I was at a conference in I think New Orleans when I went to the men's room.
Bob Perske (who thinks it was Washington) was at the adjoining urinal and he
started telling me about this trial in Hartford and urged me and my students
to attend. I agreed that I would and that is how I became involved in the
Friends as well as in the cause of people with ID caught up in criminal
proceedings. Bob now describes that as the most productive piss he ever
took. I can't know that for sure, but I know it was the most productive
one I ever took.
The first day I attended the trial, Richard was on the stand. The prosecutor
(the most aggressive I've seen, and I've since seen some doozies) was asking
Richard if could remember saying this or that and then got him to read his
signed statement. To me, it looked like he was pretending to read it, as in
spite of wearing these coke bottle glasses, he almost immediately kept
saying "yes I guess I said that". At the next break, I approached one of the
public defenders and I said "I suppose you know he was covering up his
inability to comprehend the statement". Richard's attorney said "yes I know
it, and I am certain the jury will know that also". Well, we all know how
that worked out.
After Richard was convicted, I became involved in trying to help the defense
team to put together a team of mitigation experts who knew something about
Dandy-Walker syndrome (too bad that wasn't the case during the confession
suppression hearing). It is hard to comprehend today, given how flimsy the
case against Richard was, but the prosecution was hell-bent on executing
Richard. Thank God, the jury redeemed itself slightly by voting against
that. Although I knew nothing about Dandy-Walker at the time, and even less
about capital proceedings, I have since gone on to write scholarly pieces
about both, and have made a second career as a mitigation and Atkins expert
(thus far, always for the defense). I have Richard, and Bob, to thank for
that.
I regret that I wasn't able to be
of more help to Richard when it counted, but I am trying to make up for it
today in other cases. Living in Colorado now, I very much miss being an
active member of the Friends, although I guess the old Burger King
meetings have ended. My participation in the Friends was the most meaningful
group experience that I have ever had. Like all of the other members, I pray
that some day soon, Richard will get the freedom that this innocent man has
too long been denied.
Steve Greenspan is a
former Professor of Psychology at the University of Connecticut and now a
Forensic Psychologist who testifies as an expert witness in criminal cases
involving persons with intellectual disabilities.
Submitted January 2008