Episode 9: Signed, Sealed, Delivered

The men from the 8th and H Case submitted applications for a presidential pardon in the summer of 2024. Learn what went into this arduous process and what you can do to support the effort.

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.

Transcript

Narrator On a windy DC fall morning, my colleague Maika Moulite and I met outside the Department of Justice on Pennsylvania Avenue. The leaves crunched under our feet as we walked the perimeter of the building. The Justice Department has a plethora of quotes etched onto its exterior, pointing to its core principles. One inscription in particular stood out to us.

Ambient sound of Shannon at DOJ Where law ends, tyranny begins. Law alone can give us freedom.

Narrator Just beyond the building’s limestone facade lay the fate of the men from the eighth and H case, Chris Turner, Levy Rouse, Cliff Yarborough, Russell Overton, Timothy Catlett and Charles Turner. In the summer of 2024, these men submitted applications to the Department of Justice for a presidential pardon. A pardon would reverse the wrongful conviction they were handed 40 years ago, which they’ve collectively spent more than 200 years in prison for.

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project played a vital role in this process.

Shawn Armbrust We need to seek a presidential pardon in this case because prisoners convicted in DC can’t go to a governor because DC isn’t a state. So they have to go to the U.S. president to be pardoned.

Narrator That’s Shawn Armbrust, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project.

Shawn Armbrust The pardons were filed, so they are in line and in the queue to be considered by the Department of Justice and by the President. And so we are hopeful that they will be considered and that they’ll be granted.

Narrator Historically, most presidential pardons occur between Election Day and Inauguration Day, when an outgoing administration is preparing to leave the White House. This period is referred to as a lame duck session. Since Biden is not running for reelection, the accused men are uniquely positioned to receive a pardon in the next several months. When the clock strikes midnight on November 6th, 2024, the men’s lawyers and supporters will officially be in full game-time mode.

Shawn Armbrust Over the coming months, we’re really going to be making a push to explain to the administration, explain to the Department and explain to the public why this case deserves a pardon.

Narrator The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project is collaborating with some of the best lawyers in the city to push for this pardon, including attorneys from the prestigious law firm Williams and Connolly. In May of 2024, Williams and Connolly associate Ben Waldman invited me into their super chic office overlooking the Washington Channel.

Ambient sound of Shannon at Williams and Connolly I’m early...thank you.

Narrator I was honored when they asked if this podcast could be included as supplemental material in the pardon applications. A few months later, I spoke with Williams and Connolly partner Eden Schiffmann on the phone.

Eden Schiffmann Each of these wrongfully convicted men has now submitted their own application to the Department of Justice for a pardon.

Narrator Cliff, Chris, Charles, Timothy, Russell, and Levy all submitted separate pardon applications. Each are roughly 300 pages in length. The contents of the six applications are extensive.

Eden Schiffmann These pardon applications include practically everything you could ever want to know about these men. They go into their life history. They go into the details of the crime that they were accused of. We submitted the evidence of their innocence.

Narrator These presidential pardon applications differ from most other applications in several ways.

First, they provide evidence that these men are actually innocent of the crime they were convicted of. The government’s case against the defendants relied heavily on false confessions of involvement in the crime, all of which have now been legally recanted.

Furthermore, the applications remind the reader that not a single piece of physical evidence tied any of the defendants to the crime scene. In fact, the physical evidence directly contradicted how the prosecutors claimed the crime occurred.

The pardon applications go a step further, providing details on the likely actual perpetrator of Mrs. Fuller’s murder. Shawn Armbrust explains.

Shawn Armbrust There’s also a really powerful alternative suspect, one of the two men who had been seen walking up and down H street and then was seen running from the crime scene. That was a man named James McMillan, who at the time was known to the police because he’d been robbing and beating women in alleys and became even better known to police when he brutally beat and sodomized a young woman in an alley around 8th and H streets northeast. So a nearly identical crime to the crime we have here. It’s pretty clear to most people who have looked at the case that the person who did this was James McMillan.

Narrator Listeners of this podcast wrote in letters of support to supplement the pardon applications. Alley listener Jeanette Hodge wrote in her letter.

Jeanette Hodge In light of the extensive hardships these men have endured and their steadfast commitment to proving their innocence, I urge you to grant them a presidential pardon. Clearing their names would not only rectify a grave injustice, but also serve as a testament to the integrity of our justice system.

Narrator Here’s what happens next. The pardon applications will go through multiple rounds of rigorous reviews by the Pardon Attorney and her team. In evaluating the merit of each request. The Office of the Pardon Attorney considers various factors, including the person’s conduct following conviction, both in prison and out in society. In addition, the Deputy Attorney General, the second most senior official at the Department of Justice, may weigh in on the recommendation about whether to grant a pardon. Following the completion of all review rounds, the Pardon Attorney will present her recommendation to the President. However, it’s important to note that the ultimate decision to pardon or not lies solely with the President. This discretion is a unique power of the President, who can choose to pardon a person at any time, regardless of the Pardon Attorney’s recommendation.

There are no limits to how many people the president may pardon. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, pardoned 2,819 individuals during his time in office, more than any other president. President Obama gave 212 pardons while in office, and President Trump granted 143. Over the past 35 years, roughly 2 to 6 percent of pardon requests are successful. A pardon has a profound effect on the recipient as it completely nullifies the legal consequences of a conviction. The individual is no longer considered a criminal, and any collateral effects of the conviction, such as the loss of voting rights, are reversed. While we await the possibility of a pardon, the gravity of the situation is, of course, felt most strongly by the six accused men. I got to catch up with Chris Turner recently to see how he’s feeling.

Chris Turner If a pardon is granted, my life would change dramatically. It would erase anything from my record. So my record would be completely cleared of any wrongdoing.

Narrator Mr. Turner looks forward to the possibility of traveling, a freedom most of us take for granted.

Chris Turner It will allow me to go places that I always wanted to go and do a lot of things that I still want to do. There’s some countries that I can’t go to because of a wrongful conviction.

Narrator Furthermore, a pardon would drastically change these men’s job prospects. Several of them are working multiple jobs just to get by.

Chris Turner There are jobs that I cannot hold or apply for that I think I would be great at because of the conviction. I can begin to do a number of things and maybe create jobs for other people because I love working in the community, being an activist, looking out for people, giving people second chances.

Narrator If a pardon is granted, Cliff, Chris, Charles, Timothy, Russell, and Levy could be compensated for the decades of their lives that were stolen from them. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, a Presidential pardon remains the last and only option for these men to clear their names in the court of public opinion.

They will need all the help they can get to push this effort over the finish line.

Shawn Armbrust We’re asking for something pretty extraordinary and asking for something extraordinary really does require a full court press. And that full court press definitely involves normal citizens reaching out, getting engaged and showing their support, not just in DC, but all over the country.

Narrator You, listener, have a vital role to play in getting these pardons signed. There are two critical actions you can take to support the effort.

First, you can go to 8thandHjustice.com to add your name to the list of supporters. It takes no more than two minutes. There are two separate links, one for former or current DC residents and one for non-DC residents. You can find this on the “Get Involved” page.

Second, share your thoughts on any social media platform using the hashtag 8th and H justice. That’s the number 8: #8thandHJustice. In recent years, we’ve seen the power of social media in influencing presidential pardon decisions. Your posts can increase public pressure, making it more likely that the 8th and H case will catch the President’s attention. I’ll put all of this information in the show notes.

Chris Turner I’m feeling right now about a presidential pardon...I’m optimistic we can close this and maybe move on with our lives as best as possible.

Narrator Law alone can give us freedom. These words etched into the stone of the Department of Justice building indicate its intention to forever protect the integrity of the U.S. legal system. Our laws are meant to give us freedom from repressive or biased government actions. If the DOJ is to remain true to its guiding principles, it will advise the President to grant pardons for the men of the eighth in each case.

Maika Moulite This podcast was executive produced, written, and mixed by Shannon Lynch. Joe Wilkes and David Lanham are our co-producers. Media outreach by Heidi Lewis. Social media by Maika Moulite. Visuals by Alex Briñas. Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you like to listen and be sure to follow New America across all social platforms to stay up to date on our upcoming projects.