Ronald Cotton case - part 1 justice works? — Transcript

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1. 0:00Jennifer Thompson then a 22 year old
2. 0:03college student had gone to bed early in
3. 0:06her off-campus apartment
4. 0:07as she slept a Man Shattered the light
5. 0:10bulb near her back door cut her phone
6. 0:13line and broke in I remember kind of
7. 0:16waking up and turning my head to the
8. 0:18side and saying who's there who is it
9. 0:20and I saw the top of someone's head kind
10. 0:23of sliding beside my mattress and I
11. 0:26screamed and I felt a blade good in my
12. 0:29throat a knife a knife and he told me to
13. 0:32shut up where he was going to kill me
14. 0:33her first thought was to offer him
15. 0:36anything she had to go away you can have
16. 0:39my credit card you can have my wallet
17. 0:40you can have anything in the apartment
18. 0:42you can have my car and he looked at me
19. 0:45and said I don't want your money
20. 0:47and I knew
21. 0:48what was getting ready to happen
22. 0:50she vowed to stay alert and study him so
23. 0:53that if she lived she could help put him
24. 0:56away forever what is his voice does he
25. 0:59have an accent
26. 1:00does he have a scar is there a tattoo
27. 1:02he's raping you and you're studying his
28. 1:05face it was just trying to pay attention
29. 1:07to a detail that if I survived and that
30. 1:10was my plan I'd be able to help the
31. 1:13police catch him after about half an
32. 1:15hour Jennifer tricked the rapist into
33. 1:18letting her get up and fix him a drink
34. 1:20and she ran out the back door he fled
35. 1:23and raped a second woman half a mile
36. 1:26away
37. 1:27Detective Mike galden met Jennifer at
38. 1:29the hospital the first comment I
39. 1:31remember her making was that I'm gonna
40. 1:33get this guy that did this to me
41. 1:35she said I took the time to look at him
42. 1:38I will be able to identify him if I'm
43. 1:41given an opportunity detective gauldin
44. 1:43worked with Jennifer to make a composite
45. 1:45sketch pouring over eyes noses ears lips
46. 1:49trying to recreate the face she had seen
47. 1:52that night the sketch went out and tips
48. 1:55started coming in one of those tips was
49. 1:57about a young man named Ronald cotton
50. 2:00who he was locked up and Days Later put
51. 2:04in a physical lineup I'm number five you
52. 2:07scared I was very scared nervous I was
53. 2:10so nervous I was trembling you know I
54. 2:11felt my body just shaking they were
55. 2:14asked to step forward and speak and step
56. 2:17back I can remember looking to the
57. 2:20detective and saying it's between four
58. 2:22and five can I have them do it again and
59. 2:24then she knew it was number five Ronald
60. 2:27cotton did you feel absolutely certain
61. 2:29absolutely certain did anybody say to
62. 2:32you good job well what was said to me
63. 2:34afterwards was that's the same person
64. 2:37you picked out in the photo lineup so in
65. 2:40my mind I thought
66. 2:41bingo
67. 2:43I did it right
68. 2:45I did it right
69. 2:46in a week-long trial the jury heard
70. 2:49about Ronald Cotton's faulty Alibi his
71. 2:52clothing that matched Jennifer's
72. 2:54description and a piece of foam found on
73. 2:57her floor that seemed to come from one
74. 2:59of his shoes and most powerfully they
75. 3:02heard from Jennifer when they ask you do
76. 3:06you recognize the man who did this to
77. 3:08you
78. 3:09did you point to him it was Ronald
79. 3:12cotton she called me ain't pointer
80. 3:13finger
81. 3:14and that's all that's all it takes it
82. 3:17seemed like what did that feel like
83. 3:19it felt like someone pushing a knife
84. 3:21through me
85. 3:22it took the jury just 40 minutes the
86. 3:25verdict guilty on all counts he was
87. 3:28sentenced to life in 50 years and it was
88. 3:31for me that moment that you know
89. 3:34the justice system works