WEBVTT 1 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.039 Welcome back to the Path with Chile. 2 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:35.520 I'm Robin, I'm Jules. 3 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:38.719 And I'm Ashley. Let's dive right into this week's case. 4 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:45.240 March second, nineteen ninety five, New Orleans, Louisiana. After leaving 5 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:47.880 a restaurant with his date, twenty five year old Michael 6 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:51.039 Girardi is fatally gunned down in the French Quarter by 7 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:54.640 a tree year old robbers. Weeks later, sixteen year old 8 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:58.240 Sharif Coussin is implicated in the crime and charged with 9 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:01.520 first degree murder. Even though Sharif seems to have an 10 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:05.640 airtight alibi, Michael's state identifies them as a shooter at trial, 11 00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:09.439 and he's found guilty and sentenced to death. However, it 12 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:13.719 turns out that the District Attorney's office withheld exculpatory evidence 13 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:19.200 and committed prosecutorial misconduct. After nearly three years on death row, 14 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:24.319 Sharif's conviction is overturned, but Michael Girardi's real killers are 15 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:25.079 never found. 16 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:29.480 After that, the Path went Chiley, So we've got a 17 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:32.840 truly jaw dropping story to cover today. The nineteen ninety 18 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:36.359 five murder of Michael Girardi and the subsequent wrongful conviction 19 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.680 of Sharif Coussin. You might recall then, on our last 20 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:42.560 series of episodes, we covered the nineteen ninety six murder 21 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:45.680 of fourteen year old Crystal Champagne, which took place in 22 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:48.480 the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area and led to the 23 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:52.000 wrongful conviction of Damon Thibodeaux, who spent sixteen years on 24 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:55.359 death row for the crime before he was exonerated. We 25 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:58.879 know that Ashley is particularly impassion when talking about wrongful 26 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:01.599 conviction cases, so well, we've picked out another one which 27 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.079 took place in New Orleans during that time period and 28 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:06.920 is one of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice you'll 29 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:10.000 ever hear about. The defendant in this story is an 30 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:13.800 African American teenager named Sharif Cussen, who was only sixteen 31 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:15.719 years old when he was arrested for the murder of 32 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:18.120 Michael Girardi, and he was sent to death for the 33 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:20.759 crime at age seventeen, making him one of the youngest 34 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:24.319 people ever sent to death row. Given Sharif's young age, 35 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:27.719 this decision was bound to be controversial regardless whether or 36 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:30.719 not he was guilty of the crime. However, it soon 37 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:33.439 became apparent that the people who put Sharif away had 38 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.159 to have known he didn't do it, but were determined 39 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:39.120 to convict him no matter what. I've seen a lot 40 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:42.800 of wrongful convictions involving misconduct, but the prosecutors in this 41 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.919 case just went to insane lengths to withhold and fabricate evidence, 42 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.360 even though it meant an innocent kid could have wound 43 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:51.759 up being executed for a crime he did not commit. 44 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.360 Throughout all this injustice, one aspect of this story which 45 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:58.439 God overlooked is that the real killers of Michael Girardi 46 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:02.000 were never found. There were some promising suspects who seemed 47 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:03.000 to slip under the radar. 48 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:09.400 Where do I start. I'm already so frustrated with this 49 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:14.000 case because of multiple factors. You have Sharif who is 50 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.159 sixteen years old at the time that he was arrested, 51 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:21.840 and then seventeen years old when he sentenced to death 52 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:26.159 for a crime he committed supposedly as a juvenile, and 53 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:30.159 thank the Lord today that can't happen. That doesn't happen 54 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:33.520 because of the landmark decision in Roper v. Simmons. But 55 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:35.159 believe it or not, that was only a five to 56 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:39.199 four ruling. If you know that case, that no longer 57 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:42.240 can someone who's a juvenile at the time that they 58 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.319 are that they have committed the crime. Right, if they've 59 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:46.960 committed the crime under the age of eighteen, they can 60 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.319 no longer be eligible for the death penalty. In the 61 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:52.360 United States, I want to say, there were like seventy 62 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.840 some odd kids on death row when that ruling came out. 63 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.680 And so that's the first problem. He's a child. So 64 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:05.000 let's say Sharif was guilty. He still has zero frontal 65 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:08.879 lobe development, right, there's very little stability going on there. 66 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:12.319 He won't fully mature you until he's about twenty five 67 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.319 years old. And to say that at sixteen there's not 68 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.319 any possibility that for the rest of his life he 69 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:23.079 could be redeemed or healed is wild. But in this 70 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:27.399 case it goes even further because Sharif is innocent and 71 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:32.040 his sentence not just to life in prison or any 72 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:36.560 other sentence, it's death. So then it it brings up 73 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.680 the idea of the death penalty. Right that, yes, there 74 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:43.000 are arguments that are valid arguments for why the death 75 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.279 penalty seems to be a good idea. There's crimes we 76 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:49.199 hear about where you say, wow, I don't know that 77 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:51.519 that person can be redeemed or that crime is so 78 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.439 evil that I understand why the death penalty would be 79 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.759 an option. But when you hear that there's been one case, 80 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.519 and let's all understand there's been many, many cases, but 81 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.560 there's a case where someone has sat on death row 82 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:09.120 and is later found to be innocent, there's a problem 83 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:13.199 with our death penalty process. So that's another thing that 84 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:17.279 is very frustrating. If one innocent person was ever sentenced 85 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:21.720 to death, that's a horrible alternative right and an option 86 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:24.399 for us to have because it's not fool proof. And 87 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:28.240 the final thing you nailed it wrongful convictions. I love 88 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:32.480 that our leading evidence here is an eyewitness, which every 89 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:36.439 listener who's ever tuned in before knows the drill worst 90 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:39.959 type of evidence you can have if you're talking about reliability, 91 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:43.800 because our minds lie to us, and even when we 92 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.199 have the best of intents, we don't do well picking 93 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:51.360 out suspects. We just don't. And you also have some 94 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:53.560 elements that add to it. You have a young African 95 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:57.480 American teenager, Sharif. I don't know much else about his demographics, 96 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:00.480 but you're in New Orleans. There's a lot of racial 97 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:04.800 tension in New Orleans. And you clearly have a kid 98 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:08.160 who is targeted by police, and that targeting by government 99 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.959 officials didn't stop all the way through his trial. You 100 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.519 said that there was prosecutorial on his conduct. It was 101 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:16.079 covering up of evidence that could have proven he was innocent. 102 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:20.000 And again, this isn't a kid who's being put away 103 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.319 and might be eligible for parole. This is a kid 104 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:26.959 that they knowingly were sentencing to death. He was not 105 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:30.120 given a fair trial. They knew there was evidence that 106 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:34.360 made him look like he was innocent, and still they 107 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:37.319 said he was so invaluable as a human being he 108 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.959 had no value that made that wrong in their eyes. 109 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:44.120 Is horrific. And I don't even know the start of 110 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.480 it until you guys tell me the rest of the story. 111 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:48.639 Well, you're going to be pretty shocked when you hear 112 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:51.160 some of the details we share, because we've done wrongful 113 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:53.600 conviction cases where you can say, okay, I think the 114 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:56.560 authorities were acting a good faith They genuinely thought they 115 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:58.519 had the right person, even though they turned out to 116 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.680 be innocent. But this is why, where you know that 117 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:03.759 people in power clearly knew that Jarif didn't do it, 118 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:05.920 but they just did not care. They wanted to close 119 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:08.519 this case and get a conviction at any cost. And 120 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.040 it's terrifying to think that there are people out there 121 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.160 in power who are willing to do something like this. 122 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:16.519 One thing I wanted to ask you Ash before we 123 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:18.360 get going on the story. There's going to be a 124 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:21.120 callback to this later, but I really wanted to get 125 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:27.439 your definition or your opinion on the multi factorial issue 126 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:32.639 of recidivism, especially when especially when it pertains to young offenders. 127 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.560 Yeah, okay, So I mean, recidivism has a billion factors 128 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.079 that go into it, right, especially like you said, when 129 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:42.160 there's a youth involved. One of the biggest factors is 130 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:45.720 what someone's going to go home to, right, And if 131 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:50.519 you are a product of your environment, an environment, family, friends, 132 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:56.199 lack of resources, lifestyle options, right, If that's what you're 133 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.639 going to go right back to, and that's what landed 134 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.560 you in hot water in the first place, the likelihood 135 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:06.120 of you recidivating is huge, right. It's they call prison 136 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:09.519 a revolving door for a reason. But one of the 137 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:13.920 problems is that our prison system and even jails, they're 138 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:20.000 creating worse individuals when sometimes like Sharif, he went to 139 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:23.920 prison as an innocent human being, but in order to survive, 140 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:27.800 he had to learn skills, and not all those skills 141 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:32.440 are positive ones. And you're really creating people who get 142 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:35.200 this fight or flight response. They're with people who have 143 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:40.720 committed different types of crimes, who share, you know, spirituality, 144 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.080 but they also share criminal tips, and they attack each other, 145 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:46.759 and they you know, manipulate each other, and they sexually 146 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.919 abuse one another, and all kinds of things that create 147 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.120 a much I don't know, a much more broken human 148 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:55.639 being when we release them with no resources and no 149 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:59.360 education that really helps them have a different life after 150 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:03.039 their release. So, especially when it's a wrongful conviction, it 151 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.080 breaks my heart because you put them in an environment 152 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:08.519 which is going to give them no option but to 153 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:13.000 struggle and to learn skills that do not translate to 154 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.360 a healthy individual outside of prison, and you expect them 155 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.639 to function like a normal person when they're released from prison. 156 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.000 The other problem with recidivism, though, is that we, in 157 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:26.960 good faith and with good principle behind it, put a 158 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:31.919 lot of really strenuous stipulations on individuals, and depending on 159 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:36.159 who your parole or probation officer is, will really dictate 160 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:41.600 how much grace and normalcy they allow for you as 161 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:45.080 a human being who's clearly struggled before serve time and 162 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:47.759 is now being released, which is also a struggle. So 163 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:52.759 you'll see some people who you know have a parole 164 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:54.639 officer who believes in them and fightes for them, and 165 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:57.759 maybe they drink and get caught drinking and they don't 166 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.600 get sent back. They're given an opportunity to heal and 167 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.200 get help. But then you also have the next person 168 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:05.840 who comes through and their person sends them back into 169 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:10.120 prison because of a minor infraction. So it's a whirlwind. 170 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.159 But we set people up to fail. We don't have 171 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.200 enough resources or structure in place to help people succeed 172 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:19.000 once they've gone to prison or jail, but especially when 173 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:22.200 they're innocent. How could you come out and be okay 174 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:24.720 when you went in for something you were not the 175 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.480 hardened criminal they presented you as. And for him, Sharif, 176 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:31.600 he's sixteen, he learned way too much, way too quick, 177 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:32.519 from the wrong people. 178 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:38.320 Our story begins in New Orleans, Louisiana, in nineteen ninety five, 179 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:41.960 and our victim is twenty five year old Alfred Michael Girardi, 180 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.879 who goes by his middle name and lives in the 181 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:48.480 nearby town of Slidel. On the evening of March second, 182 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:50.799 Michael went out on a date with thirty seven year 183 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:54.039 old Connie Babin. They'd recently met at a Mardi Gras 184 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:57.200 party in New Orleans French Quarter before Michael phoned up 185 00:10:57.240 --> 00:10:59.799 Connie to ask her out. They decided to return to 186 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.720 the French Quarter for their first date together and went 187 00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:04.879 out to dinner at the Port of Call restaurant on 188 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:08.919 Esplanade Avenue. After they finished dinner, the couple left the 189 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:12.759 restaurant and walked towards Michael's pickup truck, which was parked 190 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.240 half a walk away. At ten twenty six pm, they 191 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:20.159 reached the truck when three African American males appeared and 192 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.799 headed in their direction. Once it became apparent that one 193 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:26.519 of the men was moving towards them in a threatening fashion, 194 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:29.639 Michael turned towards Connie and told her to run away. 195 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.360 Connie immediately took off, but as she was running, she 196 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:35.919 looked behind her and saw that one of the black 197 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:38.679 males was holding a gun, and he proceeded to shoot 198 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:41.600 Michael in the face. Connie made it back to the 199 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.480 Port of Call restaurant and called nine one one for assistance. 200 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:48.200 When police arrived at the scene, they found Connie kneeling 201 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:51.120 next to Michael's body and clutching his hand, but by 202 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:55.159 then he was already dead. Since Michael's wallet was missing, 203 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:57.440 robbery was the apparent motive for his murder. 204 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.240 All right, so when we look here, remember she's going 205 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:06.120 to be the eyewitness who points out that Sharif is 206 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:10.159 one of these three African American men. He's one of 207 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:14.679 the young black men who shoots her significant other. Right, 208 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:16.320 this guy that is it her boyfriend? 209 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:18.320 It's the first date, so they just started. 210 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:21.639 Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, he's one of the black men 211 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:25.240 who shoots her date. Now here's the problem you have 212 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:28.120 to think about when you look at eyewitness identification. This 213 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:32.639 case has tons of marks for why Connie, even in 214 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:38.000 her most authentic, genuine attempt, would have a problem correctly 215 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:42.039 identifying somebody. I'm going to assume that Connie and Michael 216 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:46.360 are Caucasian, which means the first thing that Connie has 217 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:50.159 going against her recollection is that she's making a cross 218 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:56.360 racial identification. And when that happens, the rate of accuracy 219 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:00.720 significantly drops no matter which race is identific fine and 220 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:06.879 another race. So let's say you have a Hispanic individual 221 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:11.399 identifying a Caucasian individual or a Hispanic individual identifying a 222 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.120 black individual. Right, there's going to be that cross racial 223 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:18.960 bias that has scientifically been proven to radically drop rates 224 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:23.480 of accuracy because there is not a likeness to compare 225 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:26.399 other person to right, Like I can't say, oh, they 226 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:30.559 have my eyes but not my nose, and the canvas 227 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:33.919 you're starting with is scientifically proven to make a significant 228 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:36.720 difference on that ability to put facial features in place. 229 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:41.039 It's also night time that obstructs a lot of things. 230 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:45.559 Right shadows, street lights, the way that things look at 231 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:50.200 night is problematic. There's also a gun present, and so 232 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.919 there's the weapon focus effect that occurs here where if 233 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:57.559 you pull out a gun or a knife or anything 234 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:00.320 that's going to be a risk to me, in order 235 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:03.039 to protect myself and the person I'm standing with, I 236 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:06.759 often will lock my eyes on the weapon and make 237 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:10.120 sure that that weapon is in my eyesight and I 238 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:13.200 know where it's being pointed, who's holding it, and if 239 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.000 it's being pointed towards us. So it's that idea that 240 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:20.159 we don't really focus at the person's face anymore. I'm 241 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.399 most concerned about where the tip of that gun is 242 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:26.200 being pointed. A lot of other things are going on here. 243 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.240 There's multiple people, and so the ability to mix features 244 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.679 that you might remember, like oh, there are bushy eyebrows, 245 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:34.559 and then you're going, well, I think it was on 246 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:37.879 the shooter, Well maybe not. And who was wearing the 247 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.799 ball cap and who had five o'clock shadow, and all 248 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:45.919 these different things could easily be convoluted. And not to 249 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.399 mention she just saw someone she's on a date with 250 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:53.120 get shot in the face. So the trauma of thinking 251 00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:57.000 you could have died and the poor person that you 252 00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:01.279 just went to dinner with is on the ground with 253 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:06.639 a significant trauma wound would also then startle your ability 254 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:08.799 to recall that person's face later. 255 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:12.399 And not to mention that Connie was running away at 256 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:14.399 the time and was kind of looking over her shoulder 257 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:16.600 when she saw the shooting occurred. So that's a very 258 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:20.120 stressful situation. She's from a distance, so you could understand 259 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:23.000 how she might misidentify someone, and you got to feel 260 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:24.679 bad for it. But I do find that in a 261 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:28.240 lot of cases involving eyewitnesses who were survivors to crimes 262 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:30.600 that a lot of the time, the police kind of 263 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:33.399 lead them on where they say, oh, we got this suspect, 264 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:35.320 and we're pretty sure he's the right guy. We just 265 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:38.240 need you to make an identification. And even if they're 266 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:40.440 not entirely that sure, they're thinking in their selves, well, 267 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:42.080 if the police say he's the right guy, then he 268 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.000 must be the right guy, and that's why they make 269 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:44.879 their identification. 270 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:48.080 And how dark was it at that time, Like how 271 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:50.919 well would she have been able to see the features 272 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.639 of any one of these three black men in the dark. 273 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:59.360 A few weeks later, investigators got a promising lead when 274 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:02.440 sixteen year old James Rawl was arrested and charged with 275 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:06.440 nine counts of armed robbery. Raol implicated a sixteen year 276 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.200 old friend of his name, Sharif Coussen, who had allegedly 277 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.919 bragged to him about being responsible for the murder of 278 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.919 Michael Girardi. Sharif was one of eight siblings being raised 279 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:18.399 by a single mother in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. 280 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:21.360 Even though Sharif grew up without a father and his 281 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:24.200 family struggle with poverty, he was known for being an 282 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:28.039 intelligent kid who did well in school. However, things started 283 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:31.080 to change when Sharif took the initiative to finally track 284 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:34.840 down and meet his biological father, who refused to acknowledge 285 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:38.799 that Sharif was his son. This reaction devastated Sharif and 286 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:41.840 sent him on a downward spiral as his attitude changed, 287 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:44.639 his grade started a fall, and he got involved in drugs. 288 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:48.720 After being sent to a substance abuse treatment center, Sharif 289 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:51.759 befriended James Rawl, who turned out to be a bad influence. 290 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.720 Sharif allegedly accompanied Raoul on some of his armed robberies, 291 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.159 though he claimed that he never got directly involved or 292 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.759 carried a weapon and only waited to the car anyway. 293 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.799 When Raul implicated Sharif and Michael Girardi's murder, he was 294 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:07.119 picked up by police and taken down to the station. 295 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:09.920 On March the twenty eighth, he was placed in a 296 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:13.519 lineup where Connie Babbin positively identified him as the shooter, 297 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.839 and Sharif was soon formally charged with first degree murder. 298 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:23.640 Well, here's the sad thing for Sharif. Sharif has a 299 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.160 million things working against him right. He is growing up 300 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:32.279 without a father, and you know, mamas do a great job. 301 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:35.160 But I feel like there's such value in positive mail 302 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:39.880 influence and having you know, a healthy father in the home, 303 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:43.200 but Sharif didn't have the opportunity to have that. In fact, 304 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:48.480 it sounds like was exposed to a lifestyle of you know, 305 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:51.839 that existed in a low income area where drugs were common. 306 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:57.880 And it's really interesting because despite that, he is fighting 307 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:00.799 to be healthier because he had the opportunity to go 308 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.799 to a substance abuse treatment center. It sounds like he 309 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.079 does really well in school, and so there is potential 310 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:11.279 that he doesn't have to follow the kind of the 311 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:14.440 trajectory that's being put before him. That there's ways that 312 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.559 Sharif can beat what's before him. But like many people, 313 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:22.279 one of his biggest influences as a sixteen year old 314 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:25.400 kid is that he is hanging out with people who 315 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:29.200 are quote his friends, and are not doing anything to 316 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:32.119 be a true friend to him. They're engaging in the 317 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:35.839 same risky decisions and they're putting him at risk, and 318 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:40.240 they're in a lifestyle of you know, like high risk 319 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:44.160 kind of I don't know, just being young, dumb kids, 320 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:46.960 but they're making big mistakes and kind of playing with 321 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:52.480 fire and so It's sad because Sharif is trying. Sharif is, 322 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.119 you know, trying to do good in school. He's trying 323 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:58.400 to be sober and get away from drugs, and yet 324 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:01.720 here he is, He's about to get picked out of 325 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:05.279 a lineup, and it likely has to do with the 326 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:08.160 group he's hanging out with. Right He's associated by the 327 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:10.920 police and by some members in the community to be 328 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:14.160 a troubled kid, and he gets wrapped up, especially when 329 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:16.279 Connie can passibly I d him. 330 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.000 And that's a sad thing about this story is that 331 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.279 the only reason sure I've even popped up on the 332 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:24.440 radar as a suspect is because James Raul decided to 333 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.279 point the figure at him. And you're automatically suspicious because 334 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:30.240 he's facing nine counts of armed robbery himself. So he 335 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:32.279 seems like the type of guy who will do anything 336 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:35.079 to help his legal situation, even if it means falsely 337 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:38.319 accusing a so called friend of his. And like I 338 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.839 mentioned earlier, it's one of those things where I'm sure 339 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:43.240 once he was brought in, the police told Connie, hey, 340 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:45.880 this is the guy. We've got another person who implicated him. 341 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:48.160 So if you could just pick him out that would 342 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:50.319 be great, that would be enough for us to make 343 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:53.160 an arrest. And even if Connie wasn't entirely sure if 344 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:55.319 this was the guy that she saw, she still went 345 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:58.680 ahead and identified him. 346 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:02.920 However, Sharif would hit with additional charges besides murder. On 347 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:06.400 the basis of James Raoul's story. Police believed that Sharif 348 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:09.200 was part of a gang of teenagers who'd been committing 349 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.119 robberies throughout the city, so they charged him with four 350 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:15.319 additional counts of armed robbery. The case wound up in 351 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.839 the hands of the Orleans of the Orleans Parish District 352 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.920 Attorney's office, who announced that they were planning to try 353 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.119 Sharif four times for each separate count of armed robbery 354 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:28.240 before they even took him to trial for murder. If 355 00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:32.119 convicted on all these armed robbery charges, Sharif could potentially 356 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:35.640 receive ninety nine years in prison. He was also going 357 00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:38.559 to be tried in adult court for Michael Girardi's murder, 358 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:42.079 and if found guilty, he would be facing the death penalty. 359 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:46.039 Sharif maintained that he was innocent of both the murder 360 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:49.640 and the robbery charges, but his defense attorneys presented him 361 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:53.160 with a difficult choice. So they told Sharif that there 362 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:55.920 was no way that they could possibly win four separate 363 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:59.400 armed robbery trials and a murder trial. So they advised 364 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:02.079 him to plead guilty to the robberies and he would 365 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:05.160 receive a ten year prison sentence and likely only have 366 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:08.079 to serve half the time. This way, they could devote 367 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:10.839 all their energy to helping Sharif beat the murder charge 368 00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:14.839 and potentially save his life. Sharif reluctantly agreed to enter 369 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.440 a guilty fleet of the robberies, but came to regret 370 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:20.400 the decision when he received a twenty year prison sentence 371 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:24.640 instead of his expected ten years. Nevertheless, Sharif and his 372 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.160 defense team still thought that there was a very good 373 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:29.319 chance that they would win the murder trial. 374 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.200 Are these public defenders? 375 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:32.720 Yes? 376 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:38.400 Okay, yeah, I was like, this is bad advice. Yeah, 377 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.759 so as soon as you started talking about his attorneys, yes, 378 00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:44.119 they had an uphill battle. You've got to keep in 379 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:47.039 mind when we talk about public defenders, it is something 380 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:50.039 a lot of attorneys have the honor of doing when 381 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:53.440 they first start in their career, especially, but public defenders 382 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.119 often have a massive caseload and when they're faced with 383 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:01.480 a case like this with Sharif, where the five major 384 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:05.200 crimes they're facing, they're trying to figure out, how can 385 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:09.960 I give my very limited resources to the best ability 386 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:13.400 to Sharif. And in their mind they thought, hey, you 387 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.200 know what, let's have him say he did armed robbery 388 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.559 because that'll make him look really good and then we 389 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:24.319 can spend our focus on the murder. But Sharif's saying, 390 00:22:24.440 --> 00:22:27.079 I didn't do it. And here's what one of the 391 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:30.079 crazy things is. And I think one of the things 392 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.240 his defense attorneys could be thinking is that Sharif doesn't 393 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:35.880 have money to bond out and get bailed out. He's 394 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.680 also on trial for murder, so very unlikely he would 395 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:44.279 get released. Sometimes trials take two and three years to complete, 396 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.559 and so it might have been that his defense attorneys 397 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:48.799 were saying, listen, just plead guilty and you'll basically be 398 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:51.480 serving the same amount of time as you're going to 399 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:55.720 be waiting trial for this murder charge and you'll be out. Well, 400 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:58.440 they didn't have that in writing. That wasn't a promise. 401 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:00.680