Introduction: Higher Ground

• Jackson, Georgia. 1983 (Deepsouth)

• Narrator(Bryan Stevenson) has never been to a max security prison or death row- visiting as part of his internship SPDC

  • Went to Harvard law

• Steve Bright- lawyer who specializes in death row

• Henry- young African American man on death row

  • Nervous but very warm to Bryan

  • Has a wife and kids

• Prison guard mistreats Henry with unnecessary aggression

• Bryan Stevenson grew up in a racist region that caused him to struggle with the question: why people were judged unfairly

  • Father and mother were in a confined space in life/ careers

  • Grandfather was murdered

  • Grandma was daughter of slaves in Virginia

Pg 14- authors purpose and states what book is about

Chapter 1: Mockingbird Players

• Monroeville, Alabama

• Judge Robert E Lee & Judge Key call Bryan to tell him to withdraw from the case on Walter McMillian

  • Bring up’s Dixie Malfia

• Bryan + Eva Ansley plan on creating non profit law office to represent people on death row 1988

• Walter McMillian

  • Walter insisted he was wronged convicted

  • Grew up in a black settlement in southern Alabama

  • Started a pulpwood business

  • Romantically involved with other women despite having family

  • Had a relationship with a white woman, Karen Kelly

    • Had 1 misdemeanor prior to Karen

    • Ruined Walter’s reputation in the town

• Karen Kelly

  • 18 years younger than Walter

  • Married white woman but divorce cussed her to lose the kids

  • Her ex husband sent a subpoena to Walter to testify in a hearing

  • Began using drugs during child custody proceedings and began a friendship with Ralph Myers

• Ralph Myers

  • Used drugs and illiterate

  • Burn victim who lived in foster care

  • Had a tendency to lie and create stories for attention

• Walter and Karen’s relationship represents fears of interracialsex and marriages

  • Jim Crow laws, “racial integrity” laws, forced sterilization of poor/ minority women, “anti-miscegenation statutes”, separate but equal

• refers to To Kill a Mockingbird and similarities between Tom and Walter

  • Inspires lawyers but many overlook how Atticus Finch (white) did not successfully defend his client, Tom Robinson (black)

• 1882- interracial couple Tony Pace and Mary Cox went to court, where “the evil tendency of adultery or fornication is greater when committed between persons of two races” would be quoted from

• November 1, 1986- Ronda Morrison is murdered and found in Monroe Cleaners.

  • 18 year old beloved white daughter

  • Suspects: two Latino men, Miles Jackson, Rick Blair = all determined to not be killer

• Ralph Myers’s claimed he killed Vickie Pittman alongside Karen Kelly and Walter McMillian. Also claimed Walter killed Ronda Morrison

• ABI agents determined Ralph and Walter did not actually know each other, but people were demanding an arrest.

Chapter 2: Stand

• Bryan Stevenson lived with Steve Bright, but later bought apartment with former classmate Charles Bliss in Atlanta

• poor conditions of prisoners brought up

  • Lourida Ruffin was a former convict who endured beatings in jail and denied his inhaler from Gadsden

• When Bryan got home one night, Atlanta Swat soldiers appear at his house for him and aimed a gun at him. An illegal search was conducted on his car.

  • Someone called for a suspected burglary

  • The experience made him think about that despite him knowing to stay calm, so many others wouldn’t have and tried to run, causing them to be shot

• Bryan wrote complaints to the Atlanta Police Department, all which were disregarded. He started reaching out to youth groups, churches, and communities for people of color to insist that law enforcement need to take accountability.

• At a church event, Bryan encountered an older man in a wheelchair with a young boy who questions does he knew what he’s doing.

  • “You’re beating the drum for justice!”

Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulation

1. Walter McMillian was arrested June 7, 1987

   • Prefectural charge

   • Arrest for sodomy

   • Ralph Myers also claimed Walter sexual assaulted him

     • Nonprocreative sex illegal in Alabama

2. Bill Hooks was promised money if he could fabricate a lie to connect Walter’s truck to the Morrison murder

   • Young black, reputation as a a snitch in jail

   • Claimed he drove by and saw the car at the scene of the crime

3. Where Walter was the day of:

   1. Walter and Jimmy Hunter repaired Walter’s truck that day (morning)

   2. Witnesses claimed there was a fish fry at Walter’s house the day of the crime (11- on)

   3. Murder took place around 10:15 am while Walter was busy

   4. Several people stopped by Walter’s house the day of Zzz

4. Ralph promised Sherrie Tate he would say whatever Tate wanted him to as long as he was kept off death row

5. Case hearing scheduled for Feb 1988

   • While it wasn’t illegal to have other races on jury, jury tended to be all whites. Deep South went against the law to keep it all white and males by making a requirement for juror “intelligent and upright” (1945)

   • 1970’s- Supreme Court ruled jurors cannot be excluding on the basis of race or gender( but do not need to actually serve)

6. Ted Pearson - district attorney vs Chestnut and Boynton (Walter’s attorney)

7. Chestnut and Boytom requested venue change

   • Case got moved to Baldwin county (a major to white county with no opinions on the Morrison murder)

   • Proved to be worse for Walter since it was a racist county

   • Trial was postponed to August 1988

8. Ralph Myers said he couldn’t lie in court and was then sent to a mental hospital , then changed his mind that he would

9. Walter found guilt in Baldwin County

   • County brought witnesses to lie about Walter

   • Walter’s lawyers only brought in 3 of his witnesses

   • Ernest Welch claimed he collected money on a different day from Walter

Chapter 4: The Old Rugged Cross

• Bryan and Eva open nonprofit law center in Tuscaloosa (2/1989), in summer moved to Montgomery

  • Equal Justice Initiative

  • couldn’t find help

• Michael Lindsay’s case

  • jury said life sentence but judge overruled

    • alabama and florida are only states in which a judge can do so

• Horace Dunkins: intellectually disabled but executed

• Hebert Richardson called Bryan to ask for help with an upcoming execution date but no lawyer

  • Stevenson initially said he couldn’t help but changed his mind after Herbert said all he needed was some hope

  • former veteran with severe PTSD

  • example of one of many combat veterans who return and end up in jail

  • became obsessive over a nurse at the veteran hospital, when she tried to leave he built a bomb in hopes she would go to him for safety, killed a little girl instead

    • example of how trauma / strong emotions can misguide a person’s thinking

  • charged for capital murder even though it was not planned as a murder

• Family of the child Herbet killed believe Hebert shouldn’t be executed: “there shouldn’t be more killing behind this”

• Stevenson motioned a stay of execution to Supreme Court for Herbert’s case; it was denied

• Stevensons’ first time being present at the execution

  • everyone at death row seemed distraught that day about killing a man who wasn’t a real threat (since it was not purposeful murder)

• Stevensons Argument: society is okay with killing people who have killed, but not raping those who have

• raped because killing others through tools/machinery does not involve one’s own humanity/morals

  Chapter 5: Of the Coming of John

• Stevenson' visits Walter’s home where his wife, Minnie, and daughter, Jackie, reside

  • poor house

  • Jackie’s in college

• white man’s skin was found under the fingernails of the victim

• Stevenson, Jackie, and Minnie drive to the rest of the family to visit

  • family offers to repay Stevenson with what money they have

• references to W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk

• main theme of chapter: hope

• mentions how important it is for the lawyer to gain the trust of the client to learn personal details for the defense

  • Bryan and Walter became very close during meetings

• Darnell Houston- claims to be able to prove Walter’s innocence

  • Bill Hooks told Darnell Houston that he had to do with Walter being on death row

  • Bill and Darnell were working together at NAPA autoparts at time of crime

  • Darnell pieced the two together^

• Stevenson got an affidavit from Darnell Houston, but then Darnell was chargedsuddenly for perjury

  • perjury: offense of lying in court

• Tom Chapman: district attorney with indifference to Walter’s guilt, man responsible for having Darnell charged for perjury

  • Darnell’s testimony would contradict Hook’s testimony, meaning the state would not have a major flaw in their case

Chapter 6: Surely Doomed

• receives call about 14 year old boy in jail, Charlie

  • track record of a good kid but shot and killed an adult man/police officer, George

  • George was the violent boyfriend of Charlie’s mom

  • George returned home and punch the mom, she fell to the floor and stopped breathing (still was alive)

  • Charlie shot George in his sleep

• When Bryan visited Charlie, the young boy was in shock and refused to speak

  • finds out it was because he was raped and assaulted at the prison

• Mr. and Mrs. Jennings, with the help of Bryan, began writing and meeting with Charlie

  • only grandchild committed suicide

  • became family to Charlie and financed his education

• “But if we don’t expect more from each other, hope better for one another, and recover from the hurt we experience, we are surely doomed” -pg. 126

Chapter 7: Justice Denied

• Bryan visited the Alabama court of Criminal Appeals to appeal Walters case- denied

  • Asked where he was from(apparent outsider)

• with help of Michael O Connor (new hire) the two searched for new evidence

  • Found pay offs to bill hooks

  • Records of hooks release

  • Store owner said Myers’s had never seen Walter prior

  • Records of fish fry

  • Tracked down truck mechanic

• Ralph Myers reached out to Stevenson

  • Guilt consumed Myers and admits everything was a lie and he wants to make it right

  • Claims he was pressured to murder Vickie Pittman and she had drug debts

• visits Karen Kelly in jail for Pittman murder

  • supports what Ralph told them

• contacted Mozelle and Onzelle (Vickie’s aunts who collected info on her death)

  • suspected Vickie’s father

• mentions victim impacts in course ex Megan’s law but this opened opportunity for the criminal justice system to disfavor certain groups

• files for Rule 32- put them back in a trial court- was approved

  • gained access to all the files on the case and had the agent and Tate sign that it was all of the files

  • soon received bomb threats

    Chapter 8: All God’s Children

  • Trina Garnett (youngest of 12) in Chester, PA

    • Walter (father)- abusive alcoholic who raped now dead mother (Edith)

    • Walter then sexually assaulted sisters (Lynn and Lynda) → fled house with Trina

    • at 14 accidentally killed two boys from fire

    • sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder→ raped by correctional officer and became pregnant-> son was taken away from her

  • Ian Manuel (13) Tampa, Florida

    • shot Debbie Baigre during robbery instructed by older boys

      • put in solitary confinment

      • suicidal

    • called Debbie in prison and the two developed connection

  • Antonio Nunez (14) - Los Angeles

    • grew up around gang violence and abusive father/neglected by mom

    • shot and when younger brother Jose ran to him, Jose was killed

    • faked a ransom with two men, got caught by undercover officers, Antonio got caught up in high-speed shoot-out

    • sentenced to imprisonment until death

  • must adults who commit same crimes are not usually sentenced to life imprisonment without parole

  • children in justice system of color receive extra aggression

  • “super predator” predictions proved false

  • Bryan Stevenson met with the 3 and worked to reduce their sentences ad help them

    • Trina met her son, Antonio was sent books, Ian wrote poem at beginning of chapter “Uncried Tears”

Idea: traumatized children sentenced deserve a chance to redeem themselves

Chapter 9: I’m Here

• Brenda Lewis- new african american paralegal

• given 3 days to present at Walter’s hearing- no jury present

  • a crowd of those supporting Walter showed

1. Stevenson pointed out Ralph was key evidence against Walter and he claimed to “unwillingly and unknowingly” be involved

2. Ralph came into courtroom and admitted he lied

3. Clay Kast testified Walter’s truck was not the one Joe Hightower lied about + officer brought in to say Ronda’ s body is not where Ralph initially claimed

4. Walter’s supporters denied entry into courtroom day 2- a few eventually let in

5. more witnesses (doctors that dealt with him) testified Ralph initially lied

6. Ralph’s cellmates testified that he admitted to them his false testimony

7. tapes played that show Sherrif Tate, Benson, and Ikner threatening Myers when he resisted lying for the

8. Walter’s previous attorneys brought in

9. Judge Norton ordered defendant and prosecutor to write arguments as to what the ruling should be

10. Michael + Bryan left anxious about what would happen to them now

Chapter 10: Mitigation

main idea: poor treatment of the mentally ill

• those who did not meet societal/sexual normals (gay, gender, interracial) were being admitted admitted into mental hospitals

• encounters an aggressive guard who becomes nice

• George Daniel

  • brain damage from car accident- hallucinations, erratic behavior, insomnia, inability to speak clearly, psychotic

  • got on a bus to Hurtsboro, Alabama and wandered into a house uninvited → police force used, George fought back when a gun was pulled out, cop was shot and died → charged for capital murder

  • sent to Dr. Seger ( a fraudulent doctor) who claimed George was faking the symptoms and convinced jury of this → George was moved to death row

  • Bryan Stevenson represented George and got him moved to a mental institute

• Avery Jenkins

  • violently stabbed and kill an older man during a psychotic episode that he thought was a demon

  • grew up in foster care, brain damage, schizophrenia and potentially more, had abusive foster parents who tied him to a tree to be left, drug and alcohol abuse, homeless by 17

  • Stevenson got him moved to a facility and off death row

Chapter 11: I’ll Fly Away

• 3rd bomb threat in two months +followed

• Judge Norton denied relief for Walter- May 1992

  • Ralph Myers is not found to have been perjured testimony

• Bernard Harcourt replaces Michael on Walter’s case

• Question if they should reach out to get Walter’s case media coverage- decides to

  • pro: make it about walter’s innocence, make his life safer post release-

  • con: politicians sued for defamation often, wouldn’t help appeal

• Ed Bradley and David Gelber did a 60 Minute piece on the case

  • local writers opposed out of town writers coming in- became a fight

• Chapman began questioning if Walter was innocent knowing it would ruin his credibility

• filed appeal at the Court of Criminal Appeals

  • invalidated Walter’s conviction but didn’t conclude he was innocent= allows them to order a new trial

• new ABI investigators: Tom Taylor and Greg Cole even admit Walter did not kill Ronda

  • Hooks and Hightower admitted to having false testimonies

• Catch the real killer= free Walter

• theme: hope

• state joined notion to dismiss the charges on walter

Final Hearing- Judge Pamela Paschab

• Walter dismissed of all charges - now a free man

• moral: far too easy to wrongly accuse a man

“His freedom was, in a small way, a sign oh hope in a hopeless place” -pg 226

Chapter 12: Mother, Mother

• Marsha Colbey- New York from Alabama

  • released from life imprisonment without parole

  • hurricane destroyed trailer home for her, her husband, and six kids, pregnant

  • pregnancy had placental abruption- delivered a stillborn son

• Neighbor- Debbie Cooke- snooped after delivery, called police, baby’s body was exhumed

• Kathleen Enstice- pathologist- claimed baby was alive when born (wasn’t true)

• Marsha charged for capital murder, media attention

  • case was so difficult because jurors even admitted to being biased

• alabama writes that it is a child inside the womb

• sexual violence in prisons

wrongfully imprisoned for 10 years before they got her freedom

Chapter 13: Recovery

• news claimed Walter wanted $9 mill as compensation which wasn’t true

• accusations of fake children to get money

• civil case went to the Supreme Court

• as of publication of book, Sherrif Tate remained officer

• Bryan and Walter started to attend confrences to speak on death row

  • also spoke to students

• EJI nominated for Olof Palme International Human Rights Award- traveled to Stolckhom

Chapter 14: Cruel and Unusual

• Joe Sullivan- accused of robbery and sexual battery despite not sexual assaulting Lena Bruner

  • 13

  • mental disabilities, neglected and abusive father

  • sentenced to life imprisonment without parole

    • raped in jail, suicidal, needed a wheelchair

  • case went to Supreme Court

• Evan Miller

  • 14

  • abused by drug addicted parents, poor, suicidal

  • charged for capital murder

• Bryan Stevenson

  • grandfather murdered- by teens

  • irony that he helps teen cases

• main focus: teenagers do not have proper judgement control etc as they go through puberty bc of changes in body

• argument; telling teens they are fit to die in prison is cruel

• argument: cant treat teens the same as adultd when restrictions differ ; ALCHOL, VOTING, BLOOD

Chapter 15: Broken

• Walter’s mental state declined and became confused - dementia

  • compares facility for his dementia to death row- gets confused

  • even though Walter was proven innocent h eis still viewed as dangerous'

• drug combinantion concerns in prison

• jimmy dills execution, struggled to get his words out

• there are many broken people out there

• Bryan Stevenson met Rosa Parks- talks about racial discrimination and hoplessness

Chapter 16: The Stonecatcher’s Song of Sorrow

• may 17, 2010- supreme court deems life impronsment without parole to be cruel on children who commited non homocide crimes

• ideas: race, child treatment, hope

• an example of a grandmother who feels worse after the teens who killed her grandson had to rot in prison