Too many times he'd been here, and too many times he was sent back. Randall was convicted of robbing a post office and sentenced to thirty-six years in federal prison plus two life terms for the people he killed in his getaway. He just got turned down for parole yet again, even though he maintains his innocence. Four attempted appeals were brutally shot down by the families of those he'd supposedly killed. Flash back just more than fifty years to the day of the incident.
There had been several incidents of breaking and entering in his area and Randall loaned his .25 caliber revolver to his neighbor for protection, as well as sold him about thirty rounds of ammunition for fifty dollars. The neighbor, Mark, then disappeared for a while, a relatively common occurence for him. Randall never knew what would be coming for him in an hour's time.
Mark pulled into the parking lot of a postal office that served the area and prepped his borrowed weapon. He donned a mask and heavy clothing and walked inside the office on that cold winter's day. Mark fired one bullet into the cieling and barged his way to the counter, demanded all of the cash from the drawers,and pushed his car to the limit, crushing two pedestrians under his car's mass. A police chase ensued, moving from interstate to back roads to main throughfares. Mark eventually lost his pursuers and made his way home. Mark made his way back in his sedan, stopped in front of Randall's house, tossed him a bag and the pistol, and nonchalantly pulled into his own driveway. Within minutes police were swarming around Randall's home, guns drawn.
Randall was subsequently arrested, and when he told what happened his story didn't seem plausible at all. He was tried and all it led to was a hung jury, no result. The second trial had the jurors out for three days of deliberation to come back with a result, guilty as charged. He and his entire family were devastated at the finding and he had only one thing to say. He stood from is chair, hands firmly pressed to the table top when he uttered these words "You have just convicted the wrong man." He returned for sentencing and got the afforementioned 36 years plus double-life.
Come back to today, November 2012, and his request for parole was denied again. He decided to call for one last appeal and three weeks later in came a letter from the justice system, the message said that his appeal has been accepted and he would be allowed to stand again and beg for his freedom. A set of fresh eyes would look at his case, and new experts would be called to testify. One such person was a film analyst, Paul Forn.
The bailiff asked Mr. Forn to place his hand on a Bible and said "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" Forn swore the oath and took his seat on the witness stand. Randall's lawyer walked up and this conversation followed.
The lawyer, began with "Please state your name and occupation for the record."
"My name is Paul Forn, a film analyst for the Raleigh, North Carolina branch of the FBI."
"Mr Forn, what is your professional opinion about the film footage taken on the day of July 17, 1951?"
"Although the images were grainy I was able to use known heights, specifically the counter over which the money was passed, to find that the man who committed the crime was between 5'11" and 6'1" tall." This was a great relief for Randall as he was only 5 feet 8 inches tall. It was this first witness that proved to be the turning point of the entire trial. When Randall was called to the stand himself, he told what happened that day. His own testimony combined with the film evidence allowed him to get out of the robbery and murder charges. Although handing over the gun was a misdemeanor crime, he was allowed to get off on time served. He walked out of the courthouse a free man and Mark was sought to be tried for the robbery, however he had died a year before in a car accident. Randall was left to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, but never blamed the justice system for its failure. "We're all human." he said, "I can't go around blaming people for that. I still have alot of respect for our courts and the work that runs them."
A reporter chimed in "What're you going to do now?"
Randall replied "I'm going to go looking for a job and try to live a normal life."
LOL I'm kidding. I already gave you the prize money anyways. So just take it and eat it!
