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CNN Live Today

Interview With Marvin Anderson

Aired January 29, 2004 - 11:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Marvin Anderson spent 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before he was cleared by DNA evidence. Marvin Anderson joining us from New York, along with the co-founder of the Innocence Project attorney Barry Scheck. Gentlemen, good morning, a pleasure to have you here this morning.
Marvin, your story reads leak a true nightmare. Even worse than any kind of movie you can imagine. Basically, you're convicted in 1982. You had an alibi. Your girlfriend at the time vouched for where you were.

In 1998, another man comes forward being says he didn't do the crime, I did the crime. And still it took until 2001 for you to get your name cleared.

How do you keep having hope during this entire period and how do you not become so bit they're you just give up?

MARVIN ANDERSON, CLEARED BY DNA EVIDENCE: Well, when all this first began, my mother and family support was always there for me. And being raised as a Christian person, you keep -- you try to keep your faith.

During those years, did I lose faith at times, but I knew where I was from and what I had to do -- which was to believe in God and let Him do His work.

KAGAN: Barry, let's bring you in here. The list of crimes, robbery, forcible sodomy, abduction, two counts of rape. It's a horrendous list of crimes and a terrible thing did happen to this particular woman.

Marvin Anderson is a man who claims he was innocent. You must get thousand of claims from people who say, I'm innocent, I didn't do it. How do you know which cases to take and why was as his good one to take?

BARRY SCHECK, ATTORNEY: Well, our criteria at the Innocence Project is pretty simple. If a DNA test on some biology, whether it's semen, a blood stain, cells, hair, can prove somebody innocent, we'll take the case and do the test. We believe in the science of it.

But Marvin's case was unique because they kept on telling us that the evidence was lost or destroyed. But because Marvin and his mother Joan were such extraordinary people, even though generation after generation of law students were told, no, the evidence is destroyed, we just couldn't close the case because we knew he was innocent.

And sure enough, by sheer luck -- and it's shown in this wonderful Court TV movie, we caught this amazing break, where this serologist in Virginia, for reasons nobody has been able to figure out, actually took the swabs and stapled them to her written report instead of preserving them where they were supposed to be. Pure luck.

KAGAN: And how many years into it did that happen?

SCHECK: Oh, I guess -- what was it, Marvin, back 15, 16 years in? It was extraordinary.

ANDERSON: Yes.

KAGAN: Marvin, I'm interested in that particular day. Not necessarily the day that you got out of prison -- I do want to hear about that. But the day you find out, guess what? After years of hearing there is no DNA evidence, in fact there was something to do tests on.

ANDERSON: Well, on that day, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) called me. I was on my way home from work. And he goes, Marvin, how you doing? I said, Fine, sir. He said, I have a question for you. If there was evidence to prove your innocence, that you are already out on parole, would you still pursue to prove you're innocent?

And I said, I've been fighting for the last 16, 17 years to prove my innocence. Of course I will. And he said, OK, we found the rape kit and the testing so far has cleared your name from everything.

And at that time, I was traveling on the Interstate. I said, I have to pull over to the side. You know, give me a little time to absorb all of this. And I did so and he called me later on at home that night and that's when he -- when they told me what was going on. That they had found the rape perp kit, ran tests, and excluded me from being the perpetrator.

KAGAN: And -- so your name has -- your status right now -- your name has been completely cleared. Before all this you didn't have a criminal record.

ANDERSON: Yes.

KAGAN: So now you're somebody without a criminal record, without -- how do you pick up your life after 15 years like that?

ANDERSON: One day at a time. Being incarcerated for 15 years, then serving three years on parole, you just don't come back out into society and pick up where you left off. There's a lot of learning that takes place. A lot of growing. Getting to learn how to trust people again. Just one day at a time for me.

KAGAN: And that's where you are today.

ANDERSON: Yes, ma'am. KAGAN: Barry, the legal status of this case, as I said in 1998, a man came forward, John Otis Lincoln (ph), saying he did it. Was he eventually convicted of the crime of raping that woman?

SCHECK: They've prosecuted him. I believe he -- I can't remember whether he went to trial or pled guilty. But it's clear that he did it. It's his DNA. He confessed to it. Marvin should have been out years earlier.

KAGAN: Well, it's a fascinating story. A legal drama, also a personal journey as well.

Marvin, thank you for coming on to day and sharing your story. The movie's on tonight, Court TV 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Barry, thank you as well. Thank you to the Innocence Project. Marvin Anderson and Barry Scheck joining us to tell their story.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 29, 2004 - 11:21   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Marvin Anderson spent 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before he was cleared by DNA evidence. Marvin Anderson joining us from New York, along with the co-founder of the Innocence Project attorney Barry Scheck. Gentlemen, good morning, a pleasure to have you here this morning.
Marvin, your story reads leak a true nightmare. Even worse than any kind of movie you can imagine. Basically, you're convicted in 1982. You had an alibi. Your girlfriend at the time vouched for where you were.

In 1998, another man comes forward being says he didn't do the crime, I did the crime. And still it took until 2001 for you to get your name cleared.

How do you keep having hope during this entire period and how do you not become so bit they're you just give up?

MARVIN ANDERSON, CLEARED BY DNA EVIDENCE: Well, when all this first began, my mother and family support was always there for me. And being raised as a Christian person, you keep -- you try to keep your faith.

During those years, did I lose faith at times, but I knew where I was from and what I had to do -- which was to believe in God and let Him do His work.

KAGAN: Barry, let's bring you in here. The list of crimes, robbery, forcible sodomy, abduction, two counts of rape. It's a horrendous list of crimes and a terrible thing did happen to this particular woman.

Marvin Anderson is a man who claims he was innocent. You must get thousand of claims from people who say, I'm innocent, I didn't do it. How do you know which cases to take and why was as his good one to take?

BARRY SCHECK, ATTORNEY: Well, our criteria at the Innocence Project is pretty simple. If a DNA test on some biology, whether it's semen, a blood stain, cells, hair, can prove somebody innocent, we'll take the case and do the test. We believe in the science of it.

But Marvin's case was unique because they kept on telling us that the evidence was lost or destroyed. But because Marvin and his mother Joan were such extraordinary people, even though generation after generation of law students were told, no, the evidence is destroyed, we just couldn't close the case because we knew he was innocent.

And sure enough, by sheer luck -- and it's shown in this wonderful Court TV movie, we caught this amazing break, where this serologist in Virginia, for reasons nobody has been able to figure out, actually took the swabs and stapled them to her written report instead of preserving them where they were supposed to be. Pure luck.

KAGAN: And how many years into it did that happen?

SCHECK: Oh, I guess -- what was it, Marvin, back 15, 16 years in? It was extraordinary.

ANDERSON: Yes.

KAGAN: Marvin, I'm interested in that particular day. Not necessarily the day that you got out of prison -- I do want to hear about that. But the day you find out, guess what? After years of hearing there is no DNA evidence, in fact there was something to do tests on.

ANDERSON: Well, on that day, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) called me. I was on my way home from work. And he goes, Marvin, how you doing? I said, Fine, sir. He said, I have a question for you. If there was evidence to prove your innocence, that you are already out on parole, would you still pursue to prove you're innocent?

And I said, I've been fighting for the last 16, 17 years to prove my innocence. Of course I will. And he said, OK, we found the rape kit and the testing so far has cleared your name from everything.

And at that time, I was traveling on the Interstate. I said, I have to pull over to the side. You know, give me a little time to absorb all of this. And I did so and he called me later on at home that night and that's when he -- when they told me what was going on. That they had found the rape perp kit, ran tests, and excluded me from being the perpetrator.

KAGAN: And -- so your name has -- your status right now -- your name has been completely cleared. Before all this you didn't have a criminal record.

ANDERSON: Yes.

KAGAN: So now you're somebody without a criminal record, without -- how do you pick up your life after 15 years like that?

ANDERSON: One day at a time. Being incarcerated for 15 years, then serving three years on parole, you just don't come back out into society and pick up where you left off. There's a lot of learning that takes place. A lot of growing. Getting to learn how to trust people again. Just one day at a time for me.

KAGAN: And that's where you are today.

ANDERSON: Yes, ma'am. KAGAN: Barry, the legal status of this case, as I said in 1998, a man came forward, John Otis Lincoln (ph), saying he did it. Was he eventually convicted of the crime of raping that woman?

SCHECK: They've prosecuted him. I believe he -- I can't remember whether he went to trial or pled guilty. But it's clear that he did it. It's his DNA. He confessed to it. Marvin should have been out years earlier.

KAGAN: Well, it's a fascinating story. A legal drama, also a personal journey as well.

Marvin, thank you for coming on to day and sharing your story. The movie's on tonight, Court TV 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Barry, thank you as well. Thank you to the Innocence Project. Marvin Anderson and Barry Scheck joining us to tell their story.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com