5:45in 1979 and here in texas
161. 5:49in prison
162. 5:50uh it was uh it was ran prison was ran
163. 5:54by inmates
164. 5:56and me going in probably like 155 i
165. 5:59think at that time you know small guy
166. 6:01small frame you know young guy
167. 6:04uh being put in prison where
168. 6:06you know you have a
169. 6:08you know
170. 6:09guys with you know murder cases and all
171. 6:12different kind of cases and they were
172. 6:14bigger guys and older guys and
173. 6:18you know and so
174. 6:20having that much time at a young age 75
175. 6:23years i really didn't know if i was ever
176. 6:25going to get out alive
177. 6:26and so being placed in that environment
178. 6:29all i knew was
179. 6:32i had to do whatever it took to survive
180. 6:35and uh so it was very very scary
181. 6:40[Music]
182. 6:41and so for folks who may not understand
183. 6:43because again you know we're listening
184. 6:45to you and we're losing we're thinking
185. 6:47logically well
186. 6:49if the if the person who did this was
187. 6:52a tall light-skinned dude 6-1 uh you're
188. 6:55a 5-9 dark-skinned dude how in the world
189. 6:58do they i mean we know how the system
190. 7:00works but nonetheless
191. 7:02in this trial
192. 7:04how in the world do they manage to
193. 7:06convict you
194. 7:07of i believe you're convicted of is it
195. 7:09aggravated rape and robbery
196. 7:12no i was convicted of aggravated robbery
197. 7:14the rape case was uh
198. 7:17was dismissed it was thrown out
199. 7:19right because they figured they already
200. 7:20could get enough time on you so they
201. 7:22they dismiss the robbery case right
202. 7:25well that's kind of like
203. 7:28how they put it
204. 7:29but in terms of my own terms
205. 7:32uh
206. 7:35you know uh they tried me for the uh the
207. 7:37robbery case because
208. 7:40my companion had the pistol the gun
209. 7:43they took the gun and used the gun as
210. 7:45evidence
211. 7:47in the robbery case in order to convict
212. 7:49me so that was the evidence they knew
213. 7:52that i actually didn't commit the crime
214. 7:54so there was no way in which they could
215. 7:56convict me of the rape case
216. 7:58so because
217. 8:00so because both of these cases were
218. 8:02together
219. 8:04you know it was it was like it was the
220. 8:06guy and his girlfriend i would assume
221. 8:08his girlfriend
222. 8:09they were together so i'm supposed to
223. 8:10rob the guy and rape the girl
224. 8:13and the girl was actually supposed to be
225. 8:14in rage they did a rape kit on her
226. 8:17but because i wasn't the actual
227. 8:19perpetrator they didn't have the
228. 8:20evidence to convict me of the rape so
229. 8:23because we had the pistol they used the
230. 8:24gun as evidence in the robbery
231. 8:28and uh that's how i was convicted they
232. 8:31charged me on with robert convicted me a
233. 8:33robbery dismissed the rape case
234. 8:36so they did whatever they could do
235. 8:39knowing you didn't do this they did
236. 8:40whatever they could do and and did did
237. 8:43the did the victim testify did did she
238. 8:46point you out in the courtroom
239. 8:49keep in mind yes she she pointed me out
240. 8:52in reference to the robber
241. 8:54and keep in mind i'm being tried for
242. 8:56robert not rick
243. 8:58right
244. 8:58so they used the lady that was supposed
245. 9:01to be raped they used her for
246. 9:03eyewitness
247. 9:04in the robber
248. 9:06now
249. 9:07also the guy in which i suppose the rods
250. 9:11they he never testified that i was the
251. 9:13one to rob
252. 9:15it was his girlfriend
253. 9:17that testified that i was the one who up
254. 9:20so mr dupree let me ask you this so you
255. 9:22are uh you're 19 years old you're in
256. 9:25this courtroom
257. 9:27you see white victims
258. 9:29a white jury
259. 9:31i know you're just a kid at this point
260. 9:33but are you thinking at this point in
261. 9:35this trial
262. 9:37this is a rat like this they they are
263. 9:39going to get me or is your mind not even
264. 9:41going there
265. 9:43well let me let me let me point out that
266. 9:46uh you know growing up
267. 9:49you know as a you know young kid and all
268. 9:51you know i used to watch a lot of
269. 9:53television you know tv
270. 9:55and uh and one of my favorite shows was
271. 9:57uh perry mason
272. 10:00and uh you know i really kind of
273. 10:02liked the way prairie mason uh you know
274. 10:05he always won his cases and i think all
275. 10:07his cases was based on
276. 10:10true
277. 10:11and and correct evidence i think that's
278. 10:13you know i really thought that was the
279. 10:14way the system worked
280. 10:17that you were actually uh innocent to
281. 10:19proven gifts
282. 10:21but being caught up in the system at
283. 10:23that young age and
284. 10:25uh going through that trial even though
285. 10:27it was a white white jury and
286. 10:29you know my people wasn't allowed in the
287. 10:31courtroom or
288. 10:33and all that stuff was going on i still
289. 10:35you know felt in my heart
290. 10:37and deep in my mind that
291. 10:40you know somehow another day would find
292. 10:43out that i'm not the actual perpetrator
293. 10:45and i would be set free
294. 10:48but lo and behold uh
295. 10:50that came to pass
296. 10:52and i had to deal with the reality of it
297. 10:54is and the reality of it is
298. 10:57you get that you're proving them and you
299. 11:00were sentenced to 75 years how was your
300. 11:03how was your family
301. 11:05affected by this
302. 11:06wow they were they were really throwing
303. 11:09uh you know my mom at the time was uh
304. 11:11you know while i was in jail being being
305. 11:14arranged on the charges you know my mom
306. 11:16was
307. 11:17you know uh considering getting an
308. 11:19attorney and things like that which
309. 11:20would you know take you know a whole
310. 11:22life savings
311. 11:24and and you know and i you know
312. 11:27convinced my mom mom i had i hadn't done
313. 11:29anything
314. 11:30they have the wrong people they're gonna
315. 11:32let me go
316. 11:33and uh so don't don't don't use your
317. 11:36money on no attorneys because
318. 11:37fraternities don't give you no
319. 11:38guarantees they just
320. 11:40they just take your money
321. 11:42and so because i felt
322. 11:44i knew i was innocent and i felt that i
323. 11:46was going to be
324. 11:48you know be let go and the truth would
325. 11:51prevail
326. 11:52uh
327. 11:54you know it really it really had uh you
328. 11:56know it really gave a hard blow to to my
329. 11:59to my parents
330. 12:01is your mother still with us
331. 12:04no she uh
332. 12:05she died while i was in prison
333. 12:08i'm sorry to hear that sorry to hear
334. 12:10that
335. 12:12uh so
336. 12:1330 years
337. 12:15i mean i'm i'm 44. i i i can't even
338. 12:18imagine 30 years how are you
339. 12:20[Music]
340. 12:22the time how are you getting by how are
341. 12:24you surviving uh three decades behind
342. 12:26bars
343. 12:28uh
344. 12:31you mean after the fact
345. 12:33right right now yeah i i i as you're in
346. 12:35there as you're in there actually oh uh
347. 12:39you know uh you know while you're here
348. 12:41you know you you have to uh
349. 12:44you have to gravitate to uh
350. 12:47to a new lifestyle you know you have to
351. 12:49do whatever you have to do but
352. 12:52most of all
353. 12:54you have to uh you have to be faithful
354. 12:56you have to be
355. 12:57you have to find your faith something
356. 12:59that you truly believe in to kind of
357. 13:01help you along the way
358. 13:03and that's that that
359. 13:05me personally i you know that what
360. 13:07brought me to christ
361. 13:09you know uh being being a a religious
362. 13:11person you know one who believe in and
363. 13:14god uh
364. 13:16you know uh
365. 13:18i i just kept the faith then and with
366. 13:20that i think is what brought me to this
367. 13:23point
368. 13:24to where you know now
369. 13:27i'm here faced with another chance
370. 13:29another shot at life
371. 13:30and life is
372. 13:32much better and i believe it's because
373. 13:35of my faith in god
374. 13:38when you were behind bars
375. 13:40did you feel like you were coming across
376. 13:42a lot of young men like yourself
377. 13:45who are wrongfully convicted who are
378. 13:47wrongfully behind bars
379. 13:50i want to say yes
380. 13:53and no
381. 13:54because and the reason i say that is you
382. 13:57know you have people
383. 13:59uh
384. 13:59you know and i'm gonna use my shifter
385. 14:01you know i'm one who knew my truth i
386. 14:04knew i was innocent i know i didn't
387. 14:05commit a crime and uh and so i was
388. 14:08constantly going to the written room law
389. 14:10library you know stuttering and filing
390. 14:12rich
391. 14:13and things of that such and so you find
392. 14:16other
393. 14:17other people
394. 14:19who
395. 14:20who want to take on the same claim and
396. 14:22you really don't know the truth or not i
397. 14:24mean but there's so many
398. 14:27that's that's
399. 14:29pretending
400. 14:30you know well i didn't do my you know
401. 14:33i'm innocent as well and i didn't and so
402. 14:35you really don't know but but i do
403. 14:37believe that there's others in there i
404. 14:39just can't say to
405. 14:41to what degree you you just
406. 14:43so you really kind of kind of stay to
407. 14:46yourself and
408. 14:47you know do your own thing and uh
409. 14:50not worry too much about
410. 14:52other folks
411. 14:54you you said in the beginning that uh
412. 14:57at that point in the early 80s when you
413. 14:59first went in that prisons were really
414. 15:01run by the by the inmates
415. 15:03uh i i always heard enough i'm wrong
416. 15:06correct me that in the
417. 15:07early 80s that
418. 15:09prison was much more violent back then
419. 15:11it was it was much worse back then and
420. 15:13it got a little bit more strict as as
421. 15:16time went on in the 90s
422. 15:18would you agree with that is that
423. 15:19accurate that that it changed at a
424. 15:21certain point and or or no
425. 15:24yes you get it right on the head it
426. 15:26trains tremendously i mean uh
427. 15:29you know when i went in prison uh
428. 15:32it was uh
429. 15:34they had the cliche was
430. 15:36only the strong survive
431. 15:38and so you had to be one who was
432. 15:43you know willing to
433. 15:45kill if that be the case
434. 15:47you know uh
435. 15:49inmates having
436. 15:50what they call shanks knives that was
437. 15:53made out of you know various things in
438. 15:56prison that was a common thing everyone
439. 15:58had some type of
440. 16:00protection
441. 16:02and uh
442. 16:04and to kill someone in prison
443. 16:07was only a five-year sentence back then
444. 16:10i mean you can get only five you only
445. 16:13get five years for
446. 16:15for killing another another inmate
447. 16:18and prison was pretty much structured
448. 16:22uh
449. 16:24like uh military
450. 16:26you know you had to get up early in the
451. 16:28mornings you have to make your rack you
452. 16:30know
453. 16:32you had to clean yourself i mean you had
454. 16:33to do all this your
455. 16:35prior to going to work early in the
456. 16:37morning this is like five o'clock in the
457. 16:39morning
458. 16:40you know you have to get up like four
459. 16:41o'clock to go eat breakfast if you're
460. 16:43gonna go eat breakfast
461. 16:45five o'clock you have to make your rack
462. 16:46and go to the fields at
463. 16:49six o'clock
464. 16:50and so we went from sun up to sundown
465. 16:53so to the fields what what are you doing
466. 16:55in the fields in case folks may not
467. 16:56understand that
468. 16:58well the fields is
469. 17:02i mean i'm sure a lot of folks have
470. 17:04watched the color purple where they were
471. 17:06picking cotton and things of that such
472. 17:08yes yes exactly
473. 17:10you were picking cotton in prison
474. 17:12i picked cotton for five years in prison
475. 17:15wow
476. 17:17wow that's
477. 17:18that's that's wild
478. 17:21wow
479. 17:22that's something
480. 17:24and i heard that's brutal work it cuts
481. 17:26your fingers
482. 17:27uh it's i heard that's hard work it's
483. 17:29not a game i mean it's hard it's hard
484. 17:31labor
485. 17:32yes it really is uh you know if you
486. 17:35wanna
487. 17:36now just take me for instance me going
488. 17:38down there at such a young age
489. 17:4019 years old and
490. 17:42uh like i said i picked it for five
491. 17:44years so that's to about 24 25 i was
492. 17:47still young and had a strong back sort
493. 17:49of say
494. 17:51you know you know i was very athletic
495. 17:54playing basketball i was lifting weights
496. 17:56things of that such and so i always been
497. 18:00uh uh
498. 18:02athletically inclined
499. 18:04so i was always doing something to kind
500. 18:06of stay in some type of shape
501. 18:08uh but you had older guys who was coming
502. 18:11to prison
503. 18:14wasn't so fortunate
504. 18:16but
505. 18:17they wouldn't treat them any different
506. 18:20they would send them to the fields they
507. 18:22would have to go to i mean this guy's my
508. 18:23age
509. 18:24i'm 62 now it was guys coming out there
510. 18:27my agent over
511. 18:29would have to pick the cotton as well
512. 18:32and it wasn't so
513. 18:34so easy on them
514. 18:37sun up to sundown
515. 18:40as you're picking cotton are you
516. 18:42thinking in your spirit like
517. 18:44this this is slavery i'm literally on a
518. 18:47field in texas picking cotton are you
519. 18:49thinking that
520. 18:51yes exactly i mean uh
521. 18:55you know it really uh you know your mind
522. 18:57really go to
523. 19:00you know revert back to some of the old
524. 19:02songs and the movies and
525. 19:05and the stories in which you heard you
526. 19:08know uh
527. 19:09early on
528. 19:10and now to be
529. 19:14in the in the reality of it
530. 19:16you know you're picking cotton you got
531. 19:18to you got the guard on the horse with
532. 19:20the shotgun and the pistol all that was
533. 19:23real
534. 19:27it was real and it was uh
535. 19:29you know but you know
536. 19:31in the meantime i mean this is what you
537. 19:33have to endure
538. 19:36until you know until the change you know
539. 19:39come about
540. 19:42so due to the work of the innocence
541. 19:44project and due to the work of dna
542. 19:47uh you are you are freed and you're
543. 19:50you're one of the are you the first
544. 19:51person in texas freed by uh dna evidence
545. 19:53is that accurate
546. 19:55no no i'm the uh
547. 19:57i think i'm the 44 for exonery
548. 20:00in the state of texas
549. 20:02so explain how you're free with dna
550. 20:04because some folks are thinking well how
551. 20:06was their dna back in
552. 20:081979 so explain how you're freed with
553. 20:11that
554. 20:12well
555. 20:12thanks for asking i mean the story is so
556. 20:16so overwhelming
557. 20:19but but keep in mind when i was arrested
558. 20:21back in 1980 uh there was no such thing
559. 20:24as dna i think it was only like a blood
560. 20:26test
561. 20:27it was taking blood tests and things of
562. 20:28that stuff so
563. 20:30by them
564. 20:31convicting me of the aggravated robbery
565. 20:34and sentenced to me 75 years
566. 20:38which is actually a life sentence
567. 20:41you know anything 60 years ago is
568. 20:43considered a life sentence so i had 75
569. 20:46years
570. 20:46so uh by them sentencing me 75 years in
571. 20:50the texas department of corrections uh
572. 20:52for that length of time there's a strong
573. 20:55possibility
574. 20:57that i would have
575. 20:59not made
576. 21:02you know and they knew that
577. 21:04you know so with the dirty work in which
578. 21:06they had
579. 21:07uh committed
580. 21:09they were looking at it by me having
581. 21:11that sentencing
582. 21:13before i get out i would probably die so
583. 21:15the world would never know
584. 21:17what actually took place
585. 21:20but lo and behold
586. 21:22somewhere around
587. 21:2590 somewhere when the innocent project
588. 21:28uh
589. 21:29uh
590. 21:31uh
591. 21:31let me put it this way by me going to
592. 21:33the
593. 21:34law library in the written room and
594. 21:36doing all the the legal work i you know
595. 21:39i was you know corresponding and
596. 21:41exchanging information with other
597. 21:43inmates
598. 21:44and so this one guy came to me one day
599. 21:47because he knew that i was working on my
600. 21:48case and what it consisted of he told me
601. 21:51have i heard about this
602. 21:52uh
603. 21:53this uh entity in new york called the
604. 21:56innocent project
605. 21:57i say no
606. 21:58so he he said well this is an entity
607. 22:00that would take your case pro bono
608. 22:03meaning that they'll take it free
609. 22:05and uh and uh if you have uh
610. 22:09if there's any evidence that can prove
611. 22:10you know your innocence
612. 22:13and i didn't know if there was any
613. 22:14evidence through my innocence
614. 22:16so i said well you know i i'll take the
615. 22:19information and i'll write them and uh
616. 22:22and see what you know what goes from
617. 22:24there so i wrote them 11
618. 22:26explaining to them that i was in prison
619. 22:28for a robbery that i didn't commit
620. 22:31but in this robbery case that i they say
621. 22:33that i committed also consisted of a
622. 22:36rape
623. 22:37that they they never
624. 22:39charged i mean they never uh convicted
625. 22:40me of they dismissed it
626. 22:42and so i asked them that if
627. 22:45if they go back and do it uh do a
628. 22:47research on the uh the rape case
629. 22:50they're gonna find out that i didn't
630. 22:52rate this label and if i didn't rape her
631. 22:54i didn't rob this guy
632. 22:56so that will you know
633. 22:58that would uh exonerate me on the whole
634. 23:00rob
635. 23:02so this was around 90 something
636. 23:05so they went back and they you know they
637. 23:07wrote to dallas and they looked up my
638. 23:09case and they they went back and they
639. 23:11found evidence they found one
640. 23:12prerequisite
641. 23:15one pre-recur
642. 23:16where this lady was supposed to been
643. 23:18raped
644. 23:20and so they they they uh uh they
645. 23:23requested a day of events
646. 23:25and uh to the judge and
647. 23:27finally got me a new trial
648. 23:29so with that one prerequisite they did
649. 23:31the test on it
650. 23:33and the test shown that i wasn't the
651. 23:35perpetrator who raped the lady
652. 23:38and so if i'm not the one who raped the
653. 23:39lady i didn't do the robbery because
654. 23:41they were both together
655. 23:43and that's exactly why i'm here today
656. 23:50wow so you are finally released july
657. 23:5322nd 2010 after 30 years you are finally
658. 23:57exonerated
659. 23:59june 4th 2011. uh thankfully the state
660. 24:03of texas did compensate you although you
661. 24:06know there's no amount to really
662. 24:08compensate uh taking away 30 years from
663. 24:10from somebody
664. 24:12uh it's been it's been 10 years since
665. 24:14you've been out uh
666. 24:16how have you been able to move forward
667. 24:18and just
668. 24:19i'm sure there's ptsd i'm sure it's a
669. 24:22lot to get used to
670. 24:24have you been able to move forward
671. 24:26well
672. 24:28like you i know you've heard it before
673. 24:30you know it's like one day at a time
674. 24:33you know you uh
675. 24:35you know uh coming out of prison after
676. 24:37being in for 30 years and
677. 24:40uh you know i was accustomed to you know
678. 24:42just holding money spending money but
679. 24:44now they have debit cards and credit
680. 24:47cards and
681. 24:49you know
682. 24:50believe me i mean
683. 24:51and now the cell phones i mean i went in
684. 24:53when there was push button and dial
685. 24:56phones and things of that such i mean
686. 24:58it's so much
687. 25:00that i had to
688. 25:02relearn will have to learn
689. 25:04uh
690. 25:06you know uh
691. 25:08and so it it's been challenging and it's
692. 25:10like i say one day at a time and
693. 25:12you know now i know how to do zoom i
694. 25:15mean
695. 25:16[Music]
696. 25:17you know it's i mean it sounds
697. 25:19prehistoric but uh that's my reality so
698. 25:23you know and i did i've been doing a lot
699. 25:25of traveling uh
700. 25:27and and things of that such so i've been
701. 25:29quite a few places
702. 25:30uh
703. 25:32you know during my time you know being
704. 25:34being released so
705. 25:36uh i i take it all with stride and
706. 25:38strive uh i have no complaints god make
707. 25:41no mistakes
708. 25:43you know uh and so uh
709. 25:46here i am
710. 25:48and you're you're 62 yes sir
711. 25:50well we're on the radio folks can't see
712. 25:52it but you look about 42.
713. 25:54you look
714. 25:55he looks so young it's amazing yeah
715. 25:58that's incredible uh i'm i think i know
716. 26:01the answer to this but
717. 26:02did you ever hear uh from the the
718. 26:05victims ever get an apology did they
719. 26:08ever own anything i'm assuming that but
720. 26:11i figured well no no i mean you just man
721. 26:14it's like you already know the story in
722. 26:15advance
723. 26:16uh but but right after i was released
724. 26:20uh
725. 26:22and i was uh exonerated
726. 26:24you know the story got out i mean i was
727. 26:26it was all over the news all over the
728. 26:27radio i mean it was everywhere
729. 26:29and uh
730. 26:32so the guy that was supposedly
731. 26:35had gotten robbed
732. 26:37who never identified me as a robber
733. 26:41he wrote my attorney
734. 26:43where he called my attorney in new york
735. 26:46uh which is nina morrison and he he you
736. 26:50know he explained to her
737. 26:52who he was
738. 26:53and he asked her is there any way in
739. 26:55which she could uh
740. 26:57get in contact with me because she
741. 26:59wanted to
742. 27:00to apologize
743. 27:03you know and so uh she said she called
744. 27:06me and told me about you know what was
745. 27:08taking place you know and asked me is it
746. 27:10okay if i she gave him my number and so
747. 27:13i said yes that's fine so she gave him a
748. 27:15number he contacted me
749. 27:17and uh
750. 27:18he said mr dupree i said yes sir
751. 27:20his name is i won't reveal his name and
752. 27:23uh
753. 27:25he said i just wanted to uh you know
754. 27:27apologize he said man i thought she was
755. 27:28out years ago
756. 27:30he said i never knew that you were still
757. 27:32in prison he said but i just wanted to
758. 27:34let you know that i never told
759. 27:36the cops that you were the one
760. 27:39who robbed me
761. 27:41he's saying as far as my girlfriend she
762. 27:44and i from that night on that you know
763. 27:46that all that took place they departed
764. 27:49because she felt like uh
765. 27:52during this altercation uh she was
766. 27:54supposed to have been raped and
767. 27:56he was telling me that he was bleeding
768. 27:58like
769. 27:59he didn't know what because he was
770. 28:01pissed away you know by these guys i
771. 28:03mean and anyway she held him
772. 28:06a camel because she felt like he didn't
773. 28:08protect her enough
774. 28:09and so he was saying since then they had
775. 28:11just
776. 28:12you know went apart and so he was
777. 28:15you know expressing his
778. 28:17you know his his uh uh
779. 28:21you know his feelings toward you know me
780. 28:23being in prison all that while and
781. 28:25losing my mom and all that stuff and i
782. 28:28said well that's great and so i told him
783. 28:32i said well man i really i really do uh
784. 28:35uh commend you
785. 28:36for having you know the courage
786. 28:39to uh to want to call me and talk to me
787. 28:42and
788. 28:43and offer me your you know
789. 28:46your forgiveness
790. 28:47and i say and because of that
791. 28:51just because of that
792. 28:54i believe you are sincere
793. 28:57but i want to say
794. 28:59i didn't do it just because he asked or
795. 29:01he offered his forgiveness
796. 29:03i did it because
797. 29:05in order for me to move forward
798. 29:08i have to let go
799. 29:11so it wasn't for him it was for me
800. 29:14and so i have no regrets i have no idea
801. 29:17of feelings
802. 29:19toward him whatsoever
803. 29:21and my life been
804. 29:24been you know it's been blooming ever
805. 29:26since
806. 29:28wow so thank you for asking that
807. 29:30question
808. 29:31oh
809. 29:32listen thank you for telling the story
810. 29:34it's just so important uh
811. 29:36what a story what a story and
812. 29:38you're obviously a survivor
813. 29:40and a warrior uh one last thing i i know
814. 29:43uh as far as the innocence project uh
815. 29:46you're on the advisory board um an
816. 29:49exoneration is that that accurate
817. 29:52yes i'm on the exoneria the innocent
818. 29:54project exonera advisory board in new
819. 29:57york city
820. 29:58i also uh i'm also a part of exoneration
821. 30:01nation
822. 30:02uh in oakland california or med advisor
823. 30:06board so i've been reactive in
824. 30:09in terms of trying to help in any way i
825. 30:12can
826. 30:12uh with with the people that are being
827. 30:15released and those who are still
828. 30:17incarcerated