Intentionally getting sent to the worst prison, then going through Hell to get a DNA sample, then having the scheme actually work. That is a movie script right there. It is crazier in some ways than Shawshank, but it actually happened.
I had to see if I could find that 20/20 episode. This dude is gonna end up being my research rabbit hole today. I Googled "20/20 wrongly accused cigarette butt dna Ohio" and the wiki page was right there lol
J.C. - I don’t know if this will make you hate me or love me, but when I was a crim def attorney, I would get the sweats defending innocent men. Guilty men? I’ll do everything I can, I give you my word, but if you go down, you did it and I sleep fine. I’m going home.
Innocent guys?? Oh fuck. What if I’m not even good enough to get an innocent guy off? What if I’m the defense attorney in one of these cases like the Elk’s? I lived in dread of it. It terrorized me into action.
I couldn't imagine that pressure. I slept the first night I went in because I understood I was supposed to be there. An innocent man? Those walls must be ten times taller for them.
I met someone who got framed by dirty cops (where have we heard that before?) and spent a couple of decades behind bars before finally being released. He was an enlightened being. No other way to describe the man.
All I could think of talking to him was Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who lost his family to, and survived, Auschwitz, then wrote "Man's Search for Meaning." Doing time can do horrible things to men, but it also has the kind of pressure necessary to produce diamonds, my friend. Cheers. (And don't stop writing.)
Amazing to hear another angle of Elk’s story from someone who crossed paths with him on the inside. I stumbled across his story a few months ago and watched a handful of reports about it all.
His perseverance in the face of certain misery is nothing short of incredible. But even then, I remain scared as hell about the crooked pitfalls of our justice system.
The sadness I felt for Elk grew from the first sentence of your post. I sensed that he was innocent but the twist in the tale of cig butts was an epic revelation of the strength of the man.
I am so glad he got compensation, both he and his wife deserved that....
Got some good tales of the joint, J. Coleman. I relate well. Back in IDOC long ago, a guy was either an Inmate or a Convict.
The difference is the Convict has convictions where an Inmate does not.
I read most of Your Substack this morning seeing joint talk and gangs like Latin Kings who’d be People Nation like the Vice Lords; not Folk Nation like Black Gangster Disciples and co-founder Larry Hoover who I knew when he was at Dixon CC on Writ long before he ended up in Florence.
Ohio joints? Interesting.
IDOC you doubtless know is Illinois Dept of Corrections.
I started in Joliet #B37915,
then Menard the “Pit”, and a round at Pontiac “Thunderdome”, then Stateville the “Ville” with that nice Panopticon arrangement.
I was like father-confessor to John Wayne Gacy in 94 when he was executed at Stateville.
Your stories brought back memories of the Joint from max, to medium-max, to minimum and shit like work release that’s a joke too easy to get violated and return to the joint.
Yeah the Elk guy I can relate to in a way because mine was a setup by dirty cops and feds that led to 18 Years’ Sentence I had to litigate on Appeal and Post Conviction.
I won but it took 6.5 years total of prison and 2 years “on paper” on Parole.
I even got a Governor’s Pardon like that means shit to me to this day.
You gotta do what You gotta do in there.
My first cellie in Joliet was Ben Brooks the #3 man in Folk Nation a GD who knew Hoover.
Lots of guards were “hooked up” in gangs and paid homage to Brooks in there.
This was all new to me a white cracker not “hooked up” and You know exactly what I am saying.
Ben said something to me I never forget 24/7…
He says one day coming in from the yard and iron…
“You know, we all in here behind the Walls know Something
Mah man, speaking that language. Anytime I speak about gangs in one of my stories I always use generalized big names because people wouldn't understand Vice Lords or Folk and all the little subsection mf's. Sorry dirty 5.0 rolled ya. Getting got is easy to handle when you're guilty. Stepping off a bit when you don't belong, I couldn't even begin to imagine that.
We used to say the same thing about doing your time so it don't do you. I used to tell the new guys to quit straddling the fence.
Hoping you're doing good out here in the really real world.
That type of Resilience comes from the feeling of, "I have nothing left to lose- they took everything from me- only option now is either Win or Die Tryin!!"
Funny you mentioned Shawshank given this took place in Mansfield Correctional Institution, the prison built next door to the Reformatory where that movie was filmed
If anyone needs to see what a real stand-up guy is, look no further than Elk. DAMN.
He wasn't a strong man but god damn he might've been one of the toughest
Wow. Just wow.
I was going to write the same thing. I don’t even have words. Ho-lee fuck.
Wow. He never gave up.
It's amazing what a man can do when success is the only means of survival
Intentionally getting sent to the worst prison, then going through Hell to get a DNA sample, then having the scheme actually work. That is a movie script right there. It is crazier in some ways than Shawshank, but it actually happened.
They did a whole 20/20 special about him a bunch of years ago, however it focused entirely on the legal side of things.
Omg the man has his own Wikipedia page. That's amazing.
People think I make these stories up lol
I had to see if I could find that 20/20 episode. This dude is gonna end up being my research rabbit hole today. I Googled "20/20 wrongly accused cigarette butt dna Ohio" and the wiki page was right there lol
Can confirm. Glad I was sitting down for that one.
Yikes!
Justice comes in different ways but glad to see it happened.
J.C. - I don’t know if this will make you hate me or love me, but when I was a crim def attorney, I would get the sweats defending innocent men. Guilty men? I’ll do everything I can, I give you my word, but if you go down, you did it and I sleep fine. I’m going home.
Innocent guys?? Oh fuck. What if I’m not even good enough to get an innocent guy off? What if I’m the defense attorney in one of these cases like the Elk’s? I lived in dread of it. It terrorized me into action.
I couldn't imagine that pressure. I slept the first night I went in because I understood I was supposed to be there. An innocent man? Those walls must be ten times taller for them.
I met someone who got framed by dirty cops (where have we heard that before?) and spent a couple of decades behind bars before finally being released. He was an enlightened being. No other way to describe the man.
All I could think of talking to him was Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who lost his family to, and survived, Auschwitz, then wrote "Man's Search for Meaning." Doing time can do horrible things to men, but it also has the kind of pressure necessary to produce diamonds, my friend. Cheers. (And don't stop writing.)
Amazing to hear another angle of Elk’s story from someone who crossed paths with him on the inside. I stumbled across his story a few months ago and watched a handful of reports about it all.
His perseverance in the face of certain misery is nothing short of incredible. But even then, I remain scared as hell about the crooked pitfalls of our justice system.
He's definitely an example of how corrupt it can be. That man should've never gone through a moment of any of that
The sadness I felt for Elk grew from the first sentence of your post. I sensed that he was innocent but the twist in the tale of cig butts was an epic revelation of the strength of the man.
I am so glad he got compensation, both he and his wife deserved that....
From what I understand he's also a member of "The Innocence Project" which is an organization who seek out people like himself
Got some good tales of the joint, J. Coleman. I relate well. Back in IDOC long ago, a guy was either an Inmate or a Convict.
The difference is the Convict has convictions where an Inmate does not.
I read most of Your Substack this morning seeing joint talk and gangs like Latin Kings who’d be People Nation like the Vice Lords; not Folk Nation like Black Gangster Disciples and co-founder Larry Hoover who I knew when he was at Dixon CC on Writ long before he ended up in Florence.
Ohio joints? Interesting.
IDOC you doubtless know is Illinois Dept of Corrections.
I started in Joliet #B37915,
then Menard the “Pit”, and a round at Pontiac “Thunderdome”, then Stateville the “Ville” with that nice Panopticon arrangement.
I was like father-confessor to John Wayne Gacy in 94 when he was executed at Stateville.
Your stories brought back memories of the Joint from max, to medium-max, to minimum and shit like work release that’s a joke too easy to get violated and return to the joint.
Yeah the Elk guy I can relate to in a way because mine was a setup by dirty cops and feds that led to 18 Years’ Sentence I had to litigate on Appeal and Post Conviction.
I won but it took 6.5 years total of prison and 2 years “on paper” on Parole.
I even got a Governor’s Pardon like that means shit to me to this day.
You gotta do what You gotta do in there.
My first cellie in Joliet was Ben Brooks the #3 man in Folk Nation a GD who knew Hoover.
Lots of guards were “hooked up” in gangs and paid homage to Brooks in there.
This was all new to me a white cracker not “hooked up” and You know exactly what I am saying.
Ben said something to me I never forget 24/7…
He says one day coming in from the yard and iron…
“You know, we all in here behind the Walls know Something
most all people outside these Walls don’t know…
We’re ALL doing Time…
You either learn to do the Time
Or the Time does You.”
Peace J. Coleman.
Mah man, speaking that language. Anytime I speak about gangs in one of my stories I always use generalized big names because people wouldn't understand Vice Lords or Folk and all the little subsection mf's. Sorry dirty 5.0 rolled ya. Getting got is easy to handle when you're guilty. Stepping off a bit when you don't belong, I couldn't even begin to imagine that.
We used to say the same thing about doing your time so it don't do you. I used to tell the new guys to quit straddling the fence.
Hoping you're doing good out here in the really real world.
Respect
What he went through to clear his name blows my mind.
Yes. Just yes. Wanna shake his hand, buy him a drink , and wish him well. Elk, ever seen a bull elk? Fckers are brutes.
An Elk ain't weak.
Great Title.
Especially if anyone has ever actually seen an Elk.
It's also a play on his real name lol
Never discount someone who has nothing to loose and everything to gain.
Great story
It's definitely a crazy one
That type of Resilience comes from the feeling of, "I have nothing left to lose- they took everything from me- only option now is either Win or Die Tryin!!"
Wow a real life shawshank. Good bless this man and the suffering he went through for justice. Another great story J.
Wow! Shawshank vibes!!
I’m binging on your ‘stack tonight and really enjoying it, btw. :)
Funny you mentioned Shawshank given this took place in Mansfield Correctional Institution, the prison built next door to the Reformatory where that movie was filmed
This might be my favorite story yet. Damn, Elk.
He definitely went through the wringer.