Red stick, the. – While Bobby Gumpright, 18, set up his bicycle home from his work in Blumman in New Orleans in 1999, began to invent a story about why he had no money. In the agony of addiction and not wanting to admit that he had spent his drug salary, Gumpright lied to his father and said that a black man had stolen him at a gun.
The manufacture got out of control when a detective, armed with photos of potential suspects, asked Gumpright to point to the culprit.
On the other side of the city, Jermaine Hudson, a 20 -year -old black man, was arrested for a traffic and detained stop. He thought he would soon be released to go home with his pregnant wife and his 10 -month -old daughter.
Instead, he was accused of a crime he did not commit.
Although two jury members did not believe the story of Gumpright, Hudson was convicted by a divided jury, a practice that 20 years later would be considered unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, which recognized its origins of the racist laws of Jim Crow.
Almost 1,000 people condemned by divided jurors remain in Prison in Louisiana.
Now, 25 years after Gumpright’s lies sent Hudson to prison, the two unlikely friends share their history in an impulse for the legislation to give some of those people the opportunity to withdraw their cases.
When Hudson sat in the courtroom in 2001, he dealt with a reality he did not create.
“Never in my wildest dreams would have thought that my life would have been stopped … Losing the life of my children, in my life,” Hudson told The Associated Press last month.
Two witnesses testified: the officer who responded to the call to 911 and Gumpright.
When Gumpright took the position, Hudson said that the stranger recognized the unfair accusation and his nightmare would end.
A prosecutor asked Gumpright, who is white, if he was sure that it was Hudson who stole it. He replied: “110%.”
In a 10-2 vote, the jury condemned Hudson for armed robbery. The judge sentenced him to 99 years in prison.
At the time of Hudson’s trial, only Louisiana and Oregon allowed sentences if one or two jurors did not agree.
Louisiana adopted the practice in 1898, fed by efforts to maintain white supremacy after the civil war. Dilute the voice of black jurors allowed the majority of often white to determine the result.
In 2018, Louisiana voters eliminated the use of non -unanimous jury sentences, two years before the ruling of the Supreme Court.
Of the 1,500 people in the prisons of Louisiana of sentences by jury divided at that time, around 80% were black and the majority fulfilled life imprisonment, according to an analysis of the justice initiative.
After the decision of the Superior Court, the Supreme Court of Oregon Granted new judgments To hundreds of people. But the Supreme Court of Louisiana Rejected arguments To apply the failure retroactively, leaving people like Hudson locked up with few legal options or waiting for a miracle.
Years of Hudson’s life decreased when he lost the birth of his second daughter, graduations and other milestones. He said that Gumpright “occurs with the truth.”
“This cannot be my final destination. This cannot be the end of my life,” Hudson thought often.
Gumpright tried to numb his guilt with drugs and alcohol, but never disappeared. “Either I was going to commit suicide or was going to move forward,” he told the AP.
In 2021, Hudson was preparing to take a new agreement: he declared himself guilty of armed robbery in exchange for a sentence of time fulfilled. A few days before the treatment was over, Hudson received news that he expected. Gumpright, who had entered a drug treatment center, had clarified about his lies.
After spending 22 years behind bars, Hudson was released.
A few months later, Gumpright replied a phone call from a blocked number.
“I bet you never thought you would listen to me,” said Hudson.
A Committee Fill in the State Capitol was silenced last month when a man wearing a suit and tie took to the microphone.
“My name is Bobby Gumpright,” he said, his hand trembling. “I come before you as a citizen of Louisiana … I am also a man who lives every day with the consequences of a terrible sin.”
Gumpright told legislators their history, the real one. Sitting behind him was Hudson.
The couple met for the first time in New Orleans, six months after the launch of Hudson. The last two years have passed by advocating a bill that would give the inmates convicted by divided jurors the opportunity to ask for a new trial. The measure does not automatically grant a new trial.
The duo says that his story is an example of how an innocent man can be imprisoned for decades under unconstitutional practice and that he is never too late to correct an error.
“I could not change the past, but I could refuse to live the lie longer as I continued injustice,” Gumpright told legislators. “Louisiana cannot change the past. But Louisiana can refuse to let her live injustice.”
The measure failed last year, but a legislative committee supported a similar bill in April. You still need the approval of the governor, the chamber and the Senate, which could discuss this week
People cheered when the bill cleared their first obstacle. Gumpright and Hudson hugged themselves, holding, while crying with joy.
Both men said they needed themselves to heal.
Hudson wanted to know why Gumpright lied. Gumpright sought forgiveness.
“I am not the type of man who is in grudge or hate anyone,” said Hudson. “I have an indulgent heart. And for me to move I really forgave him, because I understood what was happening.”
Sober for four years, Gumpright, 44, is now an addiction advisor. Hudson, 47, moved to Texas, married, bought a house, is starting a business and spends time with his two grandchildren.
Gumpright attended the inauguration of Hudson and met his family. Text messages are sent with breath words every day and photos are kept nearby.
“My friend? That’s euphemism,” Hudson said about his relationship with Gumpright. “He is my brother.”
