RoundTable With Steve - James Bain — Transcript

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1. 0:29welcome to another episode of round
2. 0:31table with Steve we're here today with
3. 0:33James Bain and he was actually convicted
4. 0:36of a crime that he did not commit and
5. 0:38spent 35 years in prison so James tell
6. 0:41me what was the crime that you were
7. 0:42convicted of rape kidnap and breaking in
8. 0:46in room and what made them even think
9. 0:50about arm about you about having you
10. 0:52have a suspect because what was he doing
11. 0:55the midst of the rate okay and I'm you
12. 0:59were how old at the time as I see from
13. 1:01the poster just turning 18 and how old
14. 1:04are you when you were released from
15. 1:05prison are 54 so when you went into
16. 1:11prison the technology that um that they
17. 1:14that was out that was available what was
18. 1:17it like what was the technology that was
19. 1:19available then well it was very common
20. 1:23being back dancer the technology back
21. 1:26then but today is still baffling to me
22. 1:29today so I mean like when you went into
23. 1:32them to prison they didn't have things
24. 1:33like cell phones or another day another
25. 1:36day so how do you feel about the justice
26. 1:39system that took the majority of your
27. 1:41life away from you well sir I have to
28. 1:43look at it and I totally different way
29. 1:44down because of DNA it's a gift from God
30. 1:49because without it I would still be
31. 1:53there so that the DNA technology and
32. 1:55their improvement in that technology was
33. 1:57what helped to me okay so um what about
34. 2:00the witnesses and things of that sort um
35. 2:02what works at that pay 1974 witness
36. 2:06didn't matter it was considered as a
37. 2:09week a or strong yet that time yes and
38. 2:14what we'll see it doing the tribe so I
39. 2:17mean did you have a public defender did
40. 2:20you have a family lawyer a lawyer and
41. 2:22your big lawyer still didn't he wasn't
42. 2:24able to to you know refute any of the
43. 2:27evidence or anything against well
44. 2:29apparently he couldn't sir
45. 2:31okay so but and we see the things that
46. 2:34are going on right now the injustice is
47. 2:36in the system that are happening how do
48. 2:38you feel about things like that when you
49. 2:40see that on TV well sir I got a staying
50. 2:42now while i watch forensic files simple
51. 2:44reason I watched forensic file because
52. 2:46of my case and each segment after they
53. 2:50speak they say exactly why they was able
54. 2:54to do what they was able to do because
55. 2:55without it it would be a cold case all
56. 3:00had never been solved and now which room
57. 3:04was it that helped to get you released
58. 3:05from prison innocent project out of
59. 3:07Tallahassee and I'm what made them pick
60. 3:10up your your case out of them they had
61. 3:13what we call the weekly journal come out
62. 3:15each week pertaining to old cases in
63. 3:17Florida and they read these newspaper
64. 3:20each week and he happened to be reading
65. 3:22one going to all he was they were on a
66. 3:26plane flight so he had a weekly journal
67. 3:28whip so he went to read them and he's
68. 3:31seen where I needed help where i was
69. 3:33going to be something like the courts I
70. 3:34needed to help but how can I represent
71. 3:37myself so soon as he landed where he was
72. 3:41going at particular time he called his
73. 3:44office and had them to get in contact
74. 3:46with me
75. 3:47with our first contact eight months
76. 3:50later our release only eight months
77. 3:53eight weeks wow that's great that's
78. 3:56that's remarkable so what about your
79. 3:59family I mean how how are they adapted
80. 4:01to you being home now where they was my
81. 4:04family been adapted very well although I
82. 4:06lost my mother and my father birthday
83. 4:08they was able to spend a lot enough time
84. 4:11with me I'm very sorry for the arm you
85. 4:15know you're lost while you were away and
86. 4:16things of that sort what would you say
87. 4:18to a lot of the young kids that are out
88. 4:19there that that on that are going down
89. 4:22the wrong path even though you didn't go
90. 4:24down that path but you actually um you
91. 4:27know we do a punished for something you
92. 4:28didn't do what would you say to the kids
93. 4:30that say oh I can do that time on my
94. 4:32head I'm you know and you hear it all
95. 4:33the time yes because on TV they make it
96. 4:36sound like it's so easy and so simple
97. 4:38yes it's what I do now so it's just like
98. 4:40what I'm doing here I try to go out and
99. 4:42tell them just the way it is and what
100. 4:45the system is like and what they are
101. 4:47faces if they find these sales in this
102. 4:50situation so as a 15 year old kid I'm
103. 4:53sorry 18 year old kid going to prison
104. 4:57what how was that for you when you first
105. 5:00went in there what was your first eerie
106. 5:02feelings it's very scary because you
107. 5:05don't know what's gonna happen next at
108. 5:07that age
109. 5:09and many things can occur at that age
110. 5:12and you were in them and the prison with
111. 5:15the adults you weren't yes yes yes yes i
112. 5:17will put right in with them right in the
113. 5:20middle level wow I can only I mean I'm
114. 5:2445 now and I could you know i would be
115. 5:27scared going in there so i could only
116. 5:29imagine what you know what you at 18
117. 5:32years old were feeling at that time you
118. 5:34know this will be snatched from your
119. 5:37parents the way they did
120. 5:39and then to see your family on your
121. 5:42whole family ripped apart pretty much in
122. 5:44that way well now let me ask what were
123. 5:47your dreams when you were 18 that you
124. 5:49were going to UM you were before this
125. 5:50all happened what were your dreams what
126. 5:52did you want to do dream was to take
127. 5:54care of my family at ten because that's
128. 5:56what I was doing before I went in so I'm
129. 5:59like what did you want to do what did
130. 6:00you want to grow up to be no i didn't
131. 6:02have looking in mind to grow up to be i
132. 6:04just want the video for my family okay
133. 6:06that's the way i came up and now looking
134. 6:09back at them that a lot of the things
135. 6:11that have happened and on even some of
136. 6:13your family members that have gone on
137. 6:14and on and you know to be successful
138. 6:16what do you think your potential would
139. 6:20have been what do you think they take
140. 6:21away from you they took a loss here I
141. 6:24lost will you my jeans and every day all
142. 6:27that was taken all right and for other
143. 6:31my adult yields yeah and I got to tell
144. 6:34you for you two to be so I'm so humble
145. 6:37and so you know i mean and i know it
146. 6:40probably weighs a lot on your mind still
147. 6:42love the user but all that was given to
148. 6:45God and that's that's the thing for you
149. 6:47to be so at peace with it you're a
150. 6:50bigger man than I am and I tell you this
151. 6:51it's I mean god bless you because you
152. 6:54definitely are an inspiration to people
153. 6:56that aren't that hold grudges and and
154. 6:58have animosity towards others and for
155. 7:01you to not have those feelings I mean
156. 7:02you know that's really good and that's
157. 7:04a--that's a really big move I really
158. 7:06appreciate I think I gotta shake your
159. 7:08hand for that thank you all right and I
160. 7:10would like to thank you for being our
161. 7:11round table with Steve we're here today
162. 7:14with the Dina Thompson we're here at an
163. 7:15event with James bane he was convicted
164. 7:18of a crime that he didn't commit and
165. 7:19spent 35 years in jail so I'm a dinner
166. 7:22well first off welcome to round table
167. 7:24with Steve and I wanted to know what
168. 7:27what how does it feel for you to come to
169. 7:30be able to help someone that on that was
170. 7:32wrongly convicted how does that what
171. 7:34does it make you feel like I mean the
172. 7:36joy in your heart that you must be
173. 7:38feeling to be able to do that oh it's
174. 7:40incredible I go to work every day and it
175. 7:42doesn't feel like I work at all it feels
176. 7:43like
177. 7:43that I do good it feels like I do
178. 7:46wonderful things all day and I never
179. 7:48feel like I'm at work and and I know
180. 7:50he's not the only person so how many
181. 7:52people do you um do you help does your
182. 7:53organization help I receive about two
183. 7:56thousand letters and other employees
184. 7:58every year from people who are looking
185. 7:59to receive assistance about 2,000 so and
186. 8:04those are mostly in Florida where are
187. 8:05they we serve the entire state of
188. 8:07Florida so those two thousand just here
189. 8:09in the state so we can pretty much
190. 8:11multiply that by the 50 states I you
191. 8:14know I couldn't speak to that
192. 8:15specifically but there are wrongful
193. 8:17convictions in every single state now if
194. 8:20a person wanted to get to your
195. 8:21organization how would they do that they
196. 8:23can write me a letter 1,100 east park
197. 8:26avenue tallahassee florida 3 2 301 and
198. 8:30it's Adina Thompson Adi and a Thompson
199. 8:32okay and now I see there are some others
200. 8:36that I here as well or can you tell me
201. 8:39about some of the other situations that
202. 8:41um that you helped out with absolutely
203. 8:43we are very excited to announce our
204. 8:45first non DNA exoneration happened on
205. 8:47october first 2015 a little over a month
206. 8:50ago mr. Andre Bryant wrongfully
207. 8:52convicted of a robbery he did not commit
208. 8:54eight and a half years in prison and we
209. 8:56got to walk him out just last month
210. 8:59okay and how was he convicted was
211. 9:02Adhanom on my witness testimony or how
212. 9:05was it mr. Brian was convicted on a
213. 9:07number of factors eyewitness testimony
214. 9:09didn't play a part in his wrongful
215. 9:11conviction now when you watch Law &
216. 9:14Order and these other shows and you see
217. 9:16everything happen within an hour how
218. 9:17does that make you feel because you know
219. 9:19it doesn't happen just that way and and
220. 9:21justice isn't always served what I mean
221. 9:24are you the person like me that yell at
222. 9:26the TV and say no that's not it well I
223. 9:28know that it's fictionalized but I can
224. 9:30tell you is that the average amount of
225. 9:32time in our office between receiving an
226. 9:34initial inquiry and actually getting
227. 9:36someone out is about five years so i can
228. 9:38tell you definitively that it is not
229. 9:40solved in an hour now what about the
230. 9:43state how easy is it for the state to
231. 9:45admit that they've made a mistake you
232. 9:47know it depends on the case it depends
233. 9:48on the individual actors in the case
234. 9:50some prosecutors law enforcement
235. 9:53officers different actors in a
236. 9:55particular case may be more or less
237. 9:57willing to to discuss culpability some
238. 10:00are very willing to apologize to a
239. 10:03defendant who's been around fully
240. 10:04convicted and exonerated some are less
241. 10:06so you have people within the criminal
242. 10:07justice system who are willing to admit
243. 10:10that a mistake was made and you also
244. 10:12have people within the criminal justice
245. 10:13system who still believe in the
246. 10:15exonerated person's guilt so it really
247. 10:17does run the gamut and are you an
248. 10:19attorney or what's your position I'm the
249. 10:22intake coordinator I have a PhD in
250. 10:23criminology and before I was doing this
251. 10:25I was doing research on the way that
252. 10:28stigma and Prejudice affected exonerees
253. 10:30when they came home and what's your
254. 10:32you're finding on that whatever your
255. 10:35outcome on that study that's a great
256. 10:37question what I found is that we have a
257. 10:39lot of work to do that there is a lot of
258. 10:41prepare to do for these gentlemen and
259. 10:43ladies when they come home
260. 10:45and that they may hurt and that we
261. 10:48really do need to reintegrate them with
262. 10:50whole hearts and that they are coming
263. 10:53out in pain and are there any laws that
264. 10:56are pendant or anything that um that's
265. 10:58going to help to stop cases like this
266. 11:00from happening where people are wrongly
267. 11:01convicted is there anything that we need
268. 11:03to know about that may be coming up in
269. 11:05next year's elections that we need to
270. 11:07you know because there's always a
271. 11:08pending law about something is there
272. 11:11anything about this that dumb that we
273. 11:13might want to look out for well we are
274. 11:15always fighting for for better justice
275. 11:18ferrari's on or use for the wrongfully
276. 11:20convicted and one of the things that is
277. 11:22not currently on the ballot but we would
278. 11:24love to see come up in legislation is
279. 11:27removing of what's called the Queen
280. 11:28hands provision from our compensation
281. 11:30statute right now exonerees by statute
282. 11:34are given fifty thousand dollars for
283. 11:37every year in wrongfully incarcerated up
284. 11:40to a certain cap but there is what's
285. 11:42called the clean hands provision which
286. 11:43means that person he or she has any
287. 11:46prior criminal conviction is not allowed
288. 11:48to get that money and we would really
289. 11:49like to see that remove because that
290. 11:51could include even minor drug offenses
291. 11:52that were felonies you know the only
292. 11:55thing that I can say that would help
293. 11:57above and beyond is when you see these
294. 11:59men and women come home embrace them
295. 12:01support them and make them feel welcome
296. 12:03alright thank you very much you gave me
297. 12:05a lot to think about and I thank you for
298. 12:07being a round table with Steve thank you
299. 12:09very much to you
300. 12:18you