Last Day of Freedom (2015) - full transcript

(soft guitar music)

When they started bringing back
the death penalty,

I embraced it.

The death penalty was fine with me

as long as it was your brother,
your son or your daughter.

It was okay for somebody
else's family members.

I supported the death penalty.

Never gave a thought

for the family members
left behind of the executed.

And then one day it came
knocking on my door...

and that's where my education began.



Okay I'm ready when you are.

They said he was a monster -
I don't see that.

I see a little brother.

I remember being out in the clam flats,
digging clams.

Matter of fact, when he was in
San Quentin prison

we use to talk about clamming.

When Manny was 12 years old,

Manny had a car accident.

He was thrown quite a few feet,

from then on... he...

... was late in school,
I mean he just couldn't...

He... he repeated some of his grades
over and over...

I think about four grades he repeated.

He could barely read or write
when he got out of school. He...



... He got out of school
in the seventh grade.

I moved out to Sacramento in 1967,

and at that time Manny was 17 years old.

And I wrote back to my mother

how's Manny doing?

"Manny's in Vietnam,
Manny's in Portwall."

I said, "What!?"

It seems that Manny
was watching the war unfold on TV.

And he had already had two brothers
who were in the Marines in front of him.

So he's seen that, he says,

"I'm going to the Marines,
I'm going into the military."

So he went down
to go join the Marines...

he was unable to pass the test
- he couldn't pass the test -

so the Marines gave him the answers.

He found himself at war.

I called my mother on the telephone,
says, "Ma where's Manny?"

She says "He's in Vietnam."

I said "Ma, where in Vietnam?"

She said "He's at this place...
I'll go get his letter,

"I'll tell you where he's at."

She spells K-H-E...

She got that far I knew it was Khe Sahn.

And my heart dropped.

Khe Sanh was all over the news!

Ma had no idea Manny was
in such precarious situation.

She'd've been terrified had she known.

Manny did his time.

He came home
after his first tour of duty...

after his second tour of duty,
he came home...

One day Manny was in his apartment,

and something startled him

- a backfire of an automobile -

something startled him.

He got his little 18-month-old baby
- little Manny Jr. -

and he goes "The bombs are coming,
the bombs are coming.

"We gotta get the baby out!
Can't you hear it?

"The bombs are coming!"

So he snatches the baby
and he starts running...

his wife is screaming...

it's pandemonium, you know.

Manny...

Manny came...

When Manny came marching home...

... limping,

... mentally and morally ...

They ... they was able to discern
his physical wounds -

- his lips -

and they was able to patch those up

but they never got around
to patching up that war,

that wound in his head.

So when he left those two tours of duty
in Vietnam,

he came to America ...

for yet another tour of duty

on the battlefield ...

chasing shadows... imaginary soldiers ...

and that's what it's all about, see?

He was diagnosed with
paranoid schizophrenia.

After the first wife,
he goes in the mental hospital.

After the second wife,
he goes into the mental hospital.

He loses his family.

So Manny traded his hooch

in Vietnam

for a cardboard box

on the street of Providence, Rhode Island.

[ sniffles ]

In 1980, I was working at the railroad

... in Sacramento ...

and I heard Manny was coming.

And I was so glad -
my brother Manny's coming.

We could we could watch
boxing together, you know?

We could, uh ...

We could cook!

We could have... we could see
who makes the best linguica and rice,

if you wanna have a contest.

Maybe we'd'a went down here
to Bodega Bay

and got some of these giant clams ...

a poor substitute
for the clams in Cape Cod,

but they would have to do.

My wife Linda welcomed him in our home.

We had three children.

We resigned ourselves ..,

We're there to take care of Manny.

No pressure on him to go out and work.

I was so proud to have my young brother.

But I noticed when Manny came home,

he seemed to be so obsessed
with the war.

He talked about it constantly, you know.

I realized that he would have
these mood swings, like, you know?

And he had trouble sleeping.

We never knew ...

We never knew what was wrong.

I'd take him to pool halls
and shootout pool together.

Like I said I was glad we were
gonna shoot some pool together, but ...

... when we'd get around pool tables,
he'd hang around a pool table,

he wasn't courteous,

He was like, itching for another battle,
it seemed like,

Uh...

... you know, combative-like,
and I'm saying,

"Manny, you gotta cool it."

"Don't sit up on the table
and cross your legs like that...

...in a lotus position, Manny."

"You can't do that, Manny, you know?"

"You can't catch flies with the glass."

"You know, you can't ...

"... when people are shooting pool
you can't bang the stick, you can't..."

He's doing all these crazy things -

"Manny you can't do that!"

I knew there was something wrong.
but I couldn't put my hand on it.

[sniffles]

And nobody told me to look out
for these symptoms ...

... these symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Your brother might have
these symptoms - look out!"

I let Manny get away from me.

He started going out on his own,

He started bathing less.

He started dressing bizarre...

... hair style ...

And my little brother was out there

in limbo land

fighting these battles.

One day I got a call from my wife Linda.
She says "Did you give Manny any money?"

I says "No, I didn't give him any money."

She says, "Well he's got some money."

"He's been giving it, buying the kids ice cream
when the ice truck comes around...

... bunch of nickels.

When I came home that night,
looking for Manny -

- I was working the night shift -
Manny was nowhere around.

I started thinking,
where Manny getting money from?

I said, let me go in the closet ...

... where's Manny keeps his stuff ...

... see if I see any...

... maybe I can get answers.

And I just happened to move aside
an old coat.

And in that old coat
- that coat had a hole in the pocket -

and that cigarette lighter came tumbling
out of that coat pocket, and hit the floor ...

... with a thump.

I picked up the cigarette lighter
- one of those old flip-tops when you put the fluid in -

I flipped it open, man, and there it is.

I mean, it didn't even work and...

... and I looked at the cigarette lighter

and the cigarette lighter had "LS."

LS... LS...

I couldn't sleep. I got back out of bed,
said let me start shaving,

so I started shaving,
thinking about Manny.

Where's Manny, where's Manny,
where's Manny, where's Manny?

About four or five o'clock now.
Manny never showed up.

And then it hit me:

Leah Schendel had been to Reno,

pulling the one-armed bandits.

LS...

It hit me right then.

I went over to where my wife was asleep,

I got down on the foot of the bed...

... beside her,
and I was... I was praying.

I was trying to pray myself
out of this nightmare that...

Before I woke my wife and...

and it wasn't to be.

I woke her, I says, "We gotta pray about this."

Then I says, "Manny, he's done something.
Where's Manny?"

"Manny's done something terrible."

So we talked about it.

We agonized over what we're gonna do about it.
We're so scared.

Now at this point I'm scared:

What's Manny gonna do?
Come home and hurt me now?

And hurt my wife and the kids?

And, um ...

That's when we decided, well,
we gotta do the right thing.

We gotta call the police.

I went down to the police station

and ... and they ...

They treated me like ... like ...

... like I was the cock of the walk ...

... the man of the hour ...

and to be celebrated.

They patted me on my back.

I got a ...

... sandwich and a cup of coffee...

... and I cried.

I was so grateful for these cops,
you know.

They're gonna ... they're make it right ...

somehow ... somehow.

Finally,

... after about two to three hours of interviews,

tape recorders, and this and that,

I heard this click-click!

I look and I seen a cop
pull out his automatic rifle,

check it for bullets, slam it back in...

The detective that was interviewing me
pushed back from his desk,

he pulled out some keys,
unlocked the door,

he pulled out his big revolver,

open it up, check for bullets, put it in.

I seen about four, five cops
loading up their guns

and I go,

"Please don't kill my brother!"

I says, "I come here this morning
because somebody died."

"I want that to be the end of death and dying."

"I don't want my brother to die.
Don't shoot my brother."

And they say, "We are not gonna
shoot nobody, Bill."

"You know, we're not gonna shoot your brother."

I said, "I got an idea where he's at. He's ..."

"I think he's at my sister Donna's house."

"And if you let me get over there ..."

I says, "I'll get him out of the house."

"I'll tell him that we are going
to play some pool."

"And then you guys can get him
when he gets out of there."

We drove down
- it was raining cats and dogs that day, man -

It was just pouring rain.

We go up there...

... Manny's up with the kids ...

... and its raining...

and he had the sheets on the ...

He was playing with Pom Pom and Chucky

and he was making these little dudes
tents and stuff,

and they was having a good old time.

I could hear him yelling
and I knocked on the door...

... and there's my brother
in the sheets with these kids.

I says "Brother...

"I'm'a teach you how
to play pool this morning."

I lied to my brother...

[sighs]

... on his last day of freedom.

Oh god,

what will my neighbors think?

Will they think that I'm a bad person,
that we're bad people?

Um ...

What will my mother think?

Would she understand that...

I had to do what I did?

What would Manny think?

He didn't see the cops -
they were behind these hedges.

We walked towards them...

We got up next to them
and they just sprung out.

One cop grabbed his arm and says,

"Are you Manuel Babbitt?"

"Yes."

And I says, "Brother -

"these are good cops.

"They know about your battle -

- Vietnam -

"and they know about
that one in your head.

"And they are gonna give you
some help, brother."

I looked down and said,
"Brother, please forgive me."

He looks up at me and he says,

"You're already forgiven, brother...

"I forgive you."

If I had'a given Manny a bus ticket
and get him out of Dodge,

I would have Leah Schendel's
blood on my hands.

Or maybe some other
innocent person might die...

because I took the low road

and didn't tell the police what I knew.

I had to be responsible.

And then they took us down to the station,

they interviewed him for a long time.

I went in there ...

...and, uh ...

and they asked me if I could
get him to confess.

And I went in there and uh ...

I noticed they had taken his socks off

and he was shivering,

So...

I went over to the window
and I knocked on the window.

They came to open the door
and I says,

"Can you please give my brother
his socks back?"

You know what? He gave his stockings back?

He gave the stockings back ...

on his bare feet.

He put his stockings on ...

I knew everything
was gonna be alright.

I knew it was gonna be alright.

I told my family it's going to be alright.
It'll be alright.

The cops told me,
"He's not going to get the death penalty.

"This is not a death penalty case."

They really believed that Manny
would not go to Death Row.

We had to go down to talk to a lawyer.

I trusted this lawyer because, um ...

... uh ...

He looked like one of those lawyers
you see on TV.

I mean he was tall,

he was blonde,

fancy suit on...

I'm thinking he's about something.

He had an office right across the street

from the county courthouse.

I'm thinking this is cool, you know -
he's a good lawyer.

He told us what the case was, he says,

"They got special circumstances
on your brother.

"They're going for the death penalty."

I go, "What?

"But the cops!

"There's a cop ...

"... he knew ...

"This will be no death penalty case.

"He'll go to a hospital."

Well, the cops did not
deliberately lie to me.

But when the district attorney
got hold of it ...

... she thought otherwise.

Political season!

When it's time to pick the cherries,
time to pick the oranges,

you head for the fields

and you start picking ...

... and you enrich yourself.

And that's what they did
with the death penalty.

When I asked the lawyer,
during the courts, I says,

"I don't see any blacks
being seated on the jury."

And he told me that he did not trust...

... he used the N word.

I guess he must have figured ...

he could use the nigger word
and feel comfortable.

When they got time to try Manny,

the defense treated me
as a defense witness,

the prosecution treated me
as a prosecution witness.

So I am witness for the prosecutor

that put the rope around Manny's neck,

and I'm witness for the defense

to take that rope off Manny's neck.

Now I'm on the other side now.

I...

I couldn't deal with the prosecutor because he ...

... he kept trying to make me look
like a bad guy.

Making my mouth feel dry,

scaring my heart.

He was trying to take away my heart ...

... my sincerity.

Would the judge have to
admonish the prosecutor -

"Give Mr. Babbitt a chance to answer."

After two tours of duty in Vietnam,

five major battles,

all that he went through -
his wounds,

shrapnel in his skull,

and they're saying that

post-traumatic stress disorder
is a bunch of crap.

It's... it's... he's...
He's masquerading...

and... and he's a monster,

and he needs to die for what he did?

I felt that justice would prevail...

... and, uh,

it did not.

One of the regrets that I have is

I didn't spend more time with Manny

because I...

took it for granted that he wasn't going nowhere.

And I...

I took it for granted that ...

sooner or later he'll be down in a place
where we could take him lunch.

He won't be in a prison,
he'd be in a hospital...

I had hopes, you know.

We...

We heard about...

They were going to get...
Manny was gonna get his Purple Heart.

I say, "Sure enough, that's
going to stop Manny's execution."

Manny comes in shackled...

The Marines salute my brother Manny,
the condemned.

And Manny tries to salute...

because his hands are...

... tethered to his belly chain.

He tries to salute...

and my mom goes,

"That's my son...

"I'm proud of my boy!"

Then they took the medal off of Manny
when it was done - the ceremony -

they gave it to my mother,

they brought Manny off to his cell.

He puts 20 years in jail,
from 1980 to, uh, May, 1999...

... when he was executed.

I told Manny, "I'm'a be there Manny.

"You look at me...

"and we'll talk."

And he told me, "No...

"I'm not gonna look at anybody."

He said, "My eyes gonna be closed."

He didn't want Donna to see him dying...
... my sister.

I didn't want Donna to see what I saw...

Her last image of Manny

when Manny was making her kids
squeal with delight,

that he made those little tent sheets
out of sheets...

... the day he was arrested.

That's the memory she has of Manny,
his last day of freedom.

You know...

That's the memory she has of Manny.

Okay...

Now it's time to die. I'm gonna bring
you around the time to die, okay?

We make our way to San Quentin prison.

We go up and, uh...

they take my wedding ring and my watch.

They patted us down...

They told us what to expect
when we go there...

and how we can behave
ourselves and don't make...

... or be disruptive, or we will
be moved from the viewing area.

So when I get up there,
I'm in a big white van

but in front of us there was another van

and that had the Schendel family.

They get out the van first.

We walk through this gauntlet
of correctional officers.

And you know something,
I'm looking at those correctional officers

and they're looking at me.

We're making eye contact.

I've seen sympathetic eyes.

They sat down the
Schendel family here.

The press was at Manny's head
and I was standing at his feet.

I had to stand...

... because they didn't give me no chair.

The only noises you could
hear then is the pipes -

water, air going through
the pipes... and steam.

You could hear the pipes
clanging like, you know...

things unsettling,
and... and...

And I'm watching my brother.

He's just lying there
with his eyes closed.

And I'm looking at the Schendel family,

and they're staring at my brother, you know,

and I'm thinking -

I know they resent the fact

that my brother's dying
with white socks on.

He doesn't have no hand around his neck,
nobody's punching him in his face.

And I know they must really be
upset about that, you know.

Yes, they were victims.

They had a terrible loss.

But we're all partners in this...
this experiment.

We all got blood on our hands now.

And then when it was all over.

[sniffs]

I see my brother lying there
in his white socks.

[sniffs]
And, uh...

I knew my family was
out there by the gate.

And what they did is..,

they took my wife and I in a car,

and I...

I didn't go looking for my family.

My wife and I went down to Half Moon Bay.

They drove us down there
to this place on the beach.

and we spent a day down in Half Moon Bay
throwing rocks in the water,

skipping stones across the surf.

I knew that, um...

my family back home was in agony.

[sobbing]

I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry.

So guess what?

Here I am.

Here I am... implacable.

I'm'a tell it.

Thank you for putting that box
out there in front of me,

so you stand on this box
and tell that story.

Thank you for that rooftop.

I can still see Manny...

... lying on the gurney on his birthday.

And then I see Manny lying in the casket
on Mother's Day in Wareham Massachusetts...

... because he died May 5th, 1999,

so by the time Mother's Day rolled around...

... here's my brother lying in a coffin.

You know, Manny's name
don't come up no more, you know?

My own family members, some of them...

... they... they don't wanna talk about it no more.

It's like Manny never even existed.

And...

What do I tell these people?
I'm sorry?