Key episode quotes from Anthony Graves (Spotify timestamps):
Coerced Confessions: "Now, no one really knows everything that the young man was saying, but at the end of it, they told him that they didn't think that he did this crime by himself and they wanted him to give the name of a person who had done it with him and they would let him go."
— Anthony Graves [00:05:54 → 00:06:08]
The Shock of False Accusation: "When they began reading me my rights, at the end, they told me, you're being charged with capital to murder, and I have no bond. That's when I knew this is serious."
— Anthony Graves [00:10:01 → 00:10:14]
Injustice in the American Justice System: "What happened is that the american criminal justice system failed me and my family terribly, horribly. So much so that they almost killed me. Because when they arrested me, man, I stayed in jail two and a half years, waiting on trial, begging these people to take me to trial, because in my mind, I just wanted to get to trial, let the truth come out so I can go home. I've been in jail two and a half years for something I know absolutely nothing about."
— Anthony Graves [00:11:13 → 00:11:38]
Bias in Jury Selection: "Seven out of ten of them would say, well, he must have done something, otherwise you wouldn't have him here."
— Anthony Graves [00:17:07 → 00:17:13]
Compassion Behind Bars: "Anytime someone is sentenced to death, they have these national and international pen pal banks. These are people who just sign up to write and befriend people who've been sentenced to death, just to let them know that there's somebody they care, that they're not alone."
— Anthony Graves [00:34:08 → 00:34:22]
Impact of Investigative Journalism on Inmates: "I had done another show called Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, and so the word had started getting out about my case, but it really didn't break until this investigative journalist came and talked to me."
— Anthony Graves [00:36:29 → 00:36:43]
Capital Punishment and Innocence: "They may carry me out in a pine box, but it's going to be a bunch of murderers carrying me because I'm going to let the world know they just murdered me. For some(thing) I knew absolutely nothing about, that was my mindset."
— Anthony Graves [00:38:13 → 00:38:27]
Criminal Justice Reform Urgency: "Well, our criminal justice system is letting down us as individuals, as families, as american citizens, and we do not have a lot of avenues to talk about how to change this situation."
— Anthony Graves [01:04:45 → 01:05:04]
Life Purpose After Exoneration: "Yes, it definitely matters. When I was exonerated, they compensated me, right? They compensated me and apologized to me. And at that moment, I had a chance to just go off with my life, buy me a little house, live on the beach and sip drinks through a straw. But after going through what I went through for 18 and a half years, I just could not see myself walking away from this. There had to be a reason why I had to go through this, and I needed to figure that out so that I could understand my life, because other than that, I won't understand my life. And if I can't understand my life and make some sense of this, it's going to have a big impact on me in a negative way. So I need to figure this thing out. And so as I been speaking and helping other people, it just came natural to me that this is just what I'm born to do."
— Anthony Graves [01:20:26 → 01:21:25]
Supporting Activism Through Podcasting: "And I came to the conclusion that the best way to get involved is support this podcast, donate to this podcast and allow me to use the funds that we raise to help other people."
— Anthony Graves [01:23:06 → 01:23:17]