Kerry Max Cook, a man who served 22 years on Texas death row before being declared wrongfully convicted, spoke about his experience Saturday afternoon in the Memorial Chapel. Cook is the longest tenured death row inmate in U.S. history to be freed.

“Some people find it difficult to believe that someone innocent could be tried, convicted, and sentenced to death row,” Cook said. “My case is a perfect example of Murphy’s Law—everything that could go wrong did.”

Cook was sentenced to death by a jury in 1978 for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Linda Jo Edwards in Tyler, Texas. He was finally cleared of guilt by DNA tests performed in 1999.

He began his lecture by playing a clip from ABC and then outlined the details of his wrongful conviction and the nearly four trials that he endured before finally gaining his freedom. Several other news clips he played mentioned Centurion Ministries, a New Jersey-based independent, non-profit organization that helps vindicate and free innocent people unjustly imprisoned for life or sentenced to death. James McCloskey is the Centurion Ministries lawyer whom Cook wrote from prison. McCloskey fought for over ten years to have Cook exonerated.

“[McCloskey] became not just my advocate but my best friend,” Cook said. “I owe him my life; my son owes him his life. He’s really a wonderful man.”

Cook explained the five elements of wrongful conviction, as spelled out by The Dallas Morning News in their four-year investigative series on his experience. The elements included erroneous eyewitness testimony, use of informant or jailhouse snitch testimony, use of “junk sciences,” ineffective assistance of council, and prosecutorial misconduct.

Cook discussed the eyewitness who completely changed her testimony from her earlier police statement. He then presented video recounting the story of a prisoner who was coerced by prosecutors and testified that Cook had confessed the murder to him. Cook also said that the testimony of a doctor brought in by the Tyler County District Attorney represented junk science used against him.

“For the death penalty in Texas, they must show that you are a continuing threat to society,” Cook said. “So they brought in a doctor, Dr. James P. Grigson, who testified that I had a sociopathic disorder and would definitely kill again.”

In talking about the ineffective assistance of council he received, Cook said that he was allotted $500 for his entire defense. He also said that the death penalty disparately hurts those without the means to pay for a proper defense, which fueled his commitment to bringing about reforms in the justice system.

“When it comes to the absolutely innocent, the people that are only there because they are poor […] I care a lot more about that,” Cook said. “In any place it’s true […] but especially in Texas; you get what you pay for.” In the question-and-answer session, one student asked Cook why the prosecutors went through so much effort to fabricate evidence in order to convict him.

“The criminal justice system works like everything else—it’s a business,” Cook said. “Who is going to support a system where there’s the knowledge that you’ve executed even one innocent person? Their biggest goal is to preserve and protect the integrity of the system at all levels. They don’t want people knowing they made a mistake.”

Cook also discussed the brutality he had suffered in prison.

“I suffered more damage than I realized,” he said. “I was raped several times; I was stabbed.”

Cook also spoke about the greater problem of wrongful conviction and his mission.

“There’s been 121 people released from the Texas justice system for wrongful conviction, and I really believe that people are being executed innocent in this country,” he said. “I travel around the country to tell my story […] If I can bring about change in the justice system in any way, perhaps everything I’ve gone through is worth it.”

Cook was brought to speak by Anthony Nikolchev ’08. His visit was in coordination with the play “The Exonerated” that Nikolchev directed, which was performed this weekend in the Westco Café. Written by Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank, “The Exonerated” shares the stories of six innocent survivors of death row, including Cook’s. It opened in October 2002 in New York City, and has since been featured nationwide with such prominent actors as Peter Gallagher, Richard Dreyfuss, and Rob Morrow all playing the part of Cook. Cook also played himself in some of the performances shown in upstate New York.

“I think his speech was very popular,” Nikolchev said. “I also thought it was good to have groups there like [Wesleyan] Amnesty International, CNADP (Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty), and WesPrep to talk [after he spoke] about what types of action people could take, so that they’re not just hearing him speak or seeing the play, but they are able to take action.”