Consider This from NPR - Wrongfully imprisoned for decades, Ben Spencer is exonerated

Episode Date: August 29, 2024

In 1988, Ben Spencer was sentenced to life in prison for a brutal robbery and murder he has always insisted he did not commit. Spencer spent the next 34 years in prison, dashing off letters almost every day to his wife, his friends, lawyers, to anyone who would listen, claiming his innocence.In 2021, he was officially released from prison. But on Thursday, he was officially exonerated. We hear about his life after decades behind bars — and his faith that one day, the truth would prevail.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In 1988, Benjamin Spencer was sentenced to life in prison for a murder and robbery that he has always insisted he did not commit. In 2021, he finally walked out of prison. Ben Spencer was lucky. He was the luckiest of the unlucky. Journalist Barbara Bradley Haggerty, our former colleague here at NPR, has followed and reinvestigated Spencer's case for years. She wrote about it in her new book, Bringing Ben Home. What drew me to Ben's story is that it showcased it's so easy to convict an innocent person and it's nearly impossible to undo the mistake.

It took 34 years for Ben Spencer to finally be released from prison despite having lawyers and media attention. An organization that helps those it believes to be innocent took up his case. A judge recommended a new trial in 2008. And alongside a private investigator, Barbara Bradley Haggerty published a report in The Atlantic in 2018 that cast doubt on witness testimony and police work used to convict Spencer. But Spencer was only released after a reinvestigation was ordered by a new district attorney in Dallas, Texas. Earlier this year, his conviction was overturned, and this week, Ben Spencer was formally exonerated, cleared of charges, and financially compensated.

Over and over, while in prison for decades, Ben Spencer showed up to parole hearings and refused to admit to a crime he did not commit because that would have meant lying. Here's what he wrote. I've never forgotten this line. Truth has always meant more to me than my freedom. So he never got parole because he never admitted that he did this thing. Consider this. Benjamin Spencer was wrongfully convicted and punished for decades. But he always believed truth would prevail. And today, he is finally free. From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang. It's Consider This from NPR.

Ben Spencer was 22 years old when he was arrested. He was newly married with a baby on the way. He had a job and no violence on his record. Spencer was black and from a poor part of West Dallas. He ended up wrongfully convicted of the murder and armed robbery of a white business executive named Jeffrey Young. Spencer will never get back the 34 years he spent in prison, but today he is free. We had a chance to speak with him just

hours after he was exonerated. I mean, you have known the truth for decades, that you are innocent. You have always been innocent. And I heard that today the prosecutor who reinvestigated your case, Cynthia Garza, officially apologized to you on behalf of the government for wrongfully convicting you. Mr. Spencer, on behalf of the state of Texas and Dallas County, I want to apologize to you for this great injustice that was had upon you 37 years ago. What did it feel like to hear those words and to finally see the government officially recognize your innocence today? Invigorating, for one thing. I mean, to have them acknowledge that in such a powerful and mighty way and to proclaim it before the world, you know, that meant a lot. I mean, yeah.

Yeah. What has been the hardest part of readjusting to life outside of prison? Well, I would say a cell phone because I still haven't quite figured it out. And I'm afraid to do certain things because I don't want to open my accounts up to everybody, you know, so I have to be careful what buttons I push. But that's that's about it for me. I mean, to me, when I walked out of the county jail back in March of 2021, it was like I woke up out of coma and walked back into my existence. Well, I want to go back in time a little bit because you were convicted when you were so young. You were only 22 years old while your wife, Deborah, was still pregnant with your son, BJ. BJ, he's in his 30s now, right?

And you're in your 50s. Yes, he's in his 30s now, right? And you're in your 50s. Yes, he's 37. And yes, well, I'm close to 60 now. I turned 60 in December. What has it been like to reconnect with BJ? I mean, do you feel like you're still getting to know your son? Indeed. I mean, I guess the relationship, the dynamics of the relationship has changed when when you haven't actually been there to be a part of the process of raising him. But, you know, we just kind of picked up the chapter where where I was released. And it's been a blessing to just get to know him as a individual and as a man. You know, he got his head on straight and, you know, he's just doing things, being a responsible young man. I'm proud of him.

So we just kind of do things we can together. Occasionally, we might go catch a movie together. We've done a few car shows, and I'm always trying to help him as much as I can around his house because he's not that inclined to know much about carpentry or anything like that. Hmm. not that inclined to know much about carpentry or anything like that. Well, your wife, Deborah, you entered prison, a married man, and then many years later, you two decided to divorce. And then you married each other again after you got out of prison. Some of your letters to each other, they struck me so deeply because I was just in awe of the love between the two of you, the steadiness, the faith you both clung to that the truth would set you free.

How did the two of you hang on to that during all of those years? Well, for one, I guess our relationship and then having a child together that kept us in contact with each other. I mean, even before TDC brought telephones into the system, you know, we always communicated through letters and, you know, we had some good times, bad times, ups and downs, just like everybody else, I guess. But through it all, you know, we was always working through our differences and, you know, just to raise our son in a way, in a manner that we thought would be beneficial to him as he grew into adulthood. Well, I want to go back to this idea of truth and how much truth has meant to you. In one of the letters that you wrote from prison, you said, quote,

truth has always been more important to me than my freedom. And you really lived by those words because at parole hearings throughout the years in prison, you continually refused to admit to the crime, even in exchange for your possible release. How hard was that for you day in and day out? It was easy for me. I mean, I had come to accept whether I ever got out of prison or not. I could not and would not show sympathy or accept responsibility for something I was not responsible for. So the truth, like I said, the truth has always meant more to me than that. In fact, I had freedom even in being incarcerated. Tell me about that. What do you mean you had freedom even being incarcerated? Well, the truth. I mean, just knowing the truth about the situation that I wasn't

responsible in any way with the murder or robbery of Jeffrey Young. I mean, I just had freedom in that. And so that meant a lot to me. Well, Barb's book, it's called Bringing Ben Home. It reveals the American criminal justice system to be corrupt in so many ways, dysfunctional, racist. It shows how it is way easier to put people in prison than to set the innocent free, especially if you're a black man like yourself. How do you come to terms with that, with what the system did to you? Can you talk about how you've been processing that? That's kind of a hard question. But, you know, just really just hoping that in time that changes can be made that will improve the system. I mean, that's something I would like to work toward even now because the system is broken.

You know, people fail to realize how easy it is to get convicted of a crime. I mean, and oftentimes I think the fact that a person is sitting at the end of a table as a defendant, I think in the minds of juries they feel that, you know, there's no possible way that a police made an arrest of a person that didn't commit the crime in which they're charged. So I think juries tend to convict solely on the fact that you're sitting there at the end of this table. For other innocent people who are still in prison today, what would you like to tell them about how to keep going? I would say I always hold on to hope. I believe in God. I believe that God causes the sun to shine on the good

as well as the bad. So with that, we just hold on to hope and pray that doors are open on our behalf. There were times I didn't know whether I would ever get out. Well, I am grateful that you held on to hope and that the doors opened for you. Benjamin Spencer, he was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit. And today he has been officially exonerated. Thank you so much, Ben, for sharing this precious time with us. I so appreciated this. Okay, thank you for having me. We still help you break down a major story of the day, but you'll also get to know our producers and hosts and hear some moments of joy from the All Things Considered team. You can sign up at npr.org slash consider this newsletter. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang.