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Valentino Dixon: "Golf Art Saved Me, Georgetown Set Me Free" — Transcript

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0:00[Music]
0:03you
0:12good evening and welcome to this very
0:16special event tonight called golf art
0:20saved my life in Georgetown set me free
0:22and I think I can safely say that there
0:25was no other event on earth in history
0:27that has ever had this title my name is
0:31Mark Howard I'm the director of the
0:33prisons and justice initiative here at
0:34Georgetown this event is co-sponsored by
0:36the prisons and Justice Initiative and
0:38the lecture fund and a very grateful to
0:41Camille Islam and to the other members
0:43of the lecture fund for supporting this
0:45project in this event I also want to
0:48thank in his absence President Jack
0:51degioia he's overseas right now and
0:53couldn't come tonight but he's been a
0:55tremendous supporter of the prisons and
0:57justice initiative we're just in our
0:59third year some of you may know but
1:02we've already established some amazing
1:03programs that are making a real
1:05difference in terms of criminal justice
1:07and prison reform among others we
1:10recently launched the Scholars Program
1:12at the DC jail where we're offering two
1:14credit-bearing courses to incarcerated
1:17students who are also now Georgetown
1:19students and getting Georgetown credits
1:21we're also offering eight non-credit
1:23courses at the DC jail and the reviews
1:26that were hearing from the warden from
1:27the director of the Department of
1:28Corrections are extraordinary
1:30that our program is changing the whole
1:32culture at the DC jail where the love of
1:34learning and the desire to participate
1:35in our programs has just been
1:37transformative we also recently have in
1:40partnership with the mayor's office on
1:42returning citizen affairs whose director
1:44Brian Ferguson is with us tonight
1:46launched the paralegal program which is
1:49for formally incarcerated jailhouse
1:51lawyers who develop legal skills when
1:53they were incarcerated when they come
1:54out to get a certificate in paralegal
1:56studies and then to be hired by major DC
1:59law firms for a minimum of the year and
2:02that's a revolutionary program we're
2:04also very soon going to be launching the
2:06pivot program which is for formerly
2:09incarcerated people who are going to
2:10study entrepreneurship and business at
2:13Georgetown while also working in related
2:16companies and getting support to start
2:18their own businesses and we also have
2:21pji pals which is a men
2:22during program for children who have an
2:24incarcerated parent so we've done all of
2:26that in just a few years and I think
2:29it's safe to say there's not a single
2:31University in the world that says
2:33actively involved in the effort to
2:36reduce an end mass incarceration and to
2:38humanize and support people while
2:41they're incarcerated and after they're
2:43released as Georgetown we're really
2:45leading the way nationally and then on
2:48top of all that and what brings us here
2:50tonight there's the fact that
2:52Georgetown's administration authorized a
2:56totally unique and experimental class to
2:59take place last spring where our
3:02students were working on real live
3:04wrongful conviction cases and a lot of
3:07people thought these were mock cases
3:10that were sort of an exercise to
3:12understand how theoretically you might
3:14go about ending wrongful convictions but
3:17they were real cases and they were
3:18undergraduate students everyone actually
3:20in the media is always saying in law
3:22students lawston know these were 20 21
3:24year old undergraduate students were in
3:26this class and here we are just six
3:29months since that class ended and we're
3:33celebrating the exoneration and the
3:35release of Valentino Dixon and were
3:37welcoming him here to Georgetown and I
3:40don't think it's probably just get
3:42goosebumps saying it I don't think it's
3:43possible to overstate just how
3:44unbelievable that is it's surreal that
3:48we've been able to accomplish that so
3:49quickly and so we hope that you and then
3:54many many other people around the
3:56country around the world will soon be
3:57seeing a documentary series that's being
4:00filmed about our class and about our
4:02project that will hopefully have
4:04multiple seasons with season two
4:06starting in January with the next
4:08version of the class I'd like to tell
4:11you a lot more about that class but
4:13rather than hear it from me I thought
4:15you might prefer to watch the what's
4:17called the sizzle reel of the TV show
4:20and this is something that's being right
4:23now discussed with major networks that
4:25are considering the series so I think
4:28we'll now turn to this before we
4:30continue with the program it's called
4:32making an exoneree
4:37[Music]
4:44Volvo convictions it's an epidemic it's
4:50not isolated to one race it affects poor
4:54people it affects wealthy people black
4:56white and while justice system doesn't
4:58work like it does on law and order or
5:00yes I are huge numbers of mistakes are
5:03being made every day not everybody who's
5:05behind bars belongs there
5:07innocent until proven guilty is a great
5:10ideal if we could actually live up to it
5:12but the sad reality is that we don't I
5:14spent 11 years in prison based on
5:17hearsay every day in prison is a bad guy
5:27mark power and I have been friends since
5:30I think it was three or four years old
5:32we grew up together from lovey-dovey
5:34preschool and you know we continued to
5:37joke that you know mark went to Yale and
5:40I went to jail marty himself was
5:43wrongfully convicted when we were as
5:44seniors in high school his parents were
5:46murdered he was convicted of murdering
5:48his parents and I'd always believed that
5:50he was innocent and finally I got
5:52involved with his legal team and
5:53eventually it took him 17 and a half
5:55years but we were able to prove his
5:57innocence
5:586,300 38 days I was in prison before I
6:02was finally released on December 27 2007
6:05marty is one of the greatest stories you
6:07know of all when it comes to wrongful
6:09convictions it's just you can't believe
6:11it and Marty coming down here and being
6:13a co professor with me for this course
6:15and for the goal of trying to get other
6:18people other Marty's if you will out of
6:20prison was just tremendous and really
6:22exciting
6:25[Music]
6:40the shooter was coming from that way
6:47I absolutely believe in John Ross's
6:59innocence in West Virginia a medical
7:01expert is accused of watching lab tests
7:03which were used to send innocent people
7:06to jail and John moss the third was one
7:08of the cases there's a door on the back
7:13of the house but there's a it's a just a
7:16screen door pull open and the whole
7:18backyard is covered in bud but of course
7:20everybody knows that
7:22Paul Records had confessed to the fest
7:38just repeatedly punched by Trooper Smith
7:40is what he said and basically we're like
7:42if you don't say you did this if you
7:44don't the best this is where they'll
7:46find your body
7:49[Music]
7:59there's a lot because this is the place
8:01where you know my family changed forever
8:05they never had like an established story
8:08of like what actually went down they
8:10didn't even find the murder weapon
8:11they didn't there was nothing that
8:12really linked like forensic ly linked
8:14Kenneth to the crime the night of the
8:16murder what was your perception of
8:18Montreat his defense lawyer at the time
8:21of the trial he was you know a seasoned
8:24you know well thought of attorney you
8:27actually fell asleep during the trial a
8:29lot of attorneys listen with their eyes
8:32closed these are lawyers who you know
8:34take oaths to uphold their their oaths
8:39to their profession and they cheat still
8:41had evidence
8:46Tim doesn't really know because he
8:48wasn't there his best guess is that
8:50Justin Davis did it because he pled
8:51guilty this is a case involving my son
8:54and a policeman son and the policeman
8:59was part of the investigation they found
9:01casings on the site and they only had
9:04the policeman's son's fingerprints on
9:06those shells
9:07it's like hold on are you playing a game
9:09with my son's lying I think I can see
9:11yourself as such a gold standard in
9:13terms of human rights and justice and
9:15then you see these instances well the
9:17system is so incredibly failed someone
9:22when they accused me it is like it hit
9:25me so hard right it it just killed me
9:29you know and I figured that it would all
9:32work itself out as a human being when
9:35went when you read through this case um
9:39you know you you you say to yourself
9:42obviously while Keith's know this this
9:45this doesn't seem right here
9:47the next day somebody else goes on the
9:50news and says it was me it wasn't him
9:53the reason when he died because I didn't
9:56have any control of the automatic weapon
9:58at all there's no reason for him to say
10:01this other than he's the guy that did it
10:1139 years whatever he gave me I was just
10:14I think I was in space
10:23well two things both of you keep saying
10:25is there's no physical evidence what
10:27physical evidence should there have been
10:28this is a shooting on the street
10:30Valentino's closed for chicken into
10:32evidence and his hands were tested for
10:34gunshot residue and then none of those
10:35was presented in court
10:37a couple of weeks before Dustin
10:39Baumgartner was murdered he filed a
10:40police report saying that a green fort I
10:43tried to run him off the road would you
10:47happen to know where or who the people
10:49who live in apartment B are he said he
10:52shot toriana he didn't mean to kill him
10:55he lost control of the gun
10:57I was never 100% sure that Kenneth
11:00Vaughn was the person I saw that evening
11:02I thought that I was maybe one small
11:06piece of a larger puzzle his life should
11:09not have been taken away from him based
11:13on the testimony that I provided
11:16[Music]
11:18this isn't just a class this isn't just
11:22about wall evictions this is about
11:25people's lives the holy grail for us
11:30would obviously be one of our five cases
11:33one of the five people we believe were
11:35wrongfully convicted getting out getting
11:37exonerated and coming home
11:38[Music]
11:50[Music]
11:57they have government regulations and
12:01have found that you are eligible for
12:02release today
12:04[Applause]
12:13[Applause]
12:18[Music]
12:20[Applause]
12:29this students gave me the most hope that
12:32I've ever felt in 27 years when the
12:36students got on board it was like this
12:38is gonna happen the minute I mentioned
12:40Georgetown they said oh you're going
12:42home
12:42nobody had any doubt you know nobody had
12:45any reservations if I say hey my lawyer
12:47is putting in a post-conviction motion
12:49for me and they're like well you know
12:51you've been down that road before yeah
12:52we hope it happens
12:54oh yeah Georgetown is involved what are
12:57you out of here this is this is how
13:00everybody
13:04[Music]
13:10first off balance you know welcome home
13:13welcome to Georgetown welcome to the
13:16hilltop you're a Hoya now forever
13:19yeah here your story is so amazing and I
13:23want us to go through it but first I
13:26just want to focus on the last six weeks
13:29you know you spent 1,400 weeks in prison
13:34for a crime you didn't commit
13:36you've been home for six weeks describe
13:40that feeling describe life after
13:43released from prison after so long I
13:45can't describe it you know there's no
13:48words to describe you know what I felt
13:52these last 40 days it's undescribable Oh
13:59somebody oh yeah I'm so happy yes I'm so
14:02happy I'm so grateful I feel so blessed
14:07because I know that everybody's not
14:09gonna make it up out of here you know
14:11and when I walk down those steps I was
14:14just hoping that I didn't fall down the
14:15steps because my legs was weak you know
14:18and at that moment you know I just said
14:22to God in my mind you can take me now
14:25cuz I just wanted to make it up out of
14:28here I didn't want to die in prison yeah
14:30yeah well at the same time you're far
14:33from done yeah your life is in a way is
14:35just starting again mm-hmm
14:37I want you to say a little bit about
14:40your family I mean we have your daughter
14:42daughter Valentina is here your aunt
14:45Margot your mom Barbara they've stood by
14:48you for so long I mean Tina was six
14:51months old yeah when he first got sent
14:53away a lot of people in that position
14:55might have just forgotten erased their
14:59father but she not only didn't do that
15:00but she stayed very very close to you
15:02and she became one of your strongest
15:04supporters and a leading advocate out on
15:06social media really really pushing the
15:08story of your innocence despite the fact
15:10that so many were saying no your
15:13father's a murderer your father's guilty
15:15what does it mean what
15:17indication is it for you and for your
15:18family it's everything you know I'm so
15:23proud of her she's a first grade school
15:27teacher graduated from college you know
15:30and a father couldn't ask for more you
15:33know I took a trip from Denver to
15:36California last week and I hadn't flown
15:40in 30 years anyway a lot you know I lost
15:43my luggage I I missed my flight I'm
15:47running through the airport so I said I
15:48got to call my baby girl and they put me
15:53on another flight she wouldn't find my
15:56luggage and came picked me up at this
15:58other Airport Wow
15:59you know and I said she's no longer a
16:01little girl that's just a grown woman
16:03now yeah and I know that as you've been
16:07adjusting to your new phone and new
16:08technology what go to personal weight
16:11she had no business buying me iPhone 7 I
16:14wanted for that thing okay it's
16:16poisoning your life that's complicated
16:21okay how about your mom my mom was the
16:25best mother on the planet I'm the only
16:27only child you know and I was arrested
16:31on her birthday so can you imagine her
16:33she hasn't had a birthday in 27 years
16:35her birthday was stolen away from her
16:37you know and she stood by me you know
16:40every day and she went to cancer three
16:43three battles with cancer three
16:44different times you know and I didn't
16:47know if I was if she was gonna be alive
16:49for me to walk out of here and I just
16:51kept praying to God please just allow
16:53her to live to see me walk out yeah you
16:55know she's here today and she's I don't
16:57think she's flown in 40 years 50 years
16:59but she got on a plane today to be here
17:02yeah so she's the best yeah about
17:20that's loyalty right there family
17:23there's a mother's love right yeah and
17:25the daughters love for father yeah talk
17:29about now coming to Georgetown today we
17:32walked around the campus beautiful day
17:35you got a sense I think the history of
17:39this place and your connection to it
17:41what does it mean to you to be here at
17:44first off let me just say this and I'm
17:47in pretty good shape because I took care
17:49of myself while I was in prison I almost
17:51couldn't make this walk from all the way
17:53over there right and I'm like hold on a
17:56minute I know my mother not gonna be
17:58able to make it so we right you know it
18:00was crazy but it was in it you know and
18:02I felt a little out of place so I got on
18:04the phone just to talk to somebody so I
18:06wouldn't feel like like what does this
18:07old guy wanna do here with this suit on
18:09forth but it's well worth it and um you
18:15know I'm just so grateful and thankful
18:16to be here for everybody to embrace me
18:19it's don't feeling like it in the world
18:21yeah let's talk a little bit about your
18:24plans for the future as we're gonna see
18:28and I hope people were able to see on
18:30the PowerPoint a slideshow that was
18:33there before Valentino is an
18:35extraordinarily gifted artist and as
18:38we're gonna see when we talk with max
18:40Adler that was a part of the story that
18:42led to him being released and probably
18:44without that he wouldn't have even
18:45gotten the attention and notice but
18:48let's talk about where you're going with
18:50your art I mean you've got I believe
18:521,600 drawings that you spent over 30 to
18:5650 hours each drawing right that you're
19:00now in the process we have a website
19:02that was created
19:03I want to thank Kyle Ratner and Matt
19:05Michigan who helped develop that website
19:08that has just gone live Valentino Dixon
19:11calm please check it out please consider
19:14holiday gifts also makes for great gifts
19:17and beautiful artwork and that's just a
19:19fraction sample of the work that you've
19:21done the tell is art going to be a
19:24central part of your life going for
19:25always art is what kept me strong you
19:27know it in invigorate at my spirit
19:31you know and if see prison is a place
19:32that's designed to break your soul and
19:35your spirit you know and I've seen many
19:37spirits broken in prison I've had
19:39friends that committed suicide you know
19:42and art was the one thing that kept me
19:45going
19:46besides prayer you just kept my mind of
19:49occupy and hopeful and without it you
19:54know I don't think I would be up here
19:55right now even being able to express
19:58myself the way I am you know and you
20:01spent 10 to 12 hours a day and please
20:03leave at least four for the for the last
20:0620 years
20:07thank you Beth yeah Oh sue these people
20:09are take no days off yeah you know yeah
20:12yeah I mean except the first seven years
20:15I was in such a state of depression that
20:16I didn't pick up a pencil or paper the
20:19whole time you know I had an uncle that
20:21encouraged me to get back into the
20:23drawing because I saw as a kid right
20:25yeah and now going forward you also have
20:30a bigger platform now because your story
20:31is incredible and you've been emerging
20:34as a voice for criminal justice reform
20:36one of the first things you said and I
20:37was right there your first interview
20:39after walking out but I was talking
20:41about sentencing reform by criminal
20:43justice right who had all the problems
20:44with our prison system right how do you
20:47see your role in that larger movement
20:49well I hope to bring a different
20:50perspective
20:51like even after I just looked at the
20:53short film yeah then look on my face I
20:56was still upset you know because I was
20:59happy for myself and my family but I
21:02know that there's you know millions of
21:04people out there that's still suffering
21:06you know so I couldn't really you know I
21:07couldn't really celebrate because I know
21:09there's a lot of work to do and you know
21:12my role is just to educate people people
21:14that wouldn't necessarily be involved in
21:16the criminal justice system you know
21:18because unless you have a family member
21:19or a close you know relative or somebody
21:22or somebody that's your clothes with
21:24have legal problems or end up in the
21:27penitentiary you never really know
21:28because it won't hit heart it won't hit
21:30that heart that you know close to the
21:32heart you know so I just want to be able
21:35to of enlighten people you know on the
21:39ceaseless system is not designed or
21:41equipped to give the poor person a fair
21:43trial
21:44you know and that alone is the injustice
21:46this is just not it's not just a civil
21:49rights violation for black and white you
21:51know it's it's a it's a constitutional
21:54violation but more more than anything as
21:56a human rights issue you know and in
21:59comparison to other countries in the
22:00citizen guidelines you know it's not
22:03even close you know and you know and
22:05it's and we need to uh we need to try to
22:11appeal the lawmakers in a different type
22:13of way you know because we're all human
22:15we all make mistakes we need to try to
22:17get them to understand that everyone you
22:20know deserves the same care and
22:22compassion and concern you know as an
22:24eczema being and sometimes I believe
22:26that prosecutors and judges only care
22:28about those that's that's inside that
22:32group that inner circle you know and
22:34it's easy to turn a blind eye to the
22:36suffering of others
22:38yeah so my role would be to not only
22:43explain that you know the Eighth
22:45Amendment of the Constitution you know
22:48it's supposed to protect us that gets
22:50cruel and unusual punishment you know
22:52when you look at these sentencing laws
22:53it's just a dusty opposite and oh so you
22:58know I came from the hood you know I
22:59grew up in the hood a bad place and I
23:01don't know any of my childhood friends
23:03that didn't end up in the system I mean
23:05the whole neighborhood was targeted this
23:06is how you end up with mass
23:08incarceration you know and you know
23:10people aren't only human you know people
23:12make mistakes you know and put in most
23:14cases they can come back from it you
23:16know in sometimes when people make one
23:18mistake they don't get a second chance
23:19and that's just not right yeah you know
23:21so I want to be able to appeal the two
23:23to them in a different type of way that
23:24you know we could do better you know
23:26Martin Luther King said it best he said
23:29you know people were our victims of
23:30intellectual and spiritual blindness
23:32they know not what they do
23:33you know he said that even though slave
23:35owners were not necessarily bad or evil
23:38people they were just blind you know and
23:40uh we know that the system sometimes as
23:44a whole can be built built on greed you
23:47know in investments in this of fierce
23:50resistance whenever you try to fight
23:52against prison reform or fight for
23:54prison reform you know it because people
23:57have a lot to lose
23:58you know and you know we need to uh try
24:01to reach them in a human where's the
24:04humanity in that type of sense that all
24:07as Americans right we see ourselves as
24:12the leader of all nations and that's
24:16just a reality you know that we have the
24:18better way of doing things and that's
24:21just not always the case right okay if
24:23this is it's about putting the equals
24:25aside and not thinking about the careers
24:28and think about your fellow human being
24:31yeah that's right
24:33I think you've already made clear to
24:35everyone one that you have an amazing
24:37story to that you're an extraordinarily
24:39talented artist and three that you're an
24:42inspirational leader in the making and
24:44that's something I think we're gonna see
24:46a lot of you I'd love to keep going in
24:48this direction but I now want to take a
24:50step back and I want to invite up to the
24:52stage some of the key players who helped
24:55to achieve your freedom so I wanna
24:58invite max Adler editorial director of
25:00golf digest Marty Tankleff
25:03adjunct professor at Georgetown
25:05University led unit Sulekha Georgetown
25:10College class of 8 June Eve huh go nuts
25:13party
25:14former exchange student now in France
25:18and Noah Johnson former exchange student
25:22now back in Joe I want to start with you
25:33max and also would balance you to bring
25:35in the story because max you're the
25:38editorial director of publication I
25:41don't want to demean it or denigrate it
25:43in any way but it's not one Golf Digest
25:46that's usually associated with breaking
25:48news criminal justice stories solving
25:52you know problems have been justice in
25:54the world you might perhaps argue even
25:56the opposite but I won't go there so you
25:59have this extraordinary situation where
26:02you had this column that was called golf
26:04saved my life and in that you would get
26:08stories sometimes from a military
26:09veteran who lost a limb and
26:11talking about the role of golf and just
26:14feeling normal again and so on and one
26:16day you get a letter from Attica prison
26:18why don't you describe a little bit what
26:20was inside and your reaction to it
26:23sure it was a remembering seven years
26:26ago now it's hard to get the exact
26:27chronology but in a short span of time I
26:30got an email from Valentina telling me a
26:33bit about her dad and then I go into the
26:35office one day and there's a white
26:37envelope postmarked from Attica
26:39Correctional Facility and inside is this
26:44meticulously handwritten letter with a
26:47little small drawing of a golf putting
26:50green and you know Valentino he explains
26:54to me that despite having never set foot
26:57on a golf course despite never having
26:59hit a golf ball the game is saving his
27:02life and that was yeah that caught my
27:06interest how could this possibly be true
27:08and he didn't really you know delve into
27:11the matter of his case too much a little
27:14PS by the way I'm innocent yeah took up
27:17about two lines I think you didn't want
27:19to scare me off but you know it piqued
27:22my interest and when we talked on the
27:23phone and and I went up to visit him and
27:27you know he kind of poured his heart out
27:31about his case and everything that had
27:33happened and you know as a journalist
27:36it's funny in golf the rule that settles
27:41all disputes even at the highest levels
27:43of the game millions of dollars are at
27:44stake is you always take someone at
27:46their word and in journalism it's the
27:49exact opposite you believe nobody so I
27:51had to start off with not believing you
27:54but Valentino's mother Barbara shipped
27:59me his case file and two cardboard fruit
28:02boxes and I was able to get some more
28:04from the public records and started
28:06digging into it because if we were going
28:08to devote pages into the magazine and
28:12say that this guy was innocent we really
28:15had to make sure and I started to wade
28:17through it I'm sure you all would have
28:19waded through it much faster but I just
28:22you know slowly came to the realization
28:24that
28:25you guys produce a lot of paperwork in
28:27the legal system and in this case the
28:32the truth had sort of gotten lost yeah
28:34now balance you know when you sent that
28:36that letter and those drawings were you
28:40thinking this could be kind of cool to
28:42get something in this column and Golf
28:44Digest and maybe get my artwork noticed
28:46or were you thinking this could be my
28:49ticket out because if I get this
28:51attention my story might get hurt were
28:54you already going there in your mind oh
28:55you know when all your appeals are
28:58denied you know I feel like my only
29:02Avenue was the media yeah okay and when
29:06the warden asked me to draw his favorite
29:08golf course it's a telltale this year
29:10really knows that I was known as the
29:12artist in attica I've spent 25 years in
29:15Attica 27 years total in prison oh so
29:20everybody knew that I was the artist
29:21because whenever you come back my cell
29:22I'm drawing all day long and if I'm not
29:24drawing they were asking something wrong
29:26I'm just taking a break so uh the warden
29:30came by one day and he says eh Dixon he
29:32knew me by my name he says you think you
29:35can draw my favorite golf course I said
29:37all right bring it in I never golf
29:38before know nothing about Gogh jord he
29:41loved it that was supposed to be the end
29:43of it my neighbor guy named Adam he says
29:46hey I think you should draw some more
29:48golf courses that's Adam what are you
29:49talking about I'm a black man from the
29:51hood never golf before they are I won't
29:55have no credibility if I start drawing
29:57Golf Course okay you know now about fast
30:01forward a week later I'm laying in my
30:02bunk I said you know what he might have
30:04you know he might be on to something
30:05because I had I had drawn everything
30:07under the Sun you know and at that time
30:09I had over a thousand drawings that I
30:11had saved up so I said you know what
30:13what's the harm in it
30:14give me some old magazines he brought me
30:16some old issues I started drawing the
30:18golf courses whenever I put my mind to
30:20something I don't know how to stop for I
30:22think six seven months all I did was
30:24draw a golf courses every day so I
30:26decided I finally decided to read some
30:28of the columns in there and this is when
30:30I came across Max's column and the
30:33stories were so touching because his
30:35columns his column was named golf saved
30:37my life
30:38you know so I started to you know say oh
30:41wow you know what golf is saving my life
30:43right now because it's giving me
30:45something to do and it's keeping my mind
30:47focused because in prison you have a
30:49fragile mind you don't know when you're
30:51gonna snap you know I'm strong today but
30:53tomorrow I might want to kill myself
30:54you know and I've had friends do that so
30:57I said you know what this has really
30:59helped me you know hang in there so this
31:01is when I wrote him and told him that
31:03golf was saving my life max when you
31:08wrote that article and then it did get a
31:10very positive response he got discussed
31:13and got shared and so on did you think I
31:16might be really playing an active role
31:20in getting an innocent person out of
31:21prison or did you think this is a really
31:24cool investigative journalism project
31:26and then I'm moving on and going back to
31:28the Ryder Cup or whatever I mean how
31:31actively did you feel engaged with the
31:34goal of pushing to his exoneration you
31:38know quite actively but also quite
31:42naively because watching this video and
31:45also what I've learned from you and
31:47Marty that you know wrongful convictions
31:50and overturning them I mean it's just a
31:53black hole and I thought oh here's this
31:56you know pretty thorough whatever it was
31:595,000 word presentation of the facts and
32:02it's just so overwhelmingly obvious
32:05Lamar Scott's confession aside every
32:09single you know factor of the case that
32:11that this man is innocent this should
32:14smartly lead to you know a
32:16well-connected golfer getting in touch
32:18with the right person in power who knows
32:20how to you know move levers in the
32:22system and it took it took a lot longer
32:27yeah yeah now how much of it both your
32:33reaction and then the response of
32:34readers and supporters had to do with
32:37just how supremely talented he is as an
32:40artist in other words if it had been
32:42golf saved my life and I draw and it's
32:44sort of very mediocre what's that you
32:47know what I mean but it's like it's a
32:48nice story still right he likes golf
32:50he's you know from Buffalo from the
32:52hoods
32:52there still could have been that element
32:54but but when people saw those drawings
32:57they're just so beautiful that I think
33:00that's really brought people in if
33:04they'd been mediocre what do you think
33:05would have happened in other words did
33:07his talent play a role and the
33:09receptiveness to his innocence
33:11I think hugely so I like to think that
33:13myself
33:14personally if the art of a mediocre I
33:17still would have been captivated by the
33:19story in college I was actually an art
33:22major and a golfer so I love golf I love
33:25art but I've always hated golf art it's
33:28like really kitschy it kind of just it's
33:31got a bad look I think you golf art was
33:34a thing it's not the thing Cohen enough
33:36clubhouses you'll snow it okay but
33:39Valentino's work it was just it was
33:41surreal it's got this sort of sublime
33:44quality to it obviously you can't look
33:47at it without thinking about the place
33:49and situation in which it was made
33:52but I think you're totally right that
33:53the power of the images and the power of
33:56his talent certainly helped people take
33:59that first look because that first look
34:01is what's so important first look was
34:02actually the drawings yeah yeah look at
34:05the case was through the drawings mm-hmm
34:07so yeah I mean it's fantastic that
34:11Valentino has such talent and such
34:13charisma because there are probably a
34:15lot of other people wrongfully convicted
34:17who don't that's right yeah I want to
34:22then move on to Marty now because of all
34:25the people in this room they're very few
34:28I know Brian Ferguson is one and I think
34:30Anthony Wilson is here who's experienced
34:32as well but you're one of the few along
34:34with Valentino who really knows what
34:37it's like to be wrongfully convicted
34:40sitting in prison and one thing I say to
34:43my students in general is that I think
34:45prison conditions overall are horrific
34:47for people whether they're guilty or
34:49innocent and we have a real human rights
34:50crisis in terms of how we treat people
34:52period but I think everyone can agree
34:55that when you're in that position for
34:57something you did not do just nothing
35:00can be worse and Marty when you first
35:03heard about Valentino's cases around
35:052:00
35:06twelve I think was even before the Golf
35:08Digest he was actually right around the
35:10Gulf okay okay so that did play a role
35:12they think what ended up happening was
35:14is the more that I worked for got
35:17interested in the case because he was a
35:19golfer and read the article and while I
35:23was working at this law firm I was a
35:25student at Torah law school and we set
35:28up a wrongful conviction externship
35:30program where two students Katherine and
35:32Alex work on Valentino's case and I kind
35:35of supervise them at the firm and I
35:38remember one of the first conversations
35:39I had was bounce you know I said to a
35:42moment ever gonna give up on you no
35:43matter where this case goes I'll never
35:46give up on you I believe in them yeah
35:48and there's a there's a bomb there's a
35:50fellowship I've seen this now with you
35:52Marty over the years over the now almost
35:55eleven years since you've been out
35:57between other exonerees because there's
36:00something it's you look at each other
36:02and you know what the other person's
36:03been through that no one else can
36:04actually get and wondering if you could
36:06describe that I want to hear about he
36:08was true I mean I I you know when when I
36:10swore Valentino trying to forget how to
36:12use a cell phone today I was sat back
36:15and I said I went through that mark foo
36:19but Mario was there Steve Braga is
36:21sitting here who was one of my lawyers
36:23at for for 15 years and Mark flew back
36:29from France the day I got out and I
36:32remember somebody set up an email for me
36:34and a cell phone and I'm back then I had
36:36a flip phone was the first phone I had I
36:42know nobody remembers blackberries but I
36:46remember everything was a learning
36:48experience from being in prison you have
36:52access to let's say three boxes of
36:53cereal and you go to a supermarket and
36:56there's an entire aisle you're in prison
36:59you're limited to the type of clothing
37:01you can wear and you go into a clothing
37:03store and it's a sensory overload I mean
37:08one of the worst things for me was I was
37:10being interviewed by Rosanna Scotto in
37:12New York City and we were on the street
37:14and I said man why are all these people
37:17talking themselves I said I thought I
37:18lived the crazy
37:19behind and she start laughing because
37:22what do you mean I go look they're all
37:23talking to themselves and she goes no
37:25they're blue truths and I said you know
37:30I mean you think about 18 years I mean
37:33no there was no such thing as a blue
37:34tooth you know the cell phones were
37:36these big monstrosity boxes when I went
37:38in
37:39so I remember balance you know I had a
37:43conversation with him before he got out
37:45I said take it slow I said because
37:48there's gonna be every little experience
37:50there's gonna be some challenge from
37:54reactivation to society to like you said
37:57walking around today getting a driver's
38:00license I walked into the DMV and they
38:02wanted six forms of ID they said do you
38:04have a canceled check and I said
38:06anything Department of Corrections
38:08actually want to give me that they said
38:09you have a rental agreement I said my
38:11rent was all included they said do you
38:16have anything else I said I have a
38:18newspaper article and I was fortunate to
38:21have a Hofstra ID card a birth
38:23certificate and actually I get a
38:24supervisor come over and wave it I mean
38:28they're even child is a year after my
38:30conviction I was trying to do a semester
38:32abroad and I want to get a passport and
38:35they said you're a convicted felon I
38:36said what do you mean the records hadn't
38:39been cleaned up so we actually had a
38:41figure out a way to do it quickly so I
38:43could do a semester abroad I mean so
38:46everything is a progress it's a
38:49challenge I mean most people would never
38:52believe I'm almost free eleven years
38:56that I was actually in prison for almost
38:5818 years yeah actually since Steve Braga
39:01is here I will mention one of the things
39:03I heard from your supporters that after
39:07you got out and you were on the phone
39:09you're on email constant constant
39:12constant some of them are like it was a
39:14lot easier when marty was still in
39:15prison
39:18and the other comment with us to God I
39:20didn't have email in prison because I
39:22would have stopped the servers down yeah
39:25Valentin I want to ask you about Marty
39:27and again the the bond between exonerees
39:29when you first found out that Marty was
39:32involved in an effort to help you become
39:36clearer than exonerate and released did
39:38that mean something special to you
39:40what did that mean to you knowing that
39:41it was somebody who actually got it
39:43we really got it personally when Marty
39:47called my mom okay we had tried to reach
39:53out to the governor several times max
39:56you know sent letters for clemency you
39:58know yeah a lot of people sent letters
40:00to him you know that a part of in
40:02clemency you know we was just trying to
40:04get get me out of there just get him out
40:07of here any type away okay and that was
40:10denied so a week later Here Come Marty
40:15with the phone call okay in that phone
40:20call I can't describe what it did to me
40:24and my soul but when he explained to me
40:27that the Georgetown students was you
40:30know on board then it just changed our
40:34lives immediately we just said this is
40:36gonna happen yeah you know I didn't have
40:38no doubt about it something just told me
40:41it's gonna happen now you know you get
40:43denied and you can deny you get denied
40:44you get tonight if you keep fighting at
40:46some point you know what it's gonna
40:49happen you know and that's just from you
40:51know throughout history just observing
40:54many people who have challenges and
40:56obstacles that they had overcome you
40:58know in you know you see people fight
41:00and fight and fight and then sooner or
41:02later they'll get the relief you know
41:04only time you won't get their relief I
41:06believe is when you give up Marty I want
41:11to ask you having been present for
41:13Valentino's exoneration when he walked
41:15out of prison I was present for both of
41:18yours but in the similar role which is
41:21an easy role which is on the outside and
41:23you just get to enjoy it I had all kinds
41:25of flashbacks remembering when it was
41:29you coming out and I'd
41:31similar feelings similar emotions what
41:33was it like for you having actually been
41:36there and then suddenly being on the
41:37outside because you you knew all those
41:39little steps that were valentin was
41:41going through in his mind what was
41:42coming
41:43talk about that how you related to him
41:46even before him walking out the door
41:49though I was concerned because I was in
41:52communication with his lawyers and there
41:54was a problem with him getting out with
41:57the Department of Corrections and they
41:59said Marty can you reach out to somebody
42:01it was at that very moment I kind of
42:04felt this sense of wait a minute either
42:05something I can do once again and also I
42:09was texting everyone I could imagine I
42:11knew in Corrections are bleeding
42:12messages and all of a sudden 15 minutes
42:15later 20 minutes later I got a text he's
42:17on his way out and it was that moment of
42:22everything I want in life which was to
42:24be able to walk someone out of prison
42:27was gonna happen and seeing him just
42:30kind of on the top of the stairs if you
42:31kind of look at his face
42:33I think he I probably had the same look
42:35like is this really happening and in the
42:41back of my head I kept thinking you know
42:44if not for people like Steve and Baron
42:47Jennifer Roberto giving me the
42:50opportunity to get my own freedom back I
42:52wouldn't be able to pay it forward so
42:54balance you know and others to get their
42:56life back and seeing his family
42:59especially valentina because she and I
43:02had a lot of conversations beforehand it
43:08was just remarkable I mean you know I
43:10look at it exoneration is almost like a
43:13rebirth because when society has taken
43:16someone away for so many years you get
43:20to start over
43:21if you think about 27 years how many
43:24people in this room are under 27 years
43:27old imagine losing your entire life of
43:3027 years imagine everything that's
43:33happened in 27 years you've just been
43:36accustomed to now figure Valentino
43:39coming out into the world knowing that a
43:41cell phone is
43:43it's more powerful than a Commodore 64
43:46or an Apple 2e or you know now you don't
43:50have to go to movie theaters you've got
43:51Hulu and Netflix and you can actually
43:54just watch everything on a tablet or a
43:55phone and to give somebody the
43:58opportunity to travel again and it
44:02really wasn't just me I mean to me it
44:04was I was part of a team which max was
44:06mark it was these amazing students here
44:09it was Don Thompson they was Alan
44:12Rosenthal and it was even mr. Flinn the
44:15DA everybody had a role to make sure
44:19this system worked because when you
44:23incarcerate someone who's innocent the
44:25system is failing and until we as a
44:30society stop accepting the failures of
44:33the system we're gonna have these
44:36ongoing problems and I think people like
44:39myself people like bount you know we
44:41will be there those warriors that will
44:43keep giving back right one of the
44:46amazing things I think about exonerees
44:47and you're all seeing a little bit
44:50that's right now is that well I think
44:52you would expect that they would just be
44:54bitter and angry for all those years
44:57that were stolen and and often done
44:59through dishonesty and corruption you
45:02know but somehow and I saw this first
45:06through Marty and now I've seen it
45:07through so many others and Brian
45:08Ferguson is the same which is there's
45:10some of the most optimistic upbeat
45:12people I know which is that they want to
45:16first make the most of their life they
45:19want to look forward not backwards and
45:21second they want to help other people
45:23and they want to get on board in terms
45:26of telling their story but through their
45:29story sending a positive message that
45:31will help other people who were in their
45:33predicament or who are incarcerated in
45:36general unjustly or often excessively
45:39long periods of time under terrible
45:41conditions someone in for you Valentino
45:44do you feel like you are coming into
45:47this new position in a way as an
45:50exoneree
45:50where you want to contribute to the
45:54movement and do what Marty's been doing
45:58you to others of course oh I was trying
46:05to remember this quote by that Nelson
46:07Mandela said you know and I might have a
46:10maybe a word to off try to get it were
46:12for work he said to believe in the
46:15impossible and then make it happen so my
46:20thing is this that we can accomplish
46:23this you know we can change it rather
46:26now than later
46:28but the approach has to be full-court
46:34pressure you know you can send with so
46:40many letters okay one of the things that
46:43I believe played an instrumental role in
46:46me being released with the video that
46:48they put together making it was honoree
46:50okay because it's caught edition of the
46:52DA's office and many others you know and
46:55without that documentary the process
46:59would have moved along a lot slower
47:00okay in my observation of life and how
47:05things get done it's once you guys said
47:08that you were doing a documentary and I
47:10said right on this is gonna just gonna
47:12move along a lot quicker it's not gonna
47:14take three years you know that you know
47:18that it could take the six months that
47:20it took so I believe that at this stage
47:23you know there has to be you know a
47:26mobilization of people bringing people
47:28together and also a campaign and a
47:34strategy on how to make people own their
47:38shame okay because nobody should be a
47:44more powerful than the truth no matter
47:48what position they they hold okay and
47:52it's not about you know or embarrassing
47:55anybody it's just you know getting them
47:57to see that you know this is not right
47:59and keeping it simple you know without
48:02all the political or mass incarceration
48:05rhetoric you know it's simple this is
48:07what we need to do and this is why we
48:09need to do it right okay
48:12I want to turn now to the students and
48:14want to highlight again three
48:17undergraduate students two of them
48:20exchange students from Japan and France
48:22will come for a year to Georgetown who
48:26take this really bizarre sounding class
48:29it has a really strange application
48:32process and by the way take note if
48:33you're interested for next semester and
48:35I suspect a few people maybe it's a
48:37video application you end up in this
48:42class and we come on well actually
48:45before the class even started before the
48:47winter break we sent all the students in
48:49the class there are 16 students
48:50summaries of eight different cases and
48:53we wanted you to do some research on
48:55them to think about them and then come
48:56on the first day and we were going to
48:58discuss the eight and we're gonna pick
48:59the five and we're gonna allocate the
49:01different students into the group so
49:03we'd hit the ground running from
49:04basically day one and the three of you
49:07chose Valentino Dixon as your number one
49:10choice without any hesitation and you
49:14were all in from day one and maybe you
49:18start Ellie talk a little bit about how
49:20that came to be what was it a bad
49:21Valentino's case that stood out to you
49:24and made you want to work on it and
49:26helped set him free I think was so
49:31inspiring
49:31talking to Valentino he he draws eight
49:35to ten hours a day and to use that as a
49:37coping mechanism and to put all this
49:39energy and passion to something he's so
49:41good at and something that's so
49:42beautiful was some really inspiring to
49:44me I think also this case it is so
49:47incredibly compelling considering the
49:49facts of it the fact that someone had
49:51confessed two days after the crime was
49:53kind of unprecedented to me it seemed
49:56just unfathomable that someone would be
49:58in prison when the real killer confessed
50:00the crime numerous times over the years
50:03and it seems like something had to be
50:07done about that so I felt connected to
50:08it from the beginning because I felt
50:10like Valentin is so passionate about our
50:12new doors he's called golf courses
50:14despite having never been on one in his
50:16life I think that really appeals me and
50:19then the facts of the case how he's
50:20committed on no physical evidence I get
50:22three when it's asked me is our
50:23completely flawed
50:25think that just really stuck out to me
50:27and I really just wanted to help in any
50:28way I could yeah I bet you'd really what
50:32was it about Valentino's case I think
50:34that what I wanted it was to fight and
50:37work with someone that I would be
50:39inspired by and when I saw this
50:41documentary about Valentino's case when
50:44I saw him talking when I saw the mascot
50:47I knew that I wanted to work for him not
50:50just because of the facts not just
50:52because she's a really talented person
50:54but also because he's an inspiring
50:56person she's passionate and I really
51:00needed to have the motivation to work
51:02with someone that I would be inspired by
51:05right right and we should say also that
51:06Golf Digest max wrote this incredible
51:09article with a lot of the imagery but
51:11then the Golf Channel did a I think
51:14eight-minute documentary that you were
51:16able to find when you're doing your
51:17research over the break so no yeah so
51:20that also shows kind of the power of a
51:22documentary to get you to believe in his
51:25story to then create another documentary
51:27that would go to the next level
51:29noria you want to add it but I was
51:36looking into the case it did not make
51:38sense at all so there was this other
51:40person confessing multiple times on film
51:43they were obviously unreliable witness
51:47testimonies that was solely used to
51:49convict Valentino I was like oh this
51:52doesn't even make sense it won't even be
51:54a movie it's that crazy because a movie
51:57would have to make sense because
51:58otherwise we're not gonna watch it
52:00it was crazier than that for me I was
52:02like oh this doesn't make sense at all I
52:03need to I want to get involved it in it
52:07and then on top of that in going through
52:10that situation he's drawing these crazy
52:12good artworks and I was really
52:14interested in how powerful he is and how
52:17you know yeah how powerful he is yeah
52:21yeah now we have to talk about the fact
52:24that you're all three international
52:26students I mean Ellie you were four
52:27years town undergraduate obviously but
52:30from my perspective when we were sort of
52:33allocating the cases we certainly
52:36weren't trying to group you in any
52:38and it just came out that way and I
52:40remember thinking oh wow okay the three
52:41foreign students in the class are
52:42working together that's weird but much
52:46of it I'm wondering did that some how
52:50play a role either in your passion for
52:53the fact that you had all grown up in
52:55another system very different in all
52:58three different from the US in different
53:00ways did that somehow is it a factor
53:03either in your interest in the case or
53:06in the passion you brought to the case
53:09that you came sort of as Outsiders
53:12innocence seems so confusing on the
53:19first hand look at the case that this
53:21hadn't been overturned yeah I think that
53:24definitely attracts I mean I think also
53:26just wanted to explore different avenues
53:28that voting would have would be clemency
53:30over or forty motion I wanted to find
53:32out about it I mean it seems like in the
53:35system it's so biased towards the
53:37original conviction that gets harder and
53:39harder every course to a baton it and
53:42for me that just seems so unfair
53:45and it made me want to explore system
53:47warrant and try to get a result from it
53:49but yeah I think that would make us
53:51better on it when they got on board I
53:59says no clemency is off the table and
54:02you left a voicemail hurt bounced you
54:05know left me a voicemail that basis say
54:08no if and robots were ever taken because
54:12I want to walk out as an innocent man
54:14and that's it that voicemail like oh
54:18yeah and we we said to us that was just
54:22a reaffirmation of his innocence because
54:25when people talk about certain aspects
54:28of their case and they express a level
54:30of passion or anger or determination or
54:34just consistency it just adds to their
54:36innocence did you want to say more no
54:39that was it yeah no I had so much faith
54:41in Georgetown yeah as a whole that when
54:46Ellie and Julie mentioned clemency I
54:48says no way it's done they didn't
54:51give it to me now we're going all away
54:53you know that caused a little bit of a
54:55crisis because there was a little while
54:57we were thinking right overturning a
55:00wrongful conviction in general is so
55:02unbelievably hard and we thought hey
55:05maybe clemency there's a better story
55:11and then you close that door and we
55:12thought oh I know they thought I was a
55:14little nuts it's it's just such a fast
55:18switch you know but my my spirit told me
55:21no that's done now we're going we're
55:24going to the home run that's right the
55:32foreign element I mean coming from
55:34France very different system yeah I
55:36think I think when you US citizen you
55:40know about the conditions and all the D
55:43innocent person in prison you you're
55:45already angry but maybe that coming from
55:48systems where it's even less the case
55:53and where it's less usual I think that
55:56being that angry and that passionate may
56:00have helped us go through through the
56:03challenges because we weren't used to it
56:06and each time we were talking to
56:07witnesses talking to the prosecutor and
56:09when when we were hearing all these
56:12crazy things we we just thought like we
56:15knew that we could not give up so I grew
56:24up in Japan and so coming here the first
56:28thing was like the first thought I had
56:31taking this course was there so already
56:33so much social awareness so towards
56:36different problems in relation to
56:38happens in relation to the criminal
56:41justice system like in Japan it's not
56:45there's not that much awareness towards
56:48like wrongful convictions that doesn't
56:49mean it never happens it just means that
56:51we'd never look into it or no one really
56:54gets released after they were wrongfully
56:56convicted so the first thought I had was
56:59like oh my god this is wonderful in the
57:01sense that there's so many people trying
57:02to work on it but it's also horrible
57:05there's so much so many people that are
57:07wrongfully convicted in this country and
57:09I'm so so in for me in the first step it
57:12was I think because I was from Japan it
57:15was more shocking for me than maybe
57:18other people so that was like one of my
57:20biggest motivations to even take part in
57:22this class I think in that sense yeah
57:27yeah Valentina's so I know you talked in
57:30the video that we just saw about how
57:32once Georgetown was on board you knew it
57:34was gonna happen
57:34yeah did you have any other voices
57:36either your own inside your head or
57:38others who were saying come on man you
57:41just got three undergrads doing a little
57:43class project this is a joke
57:46this isn't gonna do anything don't get
57:47your hopes up those three kids what can
57:50they do
57:50did you ever have anyone say that or did
57:52you ever think that for a minute no
57:54because that would have been that would
57:56have been a rational response well let
57:58me just say this right as I would speak
58:02with them over the phone every day in
58:07the beginning because we were not on the
58:09same page look they need to catch up
58:11they need to come all the way up here
58:13you know and eventually they did get up
58:16here yeah okay but what I did was is
58:19that once you guys came on board you
58:23know it was really about the whole
58:25University it's supporting this it's you
58:29know not just the students yeah you know
58:31and that's how I would present it right
58:33even if that wasn't the case in my mind
58:36it was yeah you know and that's what
58:38kept me up because Marcus Lee University
58:41that's right
58:42the whole University you know and that's
58:44what I'm gonna be honest with you
58:46whenever you mention Georgetown I
58:51haven't met one person that could even
58:54think about saying so what even upstate
58:58New York that's not very I mean you
59:00would I mean I haven't met one person
59:03you know and even not knowing much about
59:06this University before this except for
59:09one the last time we won a championship
59:11is 1985 there we go
59:16you know you know I just knew that it
59:21was something great about this place you
59:23know yeah and I can't describe it no
59:27different right
59:29so so the students now again I don't
59:33know if you actually realize or if it's
59:37capable of sinking in at this stage in
59:40your lives but this is something it's
59:42again I can point to Steve Braga who's
59:45had a few and they're the greatest
59:48achievements of his life and I've heard
59:50him describe it that way
59:51generations but this is something that
59:53is just monumental this is something
59:55that many lawyers would just dream of
59:58having happen once and you had it at
1:00:03like 20 or 21 years old and you're just
1:00:05starting law school and I think that
1:00:07already is mind-boggling that you're
1:00:08starting law school and I imagine like
1:00:10going around the room introducing
1:00:11yourself and what did you do last spring
1:00:13or summer okay I got someone out of
1:00:15prison who was wrongfully convicted for
1:00:1727 years but do you realize that this is
1:00:20in a way a life-defining and perhaps
1:00:24career defining achievement I mean
1:00:27anything is definitely hard to have that
1:00:29sink in but I think what's interesting
1:00:30about it is that it seems like such a
1:00:32huge achievement for students but I
1:00:34think it almost happened because we were
1:00:35students you know it's I think I was
1:00:38going to meet the new prosecutor and him
1:00:41very much thinking this would be an
1:00:43informal meeting where we go over some
1:00:45facts about a case and all the details
1:00:48really played in our favor
1:00:50and then he was very taken aback and it
1:00:52ends up let's let's drill in on that I
1:00:58mean we saw a little bit of that in the
1:00:59video but I just want to make that clear
1:01:01I mean the original prosecutor at
1:01:03Valentino's trial right who prosecuted
1:01:07Valentino despite the fact that Lamar
1:01:09Scott had confessed multiple times
1:01:11despite the fact that witnesses were
1:01:13very shaky and later recanted and were
1:01:15shown to have had police pressure and so
1:01:17on that when the students interviewed
1:01:21him and somehow he agreed to be
1:01:22interviewed probably because they
1:01:23thought about it just a couple you know
1:01:25undergrads and I'll just do there
1:01:27you know their little project I'll do a
1:01:29little interview and I've seen the full
1:01:31video and they are running circles
1:01:33around him and he is sweating because
1:01:37they know the case better than he does
1:01:39and suddenly wait let me say this yeah
1:01:43good my attorney at the time he advised
1:01:47me he says I don't think they should
1:01:49have an interview with the DA you
1:01:50remember that I says no they're gonna
1:01:52have it I just felt like you know it
1:01:57needed ruled over I felt like it needed
1:02:00to happen no there's gonna be an
1:02:01interview you know and so both both the
1:02:06interviews I mean the original
1:02:07prosecutor who was now retired but who
1:02:10revealed in that interview that they had
1:02:12conducted gunpowder residue testing on
1:02:15Valentino's hands and clothing and that
1:02:17it had come back negative which was
1:02:19never revealed to the defense and that
1:02:21is what for some of my students here
1:02:23what is that Brady violation
1:02:25constitutional violation that alone is
1:02:28reversible although it doesn't happen
1:02:29enough unfortunately that they get
1:02:31reversed because Brady violations happen
1:02:32all the time so that was a massive
1:02:36development that became a central
1:02:37argument in the final appeal that led to
1:02:41Valentina being released so I just want
1:02:44to commend you but also maybe want to
1:02:45ask you to relive that moment Julie and
1:02:47Ellie you were both in that room and
1:02:49could you feel his nervousness
1:02:51I mean it's so visible he's flustered
1:02:57extremely nervous and we were there was
1:03:01like this tension that the people who
1:03:03were in the room they felt because it
1:03:07was really like two sides who couldn't
1:03:10have any dialogue because he was so
1:03:13confused and and trying to lie to
1:03:16himself and to us and we were keeping
1:03:19telling him the facts and she would just
1:03:23not believe us and so I think that
1:03:25that's when the tension really grew and
1:03:27and and we didn't even realize what like
1:03:30the gunshot residue you think us because
1:03:32he was telling these terrible things
1:03:34like witnesses should not be scared
1:03:37this man they should always tell the
1:03:39truth so yeah I remember that we were
1:03:42completely baffled by a couple of things
1:03:44he said like one of the witness
1:03:46testimonies he the guy was on the
1:03:48mixture of a crack cocaine marijuana and
1:03:49alcohol and we asked him about that cuz
1:03:52I was one of the key tests Amis a
1:03:54competitive balance you know and he said
1:03:56that he thought that would improve
1:03:57someone's judgement like the mixture of
1:03:59their substances who is taken aback
1:04:01extraordinary by those kind of
1:04:03statements and it kind of it wasn't
1:04:05until we look back on the tape where he
1:04:07said the gun a grunt arose to test has
1:04:09taken place and come back negative that
1:04:11we were that really clicked and I might
1:04:12how important that would be and soon
1:04:15enough Don Thompson balanced his lawyer
1:04:17jumped on that and it made it to the
1:04:18final appeal Ellie were like two
1:04:21people's yeah going after this seasoned
1:04:24prosecutor and the camera guys were just
1:04:27like unbelievable s and these two words
1:04:29coming out of both directions and then
1:04:39he's like a deer in headlights and then
1:04:41he slipped up yeah because I knew they
1:04:48will be really good at confronting and I
1:04:54was when he made crazy statements we
1:04:56were all like yeah and then there was
1:05:06the interview with the current DA right
1:05:09John Flynn and that's again something
1:05:11that it's not clear to me he would have
1:05:13agreed to that interview had he known
1:05:15the larger ramifications at the time and
1:05:20you talked about the case really
1:05:22knowledgeably he I think was forced to
1:05:25acknowledge the reality which was that
1:05:28it seemed ludicrous that Valentino was
1:05:30still in prison and then he made a
1:05:32promise again on camera which was I will
1:05:34take a long hard throw honest look at
1:05:38the case and be fair and how I deal with
1:05:41it and I'm not saying that had he not
1:05:44had that interview he automatically
1:05:45wouldn't have done that but I think that
1:05:47it made it that he had to at that point
1:05:50and I think
1:05:51again there's something that was
1:05:53disarming about undergraduate students
1:05:57foreign students maybe that adds to it I
1:06:00don't know but that that had these
1:06:03really powerful effects in those
1:06:06interviews do you remember that
1:06:07interview to realizing I mean how
1:06:08unusual that was to have the sitting
1:06:11District Attorney agreed to an interview
1:06:13on camera with you like that and give
1:06:15you a lot of time I remember coy in his
1:06:21office every day for weeks
1:06:24that's persistence right there like
1:06:27drawing for 12 hours in the cell that's
1:06:29what your yeah and they had they had the
1:06:31motion they had information with them
1:06:33and I was pretty sure that they weren't
1:06:34really paying too much attention to it
1:06:36that's my impression and then we finally
1:06:39arranged this interview for when we
1:06:40would be in Buffalo John Flynn was a new
1:06:43DA who had set up a wrongful conviction
1:06:45unit so I feel like he felt a particular
1:06:47pressure to hold himself to a sudden
1:06:49standard and he had to prepare for this
1:06:51interview that we arranged and we told
1:06:52him we were doing a documentary so he
1:06:54really had to prepare for the interview
1:06:56and then he read all the cases and I
1:06:58think that it really hit home for him
1:07:00how egregious and he promised on camera
1:07:07that he would give the case his full
1:07:08consideration I think we considered him
1:07:12as an enemy so we were ready to go to
1:07:15the confrontation - and during the
1:07:17interview when he says I think it's
1:07:19unbelievable that he's in prison that a
1:07:22jury could find him guilty I think
1:07:24that's a moment where we really realized
1:07:26that him he would probably get out and
1:07:29did you think it would happen as quickly
1:07:32as it did I mean I was very optimistic
1:07:39because I felt glad that there was now
1:07:43kind of a waiting game the motion was
1:07:45being filed and then we just had
1:07:46something we would have to wait and see
1:07:48but I began the class I would never have
1:07:52imagined such a thing would happen we
1:07:55were there I spoke the to assistant das
1:07:58that actually did a log investigate
1:08:00mark was there and basically was the
1:08:03most emotional work that they'd ever
1:08:04done and the female assistant DA said
1:08:06I've tried murderers rapists child
1:08:09molesters robbers and she goes this was
1:08:12the most difficult case I ever had
1:08:15she used because we knew that there were
1:08:17somebody was potentially innocent seeing
1:08:20in prison when we first started she was
1:08:22there were nights I couldn't sleep and
1:08:24she goes it's the most rewarding work
1:08:26I've done and I think 14 years as a
1:08:28prosecutor yeah so just goes to show you
1:08:30that sometimes that this system can work
1:08:34in Valentino and then we're gonna have
1:08:36some special guests okay well I was I
1:08:40was I was a little upset even when John
1:08:45Flynn said that oh he said he would
1:08:48investigate and take consider yeah
1:08:50consideration no I was upset that you
1:08:56know these are smart intelligent
1:08:58educated people you know once you read
1:09:02my file do you know that in commit this
1:09:06crime yeah you know you know and I felt
1:09:08at the time like you already know I
1:09:09didn't commit this crime why do you need
1:09:11to take any longer right you thought
1:09:14yeah course papers you know yeah you
1:09:16know he said that the following week
1:09:18yeah okay we are now going to transition
1:09:23to bring in a few special guests who are
1:09:26not here with us physically in the room
1:09:28but who are gonna be joining us by voice
1:09:31and I'd like to ask for the next slide
1:09:34to give a little bit of context because
1:09:37this project for us has one happy ending
1:09:44which is that Valentino Dixon has now
1:09:48been released but we have three other
1:09:51people who are still languishing in
1:09:54prison who are equally innocent we
1:09:58believe in them just as strongly and we
1:10:02will not rest until they come out as
1:10:05well and so I'd like to are we ready
1:10:11we're gonna hopefully the technology
1:10:15will work you're on speaker can you hear
1:10:17me all right we have Tim right who's
1:10:21gonna say a few words to Valentino into
1:10:23the audience
1:10:23go ahead Tim all right I just wanted to
1:10:30congratulate Valentino Dixon personally
1:10:33on behalf of myself and my wife
1:10:35congratulate him on his successfully
1:10:37proving his innocence after 27 years of
1:10:41wrongful incarceration and I appreciate
1:10:43that you're giving me an opportunity and
1:10:46others like myself still wrongfully
1:10:49incarcerated to speak up and because
1:10:51it's critical that those who have proved
1:10:53their innocence speak out loudly about
1:10:55the injustice and the American criminal
1:10:58justice system and reach back to help
1:11:00those left behind I'm looking forward to
1:11:03hearing about the next chapter for you
1:11:06in your life and how you plan to use
1:11:08your experiences to change the world I
1:11:10appreciate this opportunity and wish you
1:11:13the best and I hope that there may be
1:11:16something even while I'm still in this
1:11:19situation and still fighting to prove
1:11:22minuses that I could potentially help
1:11:24others or help those that are out on the
1:11:28outside fighting for us to further this
1:11:31cause so I appreciate this opportunity
1:11:33and I wish you the best on your
1:11:35continued journey in life thank you
1:11:37thank you so much Tim
1:11:47and now we have Kenneth bond I should
1:11:51say is my friend thank you so much
1:13:10Kenneth and you can stay on the line
1:13:18unfortunately we thought we had John
1:13:20moss the third but we don't have him on
1:13:22the line right now if he does call in of
1:13:25course we'll bring him on Valentin I
1:13:28want to give you I want to give you a
1:13:31chance to to respond to Tim to Kenneth
1:13:39based on what you heard based on being
1:13:42part of this team project can you hear
1:13:46me can they hear you yeah you only bring
1:13:51the phone up so you can speak closer to
1:13:53them to Illya can you bring the phone up
1:13:55to oh he can hear okay oh I'm doing good
1:14:08we're coming to get you all right we
1:14:20need you to hang in there Tim cuz we're
1:14:23coming to get you out of there all right
1:14:29and we won't stop fighting until it
1:14:31happened well I got you in this whole
1:14:47University has you also Kenneth it put
1:14:49you on the ground so you just hang in
1:14:51there it won't be long just hang in
1:14:53there and I'm gonna write you awesome
1:14:59all right yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna write
1:15:02you a letter once I get you details I'm
1:15:04going to write you a letter and I know
1:15:09that you've heard a lot of promises you
1:15:12know that hasn't been fulfilled so I'm
1:15:14not gonna make a lot of promises but I'm
1:15:16going to tell you one thing we're gonna
1:15:18get you out of there
1:15:22all right and now we're gonna talk to
1:15:24Kenneth Kenneth I'm alright I'm doing
1:15:31alright but my heart hear me my heart is
1:15:35hurting for you guys you know and I know
1:15:38what you're going through
1:15:40all right if we're gonna share your
1:15:43story with the world and we're gonna get
1:15:44your story out there and we're gonna
1:15:46we're going to force him to do the right
1:15:47thing all right we're not going to
1:15:50accept though we're not gonna accept no
1:15:53all right please just hang in there
1:15:58please just hang in there because we're
1:15:59gonna get you out of there yeah I love
1:16:04you you hear me now I love you no I
1:16:06never met you uh let me say this even
1:16:08though I never met you I love you you
1:16:12hear me all right okay I think now is a
1:16:30good time to open it up to the audience
1:16:31we have a microphone yeah sure as people
1:16:39line up to ask questions Marty has a
1:16:42good idea which is to update you on the
1:16:44other three cases
1:16:45so while Valentina woman's sitting here
1:16:49the other students have such a great
1:16:51level of success that Kenneth bond is
1:16:54now represented by the Mid Atlantic
1:16:56Innocence Project and the law firm of
1:16:58Cooley and he had nothing before no
1:17:01legal representation his case was
1:17:02dormant dead right
1:17:05top notch law firm in the Mid Atlantic
1:17:06innocence Tim writes case Emily Mun and
1:17:10akin gump have agreed to investigate and
1:17:12take on his case and John masters case
1:17:16is currently being reviewed by the
1:17:18Innocence Project so before our class
1:17:21started and before the Austrians started
1:17:23working on it they had zero going for
1:17:26them now every one of them has real hope
1:17:29a real chance great lawyers
1:17:34and you know the only one we're waiting
1:17:36for is the Innocence Project but I'm
1:17:37confident that they're gonna take it
1:17:40because Barry Scheck spoke to our class
1:17:42and he agreed to commit a half hour and
1:17:46he spent about two hours speaking to the
1:17:48Jon Moss group in the Kenneth bond group
1:17:50and instead of Barry speaking to the
1:17:52group would I would say you did it was
1:17:54he interrogated them asking them every
1:17:57question you could imagine every angle
1:18:00that I think a lawyer like Barry would
1:18:02do when he was trying to determine it
1:18:05who was a case worthy of taking and our
1:18:07students nailed about 95% of the
1:18:10questions and that 5% is because we
1:18:13started asking legal questions
1:18:14we had to remind Barry their
1:18:16undergraduate students okay we have a
1:18:19line that's forming please identify
1:18:21yourself briefly and say for your
1:18:24questions for me I'm Hana first of all
1:18:27thank you so much for sharing your story
1:18:28and welcome home to Georgetown I was
1:18:34wondering so you spoke a little bit
1:18:35about the coming out and the technology
1:18:38and how that's you know been kind of a
1:18:40challenge but I was wondering if you'd
1:18:42be willing to share a little bit about
1:18:43just more broadly the culture shock you
1:18:45know I think everybody expects you to be
1:18:47like overjoyed when you come out and
1:18:49just super grateful but like you've said
1:18:50you know there's a lot of other emotions
1:18:53that come into play and I was wondering
1:18:55if you could speak a little bit more to
1:18:56that be honest haven't been a culture
1:19:00shock for me why while I was in prison I
1:19:03had a 8 inch TV that we could buy for
1:19:05$149 and you know I would I would
1:19:09observe what was going on out in society
1:19:11at the same time my mind was always on
1:19:15society and not in the jail you know and
1:19:17oh this is what you know help me walk
1:19:21right out of here and really really get
1:19:23right into things without having no real
1:19:26problems the only this phone is she
1:19:28bought other than that other than that
1:19:31you know I was surprised because you
1:19:34know I kept my mind on outside 90% of
1:19:37the time and the other 10% was because I
1:19:39needed to know what was going on inside
1:19:41of the jail you know some guys you know
1:19:43it's they spend 90% of their time
1:19:47in jail stuff you know I totally
1:19:49separated myself from that now you know
1:19:51I was blessed not everybody you know
1:19:54he's blessed to have that shrift so I'm
1:19:58very grateful that God gave that to me I
1:20:00used to have a philosophy I don't live
1:20:02in prison I'm temporarily residing there
1:20:04I would joke that I'm at the school of
1:20:07hard knocks it was a way to cope with
1:20:09the fact that I was temporarily there
1:20:11and I here vow to you and it's simply
1:20:15the same thing that we didn't live in
1:20:17prison we were physically there and we
1:20:20knew that eventually we would be removed
1:20:23from that environment so we were going
1:20:25to get into the whole institutional
1:20:27mental state where we would decorate
1:20:30ourselves we would get comfortable we
1:20:33were all goal was get out let me give
1:20:36you a good example I'm from Buffalo New
1:20:41York there is a place called the Chop
1:20:44House they posed to sell the best steak
1:20:46in Buffalo so I will see these
1:20:49commercials all the time so I always
1:20:51fantasized about having this steak okay
1:20:54and I was fantasize about going to
1:20:56England in Paris all these things this
1:20:59is one my estate so anyway last night
1:21:02before I came here I had that steak that
1:21:06I fantasize about you know it was it was
1:21:14everything that I had always dreamed of
1:21:16and wanted my name is Michael Williams
1:21:22I'm the senior writer for a golf website
1:21:25called golf WRX I've been in the
1:21:26business for about 10 15 years and I
1:21:29would say max to you congratulations on
1:21:31the single best golf story that I have
1:21:33ever seen to Valentino in the person
1:21:37that you are and that you become my
1:21:40heart hurts for what happened to you but
1:21:41when I see that your dignity and your
1:21:43focus on reform rather than revenge it
1:21:46makes me want to be a better person with
1:21:48the freedom that I have so thank you for
1:21:50that my question is I have a question an
1:21:53invitation actually the question is 27
1:21:56years of a 39 if you're saying yes yes I
1:21:59owe you so much
1:22:01about sentences where convictions leda
1:22:05sentences where they don't serve as much
1:22:07as that of a sentence why did you serve
1:22:10so much of that sentence new york
1:22:13state's laws are some of the harshest
1:22:14loss in the world country okay you know
1:22:18you have states where you have a day for
1:22:21a day so even if you convicted of a
1:22:23crime that you didn't commit say you get
1:22:25a sentence of 30 years in some states
1:22:28you made 212 you know and I've been
1:22:32trying to appeal to the governor of New
1:22:34York State to look at these examples and
1:22:37to change the sentencing laws and make
1:22:39them more lenient okay
1:22:41Norway for example the most that you can
1:22:44get for any the worst crime is 21 years
1:22:47because they focus more on
1:22:49rehabilitation then
1:22:51punishment you know have you been
1:22:53reading my book that I sent you
1:22:54Valentino that's in there so it's you
1:23:06know if I would have been any in some of
1:23:07these other states instead of doing the
1:23:0927 years I might how to did 13 and that
1:23:12would have been a lot easier for me and
1:23:15my family to cope with you know I think
1:23:17all the laws across the country should
1:23:19be the same not this state over here
1:23:23same crime same charge but you're gonna
1:23:27get 30 years over here and then the
1:23:29parole board may not even allow you to
1:23:31leave after that during the 30 years I
1:23:33know guys that's done 40 years on the
1:23:3620-year sentence because the parole
1:23:38board refuses to grant parole you know
1:23:41in it you know you you have to ask
1:23:42yourself is this job security do we need
1:23:44to keep the numbers up you know I know a
1:23:47guy named John McKenzie he got denied
1:23:53parole ten times meaning he did an extra
1:23:5620 years so the tenth time at the age of
1:23:5970 years old he committed suicide okay
1:24:03so these are the things that I believe
1:24:05that's you know fixable immediately you
1:24:10know to make the system a lot more fair
1:24:12because people we
1:24:14the system is not designed to give the
1:24:16poor person in the fair trial then you
1:24:18have 1% statistically that are innocent
1:24:21so out of 2.3 million people that's 20
1:24:2523,000 people that's actually innocent
1:24:27of a crime they didn't commit so when
1:24:30you factor in all of those statistics in
1:24:32those issues chronic unemployment
1:24:35poverty of economic collapse these
1:24:39things lead to crime and punishment and
1:24:42you have to you know look at a person's
1:24:46background and where they grew up at and
1:24:48where they came from and underlining
1:24:49factors of why you know people end up in
1:24:52prison and then you have to consider
1:24:54that and say you know what this let's
1:24:56lighten these sentencing laws because of
1:24:58these factors golf didn't save my life
1:25:03but it certainly changed my life been
1:25:05talking to a couple of people texting
1:25:07while we've been sitting here and I
1:25:08don't know if you've been on a golf
1:25:09course yet if you haven't set of golf
1:25:11clubs if you've ever had lessons or
1:25:13you've ever had your first round of golf
1:25:14but all of those are on us so if you
1:25:17have we would love to get you out for a
1:25:24round of golf sometime just to
1:25:25experience that hi my name is Linda my
1:25:40question was earlier you said that
1:25:43there'd be days that you could feel
1:25:45strong one day and then the next there
1:25:47would be some people that be able to
1:25:48just stop so clearly just the conditions
1:25:52in the prison system ours atrocious but
1:25:54I was wondering whether you'd be able to
1:25:56discuss in any more detail of how
1:25:59psychologically you're morphed on a day
1:26:02to day well imagine you went prison for
1:26:07a crime you didn't commit
1:26:08so like I mentioned in the documentary
1:26:11but they didn't show that part I was
1:26:13like I was doing double time okay and
1:26:17you have these dehumanized dehumanizing
1:26:21conditions first of all I was so
1:26:24grateful to God that I didn't get sick
1:26:28or I need a medical attention because
1:26:29the medical attention is horrible you
1:26:32know if if you get it hard if you have a
1:26:34heart attack or a stroke forget about it
1:26:36they're not going to get you to the
1:26:37hospital for another three hours
1:26:39if if they're you know so any type of
1:26:42treatment that you need forget about it
1:26:45the worst treatment in the world the the
1:26:48most unhealthy food it's all processed
1:26:51in New York State all the food is
1:26:54processed soy no real protein at all and
1:27:00I was thankful that I had a family that
1:27:02sent me funds so that I could order out
1:27:04to vendors and have some canned goods
1:27:07sent in and stuff like that oh but most
1:27:12of all we need to change this you know
1:27:19we need to do something about it you
1:27:21know so all of these factors that I'm
1:27:25speaking of coupled with the harsh
1:27:30sentencing laws you know it's just it's
1:27:32just not right no it's not right my name
1:27:42is Alex Pathan I'm a junior at
1:27:44Georgetown here and a popular class
1:27:46alpha beta by freshmen is called the
1:27:48problem of God I'm in which the
1:27:50professor challenges your belief in God
1:27:52so I'm wondering after spending 27 years
1:27:55in prison
1:27:56was probably the best challenge here
1:27:58beliefs I just don't know if you could
1:28:00talk a bit about that and after being
1:28:03imprisoned for so long if it ever made
1:28:04you question your beliefs or
1:28:06strengthened it at all well prayer
1:28:10played a big part in my survival you
1:28:15know I wasn't a big believer in God you
1:28:18know but I had to grow spiritually in
1:28:21order to survive and back to uh you said
1:28:28a lucinda not Lorinda okay back to her
1:28:32question is it's gonna
1:28:34it's good with chores awesome the answer
1:28:37is that in prison you're really on
1:28:42borrowed time
1:28:43okay and I was awareness after seeing
1:28:46several we're not seeing it but several
1:28:49of my friends committed suicide you know
1:28:51where I wasn't spoken to those guys an
1:28:53hour before they committed suicide or
1:28:55day before they committed suicide and so
1:28:58I was aware of this I knew that the mind
1:29:00was fragile so I had to really be
1:29:02careful and I've always been strong
1:29:05minded strong willed but even I was in
1:29:08jeopardy you know of snapping or
1:29:11whatever you know and when the Gulf came
1:29:14along it was it was so instrumental in
1:29:17keeping my spirit strong because I was
1:29:20on borrowed time you know 10 20 years
1:29:22and users like listen you know the devil
1:29:25can get inside your head and type of
1:29:27thoughts might come in there and say
1:29:28like just end this right now you know
1:29:31and I was just so grateful that you know
1:29:34I had these positive forces to keep me
1:29:39on the right track
1:29:45my name's Cole I mean professor Howard's
1:29:49class this semester and we talked a
1:29:51little bit about how a lot of exonerees
1:29:53don't receive any kind of compensation
1:29:55once they're released from prison I was
1:29:58wondering if there have been any updates
1:30:00in terms of your case in terms of like a
1:30:03settlement from the state I have civil
1:30:07attorneys working on a lawsuit I'm not
1:30:12that hasn't been my focus and it never
1:30:15will be
1:30:16you know if I'm compensated then that's
1:30:19good you know but what I did was for
1:30:2120-some years I study business you know
1:30:24I did a lot of reading I've read almost
1:30:26a thousand books so I believe I'm gonna
1:30:28do pretty well without the state's money
1:30:39hey good evening it's like to thank
1:30:42Georgetown the lecture fund professor
1:30:44Howard le the students that all made
1:30:47this happen mr. Dixon incredible story
1:30:50the optimism the hope it's definitely
1:30:52there you've talked a lot about praying
1:30:55and the Gulf art and how that helped you
1:30:58get through your experiences and it's
1:31:01really easy to kind of look at this big
1:31:03picture 27 years innocent man in prison
1:31:07but I'm more interested in you know were
1:31:09there things that you did on a day to
1:31:11day basis maybe something like a routine
1:31:13you talked about trying to stay in shape
1:31:15you know along with the art and the
1:31:18prayer that kind of kept you motivated
1:31:20like kept her strength alive kept you
1:31:23mentally active yeah well I had the same
1:31:26routine believe it or not for the last
1:31:28for the last 20 years I was there same
1:31:31routine I'm up at 5:30 in the morning
1:31:33making a prayer drawing for about six
1:31:39hours then when everyday wouldn't run
1:31:41the prison yard afternoon I would go out
1:31:43and work out for our make a phone call
1:31:45oh then I will come back here and take a
1:31:48shower and draw for another two to three
1:31:51hours and maybe read for another two
1:31:54hours so I was always busy
1:31:57and whenever you know you know you know
1:32:01I've caught the flu of a few times while
1:32:03and I was really sick I mean I couldn't
1:32:05get out of the bed and I'm and I'm like
1:32:08this drawing you know and I felt like if
1:32:12I took a day off then I would be losing
1:32:14in some sense you know you know I was so
1:32:17hard on myself that I needed to push
1:32:21myself to beyond the limit of what I
1:32:24could achieve
1:32:30hi good evening I would like to first
1:32:37say my name is Karen Mills and I'm from
1:32:40Bristol Pennsylvania and I came out
1:32:42tonight because I think it was around
1:32:46September 22nd
1:32:48I sent Marti an email on Twitter and I
1:32:56was on the phone with my fiance john
1:33:00Brookins
1:33:00when we got the news that you were
1:33:03released I was watching it on the news
1:33:05in the morning and I was talking to him
1:33:07in the morning he's in Phoenix
1:33:09sei Phoenix in Philadelphia and I shared
1:33:13your story with him a couple of years
1:33:14ago when Valentina
1:33:17was working on your change.org petition
1:33:20and we had some words back and forth
1:33:23some inspirational words she's a very
1:33:25beautiful child and you're very
1:33:29fortunate to have her I'm sure just as
1:33:31well as she's fortunate to us are you
1:33:33but tonight I just want to say I'm
1:33:35thankful that you are being a pillar of
1:33:40strength for those that are still inside
1:33:43I ask you tonight you say full-court
1:33:46press
1:33:47so I told Marty that I would send the
1:33:49information he said send the information
1:33:51about John so I called my friend in
1:33:54California who's a paralegal and I said
1:33:56I need help so she's here
1:33:58she came she's been here for the last
1:34:00month we've been compiling his
1:34:02information and I brought it with me and
1:34:05I Marty if it's okay with you I'd like
1:34:08to hand it over to you tonight and
1:34:10Valentino I wish to stay in
1:34:13communication and to DES let's just to
1:34:15let you know that I'm very thankful for
1:34:17what you're doing and I believe that one
1:34:19day John will be standing up here with
1:34:22you as well okay I'll give you my number
1:34:23before I leave thank you god bless you
1:34:28because without people like you I
1:34:29wouldn't be here
1:34:36I'm dr. Marta B Hubble
1:34:38I'm from Manassas Virginia just wanted
1:34:40to say congratulations first of all
1:34:42valentina for being out here I spent
1:34:44over 16 years in the West Virginia
1:34:47prison system with people such as Brian
1:34:49Ferguson Jimmy Gardner let me stop you
1:34:52John moss yes I know who you are you
1:34:55friended me on face but there's one
1:35:02thing I mean I already know the harsh
1:35:03conditions I know the mind said when you
1:35:06can take yourself out of prison and you
1:35:08didn't have a problem transitioning back
1:35:09into society I know there's a few
1:35:11hiccups here and there you took me I'm
1:35:12still have this phone for two years and
1:35:14still can't figure out how to use a lot
1:35:16of the apps on it right but what you
1:35:19share in common with John and Jimmy and
1:35:22Brian and you mentioned it earlier about
1:35:25the clemency versus the maintaining your
1:35:29innocence and what I want to know and I
1:35:34think some other people in here might
1:35:35want to know too is were you willing to
1:35:38die in prison always claiming your
1:35:41innocence versus claiming some type of
1:35:46guilt to get out and to freedom again
1:35:49well for the first 20 years did you have
1:35:54a time when it like after 30 or 50 out
1:35:56whoa let me just say this for the first
1:36:0027 years I always said that if I'm not
1:36:04clear if I'm not exonerated totally off
1:36:07standard prison cell okay my grandmother
1:36:11is 90 years old so within the last year
1:36:15you know I became desperate you know and
1:36:17I said you know before they came on
1:36:19board I said you know justjust try to
1:36:21get me out of here any type of way so
1:36:23that I can spend time with Grandma you
1:36:25know and that's you know you have to
1:36:27think about those that love you and
1:36:29those that you love you know and because
1:36:31it's not about you now you know and I
1:36:34had to swallow my pride to even consider
1:36:36the clemency thing okay and oh but God
1:36:40had other plans you see how it worked
1:36:42out
1:36:44thank you okay thank you hi I'm Abbi I'm
1:36:52like you guys were an exchange student
1:36:54here I want to reiterate what you guys
1:36:57were saying about how perhaps coming
1:36:59from another system the shock of the
1:37:02injustice is kind of maybe hits you
1:37:03harder but I want to ask question to you
1:37:06guys actually about approaching the case
1:37:08and the way that the undresses are
1:37:11communicated did it ever strike you that
1:37:13it was hard to strike a balance between
1:37:16communicating these things and making
1:37:18them captivating so that people listen
1:37:20and then also the risk of sort of
1:37:22trivializing it and turning with
1:37:24someone's real life and real problems
1:37:26and struggles into sort of entertainment
1:37:29and that's the debate I've been having
1:37:30with some other people about you know
1:37:31the rise of true crime and how people
1:37:33enjoy watching it but the difficulty
1:37:37about making it not just a drama and
1:37:39recognizing that it's a real issue as
1:37:41well I think that's I think in terms of
1:37:48odds when we made our documentary I
1:37:50don't think we felt like we were
1:37:52sensationalizing or anything because it
1:37:54was it was inherently dramatic just
1:37:58reading about in this case there's so
1:37:59many twists ins hands and everything so
1:38:02unexpected that I didn't think we felt
1:38:04like we were sensationalizing it I think
1:38:05that I did Stephanie a concern I think
1:38:07with us as well when we were putting it
1:38:09out there on social media we had such
1:38:10help for max and from Tina that we
1:38:12didn't feel like we needed to catch
1:38:15someone's attention in a more
1:38:16superficial way that we already had a
1:38:18great base and then we just needed to
1:38:20build on that I think some of the other
1:38:22cases maybe struggle more because they
1:38:24didn't have that natural public
1:38:26attention it's definitely a problem that
1:38:30we faced a bit because people don't want
1:38:35to hear about innocent cases because
1:38:37they're always thinking well what if
1:38:40they're murderers and what if they get
1:38:42out and and start killing people so a
1:38:45lot of people just start getting
1:38:46interested when balance know what got
1:38:48out but when they're in prison and when
1:38:52you
1:38:52actually need their help that's when
1:38:54it's extremely difficult to get
1:38:56attention and that's definitely a
1:38:57problem we face - if I could just add
1:39:00you know I work in entertainment
1:39:02technically Golf Digest it's a - Leisure
1:39:06magazine for people to read when they're
1:39:09not focusing on the you know more
1:39:11difficult things in their life and it
1:39:13was never a goal or motivation to
1:39:16sensationalize this or or kind of you
1:39:19know pull on the the strings of
1:39:22narrative I think our job in journalism
1:39:27or storytelling which then quickly kind
1:39:29of morphs into entertainment it's just
1:39:31to present things in a plain way that it
1:39:35can be accessible to a general audience
1:39:38and what I found you know in the law and
1:39:41maybe other people find in the law or
1:39:43other you know specialized subjects is
1:39:47that they can kind of be full of jargon
1:39:48and it can kind of seemed quite overly
1:39:50technical so you know the goal is not to
1:39:55sensationalized but just to tell things
1:39:57in a way that the widest number of
1:39:59people can understand them we actually
1:40:01had Lonnie story who is a public
1:40:04relations communications expert come
1:40:07down and really instruct the students on
1:40:09how to tell these stories
1:40:11Lonnie's working a lot of world 'fl
1:40:13conviction cases and he said what is
1:40:15that the core of each one of these its
1:40:17humanity and he said you know what is
1:40:20valentino forget Assad that he was
1:40:22wrongfully convicted what is he he's a
1:40:24father he's a son he's a grandfather
1:40:27he's an artist
1:40:28he said folks I'm telling and each one
1:40:30of these cases who the individuals are
1:40:32as people first before you even get to
1:40:35why they're in prison which will
1:40:38gravitate people will gravitate to that
1:40:39sure I'll have that connection hello my
1:40:44name is Justin I'm a freshman in the
1:40:45college I just have a very simple
1:40:47question for you and Marty what is
1:40:50freedom to you read them
1:40:58so it really is the ability to do
1:41:01whatever you want life um I was released
1:41:05in December 27 2007 and I'm January 3rd
1:41:102009 so just about a year later I was on
1:41:13a plane going to Italy to do a semester
1:41:16abroad and for me freedom really was a
1:41:19one defining moment where I was walking
1:41:21around Venice and I just said to myself
1:41:24I'm free and I walked on somebody's
1:41:27property is probably some private
1:41:29property and I was overlooking the water
1:41:32and I just kind of sat down and I go oh
1:41:34my god I'm really free and it was it
1:41:38wasn't that a no I was free he was one
1:41:41of those moments where you just it hits
1:41:43you that here wasn't a foreign country
1:41:46finish got my bachelor's degree doing
1:41:50things that like a normal 27 year old
1:41:54should be doing but I wasn't I was 37
1:41:55and since then freedom for me is being
1:42:00doing moving forward in life getting
1:42:02married adopting my daughter teaching at
1:42:05Georgetown lecturing you know getting
1:42:09back freeing valence you know being part
1:42:11of that and realizing that there's a lot
1:42:15of work ahead but I have the freedom to
1:42:18do it now well for me I'm free but I'm
1:42:27not free and I don't believe I'll be
1:42:30free until the justice system is fair
1:42:42first and foremost I just like to humbly
1:42:45express my happiness for you gaining
1:42:47your freedom thank you
1:42:49also YouTube for instant even though
1:42:52it's been 10 years to us but hey my name
1:42:56is Herbert Lamar Reynolds I'm from Miami
1:42:58Florida I presently have a cousin that's
1:43:00incarcerated in a federal penitentiary
1:43:03my question I have a couple questions so
1:43:07my first question I understand you is
1:43:09wrong wrongfully convicted all the same
1:43:13what is your feelings towards
1:43:14disproportionate sentencing and do you
1:43:18have any youth programs under
1:43:19construction no not not yet we know that
1:43:25it takes money to even start these type
1:43:28of programs you know you have to get the
1:43:35government to realize that you have to
1:43:37allocate certain funds you know for
1:43:40these programs into to help save these
1:43:43kids lives you know you know Martin
1:43:47Luther King said it best in order to
1:43:49change the conditions of the people you
1:43:51have to have funding you know without
1:43:54the funding you can't do much you know
1:43:57so I plan on raising money on my own
1:44:00through my art I just spoke to a
1:44:03gentleman yesterday in Buffalo and we're
1:44:06gonna get things started
1:44:07next month whereas I donate artwork and
1:44:12the proceeds is gonna go to a community
1:44:14center you know so it's just one step at
1:44:17a time and what I hope to do in the
1:44:21future is that if I'm successful to be
1:44:25able to network with other success win
1:44:28there you go that's what I'm talking
1:44:31about when I'm successful is to be able
1:44:35to network with other successful people
1:44:37and to get them to realize that you know
1:44:42it's extremely important to invest you
1:44:45know in our youth
1:44:50the generation to come etc you know but
1:44:53more importantly without becoming too
1:44:58religious or whatever because I know
1:44:59some people don't like to touch the
1:45:01religious thing but let me just the
1:45:05Bible says in Hebrews 13 13 remember
1:45:08those who are in prison as the thrown in
1:45:11prison with them and those who are
1:45:13mistreated since you are also in the
1:45:15body you know so it's just you know
1:45:19getting people to understand that you
1:45:21know we have to do more you know
1:45:25especially if you are in a position to
1:45:26do more do you in do y'all and what
1:45:40plans do you have as as far as
1:45:42enlightened society with about
1:45:44disproportionate citizen more less for
1:45:52me what I've done to reform the judicial
1:45:54system is that every opportunity I get
1:45:56to testify before the New York State
1:45:57Senate Assembly the City Council I've
1:46:00done it I'm one of one of my other roles
1:46:02is I mean work for the Innocence Project
1:46:05is the exoneree advisory board member I
1:46:07think for me to change the system
1:46:10nice marking the opportunity to start
1:46:12teaching at Georgetown I also teach a
1:46:15wrongful conviction class at twirl law
1:46:17school so for me he's constantly doing
1:46:21what I'm doing
1:46:23eventually being admitted to the bar and
1:46:25be able to represent people directly
1:46:27like Valentino so I can really make even
1:46:30more of a difference because there
1:46:32really is an under resources there's no
1:46:36money being spent to the work we're
1:46:39doing last year there was probably that
1:46:41160 people who were exonerated that's
1:46:45with the limited amount of people who
1:46:46are doing it and the woman amount of
1:46:48money who were doing it I said this
1:46:49consistently that if the billionaires of
1:46:51the world would give more money to
1:46:53Georgetown to the Innocence Project that
1:46:57number of exonerations would probably
1:46:58double and I think what ends up
1:47:01happening is is that every
1:47:02there's an exoneration there's also an
1:47:05additional discussion Ike says what went
1:47:07wrong here and when we focus on what
1:47:10went wrong in every exoneration it helps
1:47:13of judicial system because we can cure
1:47:16the correct we can cure the beginning
1:47:18stages before someone is convicted I'll
1:47:22give a quick answer he just gave you a
1:47:30response and I'm not gonna give you does
1:47:32he can do things that I can do right but
1:47:34what I want to do is this I want to
1:47:36start a font to start all organizations
1:47:40for families of the incarcerated okay
1:47:43where the families come together and put
1:47:46pressure on Congress because you have
1:47:48over two million prisoners okay so if
1:47:51you got one family member that come and
1:47:53support a rally or a massive protest
1:47:56okay this seems to be the only real
1:47:59remedy you know to get them to
1:48:01understand that change has to come now
1:48:04rather than later okay so I think I'll
1:48:07be good in that aspect another stance
1:48:16are really briefly let me ask what
1:48:17you're you okay so you still have time
1:48:21take my prisons in punishment class next
1:48:23year we wind up on the wait let's come
1:48:26talk to me we'll work something out okay
1:48:28because I spend two days a week talking
1:48:31about all of those issues with all of my
1:48:34heart and passion because it goes for me
1:48:36way beyond the issue of wrongful
1:48:37convictions that's a big part that's a
1:48:39core part but there's so much more to
1:48:42our criminal justice system that is
1:48:43inhumane that it's unjust that is racist
1:48:46that needs desperate reform and that's
1:48:49what we spend a lot of that class
1:48:51learning about we go visit prison and
1:48:53there's some students in the room and
1:48:54I'm taking in to Jessup where Kenneth is
1:48:56actually I'm gonna see Kenneth tomorrow
1:48:57on a prison visit so consider taking
1:49:01these passes we're doing a lot and we're
1:49:03doing a lot in prison and we're bringing
1:49:04people inside of prisons and we're
1:49:06trying to reform from within and from
1:49:08outside
1:49:10Thanks good evening thank you all I'm
1:49:17Sheila Murphy and I'm chief mobilizer
1:49:19for mission to mobilization and we're
1:49:21helping to change the way the nation
1:49:23sees returning citizens I wanted to
1:49:26first thank everyone for this for this
1:49:29forum
1:49:30valentino to you I just want to really
1:49:34encourage you and thank you for your
1:49:38strength and for your prayer and for not
1:49:40giving up I was thinking you know a
1:49:42number of things that I wanted to share
1:49:44what I'm just gonna share a couple of
1:49:45things but I think it's really important
1:49:47that people understand when someone has
1:49:49hope when you exemplified and model that
1:49:55hope that you saved other people's lives
1:49:58there's someone that's actually still
1:49:59living today that's incarcerated because
1:50:03you didn't give up and because they see
1:50:04your story and it's unfortunate that you
1:50:06did lose some of your friends but there
1:50:10I do believe that people's lives have
1:50:12been saved because you continue to stand
1:50:16strong and believe in your faith and
1:50:17hold on and so thank you for that thank
1:50:20you mm-hmm I want to also just think
1:50:23everyone that is on this panel and for
1:50:26the work that you've done and this is an
1:50:29extraordinary you know feat case but I
1:50:33wanted to ask mr. Howard's in particular
1:50:37on a maybe a psychological or even
1:50:42emotional level what would be one thing
1:50:46that you feel like you've learned in
1:50:48this process that you haven't shared
1:50:51publicly about the process with
1:50:56Valentino specifically or the whole
1:50:58course or dealing with wrongful
1:51:00convictions no I kind of share
1:51:05everything publicly actually I don't
1:51:08think I have any secrets about that and
1:51:11I'm an open book but you know I I don't
1:51:18let me answer this way I only met
1:51:20Valentino when he walked out
1:51:23all right and I'd seen the videos I'd
1:51:26seen all the work the students had done
1:51:27I had heard the messages he left but we
1:51:30hadn't interacted directly and I got to
1:51:33tell you that within minutes I felt like
1:51:40this was gonna be a friend for life I
1:51:43felt a closeness a bond a love for this
1:51:49man who is so extraordinary that has
1:51:53just over the ensuing weeks has proven
1:51:57to be the case as we've been in touch
1:51:59constantly whether it's in planning this
1:52:01event or in doing his website or in
1:52:03talking about his goals and dreams and
1:52:05it makes me think back to Marty in a way
1:52:08obviously it's very different cuz we
1:52:10knew each other when we were three years
1:52:11old it's about as different as can be in
1:52:12a sense but I have that same feeling
1:52:15when I told Marty in the prison visiting
1:52:17room when we reconnected in the middle
1:52:20of a sentence and I said I'll never give
1:52:22up on you and I'll never stop doing
1:52:24anything I can to help you both when
1:52:26you're in prison and when you get out
1:52:28and it's something that I think I've
1:52:30held I feel that same way about
1:52:32Valentino I didn't know him during the
1:52:35time in prison but I feel like I would
1:52:37do anything to help him at any time and
1:52:40I actually feel like it's reciprocal so
1:52:43there's something you know just
1:52:45extraordinary about these two human
1:52:48beings but the resilience and what
1:52:49they've been through but I also don't
1:52:52want to make them out to be so unique in
1:52:55the sense that well then everybody else
1:52:57in prison is bad and belongs and so on
1:52:58that's quite the opposite there are so
1:53:00many extraordinary people in prison this
1:53:02is the tragedy of mass incarceration
1:53:04which is that we have people with talent
1:53:06with intelligence with hopes with dreams
1:53:09with just incredible things that they
1:53:12could contribute to our society and
1:53:14they're locked away and they're
1:53:15separated from us and that's a tragedy
1:53:18thank you
1:53:22and we are almost out of time we're
1:53:25pretty much out of time I'm going to
1:53:26just have the last three just ask their
1:53:29question and then we'll have one anyone
1:53:31who wants to respond and then we have
1:53:32one final surprise stay tuned for that
1:53:35hi my name is Sarah I'm in mr. Harris
1:53:39class and maybe the class next semester
1:53:42as well but thank you first of all for
1:53:46coming and sharing your story I think
1:53:47especially at a place like Georgetown
1:53:49most people here come from a place of
1:53:51immense privilege and we need to hear
1:53:54that
1:53:54we have the power to I think to confront
1:53:56these racists and oppresses oppressive
1:53:59systems but I just wanted to know if you
1:54:01could talk a little bit about perhaps
1:54:03the relationships you had with in prison
1:54:06I know that you were denied for 27 years
1:54:08spending day to day life with your
1:54:10family your daughter and your mother and
1:54:14your grandmother and other family of
1:54:15course do you still keep in touch with
1:54:18the people that you spent day-to-day
1:54:20life with in prison did you make
1:54:21meaningful friendships there
1:54:23let's take well I have about 50 guys
1:54:32their name and numbers addresses one
1:54:35about five or six pieces of paper in
1:54:38fact I've written about 20 letters since
1:54:42I've been out in the midst of all of
1:54:45this craziness you know you know getting
1:54:49three hours of sleep some nights since
1:54:50I've been out these guys and I and I've
1:54:54sectored the cause I put phone and put
1:54:56money on my phone to accept collect
1:54:57calls from prison so all of them call me
1:55:00at any given time you know so yeah I've
1:55:03kept in touch in fact outside of the the
1:55:07prisoner my counselor at Attica for 15
1:55:11years me and him went out to dinner last
1:55:13week you know yeah so I'm never gonna
1:55:17lose touch with those guys you know
1:55:20thank you
1:55:21okay
1:55:23my name is Vaughn and I graduated two
1:55:26years ago in 2017 and now I teach math
1:55:29high school math in a low-income
1:55:30community here in DC and I question is
1:55:34what message would you have for students
1:55:36like mine who grew up where they at
1:55:38least know somebody or they have a
1:55:41direct family member who is in prison or
1:55:43went to prison well what I would like to
1:55:47say to the future lawyers judges
1:55:51prosecutors that may be in this room is
1:55:54that a good lawyer helps those who can't
1:56:05help themselves but a great lawyer
1:56:09stands up against all that in the name
1:56:12of justice
1:56:12so anybody that's thinking about
1:56:14becoming a lawyer stick to your core
1:56:19value no matter how the system may
1:56:23behave or what you see because it's
1:56:27somebody like me sitting in a prison
1:56:29cell and it's gonna need your help okay
1:56:32and the forces that be is gonna try to
1:56:34turn you around you know to their
1:56:39advantage so stay strong no matter what
1:56:43fight the good fight to the bitter end
1:56:46for a future judge or a prosecutor just
1:56:53try to never forget that people are
1:56:58people
1:56:59and people make mistakes you know and we
1:57:03all make mistakes and god I don't
1:57:09believe we'll show mercy to anyone who
1:57:11doesn't steal mercy to other other hello
1:57:15fellow beings okay so we have to have
1:57:22compassion or sympathy empathy
1:57:27forgiveness these are the things that
1:57:29are make us understanding human beings
1:57:34okay okay we're going
1:57:36one last question very briefly because
1:57:38we're over time okay
1:57:40good evening how are you a bit emotional
1:57:43Easter my name is Kareem sterling former
1:57:45legal professional also inmate for nine
1:57:48to six zero zero seven returning citizen
1:57:51now at Georgetown Hoya paralegal program
1:57:54yes and so tonight I'm so full and
1:57:57overwhelmed to hear from Marty to hear
1:58:04from Valentino
1:58:05I've had to fight back tears throughout
1:58:08the evening to stay here it's the
1:58:10smallest gestures like when you told the
1:58:12gentleman you'll write him a letter and
1:58:14the value of that letter right now and
1:58:16expressing your love to him I know you
1:58:18didn't say he loved you back there my
1:58:19friend around a whole bunch of air or a
1:58:21hawk or you can express now what I'm
1:58:23gonna let you know tonight I love you
1:58:25brother
1:58:25I love you too and so so mark to my
1:58:33involvement with the Georgetown Fire
1:58:35legal fellowship through the mayor's
1:58:36office of returning citizens affairs I'm
1:58:38part of that cohort along with some
1:58:40other men and women who are here this
1:58:42evening so you have that program and
1:58:44then coming into the coming into that
1:58:47program I studied and learned that mark
1:58:50and Marty teach a class together here at
1:58:52Georgetown and then in furtherance of
1:58:55that I found out that there's the
1:58:57Georgetown DC jail initiative and in
1:59:00furtherance of that is the full
1:59:01Georgetown president's justice
1:59:03initiative which this exoneration
1:59:06initiative is at the forefront
1:59:10my question is to mark and others on the
1:59:14stage mass incarceration prison reform
1:59:18criminal justice crime itself is such a
1:59:21taboo topic that no one wants to touch
1:59:25right it's something that people stay
1:59:26away from is something that is deemed
1:59:29wrong criminal dangerous in our society
1:59:36why do you men have the bravery to step
1:59:39forward and even get involved in in this
1:59:41area what is it that made you want to
1:59:44take an interest in a demographic that
1:59:47the rest of society deems
1:59:49the worst of the worst it's a great
1:59:53question lovely w preschool I think yeah
1:59:56now I would say you know when your eyes
1:59:59are open to injustice you can't close
2:00:01them again
2:00:02you can't unlearn when you see it when
2:00:06you feel it when you meet people when
2:00:09you care about them you can't just turn
2:00:11that off and go back and so not only if
2:00:14I not turn it off and go back but I've
2:00:15gone forward and I want to bring people
2:00:18and I want to be a part of this larger
2:00:20movement to combat that very stereotype
2:00:23that very mountain that you're talking
2:00:24about and I think we're moving in that
2:00:26right direction I think it Gorge down we
2:00:28have something really special I think we
2:00:30have something that's unique among
2:00:31universities and I think we're gonna
2:00:33keep going full speed ahead and you're a
2:00:36part of that too Korean I mean for me
2:00:38was that I saw enough heartache and
2:00:41horror in prison and there's enough
2:00:44people that I know that didn't belong
2:00:47there and some of them were guilty but
2:00:50they didn't belong there because any
2:00:52treatment not incarceration they needed
2:00:55somebody to guide them early on in their
2:00:57life and people fail them so for me
2:01:01getting involved and not turning back
2:01:03he's just ingrained in me um I also part
2:01:08of it is because there are so many
2:01:10lawyers investigators public relations
2:01:14people that got involved in my life to
2:01:17fight for me for me it's a way to give
2:01:19back to them to show that all the
2:01:21thousands of hours they spent on my life
2:01:24I can pay it forward and spend on other
2:01:27people's lives
2:01:29yeah that's great let's clap all right
2:01:33don't leave yet and I know we're over
2:01:35time but we have just in from Mount
2:01:38Olive Correctional Complex in West
2:01:40Virginia John moss the third John you're
2:01:44on live we can hear you yeah go ahead
2:01:50John this is mark right here and we got
2:01:55Valentina Dixon and we got a full house
2:02:04don't be December 1st Here I am sitting
2:02:07over here the table doing this do you
2:02:11hear now you're gonna close down the
2:02:15event for us actually so it's perfect
2:02:18you're gonna close down the event for us
2:02:20we're just at the end so you're gonna
2:03:48say whoa I don't need to say anything
2:03:53right the power the power your spirit is
2:03:57coming through this phone the day is
2:04:04coming but that type of spirit you're
2:04:09gonna win my friend it's gonna happen
2:04:43let me say this the reason I say this is
2:05:33the voice of you can tell right 38 years
2:05:39you know is just unthinkable so I want
2:05:45to get your details right now I want to
2:05:47write you all right at the same at the
2:05:50same time I would like you to write out
2:05:52the issues that you believe that could
2:05:54be helpful for us to fight this mass
2:05:56incarceration image honesty encounter
2:06:30with them we speak on a regular okay we
2:06:36got to wrap it up John all right I love
2:06:38you John and I can't wait to meet god
2:06:56bless you John love you thank you John
2:07:01I'm looking you back to Alex and now to
2:07:07close out the event and thank you for
2:07:08your patience but I think you'll agree
2:07:10that it was worth it
2:07:11you know Valentino we said welcome home
2:07:14your Jolla we want you to leave when you
2:07:18go back to Buffalo to be properly
2:07:20equipped as a Georgetown Hoya so you got
2:07:25your new Georgetown University
2:07:27sweatshirt you got a hat and and
2:07:36Georgetown golf t-shirt thank you all so
2:07:49much and another round of applause for
2:07:50Valentino Dixon

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