Crim Exam 1- Testimonies

Tommy Porr

formerly incarcerated, crime started young, alcoholic parents, sentenced to 20 years to life in prison and got released on parole once he got his act together.

Erica Garner

Eric Garners daughter, family found out he was dead through the video, the jury declined to indict the NYPD officer who held Garner in the chokehold, Erica is now an activist for racial justice.

Ed Gavagen

stabbing victim, remembers being stabbed in detail, felt vengeful initially but slowly became less vengeful- had a powerful statement at the trial, very emotional

Ayana Thomas

formerly incarcerated, took her husbands stolen money + transferred it to her account-charged for fraud and conspiracy, really missed her kids, divorced her husband after jail

Susan and Kenneth Jackson Sr.

parents of a murdered son, son got shot in the head with footage but the gunmen was only charged with gun possession, grieving parents

Tareaphe Richards

retired Rikers correction officer, served for 8 ½ years, got beat up by a lot of inmates, many correctional officers are mentally unwell, he is now a motivational speaker.

Ismel Nazario

formerly incarcerated as a teenager, struggled with jail life, now works to help formerly incarcerated men and women integrate to regular life, clearly still effected.

Scott Hechinger

public defender, passionate about his job and his clients, his client was unlawfully searched but didn’t want to sue the police officer

Steve Osborne

retired NYPD officer, talks about the pressures of being a cop, defends police brutality by claiming it’s the procedure, very defensive of the police.

Cyrus Vance Jr.

manhattan district attorney, mentions seeing racial injustice in the court room- wants change

Yusef Salem

one of the central park 5, wasn’t proven innocent until 13 years later, “still haunted”

Aswad Thomas

victim of gun violence, basketball player shot by two random men outside of a corner store, felt angry towards the attackers but realized thats how the cycle continues- now the national organizer for the Alliance for Safety and Justice.

Alicia Barraz + Doug Van Zandt

their kid was mentally ill and burned down part of their house, sexual abuse took place in the prison, Ben ended up committing suicide, parents never blamed him or his actions.

Francis Greenburg

father of incarcerated son, son has autism and began being involved with crime- dad though he was just trying to fit in, sent to prison due to arson (kitchen fire), Francis wanted to send him to a mental institution but the court decided jail, points out issued with mental health + the system

Venida Browder

mother of Kalief Browder, son was charged for theft without evidence (BS case) and sent to rikers, Kalief was there for 1000 days (some were spent in solitary) before being released- soon after he was released he killed himself- unable to cope with the trauma.

Edwin Raymond

NYPD officer, spoke out about the qouta system- even joined a class action suite, understands both sides of crime

Tyrell Muhmmad

formerly incarcerated, got sentenced to 20 years to life for a burglary that led to a homicide, got beaten up by police for standing his ground, put in solitary confinement for 7 of his 26 years in prison- now working to end solitary confinement.

John Gleeson

retired federal state judge, the most important thing is to have the milk of human kindness- visits a prison every year to see where people go when he invokes a sentence.

Eduardo Padro

retired new york supreme court judge, middle/smaller cases are harder to sentence than bigger cases, mentions pressures from media, tries to make a positive impact.