cover of episode After Serving Decades in Prison for Murder, Two Men Fought to Clear Their Names

After Serving Decades in Prison for Murder, Two Men Fought to Clear Their Names

2024/6/11
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D
David Remnick
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David Warren
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Eric Smokes
J
James Henning
J
Jennifer Gonnerman
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Stephen Antognati
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Eric Smokes：他和David Warren在被定罪后都没有在对方面前哭泣，但他私下里确实哭过；在狱中，他和David Warren通过写信保持联系，并互相支持；为了获得假释，他不得不承认自己犯下了自己没有犯下的罪行；即使在获得释放后，这段经历仍然困扰着他；他对案件的处理过程感到愤怒和不解；他认为新任地区检察官Alvin Bragg及其团队的公正态度是他们最终获得平反的关键；他认为之前的司法人员没有为他们的行为承担责任；他对警方在调查过程中操纵证词的行为感到不解；尽管感到愤怒和沮丧，他们仍然选择接受最终的平反结果。 David Warren：检察官曾向他提出认罪协议，条件是他指证Eric Smokes，但他拒绝了；在审判过程中，他们对证人证词感到震惊，因为他们不认识那些指证他们的人；在狱中，他曾一度失去希望，但后来为了获得假释而重新振作；James Walker写信向他们道歉，承认自己在审判中作伪证；出狱后，他和Eric Smokes都与各自的青少年女友结婚，并保持着深厚的友谊；他和Eric Smokes之间的兄弟情谊支撑着他们继续为洗清罪名而斗争。 James Walker：他为自己在审判中作伪证而道歉，并解释自己不知道为什么选择向警方提供Eric Smokes的名字。 James Henning：警方缺乏现场目击证人，仅凭证词就将罪名加诸于任何一个年轻的黑人男子身上都是可能的；无辜囚犯面临的困境是，为了获得假释，他们不得不承认自己没有犯下的罪行。 Jennifer Gonnerman：James Walker的道歉信本应足以推翻他们的定罪，但事实并非如此；他们无法找到律师愿意免费代理他们的案子；为了避免终身监禁，他们向假释委员会承认了罪行，最终获得释放；在听证会上，一些关键证人推翻了之前的证词，承认他们在1987年曾受到警方的压力而作伪证；司法系统难以承认错误，并常常抵制承认同事可能犯错的可能性；曼哈顿新任地区检察官Alvin Bragg重新调查了他们的案件，并最终撤销了他们的谋杀指控。 David Remnick：Eric Smokes和David Warren自青少年时期就相识，并在大部分时间里都在监狱度过；Eric Smokes和David Warren在1987年因二级谋杀罪被判刑，此后几十年来一直努力洗清自己的罪名；David Warren被判15年到无期徒刑，Eric Smokes被判25年到无期徒刑；他们曾尝试上诉，但均未成功。 Stephen Antognati：法官驳回了他们推翻谋杀定罪的请求。 Alvin Bragg：曼哈顿新任地区检察官，重新调查了Eric Smokes和David Warren的案件，并最终撤销了他们的谋杀指控。

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For years, the staff writer Jennifer Gonnerman has reported on the case) of Eric Smokes and David Warren. When they were teen-agers in Brooklyn, in 1987, Smokes and Warren were convicted of second-degree murder during the mugging of a tourist; the papers called them “the Times Square Two.” It was the testimony of another teen-ager, who received a reduced sentence in a separate case for his coöperation, that sent them to prison. Ever since, Warren and Smokes have protested their innocence, and Walker later acknowledged that he had lied. But in requesting parole, after years in prison, the two men had to take responsibility for their crime, and four years ago, a judge denied their appeal. Gonnerman tells the story of their long fight for justice, and how it finally came to pass.