,
32 tweets,
5 min read
Read on Twitter
Two brothers, teenage boys with severe intellectual disabilities, were falsely convicted for the rape and murder of an 11 year old girl in 1983. The brothers spent 31 years in prison and on death row before they were exonerated based on DNA evidence inculpating another man. 1/
11 year old Sabrina Buie went missing in Red Springs, North Carolina. It was September 24, 1983. Two days later her body was discovered in a soybean field. 2/
The 11 year old was found naked from the waist down with her bra pushed up over the back of her head. Her panties were shoved down her throat with a stick and she had been sexually assaulted. 3/
The Red Springs Police Department and the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation worked together on the investigation. The day after the child's body was discovered, the investigators canvassed the neighborhood for witnesses. 4/
The investigators spoke to Henry McCollum, who denied any knowledge of the disappearance of the child. However, after a high school student told investigators she "heard at school" that McCollum had something to do with the child's murder police returned to McCollum's home. 5/
McCollum agreed to ride with the officers to the police station where he was fingerprinted and questioned. McCollum was 19 years old and suffered from severe intellectual disabilities. He scored 56 on an IQ test where anything below 69 indicates intellectual disability. 6/
In high school he performed at the level of 8-10 year old. McCollum had never before been in legal trouble. At 10:26 pm McCollum signed a Miranda waiver form and at 2:10 am he signed a handwritten confession (that we now know was false) that was drafted by Agent Snead. 7/
The confession described how McCollum and four other boys - Darrell, Luis, Chris and Leon were with the Buie at approximately 9:30 pm the day she went missing. That Darrell and Chris left to buy a six-pack of beer. 8/
When they returned all five discussed raping Buie because she wouldn't agree to have sex with them. Luis then left. The rest of the group walked to the edge of the woods with Buie and drank the beer. Darrell and Chris smoked Newport cigarettes. 9/
Per the false confession, McCollum grabbed Buie's right arm while Leon grabbed her left. The group of boys then took turns raping Buie with McCollum going third and Leon going last. After, Darrell said they had to do something to keep Buie from going to the police. 10/
Chris then tied Buie's pink panties to a stick and used it to choke Buie to death. While this was happening, McCollum and Leon then held Buie down while Darrell cut her with a knife. Darrell had blood on his jacket and Chris had blood on his sneakers. 11/
While he was being interrogated, his mother and brother, Leon, came to the station. Leon Brown was 15 years old and like his brother had been diagnosed with severe intellectual disabilities. He performed at 3rd grade level in high school 12/
Police began interviewing Brown. At 2:24 am Brown signed a Juvenile Rights Warning and at 6 am he signed a confession that had been drafted by Detective Locklear. Both brothers, McCollum and Brown, were arrested. 13/
Brown's confession also implicated Darrell and Chris, but made no mention of Luis. Also did not mention the stick used to force the underwear down her throat. Autopsy revealed Buie's panties were pink, not white, and she was found without any stab wounds. 14/
The (false) confessions of both brothers implicated Darrell and Chris in the rapes and McCollum's put Louis at the scene but police verified that Darrell, Chris and Louis all had alibis for the night of the rape and murder. 15/
The confessions were challenged in court but upheld by the judge as "knowingly and voluntarily" made. Thereafter, the brothers were prosecuted in a joint trial and both convicted. 16/
On appeal, procedural violations were found and the brothers were each retried, this time separately. Two separate judges upheld the prosecutor's reliance on the confession once again as "knowingly and voluntarily" made by the intellectually impaired brothers. 17/
McCollum was convicted of both her rape and her murder and sentenced to death. On Brown's trial, the trial judge granted defense motion to dismiss the murder charge and Brown was convicted only of the victim's rape. 18/
In 2009, Brown sought the assistance of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (NCIIC) who accepted his case. There was no DNA connecting the brothers to the scene. There was, however, DNA connecting a man - Roscoe Artis - to a cigarette butt found at the scene. 19/
Roscoe Artis had been known to the investigators. In 1984 he was convicted of a crime strikingly similar to Buie's rape and murder - the first degree rape and murder of Joann Brockman, also in Red Springs, North Carolina. 20/
Joann Brockman had been raped and killed on October 22, 1983, less than a month after Buie's murder. This was made possible because investigators had convinced the public through the false confessions they compelled that the murderers and rapists were already apprehended. 21/
Brockman's body had also been found naked except for a sweater and a bra pushed above her breasts, and an autopsy revealed she died from manual strangulation during sexual intercourse. 22/
Artis was tried and convicted of Brockman's murder in August 1984 by prosecutor Joe Freeman where Brockman was represented by Earl Strickland. A month later, Joe Freeman also prosecuted McCollum and Brown and McCollum's defense attorney was Earl Strickland. 23/
Why didn't the prosecutor connect the two incidences, aware of the facts of both cases? Earl Strickland also was bound by attorney-client privilege that would've prevented him from suggesting to the jury that his client Artis committed this crime. 24/
A reviewing court found that the favorable DNA evidence established McCollum's and Brown's innocence for the crime for which they were convicted and sentenced. In September, 2014 they were ordered released and charges were dismissed. Governor issued pardons in 2015. 25/
The brothers served 31 years each and had both been on death row for crimes they had not committed. But this story not over. The prosecutor who put the men behind bars, who eventually admitted they were innocent, will not admit their responsibility and compensate the duo. 26/
THAT is the reason for this thread. 27 tweets later. This is NOT just another of many tales of overreach by investigators, of incompetence and desire to win a conviction at all cost. Here there was serious dereliction of duty and it deprived two men of 31 years of freedom. 27/
They were released 5 years ago and STILL have not received any compensation for the wrongs attended to them by the investigators and the prosecutors. There is considerable attention in this country on criminals who won't accept responsibility for their actions. 28/
The government concedes they prosecuted innocent persons wrongfully but wants IMMUNITY FROM JUDGMENT. The same agency that argues daily about how there must be consequences to deter future wrongdoing, argues there must be no consequences for its own wrongdoings. 29/
The appellate court denied the relief sought by the government and moved the litigation forward (reminder, it's been 5 years already) to have the factual disputes resolved by a jury. See: law.justia.com/cases/federal/…
If the jury returns a verdict against the government, the government can again tie the case up in appellate litigation, further delaying any relief for the brothers who spent 31 years in custody for crimes they did not commit. 31/
It is a maxim of jurisprudence that "Every wrong has a remedy." However, prosecutors, judges & lawmakers have created a perversion of justice that is resistant to accountability for its wrongful acts. Without any remedy, wrongs will continue to be committed by government. 32/end
