Just Mercy: Ch. 6 Audio — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03he's just a boy it was late and I had
2. 0:06picked up the phone after hours because
3. 0:08no one else was in the
4. 0:09building it was becoming a bad habit the
5. 0:13older woman on the other end of the line
6. 0:15was pleading with me after offering a
7. 0:16heartfelt description of her grandson
8. 0:18who had just been jailed for
9. 0:20murder he's already been in jail for two
10. 0:22nights and I can't get to him I'm in
11. 0:25Virginia and my health is not good
12. 0:27please tell me you'll do something I
13. 0:30hesitated before answering her only a
14. 0:33handful of C counties permitted the
15. 0:35death penalty for children sorry only a
16. 0:37handful of countries permitted the death
17. 0:39penalty for children and the United
18. 0:41States was one of them many of my
19. 0:43Alabama clients were on death row for
20. 0:45crimes they were accused of committing
21. 0:46when they were 16 or 17year old children
22. 0:50many states had changed their laws to
23. 0:52make it easier to prosecute children as
24. 0:55adults and my clients were getting
25. 0:57younger and
26. 0:58younger Alabama had more juvenile
27. 1:01sentenced to death per capita than any
28. 1:03other state or any other country in the
29. 1:06world I was determined to manage the
30. 1:08growing demand for our services by
31. 1:10taking on new cases only if the client
32. 1:12was facing execution or formally
33. 1:14condemned to death row I heard her
34. 1:17murmuring on the other end and realized
35. 1:19she was praying I waited until she was
36. 1:21finished before saying ma'am I can't
37. 1:24take the case but I will drive down to
38. 1:26the jail and see your grandson tomorrow
39. 1:29I'll see what I can can do we likely
40. 1:31won't be able to represent him but let
41. 1:33me find out what's going on and perhaps
42. 1:35we can find you a lawyer who can assist
43. 1:36you Mr Stevenson I'm so
44. 1:40grateful I was tired and already feeling
45. 1:42overwhelmed with the number of cases I
46. 1:44had but I needed to go to a courthouse
47. 1:46near the county where the boy was being
48. 1:48held so it wouldn't be that big of a
49. 1:50deal to stop by and see the
50. 1:52boy the next morning I drove for over an
51. 1:55hour to the county when I got to the
52. 1:57courthouse I checked the clerk's file on
53. 1:59the cas
54. 2:00and read the boy case File which mostly
55. 2:02confirmed everything the grandmother had
56. 2:04told me Charlie was 14 years old he
57. 2:07weighed less than 100 pound and was just
58. 2:105T tall he didn't have any juvenile
59. 2:13criminal history no prior arrest no
60. 2:16misconduct in school no delinquencies or
61. 2:18prior Court appearances he was a good
62. 2:21student who had earned several
63. 2:22certificates for perfect attendance at
64. 2:24his school his mother described him as a
65. 2:26great kid who was well behaved but
66. 2:29Charlie had by his own account shot and
67. 2:32killed a man named
68. 2:34George George was Charlie's mother's
69. 2:37boyfriend she referred to the
70. 2:38relationship as a mistake George would
71. 2:41often come home drunk and begin acting
72. 2:44violently there were three occasions in
73. 2:46a year and a half leading up to the
74. 2:47night of the shooting when George beat
75. 2:49Charlie's mother so mercilessly that she
76. 2:52required medical treatment she never
77. 2:54left George or made him leave on the
78. 2:57night of the shooting Charlie and his
79. 2:59mother were were playing cards when
80. 3:01George came home very drunk hey where
81. 3:04are you he shouted when he came in the
82. 3:06two adults had argued earlier in the
83. 3:08evening because she had begged him not
84. 3:10to go out fearing that he would come
85. 3:12home drunk now she looked at him angrily
86. 3:15when she saw him standing there wreaking
87. 3:17of
88. 3:18alcohol he looked back at her with
89. 3:20contempt and a and in a Flash he punched
90. 3:22her in hard in the face she didn't
91. 3:25expect him to hit her so quickly or
92. 3:27violently he had it done it like that
93. 3:30before she collapsed to the
94. 3:32floor Charlie was standing behind his
95. 3:34mother and saw her head Slam against
96. 3:36their metal kitchen counter as she fell
97. 3:39George saw Charlie standing there and
98. 3:41glared at him coldly before brushing
99. 3:43past him toward the bedroom where
100. 3:45Charlie heard him fall noisily onto the
101. 3:47bed Charlie's mother was lying on the
102. 3:49floor unconscious and bleeding badly he
103. 3:52knelt beside his mother's side trying
104. 3:54feverishly to revive her he started
105. 3:57crying feudly asking his mother what to
106. 3:59do he frantically searched for the for
107. 4:02the cloth kitchen towel because thought
108. 4:04he thought it would stop the leading he
109. 4:06found it wrapped around this pot on the
110. 4:09stove his mother had cooked blackeyed
111. 4:11peas for dinner he loved blackeyed
112. 4:14peas they'd eaten together before they
113. 4:16started playing Piccolo his favorite
114. 4:19card
115. 4:21game Charlie was quietly begging his
116. 4:23mother to wake up when it appeared to
117. 4:26him that she wasn't
118. 4:27breathing he thought he should call call
119. 4:29an ambulance but the phone was in the
120. 4:31bedroom with
121. 4:32George George had never hit Charlie but
122. 4:35he terrified him just the
123. 4:38same the house was quiet the only sound
124. 4:41he heard was George Breathing heavily in
125. 4:43the other room soon he could hear him
126. 4:46snoring his mother hadn't moved in
127. 4:48nearly 15 minutes Charlie thought his
128. 4:51mother might be dying or maybe even
129. 4:52already dead he had to call an ambulance
130. 4:56he stood up flooded with anxiety and
131. 4:59cautiously made his way to the bedroom
132. 5:01Charlie saw George on the bed asleep and
133. 5:04felt a surge of hatred for this man he
134. 5:07had never liked him never understood why
135. 5:09his mother had let him live with them
136. 5:12George didn't like Charlie either he was
137. 5:14rarely friendly to the boy his mother
138. 5:17had told Charlie that George could be
139. 5:18sweet but Charlie never saw any of that
140. 5:21Charlie knew that George's first wife
141. 5:23and child had been killed in a car
142. 5:25accident but Charlie's mother said that
143. 5:27was why he drank so much in the 18 month
144. 5:30that George had lived with them it
145. 5:32seemed to Charlie that there had been
146. 5:33nothing but violence loud arguments
147. 5:36pushing and shoving threats and turmoil
148. 5:39his mother had stopped smiling the way
149. 5:40she used to she'd become nervous and
150. 5:43jumpy and now he thought she's on the
151. 5:46kitchen floor
152. 5:48dead Charlie walked to the dresser
153. 5:50against the back wall of the bedroom to
154. 5:52reach the phone when he reached the
155. 5:54phone he wasn't sure why he didn't pick
156. 5:56up the receiver he could have never
157. 5:59really explained why he opened the
158. 6:01dresser drawer in um instead he put his
159. 6:04hand under the folded white t-shirts his
160. 6:06mother had laundered and felt for the
161. 6:08handgun he knew George kept hidden there
162. 6:11he'd never fired a gun before but he
163. 6:13knew he
164. 6:16could Charlie walked over to the bed his
165. 6:19arm stretched out pointing the gun at
166. 6:21George's head as Charlie hovered over
167. 6:24him the snoring stopped the room grew
168. 6:27very very quiet and that's when Charlie
169. 6:30pulled the
170. 6:31trigger the sound of the bullet firing
171. 6:34was much louder than Charlie had
172. 6:35expected the gun jerked and pushed
173. 6:37Charlie a step back he almost lost his
174. 6:40balance and fell he looked at George and
175. 6:43squeezed his eyes closed it was horrible
176. 6:46he could feel himself starting to
177. 6:47tremble again and that's when he heard
178. 6:49his mother moaning in the kitchen he
179. 6:52couldn't believe she was alive he ran
180. 6:54back to the phone and called 911 then
181. 6:56sat next to her until the police arrived
182. 7:03after learning all of this I felt that
183. 7:05no court would not prosecute Charlie as
184. 7:07an adult according to the file and the
185. 7:10notes from the initial court appearance
186. 7:12the prosecutor did not dispute Charlie
187. 7:14and his mother's account it was only
188. 7:16when I continued reading that I
189. 7:17discovered that George was a local
190. 7:19police
191. 7:20officer George was a law enforcement
192. 7:22officer who served with honor the
193. 7:24prosecutor argued it was a great loss
194. 7:27for the county and a tragedy that a good
195. 7:29person could be be so heartlessly killed
196. 7:30by this young man the prosecutor
197. 7:33insisted that Charlie be tried as an
198. 7:35adult and he announced that he intended
199. 7:37to seek the maximum punishment permitted
200. 7:39by the law the judge agreed Charlie was
201. 7:43immediately taken to the county jail for
202. 7:45adults the small County Jail was across
203. 7:48the street from the courthouse I stepped
204. 7:51outside and walked to the jail to see
205. 7:53this young man the jailers clearly
206. 7:55didn't receive a lot of out of town
207. 7:57lawyers for legal visits the Bey on duty
208. 8:00looked at me suspiciously before taking
209. 8:02me inside where I waited in the small
210. 8:04attorney meeting room from the time I
211. 8:06finished reading the file I couldn't
212. 8:08stop thinking about how tragic this case
213. 8:10was and my somber thoughts weren't
214. 8:13interrupted until a small child was
215. 8:14pushed into the visiting
216. 8:16room this boy seemed way too small Way
217. 8:20Too Thin and way too scared to be 14 I
218. 8:23looked at the Jailer who seemed to share
219. 8:25my surprise at how small and terrified
220. 8:27the child appeared I asked him to
221. 8:29removed the handcuffs he removed
222. 8:31Charlie's handcuffs before leaving the
223. 8:33room Charlie sat down across to me at
224. 8:36the table it had been three days since
225. 8:38his
226. 8:39arrest Charlie my name is Brian your
227. 8:43grandmother called me and asked me if I
228. 8:44could come and see you I'm a lawyer and
229. 8:47I help people who get in trouble or who
230. 8:49are accused of crimes and I'd like to
231. 8:51help
232. 8:52you the boy wouldn't make eye contact
233. 8:55with me he was Tiny but had big
234. 8:57beautiful eyes he had a close haircut
235. 9:00that made him look even younger than he
236. 9:01was I thought I saw tattoos or symbols
237. 9:04on his neck but when I looked more
238. 9:06closely I realized that they were
239. 9:08bruises Charlie are you okay he was
240. 9:12staring intensely to my left looking at
241. 9:14the wall as if he saw something there
242. 9:16his distant look was so alarming that I
243. 9:19actually turned to see if something of
244. 9:20Interest behind to see if there was
245. 9:22something of Interest behind me but it
246. 9:24was just a blank wall I sat and waited
247. 9:27for a very long time in the hope that he
248. 9:29would give me some kind of response but
249. 9:31the room remained silent he stared at
250. 9:34the wall and then looked back down at
251. 9:36his own wrists rubbing the spot where
252. 9:38the metal had pinched him Charlie I want
253. 9:41to make sure you're doing okay so I just
254. 9:44need you to answer a few questions for
255. 9:45me okay I knew he could hear me whenever
256. 9:49I spoke he would lift his head and
257. 9:51return his gaze to the spot on the
258. 9:54wall Charlie if I were you I'd be pretty
259. 9:58scared and really worried right now but
260. 10:01I also wants someone to help me I'd like
261. 10:03to help okay I waited for a response but
262. 10:08none was
263. 10:09forthcoming Charlie can you speak are
264. 10:12you okay he didn't say a word we don't
265. 10:16have to talk about George we don't have
266. 10:18to talk about what happened we can talk
267. 10:20about whatever you want is there
268. 10:22something you want to talk about I was
269. 10:25waiting for longer and longer stretches
270. 10:26after each question desperately hoping
271. 10:28that he would would say something but he
272. 10:31didn't do you want to talk about your
273. 10:33mom she's going to be fine I've checked
274. 10:35and even though she can't visit you
275. 10:37she's going to be fine she's worried
276. 10:39about
277. 10:41you I thought talking about his mother
278. 10:43would spark something in Charlie's eyes
279. 10:46when it didn't I became even more
280. 10:47concerned about the
281. 10:49child I sat down beside him and spoke
282. 10:52more softly Charlie you've got to talk
283. 10:55to me I can't help you if you don't
284. 10:57would you just say your name say
285. 10:59something please he continued to stare
286. 11:02at the wall I sat in the chair next to
287. 11:04him leaned close and said quietly
288. 11:07Charlie I'm really sorry if you're upset
289. 11:09but please talk to me I can't help you
290. 11:12if you don't talk to me he leaned back
291. 11:14in his chair for the first time nearly
292. 11:16placing his head on the wall behind us I
293. 11:19pulled my chair closer to him and leaned
294. 11:21back in mine we sat silently for a long
295. 11:25time and then I started saying silly
296. 11:27things because I didn't know what else
297. 11:28to do
298. 11:29do well you won't tell me what you're
299. 11:32thinking so I guess I'm going to just
300. 11:34have to tell you what I'm thinking I bet
301. 11:37you think you know what I'm thinking I
302. 11:39said playfully but in fact you really
303. 11:41couldn't possibly imagine you probably
304. 11:44think I'm thinking about the law or the
305. 11:46judge or the police or why won't this
306. 11:49young man speak with me but what I'm
307. 11:51actually thinking about is food yes
308. 11:54that's right Charlie I continued teasing
309. 11:57teasingly I'm thinking about fried
310. 11:59chicken and collared greens cooked with
311. 12:01turkey meat and sweet potato biscuits
312. 12:03you ever had a sweet potato biscuit
313. 12:06still nothing I kept
314. 12:09going I'm thinking about getting a new
315. 12:11car because my car is old so old I
316. 12:14waited nothing Charlie you're supposed
317. 12:17to say how old is it Brian and then I
318. 12:21say my car is so old he never smiled or
319. 12:24responded he just continued looking at
320. 12:27the spot on the wall his face froze in
321. 12:31sadness after a while I tried again come
322. 12:35on Charlie what's going on you got to
323. 12:37talk to me son I started leaning on him
324. 12:40somewhat playfully until he sat forward
325. 12:42a bit and then I finally felt him lean
326. 12:44back into me I took a chance and put my
327. 12:46arm around him and immediately he began
328. 12:49to
329. 12:50shake his trembling intensified before
330. 12:52he finally leaned completely into me and
331. 12:54started crying I put my head to his and
332. 12:57said it's okay
333. 12:59it's all right he was sobbing when he
334. 13:02finally spoke it didn't take me long to
335. 13:05realize that he wasn't talking about
336. 13:06what had happened with George or with
337. 13:08his mom but but about what had happened
338. 13:11at
339. 13:11jail there were three men who hurt me on
340. 13:14the first night they touched me and made
341. 13:16me do things tears were streaming down
342. 13:19his face his voice was high pitched and
343. 13:21strained with anguish they came back the
344. 13:23next night and hurt me a lot he said
345. 13:25becoming more hysterical with each word
346. 13:27then he looked me in the face for the
347. 13:28first first time there were so many last
348. 13:31night I didn't know how many there were
349. 13:33but they hurt
350. 13:34me his crying was he he was crying too
351. 13:37hard to finish his sentence he gripped
352. 13:40my jacket with a force I wouldn't have
353. 13:41imagined he was capable of exerting I
354. 13:44held him and told him as gently as I
355. 13:46could it's going to be okay it's going
356. 13:49to be
357. 13:50okay I'd never held anyone who gripped
358. 13:53me as tightly as that child or who cried
359. 13:55as hard or as long it seemed like his
360. 13:58tears would never never end I promised
361. 14:01him that I would get him out of there
362. 14:02right away he begged me not to leave but
363. 14:05I assured him that I would be back that
364. 14:07day we never talked about the
365. 14:10crime when I left the jail I was more
366. 14:13Angry than sad I kept asking myself who
367. 14:16was responsible for this how could we
368. 14:18ever allow this I went directly to the
369. 14:20Sheriff's Office and explained to the
370. 14:22sheriff about what the child had told me
371. 14:25the sheriff listened with a distracted
372. 14:27look on his face but what when I said I
373. 14:29was going to see the judge he agreed to
374. 14:31move the child to a protected area
375. 14:34immediately when I told the judge and
376. 14:36the prosecutor that the child had been
377. 14:38sexually abused and raped they agreed to
378. 14:40move him to a nearby Juvenile Facility
379. 14:43within SE the next several
380. 14:45hours I decided to take on the
381. 14:48case we immediately got child's
382. 14:50Charlie's case transferred to juvenile
383. 14:52court where the shooting was agitated as
384. 14:55a juvenile offense that meant Charlie
385. 14:58wouldn't be sent to an adult prison and
386. 15:00he would likely be released before he
387. 15:01turned
388. 15:0318 just in just a few years I visited
389. 15:06Charlie regularly in a time he recovered
390. 15:10he was a smart sensitive child who was
391. 15:12tormented by what he' done and what he'd
392. 15:14been through at a talk I gave at a
393. 15:17church months later I spoke about
394. 15:19Charlie in the plight of incarcerated
395. 15:21children afterward an older married
396. 15:24couple approached me and insisted that
397. 15:25they had to help Charlie I tried to
398. 15:28disuade these kinds of people from
399. 15:29thinking they could do anything but I
400. 15:31gave them my card and told them they
401. 15:33could call me I didn't expect to hear
402. 15:36from them but within several days they
403. 15:38called and they were persistent we
404. 15:40eventually agreed that they would write
405. 15:42a letter to Charlie and send it to me to
406. 15:44pass on to him when I received the
407. 15:47letter weeks later I read it it was
408. 15:51remarkable Mr and Mrs Jennings were a
409. 15:53white couple in their mid 70s from a
410. 15:55small community Northeast of Birmingham
411. 15:58they were kind and generous people who
412. 15:59were active in their local United
413. 16:01Methodist
414. 16:02Church they spoke softly and always
415. 16:05seemed to be smiling but never appeared
416. 16:07to be anything less than completely
417. 16:09genuine and
418. 16:10compassionate they were dressed like
419. 16:12farmers and owned 10 acres of land where
420. 16:14they grew vegetables and lived simply
421. 16:17their one and only grandchild whom they
422. 16:19had helped raise had committed suicide
423. 16:22when he was a teenager and they had
424. 16:24never stopped grieving for him their
425. 16:26grandson struggled with mental health
426. 16:28problems problems during his short life
427. 16:30but he was a smart kid and they had been
428. 16:32putting away money to send him to
429. 16:34college they explained in their letter
430. 16:36that they wanted to use the money they'd
431. 16:38saved for their grandson to help
432. 16:40Charlie eventually Charlie and this
433. 16:43couple began corresponding building up
434. 16:45to the day when the jennings's met
435. 16:46Charlie at the Juvenile Detention
436. 16:48Facility they later told me that they
437. 16:51loved him
438. 16:52instantly Charlie's grandmother had died
439. 16:54a few months after she first called me
440. 16:56and his mother was still struggling
441. 16:58after the track try of the shooting and
442. 16:59Charlie's
443. 17:01incarceration Charlie had been
444. 17:02apprehensive about meeing with the
445. 17:04jenningses because he thought they
446. 17:05wouldn't like him but he told me after
447. 17:08they left how comforting and caring they
448. 17:10were the couple became his
449. 17:13family at one point early on I tried to
450. 17:16caution them against expecting too much
451. 17:18from Charlie after his release you know
452. 17:21he's been through a lot I'm not sure he
453. 17:24can just carry on as if nothing has ever
454. 17:26happened I want you to understand he may
455. 17:28not be able ble to do everything you'd
456. 17:30like him to do they never accepted my
457. 17:33warnings Mrs Jennings told me I know
458. 17:36that some have been through more than
459. 17:37others but if we don't expect more from
460. 17:40each other help hope better for one
461. 17:42another and recover from the hurt we
462. 17:44experience we are surely doomed the
463. 17:48Jennings has helped Charlie get his
464. 17:49General equivalency degree in detention
465. 17:52um and insisted on financing his college
466. 17:55education they were there along with his
467. 17:58mother to take him home when he was
468. 18:07released