Detailed Just Mercy Review

Review of specific characters and events in Just Mercy

Narrator of the book, founded the EJI with a goal to help death row inmates.

Bryan Stevenson

Non-abbreviated form of SPDC. Stevenson initially worked here in Atlanta before founding the EJI. Where he was first introduced to death row inmates and their struggle for freedom.

Southern Prisoners Defense Committee

African American death row inmate Stevenson was introduced to while working at the SPDC. Stevenson gave him hope, and he was glad to know he wouldn’t be executed yet, because he got to see his family and tell them he didn’t have an execution date. He was calm and sung in a beautiful voice at the end of the visit. He was the spark the led Stevenson to pursue a career in helping death row inmates.

Henry

Taught Stevenson about indifference to inaccurate and unreliable verdicts and tolerance of unfair prosecutions and convictions. He was the main case built up throughout the book to build emotional investment. He was accused of murdering Rhonda Morrison. He really wanted Stevenson to hear that he was innocent.

Walter McMillian

Quote Stevenson told about the worth of individuals

Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done

Judge who at the beginning of the book tries to convince Stevenson to not be involved in McMillian’s case. He gives false statements about McMillian saying that he is a drug dealer and could be part of the Mafia.

Judge Robert E. Lee Key

Poor, rural, racially segregated settlement where Stevenson grew up.

Delmarva Peninsula, Delaware

Ironically, Stevenson’s grandfather was murdered by what group of people who robbed his apartment for a black and white television set. This created a lifelong impact for Stevenson.

Teenagers

Daughter of people who were enslaved in Caroline County, Virginia. She was born in the 1880s. Her father talked to her about growing up in slavery and secretly learning to read and write. Used to aggressively hug Stevenson to make sure he felt loved, asking him later “Bryan, do you still feel me hugging you?”

Stevenson’s grandmother

When did Stevenson first go to the death row?

1983

Stevenson’s friend who ran an Alabama prison project, tracking cases and matching lawyers with condemned men. In 1988, she and Stevenson had an opportunity to get federal funding to start the EJI.

Eva Ansley

Author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Ironically about an innocent black man defended by a white lawyer who is falsely accused of the rape of a white woman. He died after desperately trying to escape from prison and being shot in the back 17 times.

Harper Lee

Woman who Walter had an affair with. Both of them were married, and the interracial relationship created tension within the community, which was one of the factors that led to Walter being the number one suspect for the murder of Rhonda Morrison. She cared about Walter and felt it was her fault that he was on the death row. She knew he would never murder someone.

Karen Kelly

Walter generally tried to stay clear of the courts, but what incident occurred in the past that led to a misdemeanor conviction and night in jail.

Bar fight

Term to promote fear of interracial sex and marriage and the race mixing that would result due to the abolishing of slavery.

Miscegenation

Couple sentenced to two years in prison due to an interracial affair in 1880s.

Tony Pace and Mary Cox

Occurrence on November 1, 1986, the young daughter of a respected local family was found dead in Jackson Cleaners, where she had worked. She was shot in the back 3 times. Who was the victim?

Rhonda Morrison

Young woman from neighboring Escambia County. Karen Kelly and Ralph Myers were implicated in her murder. Their relationship was associated with drug use, criminal behavior, and dealing drugs. Later on Myers reveals that he directed into committing the murder.

Vickie Lynn Pittman

He was interrogated by the police after the Vickie Lynn Pittman murder, suspected to be involved. He was psychologically complicated and physically scarred. He was manipulative, enjoying making up stories and believing everything he said had to be epic, shocking, and elaborate. In foster care, he was burned in a fire, disfiguring his face and neck, requiring surgeries to regain function. He first accused Isaac Dailey, a black man with a bad reputation, of the murder. However, he was not a suspect due to the alibi of being in jail. Myers knew his story was going nowhere, so he switched to accusing Walter McMillian of the murder of Rhonda Morrison.

Ralph Myers

Law school Bryan Stevenson went to.

Harvard

Man who Stevenson supported in Gadsden, Alabama, who jail officials denied beating a 39 year old black man after his arrest for traffic violations. His family said he was repeatedly asking for his asthma inhaler and medication, but denied.

Lourida Ruffin

Stevenson was parked in front of his apartment finishing the song he was listening to before going in. A SWAT car came up and the officers pointed a light at him. He wanted to get out of his car to go inside, but the officers pointed a weapon at him. He was commanded not to move or he would be shot. He kept repeating “It’s Okay.” He was worried, because if he was a child, he said his first reaction would be to do what?

Run

New county sheriff elected just days after the murder of Rhonda Morrison. Sheriff who decided to arrest Walter McMillian solely based on Ralph Myers's allegation. He had failed for months and he was facing public scorn. He was arrested based on charges of sodomy. After Walter was released, he accepted his innocence, but then began telling people he still believed Walter was guilty.

Tom Tate

Sheriff Tom Tate spoke of a lynching in nearby Mobile. A man was walking home and accused of shooting a white police officer. He was hung by a nearby tree. Who was the victim of the lynching?

Michael Donald

Jailhouse informant who looked at Walter McMillian’s truck. He was in the county jail for several days on burglary charges. He was promised release and money if he could connect Walter’s truck to the Morrison murder.

Bill Hooks

Alibi for Walter who was helping him replace the transmission on his truck the day of the Morrison murder.

Jimmy Hunter

Laundromat where Rhonda Morrison was murdered.

Jackson Cleaners

Local furniture store worker nicknamed “the furniture man.” He was collecting money from Walter’s Mother on the day his niece was murdered at the laundromat. He was an alibi.

Ernest Welch

Man electrocuted in a botched execution which took 14 minutes. Electrodes burst from a strap. There was smoke emanating from his legs and heads.

John Evans

Black criminal lawyers from Selma hired by Walter’s family.

Chestnut and Boynton

District attorney who was determined to end his career with a victorious case. He was ready to prosecute Walter. He knew that many people argued Walter was innocent, but he wanted to close the case, so he relied on the testimonies of Ralph Myers and Bill Hooks. He illegally withheld evidence that directly resulted in Walter’s wrongful conviction.

Ted Pearson

The case which made it unconstitutional to exclude black people from juries. Despite this, juries remained all-white for decades.

Strauder v. West Virginia

A change-in-venue motion was presented by Chestnut and Boynton, Walter’s lawyers. Out of all counties around, the moved it to this one, which had the lowest black population at just 9%.

Baldwin County

Correctional facility where Ralph Myers and Walter McMillian were held on death row. They were in pretrial detention on death row, which was an illegal practice.

Holman Correctional Facility

Mental health facility Ralph Myers was sent to after prison officials were very concerned about his mental state.

Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility

On his journey to Baldwin County for his change-of-venue trial, Walter was chained in a van. He was angry and kept screaming this phrase

Loose these chains

One of the first people Stevenson was requested to help after founding the EJI.

Michael Lindsey

Michael Lindsey’s lawyer who said “I generally favor the death penalty because mad dogs ought to die.”

David Bagwell

Governor of Alabama who Stevenson wrote a letter to to try to stop the execution of Michael Lindsey based on the grounds of the jury being empowered to pass judgement on him. He quickly denied the request for clemency.

Guy Hunt

Death row case after that of Micheal Lindsey, who was electrocuted. He was intellectually disabled and his family was very worried about not having an autopsy performed on his body. He was electrocuted in a botched execution in which the electrodes were not properly connected. Additionally, they performed an autopsy despite the family’s specific requests.

Horace Dunkins

He called Stevenson after hearing of his execution date. He was insistent on Stevenson helping him, despite Stevenson repeating that he was significantly overworked. After agreeing to help, Stevenson gave him hope. This death row inmate was a Vietnam War veteran with PTSD. He met a nurse in New York, and her compassionate attitude made him fall in love with her. He moved close to her, but she insisted he stay away. He was smart with an aptitude for electronics, so he devised a plan where he would craft a bomb and place it on her porch. It would detonate and he would run to save her. Unfortunately, her niece, who was 10, came out and shook the clock bomb to see what it was. It triggered a violent explosion, killing her instantly. Her 12 year old friend standing beside was traumatized. The evidence was against him after police found bomb-making supplies in his car and front yard.

Herbert Richardson

What is the name of the electric chair at the Holman Correctional Facility. It’s name comes from the paint used on it, which comes from highway lines.

Yellow Mama

The aunt of Rena Mae, the girl Herbert Richardson mistakenly killed says to Stevenson, “All this grievin’ is hard. We can’t cheer for that man you trying to help, but don’t want to have to grieve for him, too. There shouldn’t be no more killing behind this.” What does the aunt say to Stevenson before she leaves about the trial?

We’ll pray for you

A week before his execution, Herbert Richardson was married to a woman he met in Mobile. During this week, he was more worried about what object to be presented to his wife after his execution rather than his actual execution.

An American flag

Who was the new investigator that Stevenson had?

Brenda Lewis

What was the result of the stay requested for Herbert Richardson’s trial?

Denied

What song did Herbert request to have played as he walked to his execution. To Stevenson’s amazement, they agreed to play it.

The Old Rugged Cross

What nickname did Walter McMillian’s community give to him?

Johnny D

Who is Walter's wife?

Minnie Belle McMillian

What was found under Rhonda Morrison’s fingernails that proved Walter was innocent?

A white man’s skin

Stevenson went to Walter McMillian’s house and was greeted by a community of Walter’s friends and family. What did Stevenson do there?

Answer questions

What is inferred to happen to John at the end of “Of the Coming of John” in W.E.B. Du Bois’s senimal work The Souls of Black Folk. Stevenson connects with John in how he is the hope for his community. He was the only person in his family to graduate from college.

He is lynched

A man who claims to be part of the Confederate Army, but understands the injustices Walter has faced. He wants to help Stevenson.

Sam Crook

Who was the man who worked with Bill Hooks at the NAPA auto parts store. He was there when Rhonda Morrison was murdered, and knew that Bill’s testimony was false, because he had never left the store to drive in front of Jackson Cleaners. He was later falsely indicted for perjury.

Darnell Houston

The new district attorney for Monroe County. A former criminal defense attorney. His predecessor was Ted Pearson. He kept telling Stevenson he wasn’t involved in the prosecution of Walter McMillian. He agreed that he might drop the perjury charges against Darnell Houston. He was indifferent to the claims of McMillian’s innocence.

Tom Chapman

14 year old boy. He shot and killed a man named George. George was his mother’s boyfriend. He was abusive and often came home drunk and would assault his mother so significantly that she required medical treatment. The night of the shooting, he knocked his mother unconscious. Thinking she was dead, he shot and killed George.

Charlie

What injustice did Charlie face in his sentence? However, he was transferred to juvenile court and would likely be released at 18.

He was prosecuted as an adult

What did Charlie have on his neck that Stevenson initially thought were tattoos?

Bruises

When Charlie didn’t respond to Stevenson, what did he start talking to Charlie about?

Food

What terrible thing did the prison guards do to Charlie?

They assaulted him

What family helped Charlie. They were kind and generous, their grandchild committed suicide when he was a teenager, and they had saved money for his college education. They wanted to give the money to Charlie. They became his family. They helped Charlie get his general equivalency degree. (A high school equivalent degree to help get into higher education). They were there along with Charlie’s mother when he was released.

The Jenningses

One of Stevenson’s new hires. A Yale Law School graduate. He had a passion for helping people in trouble, especially because of his former drug-addicted self. He first went to Penn State where his credentials helped him get into Yale.

Michael O’Connor

Where was Ralph Myers when he called Stevenson’s office. Stevenson and Michael O’Connor were going to go see him there in 3 days. This was where Myers confessed that everything he said in the McMillian trial was a lie. He told of being pressured by the ABI and sheriff with the death penalty if he didn’t testify against McMillian. He ominously ended the conversation by stating that they would be killed if they tried to dig deeper into the case.

St. Clair Correctional Facility

The only state prison for women, also one of the oldest prisons in the state. Fewer security restrictions than men’s prisons. The conditions at the prison were very poor for women. They were often raped, sexually harassed, exploited, and abused by male officers. The male warden permitted male guards to enter the showers during prison counts, and they often made inappropriate comments towards the women.

Tutwiler Prison for Women

Aunts of Vickie Lynn Pitmann who was murdered by Ralph Myers. They are twin sisters, and warned Stevenson that they were gun owners. They lived in rural Escambia County.

Mozelle and Onzelle

A petition that is used in trials that require the inclusion of claims that were not raised at trial or on appeal, and that could not have been raised. They are used to challenge conviction based on ineffective counsel or failure to disclose evidence, and most importantly, new evidence of innocence. Stevenson and Michael O’Connor filed this on Walter’s case to the Monroe County Circuit Court. Surprisingly, it was allowed to proceed.

Rule 32 Petition

After speaking with the FBI, what did Stevenson start receiving?

Bomb threats

At the beginning of Chapter Eight “All God’s Children,” Stevenson includes a poem. The poem is between tears and a conscience. The tears want to be let out, but the conscience refuses, arguing they would die from freedom. They give it a thought, and say death is worth the triumph of crying. What is the title of this poem?

Uncried Tears

Youngest of 12 children in her family. Grew up in poor Chester, Pennsylvania. Her father was a boxer, and his failed career made him violent and abusive. Her mother was regularly abused in front of the children by her father. He would often go to extremes of knocking her out and shoving a stick down her throat to revive her and continue. The father would often sexually abuse the children, so she was taught to hide by her sisters. She had signs of intellectual disabilities. At age five, she suffered severe burns after setting herself on fire. Her mother, Edith, died when she was nine. They were forced to run away from home. She wanted to talk with the boys in a nearby house. She climbed through the window, and lit a match to find her way to their room. The house caught fire and spread quickly, killing both boys from smoke asphyxiation. She was accused of intentionally starting the fire by the mother of the children, and speechless from trauma at her arrest. Considering her whole situation and the fact that she didn't intend to kill, the only possible sentence was life imprisonment without parole. At the State Correctional Institute at Muncy, an Adult Prison, she was raped and became pregnant, giving birth to a son in prison, chained to her bed. She never received compensation, and her health continually deteriorated.

Trina Garnett

Young boy living in Tampa, Florida. He worked with two other boys in an attempt to rob a couple out for dinner. When the lady being robbed, Debbie Baigre, resisted, Ian shot her. It went through her cheek and damaged her jaw. All three boys were arrested and charged with armed robbery and attempted homicide. Ian was encouraged by his lawyer to plead guilty, so he did. This led to life imprisonment without parole at an adult prison. Due to the higher possibility for sexual assault of juveniles, he was placed in solitary confinement. He cut himself with anything he could find just to see himself bleed. (Self-described as a “cutter”). His mental health declined, and he attempted suicide several times. He was allowed one call per month, and on Christmas Eve of 1992, he contacted Debbie Baigre, the woman he shot. He expressed an emotional apology, and she was stunned to hear from him. She was moved by the call and had started a magazine focused on women’s health after her recovery from the injury. She supported him to remain strong. Telling the courts his sentence was too harsh. Her requests were ignored.

Ian Manuel

Young boy who lived in South Central Los Angeles. Plagued by gang violence, shootings regularly happened outside his house. Nearly a dozen of their neighbors were killed when caught in a crossfire. He was abusively beaten by his father from a young age. In September 1999, while riding his bike, at age 13, he was shot in the stomach, side, and arm. His brother, José, heard him screaming and was shot and killed in response to his brother’s call for help. After release from the hospital, he was sent to live in Las Vegas with relatives. He stayed out of trouble, but was soon sent back to Los Angeles on probation for a previous offense. He now had a heightened sense of awareness and got his hands on a gun for self defense. He was invited to a party where two men twice his age told him they were planning a fake kidnapping to get money from a relative. They insisted he join. They were followed, and the men told the boy to shoot the men in the car behind them. The men behind were in an unmarked police car. He was tried for attempted murder of a police officer and aggravated kidnapping. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

Antonio Nuñez

A young boy who was executed in South Carolina in 1944. Two girls were found dead in a shallow ditch. This boy told police that he had seen the girls, and was immediately arrested because he was the last person to see them alive.

George Stinney

In the Rule 32 Petition Trial from Walter McMillian, Ralph Myers testifies that he gave false evidence in the initial trial. Clay Kast testifies that Walter’s truck was not a low-rider when Rhonda Morrison was murdered. Woodrow Ikner, a Monroeville police officer testified that the body of Rhonda was not in the place Ralph Myers testified it was. He also recalled that he was asked by Pearson to testify the body had been dragged to where it was now found. The second day, the black people were denied entry into the courthouse, including Stevenson initially. Mrs. Williams wanted to enter the court but was too scared when she saw police dogs guarding the entrance. The next day, she repeated to herself that she wasn’t scared of the dog. When she entered she loudly announced, “I’m Here.” Was the result of the trial as Stevenson hoped?

Yes

At Bay Minette, a beach near the hearing, Michael O’Connor goes in the water, but Stevenson doesn’t. Michael wanted Stevenson to go in the water, but he didn’t. What did Stevenson previously read about that made him not want to go in the water?

Sharks

Man who Stevenson once represented. He had suffered brain damage from a car accident in Houston, Texas. His mental state declined rapidly. Before being persuaded to go to a hospital, he took a bus as far as it would let him. He stayed on the bus until he was thrown off. He knocked on someone’s door and when it was opened he walked right in. The homeowner called her son to physically remove him from the house. He just did the same thing at another house, where the owner called a police officer who forcefully removed him. He started wrestling with the police and they grappled over the officer’s gun when it shot into the officer’s stomach. He died from the wound. He was charged of capital murder and became acutely psychotic at the Russel County Jail. He was given the death penalty.

George Daniel

Man with a mental disability who Stevenson represented with the EJI. The officer at the prison subjected Stevenson to strip searches before entrance. He was also forced to sign the visitation log. In the prison, the man Stevenson was representing asked if Stevenson brought him a chocolate milkshake. Stevenson found out his father was murdered before he was born, and he had been in nineteen different foster homes before he was 8 years old. He had cognitive impairments and severe mental illnesses. He lived with abusive foster parents at age 10, and he couldn’t comply with his foster mother’s requirements, so she got rid of him by tying him to a tree in the forest. He was found three days later by hunters. He abused drugs and alcohol at age 13. While in one of his psychotic episodes, he wandered into a strange house, thinking he was being attacked by demons. In the house he brutally stabbed a man to death, who he thought was a demon. He was quickly sentenced to death. Later, the guard at the prison was enlightened by the hearing Stevenson gave for his client. The guard no longer made Stevenson do strip-searches. As a child he was also in foster care, and connected with Stevenson’s client. He even got Stevenson’s client a chocolate milkshake.

Avery Jenkins

What was the result of the Rule 32 Petition from the court order of Judge Norton pertaining to the original testimony of Ralph Myers?

Not perjured

What did local newspapers use against Walter McMillian to make him seem guilty of the murder?

Libel

What reporter came to Monroeville to talk to Stevenson and other people involved in Walter’s trial. The reporter was using the information to create a 60 Minutes piece, but the piece was soon discredited by local officials in Monroeville. However, the community watched the piece regardless, and gave the community a summary of the doubts of Walter’s guilt given in trial.

Ed Bradley

What two ABI investigators called Stevenson about case files and information? They wanted to tell Stevenson that they were starting to doubt Walter’s guilt. They wanted Stevenson to know that Bill Hooks said that Stevenson would give him a condo in Mexico if he changed his testimony. They said people would be more accepting of Walter’s innocence if they knew the real murderer.

Greg Cole and Tom Taylor

Who does mercy belong to?

The Undeserving

What did Walter say he wanted to eat after he was released that was a huge surprise to Stevenson?

Raccoon

On the day Walter was released, his family and friends were out there to greet him when he came out, holding signs and banners that were simple gestures, but deeply moving. After Walter is released, walking to the car, he raises his arms and moves them up and down as if he was taking flight. What does he say?

I feel like a bird

Who asked Stevenson if he could shake his hand after they released Walter?

Tom Chapman

White woman from a poor rural Alabama town. She was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. Hurricane Ivan caused a loss of her home, and with her six children to protect, she couldn’t take time to panic over their loss. She, her husband, Glen Colbey, and her children were living in a cramped trailer. Even with all this, she could tell she was pregnant. She hadn’t planned on having another child, but she knew it would limit her ability to work. This pregnancy was different from others, there was pain and bleeding that wasn’t normal, but she couldn’t afford treatment or examinations. One day she wasn’t feeling well, so she took a long hot bath to feel better. Just minutes after, a violent labor began. It was happening too fast, and soon she delivered a stillborn son. She tried to revive him, but he never took a breath. A nosy neighbor, Debbie Cook, noticed she was no longer pregnant. She told the police who went to the mother’s house to see what was happening. Officer Kenneth Lewellen noticed a burial site, and she admitted it was for her recent stillborn son. Kathleen Enstice, a forensic pathologist was summoned to exhume the body. The mother was upset, and Enstice told an investigator that the baby had been born alive. Enstice had a history of prematurely and incorrectly declaring deaths to be homicides without adequate evidence. The mother was arrested with capital murder. Additionally, murder of a person under 14 is punishable by the death penalty.

Marsha Colbey

A mother who gave birth to a stillborn baby in Pickens County, Alabama. She was charged of capital murder and wrongfully imprisoned. She was a church pianist and bank bookkeeper. She became pregnant after an extramarital affair. She hid the pregnancy and hoped to secretly put the baby up for adoption. However, the baby was born very early and was not alive at birth. She didn’t tell her husband, which led to suspicions. The pathologist who performed the autopsy concluded the baby was born alive and was then suffocated. Six months after her charge for capital murder, new evidence came up that proved the baby was killed by neonatal pneumonia, and charges were dropped. This spared her of a capital trial and potentially, the death penalty.

Bridget Lee

Mother accused of killing her newborn child even though the police had no credible information to even prove she was ever pregnant. She allegedly told police that she was pregnant to avoid jail time for an unrelated matter. Months later, when there was no child, she was accused of killing the infant. She was coerced into pleading guilty to killing a nonexistent child, along with her sister Diane Tucker. She made a deal to accept a prison sentence of 20 years. Her freedom was won by the EJI on the evidence that she had a tubal litigation five years before her arrest.

Victoria Banks

Teenager put in jail because of giving birth to a premature stillborn baby. She threw the remains in a ditch, and when they were discovered she said that she wasn’t wholly sure the baby didn’t move before death.

Efernia McClendon

The EJI won the release of this woman shortly after Marsha Colbey arrived at Tutwiler. She was wrongly convicted and sentenced to die for a crime she didn’t commit. She was wrongfully implicated in a drug-trafficking operation involving her former boyfriend. She was convicted with multiple charges, leading to life imprisonment without parole. Her release gave hope to others at Tutwiler. She was especially worried about the “lifers” (a term used to describe people condemned to die in prison) at Tutwiler.

Diane Jones

Rhodes Scholar and former student of Stevenson, she became a senior attorney at EJI.

Charlotte Morrison

Harvard Law graduate who had worked at the Public Defender Service for the District of Colombia. She was a staff attorney at the EJI.

Kristen Nelson

Man who was scheduled to be executed in Louisiana. A crime lab report was uncovered which contradicted the States’s case against him for a robbery-murder which took place 14 years earlier. His death sentence was overturned, and he filed a civil suit, awarded with $14 million. The district attorney, Harry Connick Sr., illegally suppressed evidence of his innocence and allowed him to spend 14 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Connick appealed the judgement and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the award in a divided 5-4 decision. The Court help that a prosecutor cannot be help liable for misconduct in a criminal case, even if he intentionally and illegally withheld evidence of innocence. It was criticized by scholars and Court observers. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote a compelling dissent, but the defendant still didn’t get any money.

John Thompson

Similarly to the case of John Thompson, Walter was unable to obtain as much money as he would have liked due to, again, a split decision of the Supreme Court. However, he did get enough money to do what?

Restart his logging business

After restarting his logging business, what happened to Walter that terminated his time in the logging industry? This injury was caused by a branch that dislodged and struck him.

Broken neck

After being forced out of the logging industry, what did Walter pursue?

Reselling car parts

Stevenson started teaching at the New York University Law School. He would travel to New York to teach and then fly back to Montgomery to run the EJI. Every year he asked Walter to come and talk with the students. One year, however, something happened on the trip to Walter, leading him to ask Stevenson to travel together on future trips.

He got lost

Stevenson received an amazing opportunity in which he would travel to Sweden to receive an award. In his time there, he studied Sweden’s progressive approach at rehabilitation of criminal offenders. The had humane punishments. Stevenson spoke to several hundred high school students who were very appreciative of his speech. They sang a beautiful song in appreciation. What award did Stevenson collect in Stockholm?

Olof Palme International Human Rights Award

A young boy who was convinced by two older boys to break into an empty house in Pensacola, Florida. It was the home of Lena Bruner. They took money and jewelry. That afternoon, Lena Bruner was sexually assaulted in her home. She never saw the rapist clearly; all she recalled was that he was ‘quite a dark colored boy’ with ‘curly type hair.’ All three boys involved were African American. One of the older boys accused the youngest of the battery. He voluntarily turned himself in after learning the older boys implicated him. He admitted helping them, but denied involvement or knowledge of the sexual assault. The prosecutor indicted him in an adult court for the sexual battery and other charges. There was evidence that his hand print was found in the bedroom prior to the offense. The police chose not to include bodily fluids in the court and destroyed it before testing. He had mental disabilities and read at a first grade level. He had experienced physical abuse by his father and suffered neglect. He had no stable home at the time of his arrest. In prison he was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted. He attempted suicide on multiple occasions, and developed multiple sclerosis, placing him in a wheelchair. In his letter to Stevenson, he was 31 but still wrote at a 3rd grade level in a child’s handwriting. He was being held at the Santa Rosa Correctional Facility. He was held on his wheel chair in a small cage. They couldn’t remove his chair, and aggressively pulled on the chair to try to dislodge it. He wanted to ask questions to Mr. Stevenson. He was happy that Stevenson was helping him and recited a poem that he wrote with help from his cell neighbors. He had trouble remembering it, but the message was clear.

Joe Sullivan

Juvenile from Jacksonville, Florida. He was on probation when he was accused of attempted robbery of a store. The judge revoked his probation and sentenced him to die in prison. His case did not involve a homicide, so it was likely that Stevenson would win him a favorable ruling in court. On both this case and Joe Sullivan’s case, Stevenson argued that sentencing a child to die in prison is cruel.

Terrance Graham

What mental condition did Walter McMillian develop after his release? He required constant attention. One time when Stevenson went to see him, he thought he was back on death row, and Stevenson had to convince him he wasn’t.

Dementia