In this pop-up episode, Tyson has an incredible story to share. Marquis Jackson, is a man who was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit. After spending 19 yrs in prison, On May 2, 2018 with the help of Jay Ruane and Dan Lage, he walked out of the New Haven Courthouse as a free man.
All 3 attorneys and Marquis will go over this amazing case and share their personal thoughts and experiences, paying special attention to hope and how it can help you in your life and business.
After being falsely accused and sentenced to 45 yrs in prison, Marquis maintained his innocence and continuously appealed his case even when being denied. He kept his faith and strong belief in God that one day he would be exonerated. He stated that he has always been a innocent man but was labeled as a criminal. Something he never was, Never had to be or will ever be. Jackson had a very supportive family he had no reason to hurt or harm anyone.
The firm: https://www.ruaneattorneys.com/
The Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/Marquis-Jackson
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Transcripts: Legal Hope Pop-up Episode
Unknown Speaker
Welcome to the show. Welcome everyone to a special pop up podcast, the maximum lawyer podcast. Jim’s not on the call today. It’s just me but I’ve got a really special one. This is really interesting. That got Jay Ruane. I’ve got Dan Lage and Marquis Jackson on the call. And this is a really, really good one. I hope you listen to the entire thing because the really good story, a tragic story that turned into a good story. So, Jay, we want to introduce yourself and who you got on the call with us. So my name is Jay Ruane. I’m one of the owners and partners of Ruane attorneys in Connecticut. And with me on the call today is our firm’s client, Mr. Marquis Jackson as well as his primary attorney on his file. Attorney Dan Lage, let me set this up a little bit. So you can understand a little bit about the context of where we’re at. For a number of years, our firm has been involved in post conviction litigation in Connecticut. In fact, my father, who’s a Partner of the firm, handle two of the seminal cases that deal with post conviction matters in the state of Connecticut, Connecticut, Eugene is unique among states in that we have a constitutional requirement to provide counsel to indigent defendants that are incarcerated, even through the Habeas Corpus proceedings. Then, about a decade ago, the state of Connecticut public defender services were in a bit of a crisis mode, in that they were overwhelmed with the number of habeas corpus petitions that were being filed, I approached the Office of the Public Defender, because of our passion for criminal defense, and our believing in the justice system, and that everybody who is locked up to deserves to have quality representation, advocating for them, and approached them and said, You know what, we’re a law firm in Connecticut, but we do have some time, we’ll able to take on some of these cases at a substantially reduced rate, give us some files, and we’ll work them up. And we’ll do what we can. Luckily for us, through the course of this process, we’ve been able to work with some fantastic clients and get relief. One of the things that we were able to do was assigned the case of Mr. Jackson to Attorney Dan Lage, who’s going to take over now and explain a little bit about the marquis Jackson case, and how that came to be the amp. Take it away. Hi, Tyson. And thank you so much for having us on your podcast today, as Jay was alluding to Marquis Jackson is one of those post conviction clients that truly makes the work we do important and worthwhile. And in his case, what we found is through a joint investigation with the Federal Defender, who was representing his co defendant, some interesting information that surfaced that proved that the two individuals who were convicted back in the year 2000, and had served almost two decades wrongfully for a murder that they did not commit, or in fact innocent. And we’ll discuss more about what that information revealed. But those efforts have now proven successful. Mr. Jackson is now a free man. And I think the tireless efforts of lawyers who refuse to give up in the face of adversity and who forge forward despite some some very, very difficult, barriers placed in front of them prove that this work is truly important. And I’m so glad to be here to discuss the case, dance to talk about what the allegations were and how Marquese got tangled into this thing. We’re at the early morning hours of January 24 1999. And Marquis and his friends were in the New Haven Connecticut area, a very popular city, the home of Yale University here in the Northeast. And it was the early morning hours and they were out having a good time as teenagers are apt to do hanging out at a nightclub. While at some point during that time, there was a robbery, the robbery occurred in the New Haven city. And in the events of that robbery, what happens is shots were fired. The three men would ski masks rush into this corner store, this deli store and they demand money. They start firing recklessly and one of those bullets hit the store owner who was the acting as a clerk as well and he hits the floor. Unfortunately, another bullet hit a customer that was standing at the counter. And you know what we have here is we have a young man who you know senselessly dies as a result of this crime. And in the back room, there was another employee who was assaulted by one of the suspects. He was pistol whipped. He also was robbed. And in the course of that robbery will say
Unknown Speaker
taken from him was a cell phone now, that cell phone proves very important to the result of this case. What happens is the New Haven Police Department begins their investigation, okay. Their investigation finds that a young man at the scene of the crime after the investigation had already started, if you can imagine the yellow tape is up, the cops are interviewing witnesses. A young man named Vernon horn is present in Vernon horn actually provides a statement this is probably about a half hour or so after the shooting takes place in Vernon horn at that time is accompanied by a young woman and he tells the police you know, we heard all this commotion we come outside and we see that something had happened. So we’re interested in we came by to see what was going on. Vernon horn was the subject of great interest of the New Haven Police Department. And after a while one of the lead detectives finds out that Vernon horn was at the same he begins to try to piece together a narrative that implicates horn as we’ve discovered later while getting wrapped up in that narrative, unfortunately is Marquis Jackson, one of Vernon horns close friends back in 1999. And in fact, Marquis and Vernon were hanging out together. As I as I said, when I first started talking about the case, well, the cell phone that I talked about earlier, they run the records of the phone they come back it comes back from a company called arm the point that five phone calls had been made since the robbery had been committed. One of the phone calls, calls out to a residence in West Haven of a young lady who is visited by the lead detective. The young lady then says to the detective, you know, this fourth phone call here it’s a phone call that’s made at 11:07am. That could have been to me I feel like I recognize that number. The cops show her a bunch of photographs. One of the photographs to a gentleman named Marcus Pearson, Marcus Pearson is someone that she recognizes now she never tells the investigating detective, that that number is Marcus’s number or that Marcus would have called her at 1107. She simply says, Yeah, I recognize him. And that could have been the call. Well, they go interview Marcus. And Marcus says, Yeah, that could have been me. I don’t know. I don’t remember the call, though. Well, six visits later, he remembers the call. And the question is why does he Mr. Pearson was on probation. He was the single father taking care of two young babies, their mother was incarcerated. Our theory is that he was probably threatened by being a suspect in the murder, or by having his probation revoked and becoming incarcerated again, nonetheless, and he admits this later, years later, he recanted his original testimony, he testified at trial that Vernon horn had approached him at his front porch horn had a cell phone and Horn said you can use his cell phone if you need it. He says yeah, I’m gonna make a call. He calls the West Haven residence. And he then in 2011, recants. The whole story says it never happened. No one believes him. we fast forward to 2013 I believe in a separate proceeding. He recants. Again, no one believes him. We then discover, as recently as a couple of short months ago, that we can prove where the call was made, we can pretty much demonstrate who made the call. And I think that, you know, to wrap up this portion of the conversation the investigation has revealed that where the call was made, was not where Marquis and Vernon were and who made the call could not have been Vernon Marquis or Marcus Pearson. So how did you discover this? And how does it how did this come up? I mean, it sounds like this was an issue at trial. So how did you I guess, get more evidence to show that it wasn’t more keys. Here’s what’s great about post conviction relief, Tyson new lawyers get to put new eyeballs on an old case. And when you get that you get a new sense of zeal and passion for something that others have forgotten long ago. And so what we did was we discovered in the original clerk’s office in the town of New Haven, in Vernon horns file, there was a search warrant that was filed by the lead detective in this case, his name is Leroy DESE, in conjunction with another detective named Patricia ADGER. Decent ADGER filed this search warrant to get records from several phone numbers. Okay. Now, those phone numbers were not the stolen cell phone that I discussed earlier what they were included Marcus, Marquis Jackson’s phone, that reds West Haven residents that I told you about before Marcus Pearson’s cell phone cell phones that belong to other individuals that we now consider the true perpetrators in this case. Those records were never revealed at trial because the warrant wasn’t revealed at trial. What we found last year in the clerk’s office was a returned warrant. So for those who aren’t familiar with the process, typically a prosecutor or a law enforcement agent requests a warrant the prosecutor signs off on
Unknown Speaker
At the judge has to then sign off on it. And then they go seize the contents of what the warrants looking for. Well, we knew if we’re back in 1999, that the warrant was requested, however, 1999 no one that’s all the defense lawyers involved the prosecutor, we think no one knew that the warrant had been returned. Okay. In other words, the judge signed off on it. And they went and got all those records. For some reason, in September of 2014, the warrant, the returned version of the warrant shows up but not in Jackson file in horns file. So you see a stamp on the warrant that’s filed 2014. Now, that’s strange, because the trial ended 11 years or 13 years before appeals had been filed, post conviction cases had concluded. But this warrant had been returned in 2014. So that sparked an interest. lawyers were now looking at this saying, these are out there somewhere, or they’ve been destroyed, but they were definitely in existence at one point, and New Haven PD knew about it. And so the efforts of the federal defender in this regard, they had a guy on the inside one of their investigators knew the detectives involved in this case, one of the detectives, Patricia ADGER. Specifically, both of the texts have been retired. Azure gets a visit from the investigator. And Azure says to the investigator, you know, I do remember that Marquis Jackson case, I do remember the Vernon horn case. In fact, I may have some some stuff in my basement, I’ll go take a look. She returns and says, Yeah, Detective Deif gave me these things. After he retired. I just kept them in my basement all this time never provided a reason why, as to why she kept them or as to why these turn them over to her and not to the evidence locker in the New Haven police department or to the prosecutor in this case, or to the defense counsel, no one knew about this stuff. And interestingly enough Tyson what we know about Mr. Dees is that he’s currently employed by the State’s Attorney’s Office in New Haven as one of their investigators, interestingly enough, and so revealed within those records is proof that there is absolutely no connection between Marquis Jackson and the true assailants. In this case, the true murderers in this case who all hail from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in fact, there was a third co Defendant Stephen Brown, who was originally someone who pled guilty and then testified at trial. We now know that all his testimony which helped convict Marquis and Vernon was a complete lie complete fabrication further proven by these records. He was from Bridgeport, and friends with the suspects that we believe truly committed this horrible act. And beyond that, we in conjunction with efforts from an agent working with the FBI, have now gone back recreated the pathway of the you know, the travel of the person making the calls from the stolen cell phone. The star witness in this case for the prosecution, Stephen Brown, says that he makes certain calls certain points on the interstate 95 highway here in Connecticut. In fact, that’s not true. Because we now know, after T Mobile provided us with the true locations of cell towers that were on the original call log of that stolen cell phone, we’ve been able to uncode what those call towers were what those cell towers were they were not anywhere near where Stephen Brown said they were. And then most importantly, that phone call that Marcus Pearson said was made from his front porch. in New Haven, Connecticut, that call was actually made right outside of Steven Brown’s residence, all the way down Bridgeport, Connecticut, all that evidence combined with with what we always have known has been a very, very shaky conviction from the beginning, resulted in the release of these two innocent gentlemen. All right, I’m gonna start by saying Dan Jay, fantastic job you have this it sounds like I can tell you gave me a synopsis. You will have done an amazing job and kudos to you. Great job to you. I do want to get to the star of the show though. Marquise Marquise First, thanks for coming on the call. But not even when you’re arrested. But after you’re you’re convicted, and you go into prison and they lock those doors behind you. What do you what’s going through your mind?
Unknown Speaker
It’s surreal. I’m thinking they made a mistake. It gets fixed. Maybe in a year, maybe in a couple years. My next lawyer, my appeal, I’m definitely going to succeed in that. This. There’s no way they could prove that I really committed this crime. I have some evidence. Several witnesses putting me at a different location at the time of the crime. In fact, I had an alibi that they spoke to the detective spoke to while they were investigating me while I was in the detectives burl being questioned by Detective Patricia edgers. Unbeknownst to me, he asked me where it was at. She asked him rose at this time I filled it out
Unknown Speaker
With a female companion, they leave the investigation room and go speak to her while I’m in the police station. And she confirmed that we were together. So I’m like, all this stuff going on. There’s no way I was naive, and American in America’s criminal justice system, believing that the wrong person never gets convicted. In fact, if you could tell my story to me back, then I will say, Marquis Jackson has something to do with something, the government is not going to lock up the innocent man. So while in prison, just thinking about all the things that I’ve been taught in school, well, you know, innocent, who’s guilty is better than 10, innocent, no 10 Guilty, get convicted, or innocent, then one innocent person suffer. So I’m believing this thing. And I’m believing in the ideal in the criminal justice system, but I am at this time saddled with a conviction for murder some of the 45 year sentence for crowded I didn’t commit. So at no point at that time, that believe I was really going to have to serve this time.
Unknown Speaker
Well, to me, that I’ve served 19 years of that crime of that time. So it’s interesting. I mean, it sounds like at first, at least, you are hopeful, right? Am I getting that? Right? As I was hopeful, I was like, God, I made a mistake. Not really understanding the criminal justice system in the process. Somebody’s gonna come by all Mr. Jackson, you’re going home tomorrow, we made mistake. Things came out. Information was found. You’re going home? And I would have been like, Yes, I told you guys back then. All right, just waiting for the call. That never came.
Unknown Speaker
So did it at some point did you lose hope?
Unknown Speaker
Unfortunately, I did lose hope in the criminal justice system. And what hurt will hit me the hardest, is that in 2014, Verner horns conviction was overturned, due to his habeas, it was overturned. So now I was hopeful. I said, Okay, now it’s finally coming out. Granted, this is 15 years later, but the truth is coming out, I should be released anytime soon.
Unknown Speaker
But that didn’t happen. In fact, they’re connected Supreme Court overturned Vernon horns over Hey, this overturn. So now he’s back in prison. This is what I thought, all right. State of Connecticut, is really sticking into us is possible that I wouldn’t have to serve 45 years of my life for crime I didn’t commit. While in prison, I have to serve this. And that’s when really all my hope is starting to really fleet and this is when you know, then in that you rolling firm really told me to keep my head up. That is not over. But once again, I’m looking at them as far as the same system that got me because it didn’t sort of illness time. So I can trust anyone. They tell me to keep we’re going to keep fighting, keep fighting. But I’m thinking man, you’re part of this system, you’re part of these people. What are you gonna fight for me? You don’t even know me. But what was I wrong on that? Whenever you talked to the friends and family, did they believe you? Or do they think that you are a murderer? Well, they’ve been told this for years. So
Unknown Speaker
why why wouldn’t you believe that you’ve been told by the authority, the authorities are telling you that this individual committed his crime to a jury system. duly convicted this guy of doing this crime, they heard all the evidence, and he came to the conclusion that he participated in the robbery was someone was killed. So you can acknowledge some other every other authority. And he got one guy saying that he didn’t do it. Well, I read it. I’ve never read it to a guilty person in prison also. So I’m like, Oh, now being lumped in with everything else. So when the authority tells you something, you normally believe it, so people start to believe it. So I basically live my whole my whole incarceration as a guilty murder robber.
Unknown Speaker
Absolutely, believe it. Were your parents alive? And are they still alive whenever you went into prison, unfortunately, my father passed away in 2005. My mother is still here, but she’s an alien health. You know, all that time that I was taken away from my family. You know, that’s probably the worst part. And I say that because it’s my family really didn’t love me, it’d been easier for me to do one thing for me to serve my time, but to the fact that it’s, I really believe that it’s true, that when an individual goes to prison, his whole family goes to prison, and all those that loved him. So within that context, a lot of things happen that, that I really, you know, you really can’t see is like the cost of prison is upon the whole family. So, you know, my father passed away and they allow me to see him on his deathbed at the VA hospital because he was a veteran in the Air Force. So did I only see him while in chains with two seals on my one one my right
Unknown Speaker
On one on my left arm, in the room in the hospital room, while I’m speaking to my father for half hour, we had a nice discussion and you know, things like that, you know, I’ve encouraged them saying that he’s going to make it out. But he didn’t make it out of the hospital a couple of days later, he passed away. As far as my father was in prison, they actually didn’t want to go to the funeral. I declined that. I didn’t want to see him in his casket I see that we have in conversation. So that’s the last visual that I had of my father and a half hospital, but with encouragement, and one of the things that he always told me that I follow today, he said, Son, no matter what happens in life, always keep your personality. You know, because I went out when he when you see me, I was really stern, and upset with the world. What everybody, nobody could tell me nothing. I had this, this this hateful life. But he seen that in on his deathbed. He said, no matter what, because I always was a cheerful kid. You know, I want to be a comedian at once. I was funny. And he seemed that all that was leaving me. He said, No matter whatever happens, keep your personality. And that’s what I’m doing now. And that’s, that’s why I’m trying to live my life to the fullest. But at times, it was really hard, you know, being incarcerated for crime I didn’t commit. But you know, I’m living the best I can what I have now. He gave you incredible advice. Now, luckily, your your mom’s been able to see exonerated. The last time your dad saw you, you were in shackles Did Did he believe that you committed the murder at the time he died? He said he didn’t. He said he didn’t believe that I committed it. You know, because, you know, there’s, we had we have this display where? All right, you could tell me anything? Did you do this, and we had a heart to heart, we had an eye. And when I told him, I didn’t do it. He shouted a tear. Because I believe that he did leave it, I did it because of the you know, the people that I was hanging around at the time, you never know what your kids are doing that, you know, certain times. So I guess he thought maybe it was possible. But when I told him, I really didn’t do it. And I see the chair coming was I believe that was the time when he really was convinced that I didn’t do it. So I want to leave you with the thought that that moment, when I seen that chair, he believes that it and do unfortunately never see it. He wasn’t around for me to see me be exonerated. But I do believe he’s up there. He’s looking down, he sees what’s going on here. And you know, for that face that he put in me and his son, he knows that, you know, unfortunately, I was a victim of a system that, you know, incarcerate first. And then six years later. So my next question is for Dan. And then the After After Dan’s done, I want Jay to answer it. But, Dan, when you first go and you meet more keys, what’s your impression of them?
Unknown Speaker
Probably the same impression that you have listening to him during this podcast. He’s a wonderful personality, a tremendous, young man. I mean, he’s, when I first met him, I could tell that everything he’s saying today rung as true then, as it does now, which is, you see a bright spirit. So you see someone who’s certainly frustrated and suspicious about the prospects of his fight, but a fight that he carries with him nonetheless. And, you know, he told me, he proclaimed his innocence from day one from the first day that I met him. And, you know, you take that, and you do what you can with the case with the facts, the law, and the effort that you have with you. And sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t get any breaks at all. I think in this case, not only was luck on our side, but I think the tireless effort of the lawyers, and Marquese is, you know, willingness to see the process through resulted in a wonderful outcome. I mean, he’s a great young man who I think deserves so much better from a system that asks a lot of its citizens and often lets them down.
Unknown Speaker
Jay, how about you? What was your impression? So I gotta give you some context? Before I answer the question, you know, I’ve been I’ve been handling criminal defense now for about 20 years. I started off as a public defender, I thought that was going to be my career, left the public defender’s office to open my own shop, and sort of saved into handling mainly DUI criminal defense type cases. And I will tell you that started about a year ago, I started to have sort of a crisis of faith in what I do for a living. I was getting to the point where I, I just, I didn’t feel like I can continue on for another 2025 years. handling these cases, I was tired of getting beat down with clients who didn’t appreciate the hard work and with a court system that didn’t appreciate the role of the criminal defense lawyer to be a check on on on the overarching actions by the state. I was tired of being looked down upon and essentially not winning much. And it even got to the point where I had conversations with
Unknown Speaker
My wife who works here at the firm, and with my father, who’s my partner, back at the beginning part of this year, and I said, you know, I don’t know if I can do this anymore, I really need to take a step back and take a step away. Because I just don’t, I don’t think I have it in me. And then the facts surrounding my cases case came in. And I will tell you that if it were not for Marquese, I may be looking, I may have been looking to get out of this business entirely.
Unknown Speaker
But getting to be involved in this case, getting to know Marquis over the last month, as we got to spend some time, you know, now that he’s out of jail, and be at things together and getting to know his family, when we all went out to lunch after he was released and get to know his sisters and his aunts and his mom, it sort of renewed in me and understanding of how important is for the role of someone like me, and it’s really sort of given me a new life. So, you know, if it wasn’t for Marquese, I probably would not have continued down this path of doing what we do. And I can only thank him for that. And I know if you probably talked to Dan, he will say, you know that there was a change. There’s been a, you know, a spring and J step over the last couple of months. And I got a little fired up. But I can remember sitting in chambers with the judge when they’re saying, Well, you know, we’ll try to get Marquese out sometime next week. And I looked at them and said, That’s not good enough. Give me any judge anywhere in the state, we’ll go there. Can we do this tomorrow? How quickly can we get this out? Because I found I found a cause that I could get behind again, and it sort of reinvigorated me. And I have nobody to think thanks for that other than Marquis Jackson. I love that message too. And I think it’s a good message for a lot of the attorneys on this podcast and a lot of just people because I’m going to share this with everyone I can find just people in general, you know, finding your passion. I think that’s a very important message. I guess my question is, this was probably for Dan. Dan’s, did you when you first took this case? In Jay, you can answer this to did you actually think you were gonna win? And a follow up to that is, did you ever lose hope? Did you ever lose hope that you were going to win, I don’t lose hope Tyson, I’m the type of person who has nothing if I don’t have optimism, I am not your typical lawyer, I was a 15 year old homeless kid who never went to high school, who got his GED who had a son when I was 18 years old, who was involved in many of the same things that could have trapped me in a position like where Marquese was for 19 years. You can’t afford to be down in the dumps to dwell to be negative, to be pessimistic, and that sort of situation. So when I first met Marquis, you know, he sort of made me think about everything that I fought for, to get to where I am, when I meet every client, that’s the feeling that I get, I’m sure that you have the same feeling, my hope is that lawyers around the country have that feeling to when they first take a case on. I think all of us when we go to law school, we have a mission in our heart to do good by the people that can’t help themselves in whatever
Unknown Speaker
situation under the principles of law that that may be. And for me, coming out of law school, I tried to retain what what inspired me to attend law school in the first place, which was, I grew up in the hood. I grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where you know, chances don’t come easy. And, you know, it was a hard fight for myself for my friends who all had the system working against us. And I wanted to be able to help those kinds of people. When I first met Jay. And I sat and I had an interview with him and his father, the two partners of this firm, and they told me, what we do is we help people who have been accused of crimes because they often do not have anyone to stand up for them. And I knew that I couldn’t work anywhere else. And so, for me, that was the driving principle behind every single case that I take on, not just my cases. I love it. Great. I love your passion. Jay, it sounds like you. You got your passion back. But at some point, did you ever lose hope with this case? Unfortunately, I will gladly say yes. Because, you know, we came to the point where this is not the first exoneration case that my firm has been involved in a number of years ago. Also in New Haven, also involving the same State’s Attorney’s Office, we were involved with a situation where four young men were exonerated for for a murder that they did not commit. And when that case got over and we walked him out of jail, I can remember turning to the other members of the office and saying, well that’s it lightning doesn’t strike twice. There’s no way we’re going to wind up with another file like this. So as I got these files in from the state of Connecticut and we would work them out, you know, you you see 100 of them and you get absolutely nowhere you have a tendency to just get down and say okay, let’s march through the let’s march through the paces but there’s there’s no no chance of success. And it’s only when you
Unknown Speaker
You keep digging, and you keep digging. And luckily for me, we’ve been able to bring in young lawyers like Dan, who can say, Hey, Jay, let’s let’s look at this a different way, let’s let’s attack this a different way. And, and we can we can use some I can sort of
Unknown Speaker
get myself jazzed up about a case bouncing off of their energy and their vibe. But yeah, I mean, I will tell you, you know, when the case first came into the office, and we started looking at it, I just thought, Well, we’ve already had the habeas this is this isn’t going anywhere. The last one is appeal. I think one of the things that was telling to me was when I was talking to Marquis about his case, at one point, he said he was sitting in the courtroom, listening to the closing arguments, knowing he wasn’t involved in the case, and listening to the prosecutor, give a closing argument and saying, wait a minute, this guy’s got a good argument here. What did I do something I didn’t do? Because, you know, you can marshal facts to support your position, if you’re skilled, like, like the prosecutors in New Haven are. So yeah, I mean, it’s very easy to get down. But man, you get that one little spark of something there. And that can ignite a fire in you. And that’s certainly what’s happened in this case. Marquis, at what point did you start to think, man, there’s a chance that I’m gonna get out of here at what point was that three weeks ago?
Unknown Speaker
When he left me out, that’s what I know. No, not a day before, not a day after. Because for a person like me, who serve a knight who served 18 years in prison
Unknown Speaker
with hope was someone that was a hinderance. See, I had to create a life inside of prison. You know, so, thinking about your what can happen there was How about is maybe it is
Unknown Speaker
that that didn’t help me. I need to get focused on my new life, the life that I know, more so than being free. I was I was free for 19 years, I was incarcerated at 18 I’ve been in prison 19. But I know more about prison life than I know about society life at that time. So my life was prison.
Unknown Speaker
So hoping about maybe this hoping about this judge decision hoping about this attorneys coming up with some type of No, that’s what was real to me, was those bars change in the still in the brick walls, the guys that the connections that I made there, the job that I had, that was my life, that was real, everything else was not real. That was a mirage, that disappear whenever a judge made another decision that went against me. That was that was normal, that became normal. Now. Let’s try to see this didn’t work. got knocked Alright, whatever. I think I have gym, I gotta go to the gym today, you’re gonna want to talk to you. Tomorrow, right. And that became that has not wasn’t real to me was real to me was disturbing time. And I made a life with them for myself, whilst over time, that was what I did. That was important to me. At times, I hadn’t spoken to my family for months on end. And I became the state in a lack of a better term institutionalized. But I was okay with that. Because it was something that I could control. It was something that I could predict. I know what time was gonna go this. I know what I was having for dinner. I know what I was be doing at 630. I mean, I know, that became consistent with me. So when you asked me when did I believe that I was gonna be free that day, when me and Dan walked out of there. I knew it. And then I want to get away from there as fast as I can for the kingdom on.
Unknown Speaker
So
Unknown Speaker
that’s what I knew. And today, I still don’t know, you know, are still sitting around waking up at 530 Be like,
Unknown Speaker
is this real? Because this is something new to me. When I’m working through it,
Unknown Speaker
every day is becoming more realer. But you know, I never knew what to do that day when I walked out of the courtroom.
Unknown Speaker
So that’s when I know. That’s, that is tragic. And at the same time, fantastic that you’re out. It’s tragedy. You had to go through that. And I’m sorry, you had to go through that the
Unknown Speaker
size, but I don’t see this. This is what I want to say. So I don’t consider myself a victim. I consider myself a survivor of a flawed system. You only I don’t I don’t play victim with that well. So once again, I’d like to go the responsibility of myself. What can I do to better model situations, put things in my own hands. So I’m a survivor, not a victim, you know, so that’s how I look at it. That’s I just wanted to add that twice. That’s all I know. And I’m glad you did. I did. It’s a testament to the manual RNA and I really appreciate that. You know, a lot of people in your situations were talking about what was their last meal. And you’ve had a couple of really
Unknown Speaker
Excellent attorneys get you out. What was your first meal? Whenever you get out?
Unknown Speaker
I will get to a nice restaurant. I think the good fellas and
Unknown Speaker
I is all the days. I don’t know why he ate something. But I think the family the gathering is what I remember the most, you know, Mills is good, don’t get me wrong. And you know, some people say, Man, my first middle or my last hill, those are those are simplistic. The connections that I have my family sitting around that table, hearing these stories, meaning cousins that was 1718 that I’ve never met in my life. They never visit me never wrote me. These people didn’t exist when I was out with society. meeting these people, me and my cousin are these. This is what really mattered to me. This is what I really valued. This is what this is what living was. And I’m sitting around a table Jays their dad’s day and I’m looking at these guns like, Wow, you guys really did it. So we had we definitely had help from the federal Defender’s Office. Absolutely. And I have to give all my co defendant, Vernon Horne, a lot of respect and admiration for allowing his attorney to share that information with my attorney. You know, when all said and done, it was a it was a team effort. You know, it should be more people on this call, you know, because
Unknown Speaker
nothing happens in a vacuum, a bunch of things had a lot of working parts had to come to fruition for me to be free now, for me, to be honest, for speaking to you, for me to be who my mother used for me to be my sister, my nephew, my cousin, it’s a lot of things have to happen. Just just as a lot of things have to happen to convict me.
Unknown Speaker
Pulchra did commit a lot of actors and players had to step on that steam, stepping out arena, in person themselves in life, look at me in my face and lie to get this to happen. And a lot of people had to get on that steam, come up and divulge information now, to exonerate me. So, you know, it’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than a mil spigot and J is bigger than Dean spriggan. Oh, all the it’s a system. It’s families. It’s a victim. We can’t meet the victim’s family, we can’t, you know, forget about them. You know, Dan earlier didn’t say the name of the guy that was that was killed in the store. I like to say, I like to say to the priests hard and saying that, I understand that you’re going through some stuff. And, you know, I’m sorry to hear that. But unfortunately, the police officers, that the system, the taxpayers that pay your money for the protect you, they get the right guy, they failed you. They failed me. The system failed them. So you’re not allowed to, you know,
Unknown Speaker
give my condolences to the family. Because when all said and done, somebody was really killed here. You know, and that can be lost in translation about everything that happened here. And unfortunately, those officers, those detectives, that committed this fraudulent thing and got people convicted of crimes they didn’t commit.
Unknown Speaker
There’s no repercussions that’s going to happen to them. That’s what I see so far. And the sad part is, I don’t believe I’m the only one. There are other individuals right now sitting probably on death row problematic Connecticut because they abolish that. But there are people sitting in prison saddled with purchase of yours to cause it did not commit also, don’t you know, this is just this is this one showing that yes, you can be convicted of a crime that you didn’t commit. But you’ve got to have you got to have the tenacity, you got to have people on your side that’s willing to fight for you. It’s not just another run of the mill exercises utility. Okay, this that you can’t get dog eared on some lawyer overworked you know, this whole system is set up hopefully, to help people. But unfortunately, it’s not helping people. But, you know, I’m encouraged now that there are people out there fighting, but I’m not the first I’m not the last. There’s going to be several more coming out of New Haven of individuals poor we’re proving to be innocent.
Unknown Speaker
Very well said and I think I think you’ve got a honestly I think you’ve got a long career speaking ahead of you. I think you’re you may not be on stage as a comedian. I don’t know that may still be a dream of yours. But I think you’re gonna be on stage somewhere because you you you’re very passionate about this
Unknown Speaker
question like you’re on something called a podcast, right? These didn’t exist wherever you would end. I mean, there’s the internet that has just exploded. What’s the biggest surprise you like? What is the biggest thing that’s so different from whatever you went in? Like what what surprised you the most? Oh, man, every single your phone.
Unknown Speaker
Everything’s on your phone. In fact, I went to DMV the other day to get my ID and something happened. I wasn’t able to get it and
Unknown Speaker
So can I sign up for my driver’s permit? This year, you can sign up, you got to log on to our DMV website. Excuse me, man, how you doing? My name is Marcie Jax. I’m on here. I’ll speak to you flesh and blood, you know who I am. So you’re telling me I can’t sign up in person here? They said, No, everything is done online. Now, I’ll start with that. I’d say okay, shouldn’t be optional. You come in to DMV, and you sign up, or you sign up on online? No, everything’s online. So I really, really got to get re acclimated to things that’s going on. But I’m encouraged by it, technology is moving forward. And I like it. It’s all new to me. You know, it’s like, every day I wake up and do something different. It’s like striking, new, some good. So why not? You know, it’s it’s a new world out here. And then one thing I have to fight against is trying to compare it to the world that I left. And that’s, that’s my only struggle, not really, with the new technology and things because I know I’ll get it. I’m a quick study. So I’ll get it. Like I’m learning how to use this iPhone that I’m speaking to you on right now. I’m learning how to use these things. And every day I’m getting I’m progressing with it. But my mind really struggles to not to compare to what I left 19 years ago, because unfortunately, when I’m speaking to people, I speak about things that happened 20 years ago, after 20 years ago to them. But to me, it was yesterday.
Unknown Speaker
So I’m still, I’m 39 years old, but I still feel 19 I still have my memories from 19. It’s like I was put in a bubble and kept there. But I remember everything from 19, I still feel 19 years old. So when I speak to my, my friends, my family, I’m thinking about things that they forgot about. I was thinking about houses and apartments that they used to live in that they forgot he lived in it. But they you know, that’s when I left, that’s where you live, we’re not left, this is what you did. When our best, this is how you felt. So when I speak to them, they they forget these things. And I hope this ends. So what really, the transition is just trying to move forward, try to get new memories, try to get connections that were severed because incarceration. So that’s my real struggle as far as what’s going on in society now. But
Unknown Speaker
Dan put it a good way when he said,
Unknown Speaker
The Industrial Revolution, where they changed from I think 1900 to 1921. So it has this is is not an appearance from 1999 to 2018. To the face, the site is made. So these days, that is the most technological advancement in modern history. And I tend to agree with him. You know, Tyson, this j here. One of the biggest challenges I think Marquis has been facing, and we’ve been trying to help him with it is the change in society. And obviously, the change in technology. And one of the one of the unfortunate things that is happening now is the fact that he was exonerated. And you think about that, in the context of Well, isn’t that a good thing? Well, for most people who are discharging from a correctional facility, there’s a lot of resources available to them, you know, they’re usually put on parole or probation, they have people in the community that they’ll report to that will help them, get a job, help them get a resume, help them find a place to live, help them get health care. But from our keys, what they essentially did was unlock the door and say, good luck. So he doesn’t qualify for a lot of the resources that a former inmate would qualify for, because he doesn’t have the social network that they give to people who are discharging from prison. So he doesn’t have access to those resources, even just trying to get the state ID was an exercise in weeks of going back and forth to the DMV and proving who he was and where he lived, by mailing himself. Some correspondence to prove that he is who he says he is, and he lives at a certain resonance. That’s one of the reasons why the family set up the GoFundMe for him. And obviously, you know, if anybody is willing to donate, I’m sure Marquese and his family would certainly would love to get some assistance, because they’re just honored resources for people who are exonerated. He’s sort of just left out to his own devices. And luckily, I’ve been able to help Dan’s been able to help and we’re trying to help him piece back his life. I know he wants to get into school, and continuous education that he started while he was locked up. But all those things, you know, there’s no infrastructure for a person who just basically is let go. And it’s sort of sad that we could take so much away from a person for so long. And then when you let them out, you provide them with nothing. I mean, he couldn’t even cash the cheque from his commissary account at the jail because he didn’t have a bank account. He didn’t have an ID. So this is only money in the world was held up because he had no way of of getting a bank to honor it. So it’s amazing what an attitude he has, when things should have gotten so much easier for him even get
Unknown Speaker
hanging out. And yet it’s still a struggle. So those are, you know, that’s certainly something that we’re trying to do to get him back on his feet is that Go Fund Me, you read my mind, because that’s where I was heading next J, what’s the easiest way for people to get access to that GoFundMe account, I’m gonna make sure we have a link in the show notes. But is there is there a landing page that can go to what’s the easiest way that they can donate money because I don’t care if it’s $1.05 bucks, whatever it may be, we need to get more keys back on his feet and allow him to live his dream, you know, we’ve had our opportunity to live our dreams. It’s his turn, he’s been locked up, he has not had a chance to do the things he’s wanted to do. And he was wrongfully convicted, what’s the easiest way we can get him some money. So the address the URL for the GoFundMe is gofundme.com, backslash Marquese dash Jackson. It’s just his name. And AR qu is Das Jackson. And that’ll get you to the page where you can read the story and make some donations, we’ve had a bunch of people who’ve donated already, but the more money we can get to get him on his feet, the better it’s going to be for, for from our case, and, and for us, as a society to start repaying him for everything that needs to do. I mean, imagine, you know, imagine, you know, at a time of crisis in your family, when your father’s passing away, you’re locked up in chains, and you’re not allowed to be with your family. And he was able to spend some time with his father. But when you spend some time with your father, you couldn’t he couldn’t be around his family. So he had to, he had to sort of grieve that, by himself alone in a jail cell, when he hadn’t done anything wrong. So that’s what we’re looking to do. We’re looking to get his story out there. This is one of the mechanisms for doing it, and tell his story to the world, the Marquese is very well spoken. We just want to let people know that. You know what, it’s 2018. And they’re innocent people who are who need our help. And so that’s what we’re looking to do. Jay, what’s the goal? Do you have a goal set for raising money for for Marquese? I think right now the goal is set at 35,000. We’re about $1,100. So far, we’re trying to get enough so that he can get a place to live. I mean, one of the things that, you know, he’s living with his sister, now, up until this week, he was living on a couch, we were able to get some funds for a bed and get that taken care of as a donation from somebody. But in reality, you know, he needs to get a place of his own. He’s, he’s lived with a cellmate for 20 years, he really has had no, no personal privacy for two decades. So he needs to get a place of his own, he needs to get enrolled in a community college so that he could start having a system. And one of the things he talked about obviously was, you know, he still wakes up early in the morning, because he was accustomed to that lifestyle, I think, getting him into school and getting him back on the path to being fully employable. He’s got no job history, essentially. I mean, not, you know, what do you put on a resume, if you’ve been out of the workforce for 20 years, you know, but having some recent education can help explain that, when he goes to apply for jobs, so all of those things are going to be necessary. That’s why we’re trying to give them around $35,000. Well said Well said, so here’s what I want to do. I want to give each of you the last word, Mark, he’s gonna get the last word. But Jay, then Dandan, Marquis, what’s your last word? My last word is that you never know where you can find a spark that can reignite your career as an attorney. I certainly didn’t expect this file of Marquis Jackson to be that. But it certainly has become that to me, and it has made me you know, he made me feel like I’m a 25 year old lawyer, fresh out of school ready to fight the world. And I’m thankful for that, because it’s certainly given me a big energy boost. And I wouldn’t be able to do this career for another 30 years if it wasn’t for that. So that’s my big takeaway is that, you know, the system has its flaws. But sometimes, even if it takes a long time, you can get it right, you just got to keep plugging away.
Unknown Speaker
The vast majority of convictions that are overturned in this country are done so because of newly found and discovered DNA evidence. And unfortunately, although those those convictions being overturned, are a tremendous feat and unnecessary outcome. There are 1000s of other innocent individuals currently incarcerated who do not have the benefit of new DNA evidence because the crime in and of itself really didn’t require DNA evidence as a central issue. And it’s so hard for people in Marquis says position will Marquis former position to have their convictions looked at thoughtfully and carefully. It is one of the most difficult things to do in law to revisit a jury’s verdict in the criminal courts. And I just want to say that this case, is a boon of optimism for those in the position that Jay and I are in. However,
Unknown Speaker
The system continues to make it incredibly difficult for people who have been convicted by false eyewitness testimony by flawed cellphone evidence, by lies by misused facts, and by jurors who do not appreciate their very important role in the criminal justice system. And I just wish that cases like more cases, highlight how difficult it is and how the system should be overhauled. Well said, Marquis, do you have the last word but All right, thank you, first of all, like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story. And I’d like to say that, you know, even when the darkest hours it gets greater, and I just like to, you know, ended off with to my fellow comrades, the convicts, the people that serve in time right now, if you are in prison right now, and you know, you don’t think that anything is going to happen for you, you know, keep the hope alive, keep pushing, and never give up. You know, because few you fight forward. You know, sooner or later, something’s gonna pop for you, man. And, you know, keep your head up and ribbon in the sky. Yeah, that’s what I gotta say to my fellow comrades, my convicts, because I have more in common with you than I have with anyone else. So keep hope alive and keep fighting. You know, keep the spirit alive reach books, they can drop your body can’t trap your mind. You know, I’m out here, man. I love ya. That’s all I gotta say. Jay Ruane Dan Lage, Marquis Jackson, thanks so much for coming on. Thanks, Jason. Thanks, guys.
