Fight For Justice, David & Me (Crime & Punishment Documentary) | Real Stories

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] today I'm going to my friend David's house to wait for some big news he's not gonna be there because he's been in prison for the last 28 years degree whereas thing in the white cause yesterday it run twice you call and the people yeah so cool the King yesterday nobody else cool any minute now David is gonna call and tell us the result of a decision that could finally bring him home to his family after all these years speak of birth now completed I don't speak hello hey Sam how are you yeah I'm doing day I'll see you next to me hello I'm okay you got some good news from [Music] [Music] [Music] my name is David McCallum I am 43 years old I've been incarcerated since I was 16 years old for a crime I didn't commit [Music] David is a convicted murderer from the streets of Brooklyn I'm a middle-class Jewish Italian kid from Toronto so how did two people who seem to be so different end up becoming good friends [Music] [Music] when I was a teenager David wrote me a letter that really surprised me the words were so kind and sensitive not exactly what you'd expect from a man who'd spent 20 years locked up for murder over the last 10 years David's become like the older brother I never had and I've become part of a team of people fighting for his freedom I think you've done more for me than I have done for you to tell you the truth I was a pretty much a kid when I came to this place I haven't been anywhere no you know sometimes you can't really quantify it into words you know me how much it meant to seeing life outside of this place you know this is the dog place you know and I say this to people all the time and I've never actually said it to you to put in perspective but you've been in jail my whole life you miss my entire life of experiences and what you've given to me and in terms of how you've helped me grow up it just makes me want to do anything I can to help you [Music] [Music] so how would you compare yours and David's upbringing you know he came from a big southern family and I came from you know I was only child but I think the similarities are that we were both good kids at heart who got in trouble because we're trying to fit in we're gonna make a very simple dish today as a kid my parents and I were really close it was always just us three I come from a very mixed neighborhood in Toronto it wasn't a bad place but the people that had adopted a criminal lifestyle they were feared and respected and I wanted that same respect so I tried to act like them we were concerned about the friends that you had you know ultimately all those kids are good-hearted but some of them were in trouble themselves some of them carry gun is in my neighborhood when you tried to act tough you had to back it up and I couldn't so I got bullied and that made me angry you know I was an [ __ ] to my parents during that time my dad just wasn't gonna take my [ __ ] and so you're always at each other's throats you had a lot of anger and sometimes people do things they don't understand the consequences of there was this dude who I thought had stolen for me you know we got in a verbal confrontation the verbal confrontation ended took a brick and I just whipped it through his front window and then I ran away which is probably the opposite of being tough because the kids in my neighborhood were just knocked that guy out he called the police and I got arrested I think for my parents that was the turning point I reached the point where I felt I had completely lost control of you and your upbringing maybe I felt too that I didn't know you anymore not the way I thought I knew you and I thought I have this friend who's in a prison I felt that he could give my son straight goods whereas whatever I'm saying to him might be just so much BS you know it'll say Beth forget about it dad you know you don't know what you're talking about but he can't say that to a man who's in prison so I wrote to David and I said would you be willing to correspond with my son he's been getting into some trouble [Music] November 28 2005 they array hello and how are you I met the dead nearly 2 years ago at the reading activity conducted with Rubin hurricane Carter me and your dad had become really good friends and I was hoping that we too can become friends I was found yet age when I came to prison I really want to write to you and I often thought about the privilege that ran into his son when you said the privilege of writing his son that was the first thing in that letter that sort of like put my guard down and let me listen to you without the garden that was sister heard the sea in his voice in his letters it felt like he did everything he could to get you you know to understand that that kind of lifestyle leads to Sebastian [Music] [Music] this is David fresh cream picture he never was a real bad kid he did his lessons very good so there was no problem with his lessons he was good with that as born at 7:12 1968 Dillon South Carolina I mean I'm trying to be a southerner people make fun of that but that's okay that's alright we had a good time back then I was a third of seven brothers and sisters you know my mom is a very very good cookie she pretty much does it all turns of my collard greens and mashed potatoes and fried chicken when she can do wonders believe me my father had a difficult time finding work my mother my father thought there was a better opportunities for us so my family moved to New York City when I was 8 years old [Music] it was a culture shock for me man I say all kinds of noise the street [Music] [Music] when I was a kid he's to always see these fire trucks zoom up and down on my block you know and I was curious as to what they did where they were going what happened it just really confirmed why I wanted to be a Friday because those people were going to help somebody you know and I think as a kid growing up I always wanted to be a hero you know boys runs man I mean I see some powerful things seeing people get shot you know I seen people get stabbed I started hanging out with my the rough individuals so they didn't be tough at that time then you become somewhat of prey people will be picking on you started committing crimes like robberies and I want to be somebody important knowing that I was into these kinds of activities would make me important yeah my father of course he would always tell me look either two things are gonna happen to you he said he give you gonna be in a prison for the rest of your life are you gonna be dead I got up early Sunday morning like I do on most Sundays make breakfast Sunday with my sister [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Nathan baleno sitting there in the park that day Willy was there too and believe was a friend of mine as well he did about maybe set of locks for Allen and we didn't hang out all the time but we hung out occasionally he pretty much went at it all day planned you know we went home after that between 6:00 to 6:30 my mom is preparing dinner just like any other Sunday you know it's just simply another day [Music] on October 27th 1985 when I went to this store that was the last time I've been home [Music] I'm sitting on some steps with a group of friends and I know there's a detective car show up and three police officers got out of the car and they said to me would you mind coming down to the precinct for questioning I said okay I didn't do anything wrong we've been driving down and one detective said to me if you [ __ ] keep leaning on me I'm gonna slap the [ __ ] out of it at that time I didn't know exactly what was going on but I knew it was a problem so when I got down to the 83rd precent it took me upstairs to a very small room with no windows and I sat there for what seemed like forever really Josef bulldozer puts a police officer he was saying that they had found a body in the park and Abidine Park in Brooklyn someone was killed and I said I don't know what you're talking about detective Budhan I'd say that he's a very very intimidating guy he's 18 year veteran and he had a lot experience was very scared he asked me did I know Willie Stuckey I said he was a friend of mine police officer Buddha said to me that when he said I shot Nathan planer he'd brought will he study it to the door they said to well he's lucky is that him and will he nodded his head yes couldn't believe it but what [ __ ] with he's why would he say that I wouldn't say that I killed somebody when he know that neither he or I was dead Buddha said look if you tell me what happened I'll let you go home can I said office I don't know what you're talking about because let me drive in the car my life ever I've never been to that particular neighborhood didn't know anything about anything but and it was at that moment when I said that I don't know he was talking about that he slapped me in my face he picked up a chip and he was threatening to hit me with the chin I knew right then that I had to say something and had to tell this one person what he wanted to know and then I said yes literally repeating what he had previously said to me at that time I was willing to do and say anything they wanted Willie this pointing the finger at me you know if he said I did it I'm gonna say he did it unless he shot the person the technical order it started feeding me details he was say for example you saw this guy sitting in this car right and so what'd he say right but I did was as I said yes we did you know and then he would actually ask me another question and then it would just go on and on on again Buddha said look we got a videotape set up you think you're gonna going in you know Pete exactly what you repeated to me that was it sir what is your name David a cow okay mr. McCullum you have the right to remain silent that is she do not speak to me or answer any of my questions to understand that yes anything you say to me can be used as evidence against you in a court of law do you understand that now that I've advised you of your rights do you want to speak to me about what happened we had put the court took me through the back all right let me breathe let me start you from earlier that day okay okay yeah I mean where were you really okay nine video tape it's absolutely and unequivocally the worst mistake of my life I don't think anything can can actually compare to that anything there's math he took the gun to the car window and told him and he'd get out so the man got out and we had got in and he told the man to get back in and so he got that again and then it got out that wouldn't in the funny thing was I felt like it was important for me to try to make my confession more believable to the officers there so what I did was I put details in the confession told you know what time it is did he click him then it became went off and then the guy fell he was laying on the ground when someone looks at the confession if they would see that the information that was supplied by Willie Stuckey in the confession that I made they were totally I had to wash out I have to Willy fired the gun the first time did he fire any other shots after that no any other they shot I have no further questions thank you one o'clock the phone ring I answered the phone and they said do you have a son by the name of David McCallum and I said yes where is he they said we haven't met the precinct so I said well he's only 16 I say he need one of his parents there he said if you come you can't see him [Music] hey David thanks for sharing your story with me it was eye-opening to say the least hearing about where you're from and what happened to you has definitely made me rethink my own actions and decisions I have a lot to be thankful for [Music] I bring to you the message that I heard in prison I am a survivor a survivor of the American so-called criminal justice system and Ken was a teacher and his class wrote me letters asking me to appear at their school to speak with them and I did it was my dad's way to meet one of his idols Rubin hurricane Carter the legendary boxer who was incarcerated for 19 years for a crime he didn't commit and as I began to know Kim clonsky a little more we decided to do an article for the Sun magazine a lot of people saw that including David McCallum David read the interview and he contacted me so the world sometimes you choose and sometimes it chooses you and I just decided I wasn't gonna turn away from this person David asked my dad to go over his trial transcripts because he wanted to send them to Rubin so even though he's not a lawyer my dad just started going through them himself the first time through it was fairly clear to me that he was guilty but then I decided I'm gonna take a second look at this and the second time through the whole case came apart so my dad retired from teaching and managed to get Rubin Carter on board to help with the case Rubin starpower helped attract Oscar Michelin a lawyer who had successfully fought some other wrongful conviction cases in New York my opinion of David is that he's got a tremendous heart tremendous courage and there's no hatred there's no seeking of vengeance and to stay positive I don't know how he does it frankly my dad provided the emotional support for David he talked to him on the phone every week kept his head in the right place Reuben was our face a spokesperson and oscar was our lawyer with everything happening I looked at the court documents one day and couldn't believe they could convict somebody with so little evidence I became convinced of David's innocence and really wanted to get involved as the team began to reinvestigate the case the first step was to look back into what actually happened to nathan blender i think for me it's easy to forget that there's another victim in this case other than David the crime itself is really shocking so we're here now at the scene of the crime that's where Nathan's car was parked it was getting ready to go get it started when a couple of boys who were playing the street two young male blacks come down this street one of them took out a gun this is their testimony and they then heard one of the abductors tell Nathan get the F in the car they pushed it in the car and they drove the day after Nathan blender was kidnapped from the ozone Park neighborhood of Queens his body was found in Aberdeen Park in Brooklyn [Music] his car had been burned and left in an empty lot one week later David McCallum and Willie Stuckey were arrested and charged with the murder [Music] New York City in the mid-1980s crime was at an all-time high because of gangs gun violence and crack there were multiple murders every day the police that time had their hands full courts were fed up people had had it juror is an addict we want our city back and all those pressures who are coming to bear into that courtroom when David and Lily were ushered into it for their trial it wasn't just about their case it was about all of the crime that was going on in the city at that time when this case was tried this was before the days of DNA evidence and that's very important because one of the things that DNA evidence has established is that people do falsely confess to crimes particularly young teenagers on top of that this was one of the early days of videotaped confessions so it was very unusual for a jury to be able to actually see the defendant allegedly confessing to the crime here you have the guy right in front of you on film you can see that there's no gun to his head so in the end nobody believed that those confessions were coerced these two teenagers had no chance with professional interrogators and that's the only so-called evidence that the state presented was this false confession to see if we could find anything that was missed at the trial Rubin Carter sent the tapes to Steve driz in one of the world's leading experts on false confessions if you simply look at the tapes you get the impression that the person on the tape may in fact be guilty because the tapes don't tell the story one signifier of a false confession is that the confession doesn't lead pleas to any additional evidence there's nothing in that confession that the police officers didn't already know from some other source not a single fingerprint anywhere in the car that belongs to McCallum or Stuckey I mean these are teenage kids and we know from scores of cases that juvenile suspects are more vulnerable than adults to the kinds of police techniques that we see over and over again and you have both Stuckey and McCallum independently saying that they were struck by the lead detective detective Buda what's his reason for being there he's not conducting any questioning he is there to intimidate David McCallum but I would say that the most important factor to me in the confession was what we call a false fed fact when police canvassed Nathan blender's neighborhood they interviewed a woman who will call Chrissy Chrissy could have been a key witness but she was never brought into the trial around the time of Nathan blunders abduction Chrissy was washing her car on the street when she was accosted by two black males one of them in braids they come up to her and say hey you got a nice car neither McCallum nor Stuckey wore braids now that occurred within an hour before Nathan blender's abduction Stuckey's confession has this account of meeting a woman or a girl on the street now why is that important because her description of the offender's doesn't fit Stuckey and the gal the jury had no idea that someone had given a description of two male blacks that did not match McAllen the Stuckey's description at around the time of the crime I mean it's it's ludicrous David's court-appointed lawyer dropped the ball in pretty much every way possible he never visited the crime scene David says he was interviewed only once before his trial and he failed to even bring Christy into the case he was later disbarred tell me about your lawyer I mean about for the count I'm gonna be very kind here so I'm gonna say that he was grossly incompetent to say the least what do you really think he was a piece of [ __ ] there was reasonable doubt all over the place so when you open the file you see the route for his exoneration right there David's lawyer had this evidence and didn't use it so it can't be used for an appeal now that's just the way the law works had he had better representation at trial he'd probably walk in the streets right now the only evidence linking these guys to this crime is this confession and little did he know that this five minutes of testimony was gonna cost him the rest of his life it's really tragic the verdict was guilty on all charges I was convicted for felony murder and for intentional murder robbery and kidnapping for me it was almost like in slow motion because I was still waiting for a not guilty verdict I was really afraid to turn around to see the reaction of my mother because I know she's gonna get hurt I didn't cry at that time because I was too much in shock but as soon as I went back to the book I started crying there because I that's how I realized that I wasn't going to going on you know ever get used to it but sometimes it it just takes everything away from you and sometimes I just try to block it out on my mind but it still come back [Music] hey ray to tell you the truth I do still think about that confession every day but the biggest mistake of my life and it used to make me angry but over the years I've learned that if you spend time feeling sorry for yourself you're missing out on opportunities to move forward with your life I hope you learned that too if he's not an angry prick after everything he's been through you know what right do I have to be David used his story and his experience to show me that I'm free to shape my future and follow my dreams and you know that's that's a pretty powerful thing for a young person to realize David's given him a sense of the value of his own life and it's not something that he should throw away lightly and he's got opportunities that David never had what's that right I'm so glad to hear your business ideas are becoming reality that's amazing congratulations I feel like I'm along for the ride with you I had always wanted to own my own business so some friends and I got together and we opened up a restaurant for students in Montreal David gave me the confidence to say you know I can do whatever I put my mind to I had always dreamed about making films and TV shows he encouraged me I got my grades up and actually got into film school all these amazing things were happening but the question was always on my mind what can I do to help David how can I pay him back for everything he's been doing for me I told every single one of my friends about David there's my first ever video class and I met mark you and I was like I want to go down to New York and interview David's family and you're like yeah cool that'd be awesome [Music] so mark and I headed down to New York and met David's family we met Oscar [Music] we went to Toronto to see Ruben and everywhere we went we would talk to people and tell them about David and tell them David's story we weren't sure how this was actually gonna help but we had to do something so uh I'm gonna have to see David today he just got transferred to a new prison it's Otisville Correctional Facility it's about an hour and 45 minutes from New York he's been so kind of down lately so I try to go see him a lot what you guys gonna talk about today he'll probably talk about the case we'll talk about parole which is coming up David's sentence is 25 to life so after 25 years he's eligible for parole David's had three parole hearings so far and he's been denied each time David's fourth parole hearing is coming up and were hopeful that he's finally gonna be able to come home to his mother sister niece and nephew who continue to support him year after year I really believe I have an opportunity based on the day that I've done in prison you know my accomplishments and I believe I've managed to stay out of trouble and get along with people so I think I've I think I'm a perfect candidate objectively speaking David tells me that you are quite the the computer whiz that you're gonna teach him how to use a computer when he gets out yep what are you gonna show on us all how do you turn it on and how does it work it's easy to forget how little David knows about the world that we live in people spend 20 years in prison and you come out of prison you're bearing right back here in society and you know nothing about this society David has never used the Internet he's never used a cell phone Facebook when I'm visiting with him sometimes they'll ask me like how to flirt with girls or like dating and stuff like that if he gets out on parole then he gets out his word and you know good luck getting a job when every application you have to fill that says have you been convicted of a crime yes which crime you know murder so David's next parole hearing is coming up but parole doesn't mean freedom and that's what we're all really fighting for it is very difficult to overturn a jury's verdict I've had some of the best known people in the whole world supporting me and yet even with all of that support I just narrowly escaped through the eye of the needle when I was 17 years old I found the number of Appeals on my own some of the issues were ineffective assistive council prosecutors conduct it the fact that the confessions were false a self written appeal by a prison inmate without a high school education without the assistance of a lawyer had no chance in hell so after he is all my pills were exhausted the law is clear once an argument is raised and considered by an appellate court that argument is gone for good for that defendant the only way to secure David's freedom now is to find new evidence and make new arguments as the team really started to dig into David's case and you know search for new evidence mark and I tagged along as often as we could we even went out by ourselves to search for any information that could help did you know any of the kids that were here if I said some names you wouldn't know anyone [Music] [Music] I don't know what I would have done had I found something but I was just doing whatever I could do I don't want his name my name anywhere and David McCullum's whatever we tried the victim's family we tried the Stuckey family we talked to people in the neighborhood who knew David back in the day what poor fat I know that boss David know anything he had nothing doing we even tried the two witnesses who saw Nathan get taken away they were 11 years old at the time you don't know where he lives hey David I'm out here doing everything I can for you nobody will talk to us though and it's really frustrating what happened to Nathan was so awful that I understand now why no one wants to revisit the past every single part of this whole thing is infuriating who does dead his partner's dead Willie's dead well he's dead David's lawyer is dead Ava's lawyers dead everything just feels like a waste of time but it's like what else do you supposed to do for me to walk on it it's gonna take someone coming forward to say they actually committed this crime although it's going to be strong evidence to suggest and prove that I'm innocent I'm always will be stuck in short of that you know I don't think it's gonna happen my oldest sister Ella she's probably the person I think about the most my sister was blowing asteroid palsy that means he has a disability that doesn't allow her to do some of the things that I'm able to do I didn't know she didn't have a bone in the back I know when I sit her up she'd fall over but when they x-rayed and everything they said she doesn't have a spine in the back they told us that she wouldn't live does she get 13 that bothered me for a while but after she passed 13 it didn't bother me anymore because I said you know they don't know what they told her about how old is she know she picked me too my sister is my hero for the very reason that she's probably one of the strongest individuals I've ever met I've ever seen in my life she doesn't she didn't ask to be in her circumstance God made it that way and that's fine but my sister is my sister I was that's a tough one that hello I'm just great how about you today he gets very down and when you're talking to him you feel it to such an extent that it's it's as if you're being drawn underwater so like there always is there's always the next appeal there's always the next parole hearing there's always the next investigation you never know what you're gonna find we're trying to crack a 28-year old case it's a pretty monumental task and we needed help how does it work kind of got in the way of any of your relationships absolutely I would have to say our relationships had got in the way of my work [Music] I read about this guy van Padgett will help some other people who have been wrongfully convicted as Father my professional career this is the call I've been waiting for Ida met with David and I told David and I don't know what possessed me to say it then I'm bringing you home so it's like I'm in when the police searched Nathan blenders burnt car they found cigarette butts in the ashtray these cigarette butts had never been tested for DNA because the technology didn't exist at the time Ruben and Oscar successfully petitioned the Brooklyn DA's office to test the cigarette butts and lo and behold the lab found a match the DNA is in David's it's not Willy's it's somebody totally knew that we had never heard about before this is it right here if the first break in David's case in over 20 years yo B van used his shady private investigator connections and he found mr. DNA this guy was 14 in 1985 so I don't think that he killed Nathan bleonard but he was in that car smoking cigarettes so he knows something he's our only direct connection to Nathan blenders car [Music] now this button is a little bigger lens rest over it wanted to keep all right our destination I don't excuse me good morning hi good morning my name is Van Patten I'm a private investigator I'm here to see mr. Cosby to you for a drink how you doing you look familiar okay so I'm the attorney who's working on the case okay you know mr. McHale has been in since 1986 we're trying to figure out what happened that day so done the DNA tests of what was in the vehicle and you've got two cigarette butts with your DNA on it in the car you know that's highly unlikely no I'm saying I'm like you know when I was young I used to smoke and mr. doe cigarette butts all right it's coming from school coming from here mr. just [ __ ] you didn't even make a difference but the name wasn't pulled out of a hat you know for DNA when you get a false hint it's not a false positive I've listened I guess that I see a lot of Danny cause a lot of them but a lot of them they're stripped look you know I'm saying Boyd you know like that didn't even spawn me I didn't know your DNA is on two cigarette butts in that car that is a fact that we have to deal with you asked me to cooperate I'm trying to help you to the best of my ability you know you said my DNA come up I don't recall you know why my DNA will be in a car the problem you're in that car smoking cigarettes I'm telling you I wasn't that could be you take one it was I wasn't so obviously I don't know what to make of it you know it could be that he just doesn't remember I I think he's holding back and I said to van it really doesn't matter because what we gonna tase him we're gonna waterboard him when we do when he comes to declare he'll look you right in the face and he says I have no idea in retrospect I guess I I kind of feel stupid but you know I don't know it's just I thought that you know he'd have nothing to lose he was only 14 we don't think he killed him so like what's yet maybe he is hiding something you know who knows I mean the hardest part is like you know what do you tell David after that I just hope that I'm one of those individuals you know that make it you know because some people unfortunately don't make it out you know really Stuckey didn't make it [Music] this is too dangerous in this prison any show of disrespect to me in your life there's always life and death struggles behind those walls well he struck he's dead only struck he's not here anymore sadly and sometimes I often think that could be me [Music] hey Ruben how are you doing it's Ken I'm just fine Rubens health was rapidly deteriorating the man who brought this whole team together could no longer be the figurehead in the fight for David's freedom and the day we were scheduled to do an interview he said he didn't have the energy to see us he agreed to take a phone call though how are you feeling are you ok ok that's that said he doesn't have he doesn't have a lot left I mean he he gave you everything he had because it was you [Music] Reuben didn't want any kind of funeral or memorial service for his last public act he wrote a letter stating that his single regret in life was that David McCallum was still in prison and for his dying wish he called upon the district attorney to grant David a full hearing the letter was republished around the world and we promised Reuben that we'd keep fighting until David's name is cleared and if it means trying to find the killers 28 years later then that's what we're gonna do trying to find the real killers brings us back to Crissy because she saw two guys that day who didn't match David in Willie's description because one of them had braids so could these be the same two guys that kidnapped Nathan blender know sometimes you got to go over the paperwork over and over again try to be objective don't be judgmental four days after Nathan Leonard's kidnapping Chrissie reported that her car had been stolen Chrissie and Nathan bladder had the exact same car when you look closely at the investigation reports you see that Detective Buddha actually did question two guys who matched Christy's description before he even knew about David and Willy they were carjackers and had been arrested in Nathan blender's neighborhood what's more reasonable that professional car thieves a constellation blender and pull this off or two 16 year old kids without a motive and no game the first suspect and we're gonna call this guy Jake he gave detective Buda a ton of information not only did he have a history of violent crimes he added direct connection to Nathan blenders car when police were searching the burnt Buick Regal they found the kerosene can that was used to torch it buddha's partner recognized from the price tag that the kerosene can came from a local hardware store in Bushwick known as pops the suspect ends up working at this pops hardware store where the kerosene can came from and that remarkable coincidence frankly that incredible accomplishment of good police work goes unfollowed up no one does anything with that [Music] buddha's report gives us almost no information on the second guy the guy with braids who were gonna call murray he's currently on probation and van found his sister's address that's where he's supposed to be staying he's visited with her a number of times she's really nice and keeps trying to connect us with her brother but he's clearly dodging yes good afternoon this is a problem investigative van Padgett how's everything I'm still trying to get in contact with your brother have you heard anything did he leave a forwarding address or number that we can reach him at so we tried one last time hoping to catch him there that Monday hey hey you don't believe in luck look is for non-believers how're you doing okay my pleasure my pleasure we had missed him again but this time his sister revealed new information not contained in any police report even before her brother was arrested in Queens he had already been questioned for Nathan blenders murder police had raided their house and taken him to the station the police immediately started looking at him how many cops was really they told me with a pup-sicle just tell me if you ain't the one tell me do you recall how long after they discovered a body in the park that the police came to your house was he known in the neighborhood to these detectives [Music] did she say anything that would lead you to believe that he actually did it what she's saying is that they came immediately after the after they discovered the body like two or three days afterwards but he wasn't giving up he wasn't like David him you know he wasn't this kid that you can just like I'm gonna beat it out you okay keep beating I'm not talking about yeah Marie just keeps dodging us but there's one place that you can't hide then saw that Marie had been arrested and he and Oscar jumped on the opportunity to pay him a visit he confirmed everything his sister told us and more so did you get a signed affidavit so he signed it out for David which is like a sworn statement it doesn't prove that David didn't do it I had this foolish idea that he was just going to admit to everything and that didn't happen so it's not a home run ultimately we still need to figure out why David and Willy were arrested in the first place at one point you could see Buddha was building a case and I think somewhere along the line something happened when he decided he's gonna create a case so how did police go from suspecting Marie and Jake to hardened criminals with a direct connection to Nathan blenders car - David and Willie the link is an alleged gun dealer when Jake was being interrogated by Buddha he told him that a guy from his neighborhood named James Johnson owned a gun that had been used in a murder Buddha then questioned Johnson who said Willie Stuckey has my gun he testified to this at trial in exchange for that testimony the police and the prosecution let Johnson off the hook for a very serious case that he was facing and that was a huge huge deal in Johnson's favor obviously if it wasn't for Johnson's story about the gun David and Willie never would have been picked up we don't know if this was the same gun that killed Nathan blender because they never found a gun here was Stuckey in jail the police officer says to him where is the gun the police officer goes to the bedroom and doesn't find the gun and never finds the gun so why would sucky truthfully confess to murder but then lie about where he hid the murder weapon and that's how absurd this case is it's all hearsay he looked everywhere for James Johnson Oscar and I went to a bunch of old addresses forgetting James Johnson loosen up on the third floor oh it's empty so that's a dead end but then received new information on a person who we believed was the guy we'd been looking for six are you familiar with David McCallum well this we were looking at did you testify eighty and eighty-six the destined question would be like eighty-five eighty-six use incarcerated then we checked the records and it was true at the time of the trial this guy was in jail under a completely different name we kept looking but there are more than a dozen other James Johnson's in the New York justice system all about the right age [Music] James Johnson the only good thing about searching for a guy with such a common name is that there's always the next James Johnson so the search continues and it won't stop until we find our guy [Music] so David's fourth parole hearing is rapidly approaching and every year he has to decide whether or not to admit guilt and remorse which we think would give him a better chance of getting out as his lawyer I have to let him know what the options are that he has to getting out of jail and I said you know David there may come a time where it's in your best interest to just wave the white flag I've thought about it I could not see myself sitting inside anyone admitting guilt in this crime I can't do it and I won't do it and if it takes time in prison how I do that I just don't think it would be the right thing to do for me anyone that support me and care about me and I love me and believe in me I would rather die in prison that's the truth that's true because he's been in jail for so long and he has such a good behavior record the parole board can still grant him release if they don't feel like he's a threat to society just because he won't admit guilt doesn't mean that he won't get out this time what's going on right I'm definitely looking forward to my upcoming uh parole hearing I hope it's all I have left as long as I can breathe I will hold on to hope because hope and surprise freedom [Music] with our investigation dead in the water parole is now our only hope of getting David out of prison speak further now completely I don't speak hello how are you I'm doing good she read it next to me okay you got some good news from you keep telling me that ya know that you know slowed me down a little bit there have a question to ask you of all the things that come back negative to you how can you stay strong like that you know because I know the truth what happened here and I got a lot of family support like you right you and I got a lot of friends believe in me that always helps now at a time like this the things don't go right I got people who support me it's a blessing knowing thing ease and I'm breathing and I'm alive and as long as I'm alive there are always try to get out [Music] Tommy explain the other special inseam this because I think you know I think you get ready to make me cry you know that someday this machine is out there you know parole decision denied for all the denial for the following reasons after a careful review of your record in this interview it is the determination of this panel that at least at this time there is a reasonable probability that you would not live and remain at Liberty without violating law and your release is incompatible with the welfare and safety of the community [Music] David is 45 years old if you just think about what the average person does between the ages of 17 and 45 the tragedy of David's wrongful convictions should hit home to you I'm proud of who he became but I'm not proud of that he was there but I feel like it made a man out of them I really do I have to stay connected to the outside because this experience has showed me that is more to life than just yourself you know he's a remarkable human being he's an example to everybody I don't ever want him to think that his life has been in vain it's a tragedy that he's been in prison but his life has meaning for a lot of people it seems crazy that it would take you right into me for me to like appreciate you know having a relationship with my father you know I guess sometimes that's what it takes and for the record I really appreciate it well because you saved that relationship for you to sit there and see that uh you know the only really know how much that means to me because my father of course you know he passed away at 2005 you know and I came to prison at the age of 16 it's not really a lot of time to spend with your father you don't do you want to be a father yes yes I do he didn't even hesitate yes I do because I understand it value of being a father how it poured it could be I think I deserve to be it's not too late to live that's what I want to do when I get out it's funny cuz like it's hard for me to envision him you know walking out because it's such a beautiful vision that I almost won't let myself go there you know because I don't want to I don't want to get my hopes up too too big and get them let down just wanted me to walk down the street you know I'm inhibited just just walking [Music] I don't know what's gonna happen I'm kinda I guess it's somebody's I'm looking for a livable man trying to hold on to that [Music] thanks for coming man appreciate appreciate it yeah okay see you babe [Music] you you okay thank you very much sir thank you our investigation was at a dead end but then a new district attorney was elected in Brooklyn and one of his promises was to look at wrongful conviction cases in a completely new way of disgrace with respect to wrongful conviction cases with the old DA proof of innocence was the only way to get a wrongful conviction claim back into court but Ken Thompson set up a unit to actually reinvestigate some of these cases and my pledge was to put the guilty away but also to make sure that our criminal justice system was based on fundamental fairness the DA's office was flooded with claims of wrongful conviction just like ours but then in June of 2014 we got news that they were gonna reinvestigate David's case for long months later they called to tell us that on October 15th David was going to get his day in court oh man how you feeling man great it turned out that Murray's signed affidavit along with the Reubens plea had been enough to pique the interest of the DA and get David's case to the top of the list more independent Oscar Mitchell and mich eat out the end the defendant smooth and the defendants constitutional rights were violated at trial and that the defendants and obtained really discovered evidence Your Honor these people do not oppose the motion since the only evidence was the statements against them in which we have no confidence he would ask the indictments be discussed against this backdrop and the evidence available to the district attorney of the investigation as sufficiently to convince the court that the judgments of conviction should be vacated and based upon the people's further representation that they possess insufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt I will dismiss [Applause] [Applause] the obvious thought David how are you feeling at this moment but a bittersweet moment because I'm supposed to be walking out with me when unfortunately he's not and that's really stuck [Applause] [Applause] [Music] I'm told helping us all in the back Oh David David baby you know miss bottle works oh yeah like a thousand years of happiness [Music] well No gotta go save my sister now hey sweetie happy to see me you happy to see me right I'm happy to see you too this we probably only watching television together you know that yeah watching David walk out of jail it was just an amazing thing to be a part of I can't can't put it into words yeah all over Twitter do you know what that is I know it's a countless about it yes I got so it's like look it's like a site when you post something is tweeted [Music] for many to choose from I know it so many right oh yeah I feel good real good [Music] this isn't a totally happy ending David faces huge challenges he got 30 years of his life taken from him and he can never get that back but you know Ruben Carter said in his dying wish that to live in a world where truth matters and justice however late really happens that would be heaven enough for us all his dying wish came true that's you and for one little moment in a little corner of Brooklyn New York all was right with the world how you feelin as happy as I've ever been in my life it is dreamlike all of a sudden the dream came true we kept looking at each other and saying how did this happen I mean we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you nobody would be not Ruben not Oscar nobody not van that may be true its percent sure [Music] but you know when you get down to it and this is the God's honest truth it was David [Music] I just want to thank everybody for their love the support I just want everyone that disabled to know that I truly truly appreciate everything and I mean everything that was ever done for me in this regard and it will never be forgotten thank you very much [Music] [Music] this is appear right can't believe I'm standing on a pin so what are you doing next week but a whole lot longer see a movie sure by that [Music] you

Channel: Real Stories

Views: 603,903

Keywords: Real Stories, Real Stories Full Documentary, Real Stories Documentary, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, crime documentary, true crime, crime documentaries, personal justice, falsely accused, wrongly accused

Id: Ndgf1k5BNGg

Length: 75min 10sec (4510 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 26 2020