My Best Friends Are Behind Bars – that’s going to be the title of my book someday.  And some of them are innocent…  

I’m not naïve.  I work with a lot of people who have done a lot of bad things.  They live with regret.   Most of them did ‘something’.   People get exonerated all the time though, and statistically, it was bound to happen – I would find myself working with some innocent people.  What’s fascinating – my innocent friends didn’t tell me they were innocent.  Our writing relationships were the focus, but when my instincts tell me something doesn’t add up, I want to know more. 

This week I heard the federal government was going to resume executing people. That news hurt my heart.  An attorney once told me during a discussion about the flaws in the system, justice is like the highway.  People want to have highways even if they result in lives lost in auto accidents.  She explained it’s the same with justice.  People are willing to have our system of control, even if we lose some people to the ‘mistakes’.  Collateral damage.

I don’t see it that way – there’s no arguable need for the death penalty.  Every state, every country, that executes – executes the innocent as well as the guilty. That’s just a fact.  Is a ‘tough on crime’ stance worth the mistakes when the mistakes are human lives? 

One of my favorite writers, Terry Robinson, lives on Death Row.  He’s never written about being innocent.  After I came to realize he wasn’t capable of what he was there for, I asked him why he didn’t openly speak of it.  He told me he felt it would be disrespectful to the victim of the crime he was incarcerated for to write about that.  That’s the type of man he is.  He has such a quiet dignity and respect for others, I can think of no one who compares.   

It’s because of that character I asked to see his transcripts.  I got some clarity as I read.  He was no angel, and he has never claimed to be.  But the core of who he is was always there.  The night of the crime, Mr. Robinson was ‘in the area’.  He was black.  Another individual who was arrested in connection to the murder said Mr. Robinson did it.  That’s all it took.  That individual is now living a free life. 

When it came time for Mr. Robinson to present his defense, I was anxious to read that portion of the transcripts.  I had read everything the prosecution laid out, and I thought there was a lot left unknown – not to mention DNA that wasn’t tied to anyone.  I was anxious to hear what would be revealed during the next portion of the trial.  I pictured myself, facing a death sentence, and how I would present everything possible, how I could call into question so many things that had been shared.  He would surely tell of where he was and who he was with.  He would contradict the key witness.   After all – it was a trial that could result in a death sentence. 

What I read next, stunned me.  “Judge, we have consulted with the defendant, and it’s his choice not to present evidence at this time.”

I had to reread it…

What?

The next time I spoke to Mr. Robinson, I asked, “So…  You didn’t present any defense.  Am I to understand that correctly?  Why?”

He explained to me how his attorneys told him that if he defended himself it would make him look guilty – so the defense presented nothing.   

What has me scratching my head in confusion will have him executed.  

Terry Robinson was sentenced to death. 

The individuals who had a hand in restarting the federal death machine would obtain the best legal representation available in a criminal case – because they have the means to do that. But – what about those who are a minority?  What about those who are black and convicted in a southern state with all that we know goes hand in hand with that?  What about those whose attorneys are appointed by the Court?  There is an enormous difference between an attorney that is shopped for and one that is operating under a set fee by the courts while also carrying paying clients.  If an attorney has paying clients – the court appointed cases go to the bottom of the stack. That’s reality. 

Terry Robinson has so much character it can’t be covered up with a red Death Row jumpsuit. Mr. Robinson writes under the pen name Chanton.  His essay, ‘Being Better’, which he wrote earlier this year, speaks of accidentally stealing forty dollars nearly two decades ago – and how he was driven to confess that mistake.  ‘Duck’, Chanton, Terry, Mr. Robinson – is ‘collateral damage’. 

It’s okay to say it – you are innocent. You have every right to say it. You are not the first person to be incarcerated for something you didn’t do. You are not the first person on Death Row to know you don’t belong there. There are other people who know you don’t belong there. Your previous mistakes in life don’t make you deserving of this. The loss that is the reason for this discussion is not diminished by you speaking truth. Truth is never a mistake. And the truth is – some innocent people live on death row, and may very well die there.

Mr. Robinson can be contacted at:
Terry Robinson #0349019
Central Prison
4285 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4285

Anybody with information related to his case can contact me at kimberleycarter@verizon.net.  Anything you share with me will be confidential.