Ricky Jackson and Kwame Ajamu on their Exonerations — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:06[Music]
2. 0:27[Music]
3. 0:40[Music]
4. 1:00that's the thing that is really
5. 1:01important to keep in mind here by the
6. 1:02way there's also this piece of paper
7. 1:04which is on the table here which has on
8. 1:08one side information about the task
9. 1:10force and on the other side um it has
10. 1:14some information about the fairness in
11. 1:16Ohio's death penalty and I'd encourage
12. 1:18you to take that with you
13. 1:20um this task force was about fairness
14. 1:24and
15. 1:26accuracy and with that I've also been
16. 1:28asked to introduce a couple people that
17. 1:29are here with us and I'm glad that that
18. 1:31I want to acknowledge Charles Keith who
19. 1:33not only somebody who's got a brother on
20. 1:36death throw he's also got a brother
21. 1:37who's who was lost to murder and he's
22. 1:39also on the board of directors of Ohio
23. 1:41and still stop executions that's Charles
24. 1:43in the back there and behind him are two
25. 1:48men who
26. 1:50until uh November and December of his
27. 1:53past year were convicted of
28. 1:57murder one of them spent is the person
29. 2:01the exod in this country who spent the
30. 2:03most time in prison and both of them
31. 2:05went to death
32. 2:07throat and I want to invite Ricky to
33. 2:09come up and share a few minutes if you
34. 2:12would um just a little bit about that
35. 2:15experience and what you're doing now and
36. 2:17kwami if you'd like to as well at least
37. 2:19come up and stand with Ricky um there
38. 2:22third man that was a part of this group
39. 2:23they were all
40. 2:25boys at the time of the crime in
41. 2:28Cleveland in 197 5 was it yes um you
42. 2:33know they're not going to present a long
43. 2:34story we weren't expecting to do this
44. 2:37right of the last moment um but uh but
45. 2:40these men survived time on Ohio's death
46. 2:42throw and decades in prison for a crime
47. 2:46had nothing to do with and that's what
48. 2:48this task force is about and that's why
49. 2:50here in Ohio we have to enact these
50. 2:53regulations so that these these reforms
51. 2:56so that we don't do this again to
52. 2:58anybody
53. 3:01uh thank you for having us uh my name is
54. 3:03Ricky Jackson and um as the gentleman
55. 3:06just stated I have the dubious
56. 3:09distinction of being uh the longest
57. 3:12serving um having served the longest
58. 3:14time for being an innocent person in
59. 3:16prison 39
60. 3:18years um I was released November the
61. 3:2221st of this year I spent 2 and 1/2
62. 3:25years of those 39 years on death
63. 3:27row along with two of my best friends
64. 3:30for crimes we did not commit uh as you
65. 3:33may well know we were later exonerated
66. 3:36um I think that I wouldn't say that our
67. 3:39case particularly
68. 3:42typifies why the death penalty is so
69. 3:45wrong but three innocent young
70. 3:50men lost their Futures and almost their
71. 3:54lives based on absolutely
72. 3:58nothing but hear
73. 4:01say
74. 4:03um it was I don't want to call I don't
75. 4:06know if it was fate or God or whatever
76. 4:09but we came so close to
77. 4:12dying and things just turned out it was
78. 4:16fortunate for us that things turned out
79. 4:18the way they did and we're here today
80. 4:21and um that's pretty much all I have to
81. 4:24say about that if any unless anybody has
82. 4:26any questions for
83. 4:28me I do yes when you were sitting on
84. 4:31death bro what did you do every day um
85. 4:34you have to be very creative you know
86. 4:37you do
87. 4:38you um we created chess boards we made
88. 4:42chess boards we made our own cards when
89. 4:44necessary um I mean you had to have a
90. 4:47vivid imagination you know to stay
91. 4:49saying back there because in
92. 4:521975 um death row was pretty a pretty
93. 4:55barbaric place you know way below the
94. 4:57standards that they have now and um
95. 5:00you know we were not allowed access to
96. 5:02the um fresh air outside
97. 5:05sunlight um out of your cell two hours a
98. 5:08week you know um and the conditions back
99. 5:13there were horrible you know um today if
100. 5:16you did that to an animal you would be
101. 5:18arrested you know they you would your
102. 5:21face would be plastered on TV you would
103. 5:24be arrested as a terrible human being
104. 5:26but you know that's the conditions we
105. 5:28lived in for almost 3 years then how did
106. 5:30you get off this room um in my case
107. 5:33particularly um there was an error with
108. 5:36the sentencing phase of my trial and
109. 5:39so um they deemed it uh worthy of having
110. 5:43my sence commuted to life in prison um
111. 5:46but for the rest of the gentleman back
112. 5:48there at the time we were back there the
113. 5:50Ohio death penalty was in flux as to
114. 5:53what they wanted to do and so
115. 5:55fortunately it worked out well for the
116. 5:57guys that were back on death row
117. 5:59naturally
118. 6:00and um but you know needless to say
119. 6:02their back and full swing
120. 6:05now yes question um doesn't the use of
121. 6:11the uh of a death penalty
122. 6:13specification work specifically against
123. 6:17innocent
124. 6:18defendants because if you're
125. 6:21innocent are you going to want to take a
126. 6:23plea deal and and say that you're
127. 6:27guilty but uh as yor uh stated earlier
128. 6:31that's what the whole plea deal is
129. 6:33designed precisely that to to put upon
130. 6:37the defendant so much that I mean what
131. 6:41what extreme is there than other than
132. 6:43losing your life I mean you know you
133. 6:45there's you know and so I mean I could
134. 6:49understand someone being Innocent but
135. 6:53with the Spector of death hanging over
136. 6:54your head I mean really what choice do
137. 6:57you have you know it was just a
138. 6:59Testament to my two friends and myself
139. 7:02that we were determined to see this
140. 7:05thing through to the end no matter how
141. 7:07it turned out we knew we were innocent
142. 7:09and we were determined to fight till the
143. 7:11end but you know I don't blame anyone
144. 7:14because you know we really rolled the
145. 7:18dice all the way through I mean you know
146. 7:20really was a crap shoot and it could
147. 7:23have easily went the other way for for
148. 7:25us you know
149. 7:28yes and what's your name quami
150. 7:32kwami um I'm just like marveling at the
151. 7:36fact it's months right you've been free
152. 7:39for
153. 7:41mon
154. 7:42um I don't know I'm like speechless it's
155. 7:45just the thought of that like most of
156. 7:47your life being spent in prison um
157. 7:51what's it been like for the last three
158. 7:52months oh the last three months have
159. 7:55been great I
160. 7:57mean I can't say much for the last
161. 8:0039 the last 3 months have been you know
162. 8:03absolutely spectacular you know um I
163. 8:07feel like I've been out longer than 3
164. 8:09months I've met a really a lot of really
165. 8:11nice people you know I mean and um I've
166. 8:15gotten a lot of help from people I would
167. 8:17have never thought of you know and so
168. 8:19it's really been great you know we are
169. 8:22still going through an adjustment
170. 8:23process at least I am you know it's you
171. 8:27know I guess I seem normal but I have a
172. 8:30lot of things and issues that I have to
173. 8:32address and you know work out yes sir
174. 8:35you know it shows
175. 8:37that hope is alive you know it shows
176. 8:41that there's opportunity cuz I'm in that
177. 8:43same battle exactly and seeing you guys
178. 8:45stand there it gives me a lot of Hope
179. 8:47but I tell people and I say it in a
180. 8:48sarcastic way that I wasn't educated by
181. 8:51Ohio State but I was educated by the
182. 8:53state of
183. 8:55Ohio and that is a heck of a education
184. 8:59it's like get thrown into water you sink
185. 9:01or swim exactly so you swim you're there
186. 9:04you can swim with the best but if you
187. 9:06drown there's no more
188. 9:08discussion um I'm sure that as far as
189. 9:11defending defending a death penalty case
190. 9:13today is concerned it's it's gotten a
191. 9:16lot better but in 1975 it was pretty
192. 9:20much like defending a car's be case you
193. 9:22know and that's how they treated it you
194. 9:24know I mean with the amount of evidence
195. 9:27they
196. 9:28had I never to this day understand how a
197. 9:32grand jury could indict anybody based on
198. 9:35especially you talking about three human
199. 9:37beings and you're talking about the
200. 9:39death penalty um please bring me more
201. 9:41bring me something how old were you I
202. 9:43was 17 well I was 18 I just had my 17th
203. 9:47birthday we got arrested in May I had a
204. 9:50birthday in February so I was 17 years
205. 9:53and a couple of months my friend here he
206. 9:55was 17 and his older brother was just 20
207. 10:00what was the evidence that they used
208. 10:02toct here
209. 10:04say uh well they had a supposed
210. 10:07eyewitness but it was obvious to anyone
211. 10:10with any kind of sense especially the
212. 10:13so-called quote unquote professionals
213. 10:15that were involved in the case that this
214. 10:17was a complete fabrication from the very
215. 10:21beginning and um it's like I said it
216. 10:23still boggles my mind that a grand jury
217. 10:26could you know just throw Lives cast Our
218. 10:30Lives to the winds like that based on
219. 10:33that
220. 10:34evidence specifically there was a was he
221. 10:3713 years old it was a 13-year old child
222. 10:39at time and and he was coerced by the
223. 10:41police told if he does not testify
224. 10:43against these boys that he his family
225. 10:46would be
226. 10:47imprisoned and you know and it took him
227. 10:50a long time he's still suffering too it
228. 10:51took him a long time to come forward and
229. 10:54it took a lot of people talking to him
230. 10:56to get him to come forward and then it
231. 10:58was still years of
232. 11:01process before these men were released
233. 11:03and that's the thing about these task
234. 11:05force reforms there's a number of them
235. 11:07and if they were in place today this
236. 11:08could never happen to people which is
237. 11:10why it's so important that we contact
238. 11:13our legislators we fill out these cards
239. 11:15and leave them with us that we bring
240. 11:17people back to talk more to the whole
241. 11:20church that you all take this message
242. 11:22what you've heard forward and share with
243. 11:25people this video is going to be on our
244. 11:27website in a few days um there's already
245. 11:30just uh now there's a video um uh uh
246. 11:34thank you both there's a video called um
247. 11:37by was it fusion fusion fusion Network
248. 11:40that just came out about 16 minutes it
249. 11:42really tells the story um so there a lot
250. 11:45of information out there and we have to
251. 11:47carry it forward and share it with
252. 11:49people um so I want to make sure these
253. 11:51guys get back up to finish their
254. 11:53questions to kwami has something he
255. 11:54wants to say and and and I think we can
256. 11:57hang out as long as people would like to
257. 11:58chat on much we break I um thank you
258. 12:02guys for having me uh I was uh
259. 12:05originally uh Runing Patrick Bridgeman
260. 12:08and my brother's Wy Bridgeman then you
261. 12:11just spoke with Ricky Jackson uh we were
262. 12:13tried uh convicted and uh sentenced to
263. 12:17death in
264. 12:191975 uh as he said we were both 17 years
265. 12:22old and of that
266. 12:25mentality I say that because I smiled
267. 12:28when uh I heard Mr ke say that uh he was
268. 12:32not educated uh in the state but by the
269. 12:35state and and I feel the same way
270. 12:37because we we were just children you
271. 12:39know and I still actually believed in uh
272. 12:44Thanksgiving and and Easter and all
273. 12:46these things and I had to grow apart
274. 12:49from those things that I knew as a child
275. 12:50who were unaffected by these type of uh
276. 12:53social and um emotional
277. 12:57molestations um my life will never be
278. 13:00the same as will Ricky or my brother um
279. 13:04this is an atrocity that happened to us
280. 13:07uh it's happened thousands upon
281. 13:10thousands of times day in and day out
282. 13:13these matters
283. 13:15are human matters they're not so much
284. 13:19Social they're human these are things
285. 13:21that happen to real people who breathe
286. 13:23live and die Ronnie bridan died on death
287. 13:27row and quami and
288. 13:30uh came from that fire these were uh
289. 13:34very very very strenuous and hard times
290. 13:37and moments for us we were again kids
291. 13:40sentenced to die for an element that we
292. 13:43had absolutely no knowledge of let alone
293. 13:46uh any participation
294. 13:49in um during the course of uh my death
295. 13:54roll Tender Is when I became uh grown so
296. 13:58to speak
297. 13:5918 years old I stopped being a child and
298. 14:02stepped into the um grown man situation
299. 14:06my life was uh threatened as was my two
300. 14:09brothers uh we had to have uh some type
301. 14:13of uh uh hope we had none we had to have
302. 14:17some type of uh help we had none the
303. 14:20legal representation that we had was I
304. 14:24thought up was better than La I had um
305. 14:27we had none and so we were stuck I want
306. 14:31to touch briefly uh when you asked Ricky
307. 14:34about leaving Death Row it was in
308. 14:371978 that uh the uh Supreme Court ruled
309. 14:42uh that the Ohio death py was
310. 14:44unconstitutional had that not happened
311. 14:47this conversation probably wouldn't be
312. 14:50here and
313. 14:53uh so we were uh twice sentenced I like
314. 14:58to say because after the death penalty
315. 15:01uh had become uh known and void in St
316. 15:04Ohio they resent us to life and again
317. 15:08I'm coming from being a child who's
318. 15:09learning that man I'm on death Road I'm
319. 15:11getting ready die and now you ain't
320. 15:12going to kill me but you're going to
321. 15:13keep me here forever so these things uh
322. 15:18kind of you know weighed heavy on my
323. 15:19mind and and so I begin to
324. 15:22grind uh once uh we got off of death row
325. 15:26because of this this uh legal uh action
326. 15:30that happened in 1978 a whole another
327. 15:32world uh Came Upon Us and this was being
328. 15:36incarcerated in uh Ohio's maximum
329. 15:39security institution we were boys the
330. 15:42the oldest person or should I say the
331. 15:44youngest man in uh Lucasville at that
332. 15:48particular time was 33 and A2 years old
333. 15:51we were about
334. 15:5218 so our journey has been one that is
335. 15:56uh both uh bumpy and and full of
336. 15:59Thanksgiving and graciousness um because
337. 16:02of people like you people who chose to
338. 16:05listen and believe and who had the
339. 16:07courage to stand forward and let's try
340. 16:11to make something happen of this so I
341. 16:13say today uh before leaving you as I
342. 16:15said in the courtroom in my uh
343. 16:18exoneration and I will say uh forever
344. 16:20you know if we can stand to fight just
345. 16:23one battle and win against these
346. 16:27atrocities we did a good J stand we had
347. 16:30a good fight I'm so so pleased to to
348. 16:33actually look at
349. 16:35judges in a different
350. 16:38light hey you know in a different light
351. 16:43I'm so pleased to to even be standing
352. 16:45here and say these things
353. 16:47because had it not been for that ruling
354. 16:50in uh
355. 16:521978 probably be a different story have
356. 16:55you ever got in touch with the victim's
357. 16:56families or the victim's families ever
358. 16:58tried to get hold of you um this is uh
359. 17:02it's funny you would ask that not
360. 17:03allowed to oh we actually grow up
361. 17:05together someone asked me that question
362. 17:07yesterday and um it's my
363. 17:10sister I'm just kidding um and as much
364. 17:13as I would probably like to because I
365. 17:16feel a deep remorse about because they
366. 17:19also were made a victim in this whole
367. 17:21thing also you know and for all these
368. 17:23years those people were going about
369. 17:25their lives thinking that that was
370. 17:28behind them when it really wasn't you
371. 17:30know the officials in K County so that
372. 17:33family his family my family and
373. 17:37everybody who was alive and in that
374. 17:40particular community at that time the
375. 17:42citizens the taxpayers they sought
376. 17:44everybody a bill of goods you know and
377. 17:46so nobody got Justice out of this thing
378. 17:49nobody absolutely nobody but back to
379. 17:51your original question of I would
380. 17:54personally like to meet with that family
381. 17:57you know uh just to share my
382. 18:01understanding of what they're going
383. 18:02through because I was made a victim of
384. 18:04the same foolishness also but you know
385. 18:07that's really a touchy thing because um
386. 18:11I haven't seen or heard any kind of
387. 18:13contact with that family since the day I
388. 18:16got sentenced and went to prison and you
389. 18:19know it's hard to say how they feel
390. 18:22about this whole oral I hope they
391. 18:24understand and I hope they don't
392. 18:26continue to hold us responsible because
393. 18:29they have the wrong people obviously
394. 18:30we're not the people we're not the ones
395. 18:33we're not murderers we're not criminals
396. 18:35you know we're decent people who were
397. 18:37put in a bad situation but um like I
398. 18:41said I would like to meet with that
399. 18:43family but I think it's highly unlikely
400. 18:46that that will ever happen but who knows
401. 18:48we're here so I mean anything is
402. 18:51possible you know anything is possible
403. 18:57than