Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story (2020) - full transcript

I want you to start
with the night of August 6th, 2004.

I was with Kut, a pimp.

He said that I needed to get some money.

This defendant shot Johnny Allen
in the head, in his bed,

but gives a wild theory
of how it was self-defense.

I shot him because I thought
he was gonna shoot me.

We, the jury, find the defendant,
Cyntoia Denise Brown,

guilty, first-degree murder.

If you are a juvenile

and you're convicted in Tennessee
of first-degree murder,

the only two options are either true life
without parole or 51 years.



Hey, Mommy.

Well, I got life.

Outside of the glass
and the bars,

we may never be
like a mother and a daughter should be.

Here's a kid who didn't have a chance.

She didn't have a chance
before she was born...

I got pregnant
on my 16th birthday.

I drank,
and I was introduced to crack cocaine.

My mother, we didn't live
in a very stable home.

It came from genetics,
and the genetics should stop.

Cyntoia Brown, in prison
for more than a decade now,

her case is catching fire on social media.

Cyntoia made the decision to seek
the help of the governor

and petition for clemency.



In 2004, she
was considered a prostitute.

Today, she would be considered
a victim of sexual predators.

She has made
the most amazing transformation.

I have come such a long way.

It's been a very long time.

When I was 16, I did a horrible thing,

and I have carried that with me
this whole time.

I know that your decision is very serious.

I do pray that you show me mercy
and that you give me a second chance.

My name is Cyntoia Denise Brown.

I'm 16 years old.

We are in Nashville, Tennessee

at the Davidson County
Juvenile Detention Center.

I was charged with homicide and robbery

and possession of a weapon
and criminal impersonation.

Most of my life, I've been feeling
how everybody else wants me to feel

and saying what everybody else
wants me to say.

That's because I was
so wanting to be loved

because I really just never felt like
anybody loved me.

I wasn't happy at home.
I was stressed out all the time.

It just kind of wears you out and tires
you out, ages you, makes you grow.

Old... tired, weary.

That's how I feel.

I just keep setting myself up for failure.

I fall every time,
and each time I fall harder.

And I'd say this has been
my hardest fall.

Cyntoia is charged
with criminal homicide,

especially aggravated robbery,

a handgun possession,
and criminal impersonation.

The most serious of those being
the criminal homicide charge.

She's charged with an offense
that happened on the night of August 6th,

and she's been in here,
in the Juvenile Justice Center,

since August 8th when she was arrested
by police on the charge.

The state has announced an intent
to attempt to transfer her

to the adult system to treat her
as any other adult charged with homicide.

In Tennessee, juveniles
can be transferred on any charge

if they're 16 or older.

Cyntoia is right there
on the dividing line.

We've had people in Tennessee
as young as 12 years old before

transferred on homicide charges.

My job is to show the judge
that Cyntoia is worth saving.

In juvenile court, she would receive
the services that she needs

that will be identified by the doctors,
I hope, after her psychological testing.

That's where Dr. Bernet and Dr. Walker
really come in.

They can identify
what the problems are with Cyntoia,

why she's acting the way she is
and whether those problems can be treated.

Cyntoia has been seen
by several different psychologists

and different people
conducting evaluations.

She's in even more trouble
than anybody really ever imagined.

Cyntoia, did somebody explain to you
why I'm meeting with you today,

why we're having this evaluation?

Because of what I did.

Yeah.

You know, the purpose
of doing this evaluation,

it might be able to help you
when you go to court.

I want to get straight...

who's in your family.
You have sort of a complicated family.

Yeah, my mom, Ellenette Brown.

- What kind of work does she do?
- She's a teacher.

Gina, is this your biological mother?

Yeah.

-Gina as in Gina...
-Georgina Mitchell.

-How old is she, do you think?
-She's probably 32.

Yeah, do you know how to tell?

Because she had me
when she was about 16. I'm 16.

Right. That's right.

Does that seem sort of funny to you
that your mom was 16 and now you're 16?

- Does that...
- I guess. I don't know.

- Does that seem sort of strange?
- No.

Do you know anything
about your dad?

Mm-mm.

- Some people have mood swings.
- Mm-hmm.

Have you ever had
that happen to you?

Do you know what a mood swing is?

- Yeah, I have them all the time.
- Yeah.

Can you tell me about them?
What happens when you have a mood swing?

One minute, I'll be happy,

and then I'll be depressed
and sad and gloomy.

And then I'll be mad,
and then I'll be back happy.

And then I'll be just kind of depressed...

and different type of stuff like that.

These times when you get
real depressed and you cry nonstop,

how long does that typically last?

Does it last a day or week
or two, three weeks?

Anywhere from a day to hours to weeks.

The longest was for like a week and a half
I cried.

Mm-hmm.

What happens when you get real happy?

That's very often... I mean, very rare
that I get just real happy.

If I'm talking to someone and having
a good conversation, I'll be happy.

What about times
you get real, real angry?

When I'm locked up.

I don't like people telling me
do this, do that,

you need to do it this way,
not the other way,

and you need to be like this,

you shouldn't think like this.
I don't like it.

It fucking drives me nuts,
and I can't stand it.

Mm-hmm.

Well...

I got a lot of information here,
and I'm gonna have to talk to Dr. Walker.

And then I'm gonna talk to Kathy Evans,

and then we're going to try
to do something that might help you out

when you go to court.

Do you think you can?

Cyntoia, this first thing
I'd like you to do

is kind of a test of your imagination.

I'm going to show you some pictures,

some cards with pictures on them.

I want you to make up a story
about each picture.

Please tell me
what's happening in the picture,

what led up to the scene
and how the story ends.

Tell me what the people are talking about
and what they're feeling.

Use your imagination and remember
there are no right or wrong answers, okay?

-Tell me a story about this one.
-Oh, shit.

I think she killed the little girl.

- Say again.
- She killed the little girl

because I see some blood or something
right here, and now she's feeling bad.

She's just realizing what she's done.

Tell me a story about this one.

Well, I think
they just got to arguing.

And she really doesn't want him
to kiss her,

but he's forcing her.

This slut is telling her
to give her the money.

This bitch is sitting back enjoying it.
I hate people like that, swear to God.

And they're doing it because she's black.

She probably was friends
with these two girls.

They just used her so they could get
what they wanted out of her.

Did you talk to Dr. Walker
this morning?

I have not talked to him yet.

He's drafted up some results here,

but basically, the testing
is totally consistent.

On the testing, she was honest,

and so in other words,
it appeared to be valid.

The Roberts Apperception Test
is the one where you show

the pictures of the situations,
and the person makes up stories.

He said it was very striking.
All her stories were chaotic,

and none of them had a resolution.

They were all violence, aggression,

an unusual degree of negative emotion,
anger, rejection.

I mean, this is her view of the world.

How did this manifest itself
when this guy Johnny was killed?

See, I think that some
of these characteristics

affected the behaviors.

Her affect of instability, in other words,
becoming suddenly frightened

about the situation she was in
and her paranoia.

Now, what can we do with all this?

She's 16-and-a-half.

She is.

So if she were to stay
in the juvenile court,

she would be under the control
of the juvenile court until she's 19.

I think that would be long enough to help
her get her situation under control.

She has a serious personality disorder
which requires therapy

in a good, wholesome residential program.

Tomorrow, we're gonna be going to court,

but today, we're gonna have an opportunity
to talk with her biological mother.

So that's kind of...
That's a little bit unusual.

Cyntoia was given up for adoption
about 14 years ago,

and her biological mother had not seen her
in all that time.

It would be helpful to know whether
there's any kind of mental disorder

among the biological family of Cyntoia.

It's really good to see you
before the hearing

because there are a few things
that I wanted to find out

or ask both of you about.

And I guess I'm kind of glad
that you all could say hi to each other.

I guess you haven't really seen each other
for a long time.

It's been a long time. Yes, it has.

- Yeah.
- Fourteen-and-a-half years.

Mm-hmm.

Ms. Mitchell, I'll tell you
what I would find helpful

is how things went yesterday
when you saw Cyntoia. How'd that go?

I was real excited and real happy.
And I had been waiting a long time.

And I was just so glad to see her.

I know Ellenette has provided for her,
and I thank her for that.

I’m glad you met. Was it like...
How long did y'all...

Oh, for a long time.

Um, I could see, you know,
the traits she has.

It was like looking at me
at that same age.

The ups and downs,
anger one minute, happy the next.

You know, she wanted to know
about our side of the family and...

Let me just ask you
about some family history stuff

because, you know, sometimes, when people
have some sort of mental problem,

sometimes it runs in families
because of genetic things.

My mom shot herself.
She sent me next door

when I was in second grade,

and she shot herself in the stomach.

My mom and her mom, both of them,
they're drunks, suicidal.

She took a shotgun
and blowed her chest away, killed herself.

Your mom had a biological brother

who had some problems as well,
mental health problems?

I know about these, yeah.
Um, all of them do.

And see, that's why I left, because...

I prayed to God that...

I didn't wanna be like her.
I didn't wanna be like none of 'em.

Right.

Can you tell me what she was like then?
What kind of baby was she?

Oh, she was a good baby.

She was real good.

It just got really hard,
and I felt like I just...

You know, I couldn't do it alone.

-Eighteen months.
-We had her off and on

since she was six months old.

What happened after that?
I guess when she got in high school,

- or junior high, there were more serious...
- Well, yes.

When it started was,
she had gotten herself

kicked out of regular school
into alternative school.

That was the first time
she had initially run away

because she was afraid to come home.

And she was gone for, I think,
maybe a few days.

And she had someone to call me.

Mm-hmm.

I said, "Well, you know,
that only lasts for a little while,

but your place is here at home.
You have to go to school.

You can't, at 12 years old...

There's no way in the world
you could take care of yourself."

So, of course she agreed,
you know, and she came home.

And then from that point on,
it was just like every day,

every other day,
every month, every other month,

it was just something,
just something constantly. Constantly.

- Meaning more and more behavior problems?
- More and more.

It's like the behavior problems,

that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg,

because after that,
she'd gone back to alternative school

and then left school again,
and the police called me.

Mm-hmm.

I think Cyntoia

had just pretty well, at that point,
made up her mind.

- I think it was too structured...
- Right.

...for her, you know?

And toward the end,
she didn't want to be at home.

She had said to me that, "I knew
I couldn't smoke, I couldn't drink."

She said, "And I knew I couldn't get high
because you wouldn't allow that."

I felt that
this is what I had to do for me.

Mm-hmm.

Basically, the conversation
that we just had here today,

that's the exact conversation
I want to have in court.

If you guys could try to be as
conversational as possible with the judge.

I think that you...

I'm past it, you know. I mean...

- I'm very proud of you guys.
- My past is my past, you know, and...

- Mm-hmm.
- You know, I've moved on, you know, and...

Like I said, I appreciate,
you know, what she's done for Toia.

I'm sorry that, you know, she had
to go through that with Toia,

-the way Toia ended up.
-Mm-hmm.

- But you know...
- Yeah.

...my life wasn't easy either.
And you know, it's a trait thing, I guess.

Mm-hmm.

The issue in juvenile court is

whether Cyntoia should remain
in juvenile court

or whether she should be transferred
to criminal court.

If she stays in juvenile court,
then she'll undoubtedly go

to some sort of juvenile
detention facility until she's 19.

If she is transferred to adult court,

the only sentence that first-degree murder
carries is life in prison.

It's going to be an uphill battle.

Not only do I have to show

that Cyntoia has
identifiable mental health problems

and circumstances that can be corrected.

But I also have to show
that it's worth doing that

in a case where
a gentleman has been killed.

All right.

We are here this afternoon, I believe,
in the matter of Cyntoia Brown.

It's my understanding this is set
as a transfer hearing. Is that correct?

- Yes, Your Honor.
- So are we ready to proceed?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Yes, ma'am.

- You are Cyntoia Brown?
- Yes, ma'am.

I have your date of birth listed
as January the 29th, 1988.

-Is that correct?
-Yes, ma'am.

- That makes you, what, 15?
- Sixteen.

Sixteen.
Do you understand why you're here?

- Yes, ma'am.
- All right.

This is not a hearing to determine

if you're guilty or innocent
of the charges against you.

The only purpose of today's hearing

is to determine
where your case should be tried.

Whether it should be heard
here in the juvenile court,

or if your case should be transferred
to the criminal courts

and you should be tried there.

I want you to start
with the night of August 6th of 2004.

Where did you begin that evening
around seven o'clock?

I was in the hotel room.

- Okay, and who were you with?
- Kut, Garion.

And who is Kut?

Kut was someone
that I was dating,

but he kind of turned into, like,
what other people would look at as a pimp.

Do you look at it as a pimp?

During the time, no.

Changes were happening so fast, I didn't.

What about now?

Yes, now that I look on the situation,
I do.

What were you doing with Kut
in the motel room at the Intown Suites?

We were either getting high
or having sex. That's all we ever did.

What did he say to you
that evening?

He said that I was slipping and that
I was starting to become a slouch,

that I needed to get out and get
on my grind and get some money.

When I left, I was looking for a ride
so I could go out to East Nashville.

Who were you going
to see in East Nashville?

I wasn't going to see
particularly anyone.

I was going to an area that I knew was...
A lot of people go there and prostitute.

Where did you walk to?

I made it to the Sonic before
someone asked me if I needed a ride.

Okay. When you walked
up to the Sonic, who approached you?

A man in a white truck.

Is this the person that has
been referred to throughout this hearing?

- Mr. Allen, the deceased?
- Yes, ma'am.

What did he say to you
when he pulled up?

He asked me if I needed a ride.

- What did you say?
- I told him yes.

The question came up,
was I up for any action?

And the action, I guess you should know
that it was insinuating sexual.

Did you know that
when he said that?

Yes, I did.

And what was
the next part of conversation?

- Business.
- What did he say?

Well, he asked me how much,
and I told him 200.

And he said, "No, 100,"
and we decided finally on 150.

Where did you go next?

We went to his house.

Who made the suggestion
of going to his house?

He did. I had actually suggested
the hotel we was right there at,

but he didn't want to go to the hotel.

He said he wanted to go to his house
because there was no one there.

Did he tell you who he
lived with or anything like that?

He said he lived by himself.

You're in the car, you have
your food, and you're on the way home.

What kind of conversation did you have?

He was just basically talking
about himself

- and who he was, things that he did.
- What did he tell you he did?

He told me he was a real estate agent,

and he said that he did
a lot of volunteer work and stuff,

and he was real important
in the community.

He was just finished telling me
about his accomplishments

and saying how that he used to be
in the Army,

because I mentioned
that I was from Fort Campbell.

And so he related to how he was
an officer in the Army before

and that he was a sharpshooter
in the Army.

And then he had told me how a lot of women
want him for his money

and that he wanted someone
to make love with him with desire.

Okay. Did you see
any guns in the house?

Yes, I seen
two shotguns downstairs,

and he showed me a chrome gun
with a black handle.

Where were you
when he showed you that?

I was sitting at the table,
eating my food.

Okay. And how were you
feeling at that time?

He was, like, controlling.
He reminded me of Kut a little bit.

I start feeling nervous,
then I kept feeling more nervous

as he started talking
about the guns and stuff.

I was really shaky.

Do you usually go with people
to their homes?

No.

Have you done this,
prostituted before?

- Yes.
- Where have you done it?

- In hotels.
- Okay.

And what did you do then?

I asked him if we can go downstairs
to the living room and watch TV.

- And what did he say?
- He said sure.

Were you still feeling like you
didn't want to go through with having sex?

The whole reason
I went downstairs to the living room

was so I'd be closer to the door.

Okay.

And so by the end I was like,
"Well, you know, I'm tired.

Can I just go to sleep for a little while?
I haven't had sleep in a while."

So I was hoping
maybe we'd both fall asleep,

and while he was sound asleep,
I'd just sneak on out.

And so then we went upstairs.

Do you tend
to be a nervous person?

- Yeah.
- Did anything make you

- especially nervous that night?
- Just how he was acting.

Just how he talked.
It's like the way he talked...

how he was just so important and stuff.

And then me, I look at myself.

Who am I? Who am I to him? It's like...

Then he talks about the guns and stuff.
If he does something to me,

I'm sitting here thinking,
what can I do?

I'm in his house.
Ain't nobody gonna know where I'm at.

My mom and them,
they don't know where I'm at.

The people that I stay with,
Chico and them, don't know where I'm at.

Nobody's gonna know what happens to me.
Kut, he doesn't care.

He doesn't even know who I left with.

And all this is running through my mind,
and I'm just a nervous wreck.

What happened next?

What happened next,
about the fifth time he got in the bed...

It's like, at first,
he was just stroking me,

but then it's like
he just grabbed me, like,

in between my legs, like,
he just grabbed it real hard.

The whole time, every time he touched me
I'd just move and act like I was asleep.

This time I just...

Like that, and I turned over real hard.

And he just gave me this look.
It was, like, a very fierce look.

And it just sent
these chills up my spine.

I'm like, "Oh, my God.
He's fixin' to hit me."

I'm thinking he's fixin' to hit me
or do something like that,

but then he rolls over

and reaches to the side
of the bed or something.

I'm thinking he's not fixin' to hit me.
He's fixin' to get a gun.

What did you do at that time?

I just grabbed the gun, and I shot him.

Mr. Allen was asleep
and facing away from you

- when you shot him.
- No, sir.

All right, what I want you to do
is to explain to the Court how...

You have a gun in your purse
on the nightstand.

- Correct?
- Right.

You don't want to do this.
You don't want to be here.

So you felt like, if you tried to leave,

- he would harm you.
- Right.

And your belief in that is based
on the fact

that he told you he had some guns
and he's a sharpshooter.

Not only that
but the way he was acting.

Well, all I know about
his activities is what you've told us,

and that's really all we'll ever know...

- Right.
- ...since you killed him.

Your testimony today is that you felt
he'd harm you if you tried to leave,

but you felt comfortable not only getting
in the car and going home with him,

-but getting into bed with him.
-The reason that I was acting asleep

was so he would go to sleep
so then I could leave.

Or... or, Ms. Brown,
was it that so he would go to sleep

so you could shoot him
and take all his stuff out of the house?

Why would I want to shoot somebody
for no reason? That doesn't make no sense.

Well, why did you shoot him?

I shot him because I thought
he was gonna shoot me.

It would be a shock to me
if I get transferred.

With everything that was said last night,

I can't see
how that didn't touch the judge.

And how that couldn't wave
her opinion to think,

"Okay, if I have the power
to change this child's life,

I'm not gonna throw it away."

Hopefully, she's thinking
along those lines.

I can't see why she wouldn't be.

You know, we'll never know
what actually happened in Cyntoia's case.

You got paranoid that he
was gonna do this, and so you shot him.

But then you go and take
his wallet, his truck,

and that casts big-time doubt
on your motives there.

Those are her facts. I don't necessarily
agree with those facts.

You remember
the transfer hearing?

Jeff Burks,
you know the hostility between us?

He cross-examined me.

And he was questioning me
like I was before the jury, was he not?

Adversarial proceeding,
that's what it's not supposed to be,

and that's what it was.

It was a fucking trial,
and the same issue was,

was it premeditated or self-defense?
That was the whole issue, wasn't it?

That's the issue at this fucking trial.

This is my diary.

I just write little things.

I'm on my seventh page,
telling my lawyers everything about me,

what started from day one,

so they can know... get a feel of me
to work my case better.

I know they care for me,
and they want the best for me.

'Cause I'm really expecting to go home
or hoping to go home.

My biggest challenge for now is gonna be
to keep from going crazy.

I'm not a murderer.
I didn't viciously murder that man.

Why do y'all say that about me?

Her new attorney is Wendy Tucker.

And a couple months ago,
Ms. Tucker sent me a message

asking me to continue
with this evaluation.

And so now the questions
are somewhat different

because she's gonna go
to a criminal trial.

Cyntoia is charged
with first-degree murder.

If the defense can show
that she did not premeditate,

then the jury would say she does not meet
the criteria for first-degree murder.

The definition depends on the mental state
of the person who's committing the act.

So let's talk about

- the waiver of Miranda rights.
- Okay.

Now, my understanding
of kind of the legal threshold is

that the phraseology has to be done
in a knowing, intelligent

-and voluntary manner.
-Right.

Did she knowingly, intelligently,
and voluntarily

waive her right to remain silent?

I don't think it was knowing.

You know the whole thing
about when you make a statement

that they read you
your rights and stuff like that?

I know when they arrest you.

-I've seen it on Cops.
-Right.

They did it to me, but I didn't know
it meant that you can be quiet.

Right. That's...

"You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be held against you."

And all that, but I don't...

That's what
we'll talk about right now.

Says here, "You have
the right to remain silent."

Do you understand that right?

-Yes or no?
-Mm-hmm.

"Anything you say
can and will be used

against you in a court of law."

So tell me in your own words
what that means.

Whatever you say, it'll go to court.

Man, I wish I'd have paid attention
to this stuff.

Do you wish to waive that right
and answer questions now?

-Say yes or no.
-Yeah.

"You are entitled to consult
with an attorney before interrogation

and to have an attorney present
at the time of the interrogation."

-Tell me in your words what that means.
-You can have a lawyer there with you.

Does it tell you a certain time
when you can have a lawyer?

When they start asking questions.

"If you cannot afford
an attorney,

one will be appointed for you."

If you're broke,
then you can get a free lawyer.

Does this mean you're not gonna promise me
anything as far as helping me if I talk?

But you just promised me that.

Right.

And that's saying that no one has promised
me that, but you have.

Well, I'm sure that we're gonna...
we'll do everything we can to help you.

If we can, you know...
anything we can to help you, we will.

Tell me how this...
how all these questions I was asking,

how do they fit into your situation?

I don't know.

See, right now, I see it,
and I understand them.

But then I didn't understand.

-I was high, and I was tired.
-Tell me about these...

Plus, they said that,
if I told them, they could give me a deal.

What was he talking about?
What kind of deal?

About time, and then he said,

"No, I promised
that I would talk to the DA for you."

But that wasn't the same thing he said.

He said, "I promise you that,
if you talk to us, cooperate with us,

we can get you a deal."
I said, "Do you promise?" And he said yes.

What does it mean when he says,
"I'll talk to the DA"?

I don't know. I'll talk to him about you...

He might talk to him every day
about the weather or the football game.

Yeah, but he meant that he'd talk to him
about getting me a deal.

But what... what would
the deal be? What kind of deal?

Like less time to serve.

Because if I didn't, he said
nine times out of ten I was gonna do life.

So, did he say...

And they screwed me
because I might be doing life anyways.

They told her that
they were gonna go to bat for her and...

Let me stop you right there
because that's real important.

Because when I watch the tape,

it proves that she's telling the truth.

There's some discussion
in the very beginning.

- Something happened.
- "You did promise me something."

Right, that comment by her,
as soon as I heard it, I said, "Damn!"

Then they said,
"Well, we didn't promise you anything.

We simply said
that we would talk to the DA."

- They acknowledged that they...
- Would talk to the...

In their view, they would say
that we would talk to the DA,

but in her view, they said, "We will talk
to the DA and get you a better deal."

She did really poorly on...

her belief that the right thing to do,
the correct thing to do

is to tell the police everything you know.

-When you take the results of the test...
-Mm-hmm.

- ...and add to it the promise implicitly...
- Right. Right.

Then she's doubly mistaken.

She comes into the room
with this kind of false belief

that you're better off if you talk
to the police, and on top of that...

they mislead her.

I think it's a double...
I think they combine.

It's two very large men
interrogating her too, by the way.

Yeah.

"When it comes to the charge
of first-degree murder,

we, the jury, find Cyntoia Brown guilty.

When it comes to the charge
of felony murder...

we, the jury, find Cyntoia Brown guilty.

When it comes to the charge
of especially aggravated robbery,

we, the jury, find Cyntoia Brown guilty."

Those are the words I fear most,
more than anything else in life.

I really fantasize
about getting out a lot.

I think that takes
a lot of my time, daydreaming,

and I know
I really shouldn't be doing that

so I won't get upset
if that doesn't happen.

But I just can't help it.

I think the 16-year-old Cyntoia
was more reckless.

She'd say anything, do anything,
just wild.

I don't think that I'm an adult yet.

I wouldn't even say a young adult.
I'd say I'm coming into adulthood.

But the 18-year-old Cyntoia, she really...
She really thinks... She understands now

that what people think of you
and your impression on other people

is very important in life sometimes.

Maybe some other 18-year-olds can handle
being at a murder trial

and not getting upset
when people sit up here

and throw bogus lies about you,
but I can't. It's hard for me.

I think I'll feel more fear and anxiety
when I get upstairs

and put on the clothes
and get in the actual courtroom

when I see the jury.

It's hard for me to look at them
'cause I don't know,

should I look at them?
Should I not look at them?

You gotta think about how you look
and make sure you're not doing nothing.

And you got to make sure
you don't make no faces or nothing.

And you got to really control yourself.
That's kind of hard for an 18-year-old.

We need to add probably self-defense
in the jury instruction.

Some of that's gonna come out.

All rise.

His Honor, J. Randall Wyatt...

Johnny Allen...

was a realty agent
in the Antioch-South Nashville area.

This defendant, Cyntoia Brown,
shot Johnny Allen in the head,

in his bed, in his home,

but gives a wild theory
of how it was self-defense.

At the end of the day, you will hear
the medical examiner describe

how Johnny Allen's hands were
in this manner here when he was found.

We'll ask the medical examiner
what that means in this case.

We submit that, at the end of the proof,
you will hear that Cyntoia Brown...

cruelly and mercilessly
executed Johnny Allen.

We'll ask that you convict her
at the end of the proof. Thank you.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, you will learn

that Cyntoia Brown certainly had
her issues.

She was a 16-year-old runaway.

She was living on the streets

with her 24-year-old boyfriend,
Garion McGlothen.

You will learn that his nickname
on the streets was Kut-Throat.

And you will learn that
that was a very appropriate name for him.

Since running away, Cyntoia Brown
had been beaten... pimped... and raped.

And when she felt that Johnny Allen moved,

she was sure that he was gonna get a gun,
rape her, kill her, something.

She was sure that she had to react,
and she made a split-second decision

to choose between safety
and Johnny Allen's dark side,

and she chose safety.

At the close of all the evidence,
Mr. McGee will stand in front of you,

and he will request that you return

the only just verdict possible
in this case.

And that is a verdict of not guilty
on all charges for Cyntoia Brown.

Thank you.

Detective Robinson, let's go back in time.
August the 8th, 2004,

3:28 in the morning.

Because it was in the interview room
at the police department across the street

that you and Detective Baltimore
questioned Cyntoia Brown.

Yes.

Before the tape got turned on
in this case,

you spoke to Cyntoia Brown off-camera,
didn't you, sir?

Very briefly. Whatever I said
to Ms. Brown was very brief.

"We're gonna go back here in this room.
We're gonna talk,"

and it wasn't long at all.

We see on the tape, and we heard
on the tape the process beginning.

When you got to that portion of the form,
detective,

where you read no promises or threats
have been made,

Ms. Brown interrupted you.
We saw it on the tape.

-Didn't she?
-She did.

She said, "Promises of what?"

- Remember saying that, detective?
- I recall telling her

that we will let the district attorney
know that she cooperated with us

and gave us a statement and indicated

they usually take that into consideration.

We're talking about lying.

That is a technique
that you have been trained to use.

- Right?
- Exaggeration, yes.

My name is Dr. Amy R. McMaster.

I'm the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner
for Davidson County,

and my official duties are to investigate

causes of sudden, unnatural
or unexpected death.

How would you describe his injury

as to whether he would be able to survive
if for any period of time?

No, with this wound, Mr. Allen...

This would've been
an immediately fatal wound.

His hands are clasped
in the photographs. Do you see that?

Yes, I do.

Do you have an opinion

as to whether his hands were clasped
at the time of his death?

Mr. Allen would have been
in this position

at the time that the wound was inflicted.

Because of the nature of the wound,
I would not expect Mr. Allen

to have any type of voluntary movement

or be able to move his extremities
or his body in any way.

Could you please state
and spell your name for the record?

Yes, my name is Ellenette R. Brown.

Do you know Cyntoia Brown?

Yes, I do.

- How do you know her?
- She is my daughter.

- Is she your adopted daughter?
- Yes, she is.

Do you talk with her on the phone
and keep up with her?

Almost daily, yes.

Judge, at this time,
we're gonna ask for the main exhibit

we be allowed to play this
for the jury, in which she refers

-to executing Mr. Allen. Is that correct?
-Yes. Yes.

They have
nothing else to do but to provoke you.

The more time you get
the better it is for them.

Now you understand
why I'm so depressed,

- I have nothing to do.
- Well...

I have to think
about that every day.

- What?
- Me facing life.

I probably won't have a life anyways, Ma,
it don't matter how I behave.

You don't understand.
I killed somebody.

- I know you did.
- I executed him.

Why do you
say stuff like that, Toia?

You're making it so easy
for the prosecution.

But, I mean, it's not my fault.

That's what I'm sayin'.

I've been facing life since day one.

Well, see,
I wasn't thinkin' like that.

Every single time, when you visited
that you talked about her situation,

Cyntoia told you that she shot Mr. Allen
because she was fearful of him.

- Didn't she?
- Yes.

So when you had
this phone conversation,

and she said the words,
"I killed a man. I executed him, Mommy,"

did you think that was some sudden change
of her confessing to you what happened?

No, um, Cyntoia has a way of taking things
out of context.

Not so much as her trying
to confess to me.

All she wanted was to be able to do
what she's done times again,

sit on my lap, talk to me, let me know
what's going on, how she's feeling.

And saying, "I know what my outcome is,

so you go on and you do what you
have to do. Don't waste it on me."

One of the things Cyntoia Brown
counts on today, is banking on,

is that you will drop the common sense
you've had all your life

when you come through that door.
She's counting on it.

And she's counting on you
to look at this picture...

and believe that the person that did
this damage to another human being

was acting in self-defense.

Shot through the back of the head?

Hands like that?

The medical examiner's opinion?
Not... Not...

That wasn't really challenged yesterday.
You remember that.

Medical examiner's opinion was
he was in this position when he was shot.

As you go through that door
and into that jury room,

I ask that you recall that one passage.

"You don't understand what I did, Mama.

I killed a man. I executed him."

We've spent four days proving

what she says in that phone call
to her mother was absolutely accurate.

She executed Johnny.

Johnny Allen was a man...

who by day was a mild-mannered
real estate agent,

who went to church, taught a Bible study.

But there were times in his life
when he was certainly not that man.

What 43-year-old men are driving around

on a Friday night to Sonic's

and driving home with young girls,

girls described as so young
the waitress said,

"I thought she was his daughter
or his niece."

She did take some items after the fact,
and she's guilty of that.

I'm not trying to tell you
Cyntoia Brown is an angel.

We never have.

We've told you from the beginning
that she was a 16-year-old runaway

doing the best she could,

and on August the 6th,
she thought she was gonna have a night

where she would be safe.

She was wrong.

As to these charges of murder, not guilty.

As to this charge
of especially aggravated robbery,

not guilty.

Not guilty. Not guilty!

That was not her intent when she shot him,
and you know it. And you know it.

One minute, I think they're
gonna convict me of voluntary manslaughter

and theft,

and the next minute, I think
I'm gonna be found guilty of all charges.

Just thinking about it,
I don't know, it gives me the chills.

He's the best, though.

...it's bizarre.
There's no grocery stores...

Has the jury arrived at a verdict
in this case?

Yes, sir, we have.

Please stand and tell the Court
what that verdict is.

We, the jury, find the defendant,
Cyntoia Denise Brown...

count one, guilty, first-degree murder.

Count two, guilty of felony murder.

Count three,
guilty of especially aggravated robbery.

This is our verdict
this 25th day of August, 2006.

Thank you.

Hey, Mommy.

Fine, what are you doing?

Well, I got life.

Yeah, it's over with now.

I'll be fine.

Yes, ma'am.

Mama, don't stress yourself out.

I don't want you having a stroke
and a heart attack or nothing.

'Cause that's the only thing
that would get to me.

And I have one mama.

So...

Yeah.

And even if it is, my life's not over.

And I will get old.

So, this is just a change of plan.

I love you too.
Tell Uncle Frank I love him.

And tell him we still have things
that we could do.

Yes, ma'am.

Lo...

Love you too.

Okay.

Right.

Bye, Mommy. I love you too.

When I got the phone call,

it was early in the morning,
you know, about 6:00 a.m.

When it all finally sank in...

the worst feeling was like someone
was just ripping my heart out.

It hurts me that she's been placed
in such a serious situation.

Amidst it all, I'm still here, you know,

and I'm coping the best that I know.

I think the biggest surprise to me
was probably the sexual part in her life.

No parent wants to think that
their young daughter is experiencing sex,

especially at such a young age,

and then to find out
that there's been many boys and men.

I feel sad that there's a possibility
that outside of the glass

and the barbed wire and the bars

that we may never actually be...

like a mother and daughter should be.

This is real.

If she's ever here in this house,
she may not be here with me.

That's very real to me.

And I think about that all the time.

I think about it all the time.

I got pregnant
on my 16th birthday.

I was confused, misled, misguided.

My mother, we didn't live
in a very stable home.

The home was stable,
but my mother was not stable.

The mental health problems
all start with her.

You'll be able to see that for yourself
within two minutes of talking to her.

So I got the attention that I needed
from friends and from male companions.

I was drinking and smoking marijuana.

And my mom had vodka.
They had liquor in the cabinet.

And I would take the vodka,

and I would be blitzed
by the time I got to school.

When I got pregnant, I was...
I was drinking.

I could drink a bottle that was this big
by myself.

Pretty sure she won't be happy
to see me.

But, you know, it's vice versa.

If I had it every day,
I could drink it every day.

If I didn't have it, we were definitely
gonna find a way to get it.

I drank for about eight months
of her life, and the eighth month,

that's when I was introduced
to crack cocaine.

I was 17 years old.

And so when I got introduced
to crack cocaine,

I also got introduced to the easy money
on how to get it, which was prostituting.

I was raped repeatedly, guns to my head,
robbed, everything.

And so, December the 13th, 1988...

that's when I went to jail.

If I don't say too much around here,
it's best.

Because, if she gets started,
it's just gonna send me into a whirlwind.

I'm gonna go berserk.

I already know it.
She knows how to push my buttons.

She knows which ones to touch.

And it doesn't take very long
'cause we usually can't stay

around each other
no more than five or ten minutes.

Toia, I talked
with her attorney in the beginning.

As the young attorney did say,
being in the state of Tennessee...

had a lot to do with the trial.

We can't change anything about it.
But this girl's young.

I'm not saying you should say, "Here,
go right out here and start living."

I think she should be released gradually.

So she understands herself...

knows how to handle it.

What are you saying?

She may have to be on some types of drugs
all her life.

She is. We are.

Well, there's nothing wrong with that.

I've been taking psychotropics
since I can... remember.

Do you see anything wrong with it,
if you have a problem?

-It's no more than having...
-I could understand one or two people

being throwed off,
but the whole damn family? Come on now.

The fruit does not fall
too far from the tree.

I think that my mother
probably should have had a hysterectomy

when she was 16.

Now, I really think that

because, see, if I had been
as educated then as I am now,

I probably would not have had my children

and put them through
what they have gone through.

And I think a lot of it is genetics.

This family probably needs therapy
more than... You know, to bring it closer.

I'm not gonna sit in no room
with all of my family.

I can't do it. I won't even go to...

I do one-on-one.

I'm not gonna sit...
A group of crazy people cannot tell me

what the hell is wrong with me.

Patsy Cottrell, who was
a court of appeals judge in Tennessee

and the widow of Ross Alderman,

who was the public defender in Nashville
at the time Cyntoia was first charged,

called me to say that this documentary was
gonna be shown at the Green Hills theater

as a part of the film festival.

So I went on a Saturday afternoon,
I think, in April of 2010

to see the documentary,
and it was amazing.

That story moved me
because you could just...

You could see that this young woman
didn't get a fair shake.

There was more to this story
than the courts knew at the time.

So I reached out to my best friend,
Houston Gordon.

I had not seen the documentary
at that time,

but he had it to take home and look at.

He told me about the alcohol abuse
of her mother.

In fact, Dan Birman's interview
with Georgina Mitchell, Cyntoia's mother,

gave the history of the alcohol abuse.

Here's a kid who didn't have a chance.

She didn't have a chance
before she was born.

She didn't have a chance
after she was born.

And that affected her
all the way from the transfer hearing

all the way through, quite frankly,
to the present.

Once she was convicted of those crimes,

it was 51 years before she's eligible
for parole, 60-year sentence.

We spent a lot of time and money

to find the very best experts
on the fetal alcohol syndrome

who could come
and evaluate Cyntoia specifically

and talk about the science of the brain.

She still has that...

-impulsive...
-She does.

...piece that really worries me
that, you know...

We developed a plan to take this back
to the criminal court in Davidson County

and to ask for post-conviction relief
and to present our case.

When you look at all this,
was it a fundamentally fair trial?

And, you know, of course,
I'm passionate about it,

and we believe that we have a good chance
of convincing the Court of just that.

I've questioned out loud,
how am I gonna do this?

How am I supposed to do this time?

Am I supposed to spend
the rest of my life in prison?

'Cause it hurts.
I want to go home, and I can't.

My 22nd birthday was kind of hard
because I looked at it like

I was supposed to be graduating college,
but I'm in here.

It's made me stronger. It's made me wiser,
more resilient at times.

I'm actually going to college. Surprise!

How are you?

-Good. How are you?
-I'm okay.

Lipscomb University,
they come out,

and they hold class here once a week.

And yeah, we get to obtain
an associate's degree

in Letters, Arts and Sciences.

That's what I'm doing right now.
That's what my life focus is on right now.

I'm also still trying to get back in court
and work on my case and stuff.

This is a case that,
not only would make a difference

hopefully for Cyntoia,
but may make a difference

for these thousands upon thousands
of children

who are born in situations
that they can't control.

Good morning to everyone.

We're ready to get started on the hearing,
and good morning to all the lawyers here.

- Good morning.
- Mr. Gordon.

- Mr. Charles Bone, go right ahead.
- Thank you.

I'm here with Mr. Bruno and Mr. Gordon,

and we're pro bono counsel
for Cyntoia Brown.

We intend to show to the Court today

that Ms. Brown's sentence
that was received in this court in 2006

is the functional equivalent
of a life sentence without parole.

Your Honor will have
the opportunity to hear

the first really extensive discussion
and diagnosis

of a Tennessee juvenile

with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder,
FASD.

Unfortunately, the content
for the presentation of this information

and these findings must come
in the context that Cyntoia suffered

also from the ineffective assistance
from counsel.

And at the conclusion of the hearing,
we believe Your Honor will find

by clear and convincing determination

that Cyntoia Brown deserves a new trial.

As the Court knows, probably recalls,

I was assigned to juvenile court
at the time this took place.

I did the transfer hearing in this case.

I have known this case
for eight years now.

This evidence of fetal alcohol syndrome
that's about to be presented to the Court,

I would ask the Court to look closely
at its reliability

and whether it would have been admissible
in the trial if shown.

The bottom line is that the allegation
here is that Rich McGee and Wendy Tucker,

two attorneys very well known
to the Court,

were ineffective
in not presenting evidence.

We will contend that it is impossible
to show that there was a deficiency

in the representation she received,
or that, if there were, it would...

The lack of it would have
resulted in a different outcome.

Ms. Tucker, at the time
of your representation of Ms. Brown,

were you familiar with the disease
of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder?

Had you ever heard of that
or knew anything about that?

I am sure I had heard of it.

I know I've never presented a defense
regarding fetal alcohol syndrome.

I don't know if I ever had any clients

where it was something in their records
or not, but I'm sure I'd heard of it.

I became much more familiar with it
after Mr. Birman interviewed some people.

Did you seek the assistance
of any medical expert

in the area
of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder?

I did not.

Now, you were asked
about fetal alcohol syndrome.

Right.

Was that something you'd ever heard of
at this time?

I'm sure I'd heard of it
at the time.

Was it something that Dr. Bernet
ever mentioned to your memory?

Not to my memory, no.

Had a mental health professional
mentioned it to you,

you would have looked into it,
fair to say.

Yes, I hope so.

I wish they had. I wish I had.

What is
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder?

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
is referred to as an umbrella term,

and they all relate to the fact that
alcohol is a particularly heinous poison

to the developing fetus.

Tell the Court, if you would,

what the effect in general would be
on a fetus

whose mother was drinking

the way that Georgina Mitchell
has testified she was drinking.

Alcohol is considered

one of the worst toxins,
one of the worst poisons.

The brain is the organ
that's most negatively affected.

Did you make an examination

- and evaluation of Cyntoia Brown?
- Yes.

When did you do that?

June the 24th of 2011.

What conclusion, if any, did you come to
as to whether she had had brain damage?

Simply, Ms. Brown has

alcohol-related
neurodevelopmental disorder,

- and I would like to explain if I could.
- Please.

So she is seriously impaired.

If you just look at her cognitive
or neuropsychological testing alone,

the discrepancy between her tested IQ

and her other abilities
is really remarkable.

She does not function like a person.

Her functional abilities are terrible.

So terrible, they are equivalent
to a person with mild mental retardation,

and that is not inconsequential.

It's known that persons
with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

have a markedly higher rate of problems
with the law.

Was she suffering that
at the time

of August 2004,
at the time of this incident?

Yes.

Was she suffering from it
before then?

Yes.

- Is she suffering from that now?
- Yes.

Is that something she's going
to suffer the rest of her life?

More or less, yes.

Thank you, Your Honor.

We appreciate the opportunity
to bring these issues before the Court.

What is the clear
and convincing evidence here?

I believe that's our burden.
The clear and convincing evidence is

she has this brain damage.

She had it because her mother
admittedly abused alcohol

the entire time she was carrying the baby.

That brain damage has caused her
to not be able to control herself,

and when she sees chaos,
not respond to it adequately.

I appreciate the Court's attention,
and I respectfully ask

that, when we submit our proposals to you,
I know the Court will do justice.

A number of things I want
to point out to the Court briefly

about the evidence the Court has heard.

Number one, much of the basis
of what the Court's heard came

from the defendant's mother

who is an inmate in a federal prison.

Her assertions about what she did
when she was pregnant with Ms. Brown

could never be proven or disproven.

It would be argued to a jury
by any competent state's attorney

that these diagnoses by the scientists
seem to explain away

any bad behavior on the part of Ms. Brown

in her past
or in this particular incident.

A jury trial is not about giving the jury

a full and complete picture
of the defendant's mental makeup.

The jury trial is about
whether the state has

proof beyond a reasonable doubt
on the essential elements.

Thank you. All right.
The transcripts will be available

- the first Monday in December.
- Thank you.

And then how long did you want to prepare
your memorandum or whatever it is?

- Fifteen days.
- That's fine too.

What about Friday the 14th of December?
Is that enough time?

And then I'll take it under advisement,

and then sometime several weeks
after that, I'll reach a decision.

That's it. We'll close the court.
Court is adjourned.

Post-conviction relief,
the appeal of her conviction,

is a very limited opportunity for relief.

The judge acknowledged that she did have
alcohol-related disorder.

We proved
that she could not control her impulses.

I can tell you all kinds
of stuff about a long time ago,

but you can tell me right now,
"Cyntoia, don't do this.

Make sure you don't do this."
I'll say, "I know, I know. I got you."

And, like, two seconds later, I'll do it.

I mean, I don't know. It makes me
look at myself different a little.

You have to show
that no reasonable jury

would have found her guilty
if that legal error had been corrected.

It's a pretty steep hill to climb.

And so he denied the relief.

I'm having trouble
reconciling that.

So what does that mean?
I don't... I don't get it.

And it's... It pisses me off.

I mean, my life is gonna continue.

I'm not gonna stop
just because what they said,

but I mean, I'll remember it.

There's a lot of sadness
and lies and pain

and not knowing
what to do about any of it.

What can we do?

You know the sadness of Toia's eyes.

It came from genetics,
and the genetics should stop.

My life has been so horrible.

The rapes, the beatings.

I was a victim of that type of person.

Tommy came to my house,

and during the time
that I was washing dishes,

he grabbed me and snatched me

and started beating me
and drug me to the bedroom.

And he says,

"You're gonna get what you deserve."

And then... and then came...
came the rape.

I just lay there, and I cried.

And I pulled myself together,
put on makeup.

That's what abused families usually does
to keep anybody from knowing it.

I got pregnant from that particular rape.

But you know, you can use the word "rape"
in many ways

because I feel like all of us
has been raped of our life

when this incident happened to me.

You have to pack it back, and you have
to hide it so you can go on living.

When you go through therapy,
you have to close doors

and open doors and close doors.

These doors are never, never closed.

You never go on and say,
"Oh, I'm all right. Life is very happy."

No.

You carry it from then on.

And I don't know if there's enough love
or enough support that will ever...

help Gina or Toia or many other girls.

I don't think there's any hope
of either three of us turning back...

from the pain of what we've gone through.

It's just something we're gonna have
to live through one way or the other.

If my mama
would have been that role model...

there would be no Cyntoia Brown story.

I wouldn't be sitting here
talking to y'all.

Childhood abuse... molestation.

That's where a lot of hate
for my mom formed around.

His name was Walter.

He was a relative of the neighbor.

He molested me from the time I was
maybe six or seven up until I was ten.

And the places he took me
was no different from here.

I mean, there were woods.

If we didn't go to the woods
in his truck...

we were at his house.

I would just lay there frozen
and relieved when it was over with.

Then he would give me $20
and take me home.

That's sex trafficking at its finest.

I mean, when your own mother sends you out
to be molested by a man

after you've repeatedly...
and begged her not...

"I don't want to go. I don't want to go."

"You don't believe me?
Do you hate me that much?

Do you hate me that much
that you allow somebody to do this?"

You know, when you go through sexual abuse
as a child,

you go from being scared,

you build hate.

It's sad.

No child should have to go through that.

No woman should have to go through that.
No man should have to go through that.

Is it fair?

It's not fair at all.

But that's the world that we live in.

I think more
about how my actions

and my behaviors affect other people.

I think the fact that I realized that

is probably one of the biggest changes
between me at 28 and me at 16.

I care more about
how what I do affects other people.

I don't really deal
with a lot of people in here

who are doing stuff
they have no business doing.

Not only because
that's just not who I want to be,

but it's not the kind of stuff
I want in my life.

I go to college. I go to Lipscomb.

I've got a degree from Lipscomb,
but it's more than that.

It's about maintaining
positive, healthy relationships

with positive, healthy people.

Life in prison, it's not a life.

You have to kind of fight
to carve out a life for yourself

that has some kind of meaning, that has
some kind of worth and some kind of value.

I think that that's really
at the heart of rehabilitation

when you have been forced
to grow up in prison.

And I think that is really what was...
what was going on with me

and what was behind my change.

I don't want a life in prison.
I want to have a life.

Today, in 2017, Cyntoia Brown
would be classified a sex slave,

a little child manipulated
who didn't stand a chance

against the men who used her,

but that wasn't the case in 2004.

Filmmaker Dan Birman shared video
from his seven years

documenting Cyntoia Brown's case.

I want a second chance.

Cyntoia Brown. She's been in prison
for more than a decade now,

but her case is catching fire
on social media, #FreeCyntoiaBrown,

after being shared on Instagram
by pop superstar Rihanna.

Now celebrities like Rihanna,
T.I. and Lana Del Rey

are tweeting for clemency for Cyntoia,

a sex-trafficked teen
doing life in prison.

#FreeCyntoiaBrown became
such an amazing experience.

I guess there were a million tweets.

The attention
that Cyntoia's case has received

is an important worldwide event...

that provides an avenue
for consideration of children

across the world,
not just in the United States,

not just in Tennessee.

Cyntoia made the decision
that the timing was appropriate

to seek the help of the governor
because we knew

the governor was going into his last year
in office.

Governor Haslam will have served
eight years

in January of 2019.

Once all of your state appeals are over,
you then have a final opportunity,

I guess you'd say in criminal law,
to be heard.

We filed the petition for clemency

with the Board of Parole
and with the governor.

They don't do a lot of hearings
on clemency.

This was filed on behalf of Cyntoia
on December the 19th, 2017.

It starts interestingly with a letter
from Cyntoia to the governor,

why she thinks it's so appropriate for her
to be honored with clemency from him.

And then what we do is go through
her legal and procedural backgrounds.

It starts, as a matter of fact,

with the letter from the president
of Lipscomb University, Randy Lowry,

and speaks to her 4.0 grade point average.

And then many letters from people
in the community,

from the mayor, from the juvenile judge,
from advocacy groups

who say, you know,
she's the perfect person

to be considered for... for clemency.

Dr. Bernet, he said,

"Recently, I was contacted
by Ms. Brown's current attorney

who requested my support
in Ms. Brown's application for clemency."

Thirteen years had elapsed
between my meetings with Cyntoia.

I originally evaluated her
when she was 16,

and then I saw her a few months ago
when she was 29.

I think the most general description
is that she had grown up,

both intellectually and socially.

I think another general impression
was that she had learned a lot.

She had a broader understanding,
I think, of life and society,

that she was studying
interesting things in college.

She herself had gotten interested
in the problem of sexual trafficking.

When I interviewed her, she was
in the process of writing a term paper...

on that topic.

She managed to share
through her own experience

and through things she had read
and studied on this topic.

And she had a lot of really good ideas

for how to use that knowledge
outside of the prison.

Pardon and Parole Board...

they've made the decision to hear Cyntoia
on her request for commutation.

The governor has
the absolute constitutional right

to grant relief on commutation.

But before he will take any action,

he wants the opinion
of the Pardon and Parole Board.

And that's what we're going to do
this next week.

The purpose of which is to show
that Cyntoia Brown has been rehabilitated

since her incarceration

and that she can be
a useful member of society

and, in all likelihood, will be
if she receives a commuted sentence.

In 2004, she was considered
to be a prostitute

even though she was 16 years old.

That has changed.

If it happened today,
she would not be considered a crime

but a victim of sexual predators.

We are requesting
the Pardon and Parole Board

to recommend to the governor

that he commute her sentence
to second-degree murder.

If he does that, then that would make her
eligible for parole.

She will still have a criminal record.

She will still lose a lot of the rights
that ordinary citizens have...

but she will have an opportunity

to live a useful and productive life
outside of the prison system.

Today is May the 23rd, 2018.

We are conducting
an executive clemency hearing

at Tennessee Prison for Women.

This will be a commutation hearing
for Cyntoia Denise Brown.

Tennessee Code annotated 40-28-125A

authorizes the board to advise
and make recommendations to the governor

in respect to pardons,

exonerations and commutations.

The governor has said he will use
his clemency powers very sparingly.

Ms. Brown, you will be permitted
to speak and to present witnesses

on your behalf.

At this time, I'd like to allow
your counsel, Mr. Bone,

to give an opening statement,
and then, Ms. Brown,

we would like to hear from you
in your own words

about why you feel
that you are rehabilitated

and no longer a risk
to safety of the public.

So with that, Mr. Bone?

This is a story of transformation

in the life of a wasted child
who has become

a beautiful, intelligent, caring,
educated woman

who can make things better in this world,
and that's why we're here.

I just wanted
to say thank you, first.

I know a lot of people get to see you,
but I have prayed for a very long time...

to be able to meet with you.

And I know it's purely an act of mercy
that you even give me a hearing,

and that means everything to me.

What I did was horrible.

I killed Johnny Allen, and he's gone.
And it stayed with me this whole time.

I was locked up at 16.
It was like that was it.

I have no choice
but to live a different life,

and they've given me that opportunity.

They've given me that chance.

You know, I can't make up for what I did,

but they've given me a chance
to do so much more.

Whatever you decide, I respect it, but...

I do pray that you show me mercy
and that you give me a second chance.

In 2008, I was working
as a prosecutor

in the Tennessee
Attorney General's Office,

and the case of Cyntoia Denise Brown
was assigned to me.

And so it was my job
to represent the state in her appeal.

I read every page of the trial transcript,
and I examined every exhibit.

And I argued that she needed to spend
the rest of her life in prison.

Cyntoia, I met her in the spring of 2009.

I just went blindly into the class
not knowing who she was

and didn't know who she was for weeks

until, one day, I got a court opinion
in the mail.

I open the envelope, see what it is,

and there's Cyntoia's name on it,
Cyntoia Denise Brown.

And that was the first time
that I figured out

the Cyntoia Denise Brown
whose appeal I had worked on

was the same Cyntoia Brown
who was this luminous student in my class.

She got her copy of the opinion
the next day or a couple of days later.

She came to class
the following Wednesday night,

and we briefly talked about it.

I told her that I was sorry.

She said, "You were doing your job."

I could tell that she was hurt

because, on top of being disappointed
that her appeal just got denied...

now she has to go through
the rest of the semester

with the guy who argued,
"Yeah, 51 years is exactly right."

Justice is not just about saying,

"What crime was committed,
and how much time does this person get."

And having cultivated some understanding
about the context in which

her crime occurred,
but a lot of people's crimes occur,

I think justice is more about
trying to achieve the right outcome

than it is about alleging rule violations.

Time and proximity are funny things

because they can change
adversaries into allies.

Here I am ten years later...

not arguing against her
but arguing in favor of her release.

And I do that because I have borne witness
along with all these other folks

to the kind of person that Cyntoia is.

Ladies and gentlemen
of the board,

I am honored to come before you today

as Cyntoia Brown's juvenile court attorney
and friend of 14 years.

I would like to tell you
only about the Cyntoia Brown of today,

the remarkable woman
you've been hearing so much about,

but I would be remiss
if I did not also tell you

about the Cyntoia Brown
I met on August 9th, 2004,

three days after the horrible incident
that caused her to be in here.

When I represented Cyntoia
when she was 16 at the transfer hearing,

my goal was to really show
who Cyntoia was.

She had been through a lot
of really hard things in her life.

What really brought it full circle for me

was when I became involved
in the case again,

working with Cyntoia
and working on her clemency.

I realized that I was really using
the same strategy

that I had used
during the transfer hearing

to really show that she's a person
who can be in the community

and that she deserves to have a chance
to live a life.

When I was a defense attorney,

it always was very interesting
when people would ask me,

"Why fight for someone like that?

Why fight for a person
who has taken a life?

How can you defend
that person who's guilty?

What if they get out
and do the same thing again?"

- Hi, guys.
- Hi.

- How you doing? Good to see you today.
- Good.

Um, so we've been talking
about juvenile transfer

and the situation that you all are in.

Cyntoia's case fits into the issue
of sentencing reform

by showing us that
children deserve a review,

not necessarily parole or release,

but that all children
deserve us to take a look at them

after a fair number of years.

The community is ready to welcome Cyntoia
into its fold and to see her face-to-face,

not as the child she was in 2004,

but as the incredible, incredible woman
that she has become.

Thank you.

What I would like to do now
is go to the victim's side.

Just tell me your name,
if you would please,

and make any comment you'd like to make.

My name is Anna Whaley.

I'm a close personal friend
of Johnny

and his family.

Johnny has a voice,
and Johnny's family has a voice.

It's not been heard in all these years,
but today I am that voice.

Cyntoia has done great harm...

and Johnny did not deserve to die.

I hope...

I hope sincerely
God has transformed her life.

I do.

Johnny's life mattered.

Johnny was loved, and he is missed dearly.
And this is a very sad story.

Thank you.

I am ready to vote.

I'm going to agree to the commutation
of second-degree murder.

My recommendation
to the governor will be

to recommend changing
Defendant Brown's parole eligibility date

to August of 2029, in other words,
after serving 25 years.

My recommendation to the governor
will be to decline your application.

So you have heard
all of the different recommendations

that will be going to the governor.

We will do a report.
He will decide what he will do.

As we said earlier,
this is a recommendation to him.

-He makes the final decision.
-Thank you.

We end up with a divided group
in terms of the decision that they made.

Two who thought to lower the sentence
from first-degree to second-degree

and two who thought her term
should be lowered to 25 years.

And then two who thought
there should be no relief.

We don't know.

So we'll see what the governor says.

How things have changed for me
the last 14 years?

There has been times that, you know,
I really wanted to give up.

I allowed myself
to get in that place of despair.

But through it all,
I feel that I have persevered

because the one constant

that has always been in Cyntoia's life
has been me.

And I know, if I allow myself
to fall apart,

then who does she have?

Where are her hopes
and where are her dreams?

The emotional roller coaster
that I've been on is...

like nothing that you ever experienced.

Because, at this point now,
I don't allow myself to hope.

I want to and I do hope that, in the end,
everything is gonna be

the way I pray for it to be,
and that's to have her home.

And I'm thinking...

...it's gonna happen this time.

It's gonna happen.

And then it doesn't happen.

Going to see Cyntoia is...

...pretty routine for me.

I think the biggest change
that I've seen in... in Toia

since I've been making
this drive down here is...

She's more open.

You know, for a very long time,
she couldn't really

or didn't really express truly
how she felt about things.

We still don't know the outcome,
but now we can honestly say there is hope.

People know what has happened
in this state, and people are watching.

If he says yes,
Toia can walk out a free woman.

It's gonna hurt us all if he says no.

We're leaving the office now.

We're going to try to communicate
to Cyntoia

the decision that the governor has made.

Do you know
what building we're going in?

Yeah, we're going in
where we've always gone in.

The visitation building?

The governor's lawyer,
Dwight Tarwater, called

and said, "We want y'all to come
meet with us tomorrow morning,

but you can't tell anybody.

This is a strictly private meeting."

We went in to see Dwight,

and he says, "Hold on a minute.
Let me go see if the governor's ready."

We didn't have any idea
we were gonna meet with the governor.

Can you imagine holding your breath
for minutes while you're waiting?

And the governor said, "I want to tell you
what we're gonna do."

The governor is gonna commute
her sentence to 15 years.

And that'll end in August.

She's gonna move to the transition group
for the next seven months,

and she's gonna be on probation
for ten years.

Well, Charles
whispered in her ear.

We walked in. I got the first hug,
and I said,

"You're getting out in August,"
because I wanted it to just be.

You know, I didn't want any suspense.

So, you know, she started dancing.

She just couldn't have been more excited,
and it was just perfect, just perfect.

So she's really, really happy, so...

- Did she cry?
- Did she cry?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- Yeah. Yeah, everybody cried.
- Oh!

-Oh, hallelujah!
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I told her also to try to call
a little after 11:00,

and we might even be able to put her
on the speakerphone someplace.

You ready? Okay.
I'm gonna put you on speakerphone, okay?

We have a really large group, and...
but we wanted you to be able to say hello

and thank you to the people who are here

and the people who've been praying
for you all these years

- and so interested in your life.
- Yes.

I'm not gonna try to tell you
the people who are here,

but you can guess.

Oh, I love y'all.

- We love you!
- We love you too.

You said,
as soon as I come to God,

that He was gonna release me.
You said it.

It is the culmination of 15 years

of hard work and tears
and anguish and joy.

She has everything that she needs,
you know, to be successful.

How she uses it...

will be basically up to her.

Where the roads lead, I don't know,
but you know what?

I hope they lead to a rainbow for her.

I have come such a long way.
It's been a very long time.

When I was 16, I did a horrible thing.

And I have carried that with me
this whole time.

I understand the things that I've done.

That it was so necessary to change.

Everybody who's been here for me,

I would not be here
if it weren't for them.

Through everything
that's been shown today,

I'm not gonna let you down.

I have a whole new family,
a whole new community

of people who love me, who believe in me,
who support me.

There's so many things
that I understand now that I didn't know.

There's so many young people
that still don't know,

and I feel called to share that.

I don't take that lightly.

And I can assure you
that I will not let you down.

I promise.