Crown Heights Page #5

---

Clarence Lewis, was deported

back to Haiti after serving

six years for armed robbery.

We have a statement from

the victim's brother, Leon,

who says he was on the scene

moments after the shooting.

Now, the other potential

witness who stands out,

Clayton Benton,

goes by "massup,"

told the police he was there

when Marvin was shot,

but he didn't see anything.

Hmm.

Whatever the truth is,

these kids know it.

Come on.

You gonna be good today?

- Huh? Huh?

- Yeah.

All right.

So serious.

Could I have a kiss?

- Bye.

- Bye, baby.

I'll pick you up after school.

Jim,

I need you to pull

someone's record.

I pulled his criminal record.

Ins, dmv.

It's all in there.

He's got a warrant on a grand

larceny charge in Brooklyn,

and ins has an open

deportation order against him.

He didn't show for any of

his court dates, and he skipped

on his bond.

Hold the door, please.

Where you been all day?

Working.

Working?

What's wrong with you?

What you talking about?

Your daughter waited outside

for an hour

before the school called me

at work.

You think that's safe?

Our little girl

standing outside

on the street like that?

You can't tell me

you care more about Colin

- than you do your own children.

- You know that ain't true.

Then why you do things

like this?

You know what my mother thinks?

She thinks you killed that guy

and Colin get caught for it.

She can't think

of any other reason

why you would keep this up

for so long.

What you want me to do, Briana?

You want me to leave him?

I can't just pretend

this situation doesn't exist.

Yeah, well,

this situation exists, too.

You better hurry up

and figure that out.

I'm sorry.

Hello. You have reached the law

offices of William s. Robedee.

Please leave a message

and we'll return your call.

Uh, hey, this is,

uh, Leon Grant.

Look, I'm not gonna be able

to help you with your case.

Uh... I just wanted to...

Reach out and respond

to your letter.

Leon, don't hang up.

Leon, are you there?

Yeah.

Thank you so much for calling.

Look, look, I'm sorry, but I'm

not gonna be able to help you.

I wouldn't remember anything

anyway, that was so long ago.

Please, just hear me out.

I'm very sorry

about your brother,

and I don't want to drudge

this up for you, but...

They have the wrong guy

in prison.

Colin Warner didn't do it.

If you look

at the autopsy report,

this wasn't a drive-by;

It couldn't have been.

It didn't happen

the way the police said it did.

Clarence Lewis lied,

and an innocent man

is doing a life sentence.

I can't imagine what you and

your family have gone through,

but this doesn't help

your brother.

I was around the corner

from my high school...

...when, um, Clarence Lewis

came up on his bike,

and he said,

"your brother got shot!

Your brother Marvin,

he got shot!"

He said, "i saw what happened. "

I thought I was outside

of my body, 'cause...

I couldn't believe that

my brother had got shot.

Police asked me

if I knew anybody

who might want

to kill my brother,

and I said,

"no, but my friend here said

he saw what happened. "

From that moment on,

they held on to Clarence Lewis

as a witness.

Were you present

when they interviewed him?

Yeah. They took us

down to the precinct, and...

I sat in the hallway

while they interviewed him.

They showed him mug shots

for hours.

Eventually, he just...

Pointed at somebody's picture.

You mean Colin Warner?

Yeah.

I remember detective cassel

raising his voice at Clarence.

"Did you see him with a gun?!"

Clarence said,

"no, I... I don't see no gun. "

And he said...

"What do you mean

"you don't see a gun?!

"If he killed him,

he had to have a gun!

Did you see a gun?!"

Clarence, you could hear his...

Voice quivering.

"I-i-i guess.

"I-i guess, yeah.

Yeah, i-i guess he had a gun. "

But I think at that point

he just wanted to go home.

- Were you ever questioned

by detective cassel? -Yeah.

He came by my house

the next day,

and he laid out four photos

on the table,

and he said, "do you know

any of these guys?"

And I said, "no, I don't know

any of these guys. "

And then he pushed

Colin Warner's photo

out of the lineup.

"You don't know this guy?

You never seen

this guy before?"

And I said...

"I might have. "

You know,

"i might have seen him before. "

I... the only reason

I said that was

'cause he was badgering me.

I wanted him to stop, so I told

him what he wanted to hear.

And then he said,

"well, that's the guy

who shot your brother. "

And then he...

Took up the photos

and walked out the house.

I need to track

down a Haitian citizen.

His name is Clarence Lewis.

This is his deportation record.

He was sent back to Haiti

in 1988

when he was released from jail.

Are you a relative?

No, but I'm investigating

a case he's involved with.

I'm sorry.

We cannot give that information

out to non-relative

- without authorization.

- This is incredibly important.

Can you please just see

if there's an address for him?

- I'm sorry, I really can't.

- Listen, this man lied

and put my husband in jail

for 20 years,

and I need him to come forward.

Please.

He's listed as deceased.

It says he was murdered

in port-au-prince in 1994.

I'm so sorry.

Thank you.

- Hello?

- This is Anthony Gibson.

I got your letter

about Colin Warner.

Could you hang on one second?

Bill?

- Bill!

- Yeah?

It's Anthony.

Do you remember

the events of April 10, 1980?

I remember it

like it was yesterday.

And my cousin had been shot

a few days before.

When you left the house

with a gun,

what were you intending to do?

I had every intention

of killing Marvin.

Or anybody else

who was involved

with killing my cousin.

Yo, Marvin, wait up.

Yo, Marvin!

I heard Spangler's dead, man.

You know who did it?

Can you show us

how you shot him?

I touched the back

of Marvin's head with the gun.

And that was that.

Was Clarence Lewis present?

No, he was not.

He lied at the trial.

What about his testimony

was a lie?

Everything.

He wasn't there.

You know, the real witnesses,

they never took the stand.

When was it you first heard

of Colin Warner?

You know,

right after my arrest,

they showed me his picture

at the precinct...

And asked me if I knew him.

And I tell them I never seen

this man before in my life.

I want to talk to you

about the case.

- Anthony show up?

- Yeah, he came in today.

Then that's it, then, right?

You got everything you need.

That's... that's what

i want to talk to you about.

We need a witness

to come forward.

You really need to keep

dragging people into this?

No, it's not that simple.

You see, Anthony's statement

doesn't have any legal merit.

You can't try someone twice

for the same crime.

A judge will just look at it

and say...

He's just trying to get

his friend out of jail.

You got to understand.

We're asking the state to admit

that they were wrong.

If they can find a way out,

they're gonna take it.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes