Episode 35: Chicken on the Bone Air Date: October 2, 2019
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Episode 35: Chicken on the Bone Air Date: October 2, 2019 Mina Hadjian: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Mina Hadjian. And I'm Chief and Editor of RøverRadion, Norwegian Prison Radio. [Speaks following statement in Norwegian, with same statement in English overlaid]. This episode of Ear Hustle contains language and subject matter, including a graphic description of suicide, that may not be appropriate for all listeners. Discretion is advised. [00:00:22] [Abstract industrial sounds, whirring, cranking metal, chains, door closes shut and fade out] Lieutenant Sam Robinson: [00:00:29] I remember first day on death row. As a brand new cop, you know that they're all there for committing very, very heinous, violent acts and the people that have created people's nightmares and horror stories. As soon as you open the first door, that guy walks out of the cell. It's not just one of ‘em. It's a whole building of ‘em. How can that not be intense? [00:00:54] [Quiet synth version of opening theme begins] Nigel Poor: [00:00:56] You’re now tuned into San Quentin’s Ear Hustle from PRX’s Radiotopia. I'm Nigel Poor, a visual artist, now podcaster. My inside co-host Rahsaan “New York” Thomas will not be hosting this episode with me because San Quentin is now in lockdown. You will be hearing his voice on the tape asking some questions though. But to tell this week's story, I've got this guy here. [00:01:20] [Synth fades out and melancholy piano version of theme begins] 1 Earlonne Woods: [00:01:21] I’m Earlonne Woods, a podcaster and former resident of San Quentin. And together, we're going to take you inside and back outside again. [00:01:30] [Opening theme intensifies with addition of percussion] Nigel: [00:01:41] On this episode, we're talking about what it's like to live with a death sentence and beyond. [00:01:46] [Opening theme continues] [00:01:57] [Sound of chain dragging followed by abstract industrial sounds that fade out into an echo] Watson “Al” Allison: [00:02:04] Around 2:30 in the morning two of the sheriffs just came and told me, “hey, we finna transfer you.” Waiting on them to return, you could hear them dragging chains and handcuffs and stuff down the tiers. They were on the way to come get me so, uh, I got all chained up and one side of the cell they put on leg shackles with, uh, padlocks. With each step the lock would bang against your ankle. Man, that's a– it’s an annoying pain. When I got to the bus, I was actually the last guy on. The regular guys were already seated when I come up on the steps. One of the sheriffs let the other one know, uh, he said, “nd of the row” and I asked him, actually, what did that mean? He said, “well, a death sentence the end of the row.” [00:02:52] [Voices chattering interrupted by louder voice calling out command, followed by repetitive banging sound] Al: [00:02:55] We got to San Quentin. It was after dinner. Two guards came and got me and took me up to the fourth tier. I looked around and said like, “Man. I'm actually here. I am one that could actually be put to death at any time. [00:03:09] [Medium paced synth with hopeful tone begins] Earlonne: [00:03:11] There are over seven-hundred people on death row at San Quentin. They're not part of the main line though. So, you rarely see him, except maybe when they're being escorted to Medical, or something like that. We’ve said this before death row is a prison within a prison. Nigel: [00:03:26] Here's what's odd about that. There's a lot of guys up there, but there hasn't been an execution at San Quentin for thirteen years since 2006. That's when a federal judge ruled that the way California put people to death, the particular mix of drugs used in lethal injection, was unconstitutional. Earlonne: [00:03:45] A few times in the past decade California voters have narrowly voted to keep the death penalty. In fact, in 2016 voters passed a measure to speed up the appeals process for people on death row. Nigel: [00:03:57] And man, that shocked me because, basically, voters wanted people to die faster after they were sentenced. But earlier this year, the new governor, Gavin Newsom, unexpectedly called for a moratorium on executions in 2 California. That didn't do away with the death penalty or with death row. It just means he pushed pause. Earlonne: [00:04:16] With that moratorium, you think the death penalty in California was on his way out [Nigel affirms]. But if you look at history, one thing's for sure, public opinion, laws and policies, are always changing. Meanwhile, the residents at San Quentin experience the issue very personally. Lonnie Morris: [00:04:33] After each execution is an eerie quietness, like something is missing. Earlonne: [00:04:38] That's Lonnie Morris. He's been in prison for forty-two years. Thirty-eight of those years in San Quentin. He was there when execution started up again in 1992 after a twenty-five year pause. Lonnie: [00:04:51] The first person they executed when they started the executions back up in California was a gentleman by the name of Robert Alton Harris. On the night that Robert Alton Harris was to be executed, they locked us down. I was in my cell. So I started, from the time I locked up, I started to kind of, I hate the term, but what we call the death watch, you know what I’m sayin’? You know, watching the news and see how this situation was going because we knew that his lawyers was gonna try to get an injunction against the execution, right? Every news channel was, you know, tuned to it. When the United States Supreme Court said no more stays, that was like, oh my god. They just said, “I don't care what you come with, he dyin’ and he dyin’ before sunrise this day.” [00:05:43] [Quiet, atmospheric synth tones begin] Lonnie: [00:05:43] I didn't know Robert Alton Harris, but the process was something that I knew that this was gon’ be heralding the death of other people that was on death row. [00:05:43] [Quiet, atmospheric synth tones continue, followed by abstract industrial sounds] Al: [00:06:05] I thought it would be relatively quick. Five, six, seven years, somewhere around in there. And when I there, I met guys that have been there, uh, since like ‘78, just waiting around. Nigel: [00:06:21] This is Watson Allison. We heard him earlier. He goes by Al and in 1984, he was sentenced to death for felony robbery murder. [Speaks to Al] Were you people's nightmare? Al: [00:06:32] Um...some. My, um, the victims of my, my life crime, yes. I was. Earlonne: [00:06:44] Al had been on death row for more than four years when he got his first date. What's called a death warrant. It was one of several he'd get. 3 Al: [00:06:53] I was on the yard. “Lieutenant wanna talk to you.” He sent for me to come out. “Come in.” And um, he told me the governor just issued, just issued a death warrant for you. So...you want to sign it? I'm like ‘nah, I refuse to sign it.’ But, it’s gonna go on whether you refuse to sign it or sign it. [00:07:13] [Somber synth music begins] Al: [00:07:15] There was a choice: cyanide poisoning or lethal injection. So, you make your own choice or, uh, staff members make, make the choice for you if you decide not to choose. [00:07:30] [Somber synth music continues] Nigel: [00:07:34] And, oof, this is a gruesome question to ask– I'm sorry. Did you select how you were gonna be executed? Al: [00:07:41] No, I didn't don't do that. The, uh, the guards and the lieutenant. Nigel: [00:07:46] Do you know what they chose? Al: [00:07:46] Um, cyanide poison. Earlonne: [00:07:50] The gas chamber. Al: [00:07:50] Yes. [00:07:52] [Percussive synth music with low, repetitive beat begins] Nigel: [00:07:55] In 1938, the gas chamber replaced the gallows. To hear more about this history, we have to reopen a book that some listeners might remember from a previous episode. Earlonne: [00:08:04] The San Quentin Story by Clinton T. Duffy. It was published in 1950 and it's about Duffy's experience at San Quentin as he moved up through the ranks and finally became the warden. [Percussive synth music with low, repetitive beat ends] [00:08:15] [Eerie, atmospheric synths begin] [00:08:17] [Narration simulating voice of Duffy] I remember seeing the dumpy little riveted steel cell the day it was delivered at the San Quentin docks on a barge. It weighed somewhat over two tons without its grim accessories and the state paid a Denver firm five thousand sixteen dollars and sixty-eight cents for it. Another ten thousand dollars was spent installing the gas chamber.