Exonerated men speak out about wrongful convictions

By Cheryl Calhoun
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

Kerry Max Cook was sentenced to death row in 1978 for the murder of 21-year-old Linda Jo Edwards in Tyler, Texas. Cook, a former bartender, was sent to prison after his fingerprint was found on Edward's apartment door.

Clarence Brandley spent 10 years on death row for the rape and murder of Cheryl Dee Fergeson, a Conroe High School student. In 1980 Brandley, father of five, was the black supervisor of four white janitors at Conroe High School.

Both Cook and Brandley were exonerated after being wrongfully convicted of murder and spending a significant part of their lives on death row. The Communication Association of UH-Clear Lake recently sat in on a forum at the University of Houston Law Center with these men, along with the lawyers that freed them and judges and prosecuting attorneys. One of the subjects discussed was the media's involvement in wrongful convictions.

"As I sat in the courtroom I couldn't believe they were talking about me," Cook, son of a military father, said. "I was confident that the government would take care of it."

Cook is certain that the media played a role in his conviction.

"Every night as I sat in my cell watching Channel 13 they slammed me," Cook said. "How was I supposed to get a fair trial when every juror had already developed an opinion by watching the story on the news."

A police officer in Tyler said tests proved that Cook's fingerprint was 8-12 hours old. Later, the same officer recanted his testimony admitting that there is no way to calculate the age of a fingerprint and that the district attorney had directed him to lie.

Edward's roommate testified in court on the prosecutor's behalf when she pointed to Cook and said he was the killer. In the preliminary testimony the victim's roommate said she saw a silver-haired man, resembling the victim's married secret lover, leaving the scene before she found the mutilated body. Cook had long black hair.

Because the prosecutors led her to believe that the lighting in the apartment could have changed the hair color of the suspect, her trial testimony was contradictory to her preliminary testimony.

After four trials and coming within 11 days of being executed, DNA testing proved that Cook was not the murderer. In 1997 Cook was released from prison.

In 1980, the body of 16-year-old Fergeson was found in the school auditorium. The city of Conroe was terrified. Ten days before school was to begin, parents said their children would not go to school until the murderer was found.

All four janitors and Brandley gave head hair, pubic hair, saliva and blood samples and took polygraph tests. Brandley passed the tests. But in a hurry to prosecute someone, the court system chose Brandley without any evidence to prove he was the killer.

Many feel that he was prosecuted because he was black. In 1990 one of the white janitors was turned in by another janitor for committing the murder. Brandley's sentence was reversed and dismissed.

"Every night as I sat in that 5x9 cell, I was very angry," Brandley said.

At the time of Cook and Brandley's release the state did not indemnify the wrongfully convicted. Cook was given a check for $2.34 to reimburse him for his 22 years spent in prison. Brandley was sued by the state of Texas for $48,000 in unpaid child support.

The state now pays $25,000 per year to those who are wrongfully convicted.

Cook and Brandley participated in the forum because they want to educate the public on wrongful convictions.

There are many reasons why innocent people end up on death row - police misconduct, penitentiary snitches who are told their sentence will be reduced if they testify, racism and prosecutory misconduct just to name a few.

Since 1976, 784 people have been executed in the United States. Of the 784, 274 executions took place in Texas. Texas has exonerated 22 people while a total of 102 people have been exonerated nationwide.

Currently, there are 425 people on death row in Texas. The justice system is fallible. If it is correct 99 percent of the time, then Texas still has five innocent people on death row.

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