Dateline NBC - A Bronx Tale

Episode Date: September 19, 2021

In one of his most memorable classic episodes, Josh Mankiewicz tells the story Eric Glisson, who was wrongly convicted of the 1995 murder of a Bronx cab driver. From behind bars, and with the help of those who believed in him, he was able to prove his innocence after serving 18 years of his life in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Eric opens up to Dateline about his life after his release.   

I'm Josh Mankiewicz. Don't testify in your own defense. The prosecution will carve you to pieces on the witness stand. That's the advice a lot of attorneys give their clients, especially in a murder case. This is the story of a young man who took that advice and later regretted it. It's the story of a police investigation, if you can call it that, that ended in a perversion of justice. How all of that was undone is a story I've always found more inspiring than depressing, because a good part of this is about people doing the right thing again and again. It's also about the value of knowing you're right and never losing hope. That said, how would you like to lose 18 years out of your life? This is a Bronx Tale. Sing Sing Correctional Facility, the maximum security prison in New York. This is the big house, home to some of the worst

of the worst. Killers, rapists, drug dealers. Thank you. It is not where you'd expect to find this gentlewoman. In Sing Sing, they call me Grandma. Grandma is Sister Joanna Chan, a Maryknoll nun. I began working at Sing Sing more than 12 years ago. This is the battle about General Zhou. Grandma volunteers at the prison, working with inmates in a theater program. She even teaches them Chinese. Through the years, Grandma has helped dozens of men. But she says this inmate here on stage, a convicted killer, has changed her.

He's just so brave. Watching him all these years, I take such courage myself watching him. Sister Joanna remembers the first time she met this inmate. He was sitting alone, eating. He said, my family sent me 30 pounds of food. So I said, your family must love you very much. And he said, yes, because they know I'm innocent. And that's how the whole story began.

A story that began with the unlikely friendship between a nun and a convicted killer would grow into a quest that would shake the faith of even those sworn to uphold the law. I thought if he was innocent, God has to see him through. So who is this convicted murderer? He is inmate 97A7088, 38-year-old Eric Glisson. We first met him in the spring of 2012, when a Dateline producer working on a different story in Sing Sing met Eric in his cell. You gonna film me? He had been locked up for 18 years. You wanna see what it's like to live in here? I can test the walls. met Eric in his cell. You're going to film me? He had been locked up for 18 years.

You want to see what it's like to live in here? I can test the walls with my hands. Eric told us he didn't belong here. My story is I've been unjustly convicted for a crime that I didn't commit. And from February 3rd of 1995 until the present day, I've been sitting in here lingering every day, wondering whether this mistake would be corrected. We've heard that before many times but what if he was telling the truth? So over time we began visiting Eric. What's up? You're looking good.

And listening to his story. When I got arrested, I was always under the impression that people who are guilty actually go to jail. I didn't believe that I would be convicted of a crime that I didn't do. When police put the cuffs on him in 1995, Eric was 20 years old, the brand-new father of a one-week-old baby girl. Since then, their only time together has been spent in Sing Sing's visiting room. I have a family who I love and who loves me. My daughter, I need to get home to her and be a father. Eric often shared his story with Sister Joanna. Over time, she felt compelled to do something, anything for him. So she called

the only lawyer she knew. The first person I could think of was Mr. Peter Cross. I trust her judgment. To me, it was worth investing my time in. Attorney Peter Cross agreed to at least see if there was some truth to Eric's story. But there was still one problem. This is not the kind of law you normally practice. No, not at all. I'm a corporate lawyer. I do corporate litigation. I don't do criminal work. Charmaine Chester is Peter's assistant. This was also new territory for her.

You know, out of the blue one day, I get this call. You have a collect call from an inmate at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. I'm like, okay. Soon, she found herself spending hours on the phone with the inmate. At first, it was all, you know, business is case is case. But, you know, by the time you talk to somebody every day, the personal things start to slip in. Friendship.

Friendship. In the meantime, her boss was checking out Eric's claims of innocence. Did you believe it at the beginning? I'm not going to say I didn't disbelieve him. I just, I've been practicing law for a long time, okay? And people lie. They certainly colored the truth. This is a man who was convicted of murdering someone. So, of course, I approached it with some skepticism. But once Cross learned the facts, he agreed to take Eric's case at no charge, representing a man who didn't seem hardened by prison, but almost frightened. It's terrifying

because you could just be walking in the yard and then you could be shamed. That's the life of prison. A life he's lived for nearly two decades. The story he was telling us, if true, was as explosive as it was tragic. It turns out that the police and the district attorney had all the evidence at their disposal to solve this crime from the beginning. Not only was Eric insisting he was wrongfully convicted, he said others were too. All of them locked away for life for the same crime. Five other people. Five other people was also convicted of this crime. Six people.

Could all of them actually be innocent? Time now is approximately 7.15. To find out, we'll go back almost two decades and take a hard look at how it all began. Coming up, is it possible to get something so important so wrong about so many people? When we come back, we'll investigate what the police did not and find out what one witness really saw from her window the day of the murder. How the detectives could have decided to run with this still shocks me today.

Within the walls of Sing Sing, a convicted murderer has convinced a nun and a corporate lawyer that there's been a terrible miscarriage of justice. Eric Glisson is in the 18th year of a 25-to-life murder sentence. He claims he's innocent. You ever been in prison before this? No. What's it like to live in prison? It's hell.

A brutal killing of a FedEx recruiter is under investigation. Eric Glisson's nightmare began on the night of January 18, 1995. The New York City detectives lining this hallway in the Bronx were entering a crime scene as chilling as it was violent. She had three pairs of handcuffs on her wrists. A sock was stuffed into her mouth. The victim's name was Denise Raymond. She was an executive with FedEx.

Cops videoed the entire scene and anything that might seem important. Detectives are mystified over the vicious killing of a successful executive. The case went to Detective Tom Aiello, a 20-year veteran. Aiello led a team of detectives who worked through the night, knocking on doors and collecting evidence. Then, as the sun rose the next morning,

some of those cops turned their attention to another murder, another bloody crime scene. This is the video police recorded of that second murder scene. It was seemingly unrelated, but just a half mile away in the same precinct. This was a busy night for the murder business in the Bronx. Time now is approximately 7.15 a.m. on January 19, 1995. This time, a livery cab driver named Bath Diop had been found slumped over his steering wheel, shot multiple times, the victim of an apparent robbery. The driver's money and cell phone were missing. The investigation of the cab driver's murder would

be headed by 31-year-old Detective Mike Donnelly, who worked alongside Detective Aiello. The two detectives, Donnelly and Aiello, ended up putting their heads and their cases together, concluding the same group of several people committed both murders. Did you know the other people? I knew two of them. These are good friends of yours? Acquaintances. It's February 4th, 1995. One of those guys was 19-year-old Michael Cosme, the first suspect arrested. I didn't do it. I wasn't there. Eric was also questioned at the precinct where he adamantly denied knowing anything about either killing. Please don't blame me for something I have not done. Why is this happening to me? I don't know what's going on. I just want to be with my daughter. If I knew what took place that night, if I knew who did anything, I would tell you.

I'm going to give you your rights one last time. Sir, you have the right to make a statement. Detectives did not believe him. Eric Glisson and five others were arrested for both murders. Originally, you were charged with both murders, with the Denise Raymond murder and the cab driver murder. Yes. But by the time Eric went to trial, prosecutors dropped charges against him in the Denise Raymond case, citing lack of evidence.

So what evidence was there against him in the cab driver case? It was really pretty simple. There was a witness against him. Her name, Miriam Tavares. Tavares told the cops she looked out her window and saw it all. Eric and the others. Smack in the middle of the cab driver robbery that ended in murder. Is it possible that Miriam saw you commit a crime?

No. Not any crime? I wasn't there. Bad blood between you and Miriam? Yes, bad blood. Eric says he had a brief sexual relationship with Miriam that did not end well. Slighted enough to make you a murder suspect? Whatever her motivation, the question is, how reliable was she as a witness?

All these years later, Eric finally had someone to take another look at Miriam's story, attorney Peter Cross. There's no doubt that this woman was lying. I went out to the crime scene and she could not possibly have seen what she said occurred. So what could Miriam Tavares really see? Here's the problem with Miriam's story. From that police video, we know this is where the cab came to rest. But we also know the shooting happened a couple of car lengths back, sort of where that red SUV is. We know a man in that building called 911 when he heard the shots, and he said he saw only one person running away from the scene.

Now, a couple of weeks later, Miriam Tavares comes forward. She lives in that building over there. Now you're looking at me from just outside the window through which Miriam says she saw all of this happen. Now, this has to be easily 100 yards away. And she says she saw six people from the neighborhood commit the crime. She says she heard what they said, and she saw what they stole. And she said she saw all of it looking through this bathroom window. The only problem is, if you go back to where the shooting actually happened, it's pretty clear Miriam Tavares couldn't have seen anything at all. She said from her bathroom window she heard these conversations going on inside the car.

I mean, it's just incredible testimony. But what disturbed Cross even more, Detective Donnelly never looked at the crime scene from the perspective you just did. Wouldn't that sort of be standard operating procedure to check out what witnesses say? You would think so. I think they got on a horse early on in this case, and they rode that horse, and they weren't going to change direction.

We wanted to speak with Miriam Tavares. She died of a drug overdose in 2002. Other than her testimony, there was no physical evidence, no forensics, no prints, nothing, that tied Eric or the others to the cab driver's murder. Even so, detectives Donnelly and Aiello went with what they had and closed both murder cases. Within three weeks, they arrested their suspects and the Bronx District Attorney tried them. In all, six people were convicted. We'll call them the Bronx Six. Five men and a woman, all sent away facing 25 to life.

One of them was Eric Glisson. What's it like to hear that verdict read? It's like a shot in the chest. It's like your heart just melts, just dissolves. You actually think that they read the wrong verdict, that this can't be true. The NYPD was quite proud of Detectives Donnelly and Aiello's work, so proud that five months after the arrests, the department allowed the detectives to be featured in New York Magazine about how they amazingly cracked the cases. How the detectives could have believed that and decided to run with this and send them to jail for the rest of their lives on the basis of this garbage, it still shocks me today.

All these years later, Attorney Cross knew his opinion of the detective work in this case wasn't going to free Eric Glisson or anyone else. I think the only kind of evidence that's going to sway a court is if we can point to who the real killers are. That was quite a lot to hope for. But from behind bars, Eric Glisson was already on the trail. I got some documents, and so I see this guy's name keep coming up.

A surprise visitor and an answered prayer he said i'm sorry i know you're innocent i know the guys who committed this crime These are the people we're calling the Bronx Six, five men and a woman, all convicted and set away for 25 years to life for committing murder. All insisted they were innocent. We met one of them, Eric Glisson in Sing Sing, where from behind bars, he'd been trying to get answers ever since he was locked up. I've been fighting these people for years, asking for documents, which they deny me at every turn. They're not going to convict me for something that I didn't do and just expect me to accept it.

I'm going to fight to the end. I'm a fighter. I die on my feet, not on my knees. As the years passed, Eric took college courses offered by the prison. He learned about the law and fought his case. How did he get that evidence in his possession? The courts denied all his appeals. I don't have any appeals left. Nothing. It was a lonely fight. And then in 2006, he met Sister Joanna Chan in one of the prison's programs, the woman he calls Grandma.

There's particular dark time. He would say, Grandma, it's really hard. I told Grandma, I just lost my last appeal. I don't know what I'm going to do. I always say, you know, Eric, let's keep the faith and let's go on praying. And I said, we have many, many sisters praying with you. Sister Joanna offered more than just her prayers. That's when she brought in Peter Cross, who was now fighting for Eric on the outside. So you have Detective Donnelly as the officer assigned? Yeah. With Eric as his guide,

Cross got up to speed. To have any chance at having another day in court, Eric knew he'd need powerful evidence. Evidence of actual innocence. He started thinking, if he and the other five co-defendants had nothing to do with the two murders. Then who did? After more than a decade of trying, finally, some of Eric's requests for documents in his case began trickling in. I came across one document which had my name as well as my other co-defendants, but one name stood out. It was an individual who I found out was part of a gang called Sex, Money, Murder. Eric was on to an important lead. Sex, Money, Murder. Even veteran cops knew those three words meant danger.

A notorious gang from the Soundview section of the Bronx. 1997, October, Sex, Money, Murder became my assignment. Pete Forselli was an NYPD detective assigned to take down the gang. This was all Sex, money, murder territory. Yeah, we're in the heart of it. While Forselli was investigating the gang, an informant told him details of a crime the gang members had committed. There was a cab driver who had been killed in the vicinity of Soundview.

So Forselli went to the 43rd Precinct in the South Bronx to see if there was any truth to the story. Early 1998, walked in the precinct, went upstairs, walked into the detective squad room. So you go in there and say, what about this murder? What do you know about a murder? Yeah, I want to know about a cab driver murder in Soundview or the area around Soundview. And the response? They had nothing to fit that description. But Forselli's informant insisted the murder did happen.

You didn't only make one trip to the 43rd precinct. Two. Made two. And again, came out saying, look, we have nothing that fits that description. Is there any conceivable reason why the police department wouldn't tell you the truth? Well, I thought about that. Forselli says the answer might be simple. As far as the NYPD was concerned, this homicide was solved. Closed. was concerned. This homicide was solved, closed. The detective may have looked only in the open

homicide drawer and never bothered to even look to see if there was anything other than an unsolved homicide that fit that description. And as far as you know, that was the end of it. Right. Like I said, I had moved on. Forselli soon retired from the NYPD, not knowing six people had already been convicted. In the meantime, Eric was stuck in prison. It wasn't until 2012, 14 years later, that he hit pay dirt, and it came in the form of cell phone records. Remember, the cab driver's cell phone had been stolen by whoever killed him. And I found hundreds of calls after his death. The records showed the first call was made from the victim's phone minutes after the shooting. The numbers called traced back to relatives of two sex money murder gang members named Jose Rodriguez and Gilbert Vega.

Eric believed he finally had evidence showing who the real killers were. It took me 16, 17 years to get those through freedom of information. They were never provided to the defense? No. It turns out that the police and the district attorney had all the evidence at their disposal to solve this crime from the beginning. So he wrote a letter to the U.S. attorney proclaiming his innocence and detailing the information he'd found out about the Sex Money Murder gang. It was a Hail Mary pass. In an amazing stroke of luck, Eric's letter landed on this man's desk. His name, John O'Malley, an investigator for the

U.S. attorney in New York. Days after reading Eric's letter, O'Malley made a personal trip to see Eric in Sing Sing. Immediately, John O'Malley just stood up and he asked me, did you write this letter? And I said, yes. He shook my hand and he said, I'm sorry. And I said, sorry for what? He says, you know, I know you're innocent. When he said that, I said, what are you talking about, sir? He said, listen, I know the guys who committed this crime. How did O'Malley know?

It turns out O'Malley worked with Detective Forselli on that gang case 10 years earlier. And back then, those two gang members, Jose and Gilbert, actually confessed the cab driver shooting to O'Malley. He said, when I read this letter, everything just came back to me from that day. I put it all together when these guys confessed to me. O'Malley didn't want to appear on camera, but told us he also checked with the NYPD after getting those confessions back in 2002. And like Detective Forselli before him, O'Malley was told there was no record of the crime. After getting Eric's letter in 2012, O'Malley addressed the court in a sworn affidavit stating that Eric Glisson and the others were

innocent of the cab driver shooting. Armed with that kind of statement, you'd think Eric would be literally home free. You'd be wrong. Coming up, Eric Glisson isn't giving up. This is my wall of hope. Everyone here has been unjustly convicted and freed. Will his own picture ever be on it? Tears welled up in my eyes. For the first time in his 18-year struggle to prove that he didn't pull a trigger, Eric Glisson finally had his hands on a smoking gun, an affidavit from a federal investigator saying Eric was innocent. He asked me, do I have an attorney? And I told him, yeah. He says, I promise you I will call this lawyer today. So I was standing on line in the

bank. Peter Cross remembers that phone call. Mr. O'Malley tells me, Peter, I'm with the U.S. Attorney's Office. We know your client is innocent. And that was'Malley tells me, Peter, I'm with the U.S. Attorney's Office. We know your client is innocent. And that was such an emotional moment for me. I, like, tears welled up in my eyes right in front of the teller. I thank God every day for John O'Malley. When I looked in that man's eyes, you know, I seen a man who has integrity. I seen a man who, who was honest. O'Malley's affidavit was enough for the Bronx DA to reopen the case and to get in front of a judge. But that would take time. Two more months. But now at least, Eric had reason to hope. And in his cell, he assembled a little photo gallery of others

who'd been exonerated. This is my wall of hope. Everyone here has been unjustly convicted and freed. On August 5th, 2012, Eric's lawyer goes to court. This is our first appearance to try to get the judgment vacated. Cross is joined by his assistant, Charmaine Chester. By now, they've worked on Eric's case for six years. I want to see him out. I told him the last time I went up to Sing Sing, I said, I'm not visiting you here again. This is it. Finally, Cross argues his case to the judge.

My client has already spent 17 years plus in jail for a crime he hasn't committed. But it doesn't go down like a Hollywood script. Prosecutors do not admit there's been a terrible mistake. Your Honor, we'll be seeking an extension of time to answer those motions. How much of an extension are the people seeking? At this point, you're under arrest for 30 days. Another month. Cross is frustrated. He told me they were starting their investigation in June looking into this matter.

I was able to get my papers ready. It seems to me that another couple of weeks should be enough to get a response to the motion. You've heard the saying that the wheels of justice grind slowly. Now you've got a front row seat. We've been trying to put together facts and circumstances surrounding this now 15-year-old trial. If at any point in time you make a determination that you're going to concede, I will advance the case. Translation? This isn't going to end today. Eric stays in prison. But two weeks later, Peter Cross heads to Sing Sing.

Earlier that morning, he'd gotten a call from the DA's office, and he has good news for Eric. I received a call from the DA's office and he has good news for Eric I received a call from the DA in the Bronx telling me that they were ready to make a deal I'm going up now to see Eric to talk to him about the conditions for his release Eric's used to visits from his lawyer good to see you and very used to keeping his own hopes on ice. Can we get you out of the yard? Yeah, I was working out, running, jogging. So you know I wouldn't be coming up here.

Cross wants to make sure this sinks in. And so he slowly reveals the details. I was very surprised today. Well, I got a call from Ed Talty today saying that we have a proposal for you. The DA is now prepared to give you a conditional dismissal of the indictment and vacate the conviction. Today? It's not going to be today, but it'll be by the 13th, I think. Do you believe that? It hasn't set in yet.

I know. The initial shock. I know. All the fighting that we've done over these years. I don't know what to say right now. But unfortunately for Eric, a month later, he's still behind bars. These people just don't want to let me go. They want to continue to hold me and torture me. You know, the mental trauma I'm going through right now

because of this, I'm wondering whether, you know, they may renege on this agreement. But as excruciating as these hours are, Eric shares with us something beyond that wall of hope that's helped him wake up every morning. There's a bench by the water that each time I go to the barbershop, I look at that bench and I wonder if I'll ever be able to sit on it and look back up here instead of looking down there. That's been one of my main goals while I was in here, to sit on that bench as a free man. Coming up, will Eric Glisson ever get to sit on that bench?

He finally gets his day in court. We have made a decision to take this unprecedented and exceptional step. This bench outside Sing Sing is only a few hundred yards from the prison. But to Eric, it might as well be in China. How many times do you look at that bench? Every day. And thinking, I'll be on there one day. I want to see what it looks like from that bench to the window, because all I know is what it looks like from that window to the bench. Finally, on October 22, 2012, four months after a federal investigator vouched for Eric's innocence,

his day in court has come. Eric's been transferred from Sing Sing and is waiting in a holding cell in the Bronx County Courthouse. Apparently the court officers were advised. It's also been a long painful road for lawyer Peter Cross. This is the one case that kept me up at night for six years because I knew we had to find really like the one-armed man to get him out of jail. Eric walks into the courtroom. Numbers four and five on the calendar, Eric Blitzen and Kathy Watkins. Standing next to him is Kathy Watkins, the only woman of the Bronx Six.

Like Eric, she was tried only for the cab driver's murder, and in 1997 they went on trial together. Eric says he doesn't know her now and didn't know her then. When trial started, the officers was bringing us up to the court, and one of the officers says, this is Watkins. And I said, you're Kathy Watkins? And she said, yeah, who are you? And I said, I'm Eric Glisson. And I said, how are you involved in this? She says, I don't know. How are you involved? What's going on? And we both didn't know. We was confused. Now, 18 years later, Assistant District Attorney Nicole Keary says her office believes there may have been an injustice,

but only agrees to release Glisson and Watkins if they wear monitoring bracelets, as the DA's office continues to investigate. We have made a decision to take this unprecedented, as you know, judge, and exceptional step, that we are going to consent to the conditional vacating of the conviction for these two defendants, and the condition being that the defendants do wear those electronic monitoring bracelets. All that's left now is for the judge to make it official. The record will reflect that the conditional vacator

of the conviction as to Mr. Glisson and Ms. Watkins is granted, and each defendant is released on their own recognizance. Eric's friends and family, and the news media, are waiting for him outside. And now, for the first time in nearly two decades, Eric Glisson is about to take his first steps as a free man. Eric, what's your emotion right now? This is a major pivotal points in my life. And I worked hard, I persevered,

and with effort and determination, I'm standing here before you. Now it's his co-defendant Kathy Watkins' turn. Also wrongfully convicted. 17 years. Almost 18 years. She was 29 when she went away. Let me get your shirt.

Now she's 46. I didn't do it. I didn't do it. 100% innocent, and this is what our judicial system did to me. Innocent, all the way. By January 2013, the convictions for the rest of the Bronx Six were overturned for both the cab driver murder and FedEx executive Denise Raymond. This is Carlos Perez, 25 when he was locked up.

I even wrote the president. We're talking about 1995. It was like Clinton, Bush, I don't know. I wrote the president. I said, Mr. President, we're innocent. But nobody listened. Devon Ayers President we're innocent, but nobody listen. Devon Ayers, he was 19 when he was convicted. I spent all of my 20s and most of my 30s there,

so I'm just trying to get on with life as I know it as today. And Michael Cosme, remember him? We have one thing to say, though. Mr. Cosme. I didn't do it. I wasn't there. This is Michael today, 18 years later. Finally, someone believed him. And while we now know those two gang members confessed to the cab driver murder, FedEx executive Denise Raymond's killer, or killers, have never been brought to justice.

We wanted to speak with someone from the NYPD or the Bronx District Attorney's Office, but both declined comment, citing the multiple civil suits that they now face, as the Bronx Six seek millions in damages against New York City. And those two detectives, Donnelly and Aiello, who were portrayed as super sleuths back in 1995, are now both retired and didn't have anything to say to us. But in court filings, attorneys for the city of New York deny that either detective threatened witnesses or falsified statements, and point out that several juries heard the witness's testimony at the time and believed them. As for Eric, it's finally a new day and a new life.

One full of amazing discoveries. Hello? No, no, no. It's upside down. Coming up, no prison bars, no prison guards, and doors he can open himself. Eric Glisson's first night of freedom in almost 20 years. Wow. And a reunion with the woman who helped him win it. Oh my God. Grandma!

It's October 22nd, 2012. After living in a prison cell for 18 years, Eric Glisson is finally a free man. We're going to have Chelsea Peters. And we are by his side as he experiences all of it. Oh, I've seen this in the magazine. Eric's first few hours of freedom are part exhilaration, part discovery. He's never actually used a cell phone. Where's Cynthia? Hello? You got it upside down, Eric. Hello? No, no, no. it's upside down. Huh? Like this. Oh, hello? Huh? Can you hear me now? Like the commercial?

That was my first cell phone call. First cell phone call. His first meal? Lamb chops. Let me admire it first. Wow. It's like jumping up out of a coffin and walking. You know, it's like being read your last rites. And all of a sudden, a miracle happens. Some doctor that just comes, walks in the room and knows exactly how to resuscitate you. And you're back living again.

And you're back out in society and you're wondering, you know, will they accept you? Yeah, you see? On his first night of freedom, Eric's lawyer treats him to a hotel room. I'm walking home right now. I've got a key that's a plastic card. Wow. Oh, this is excellent. Holy. Wow.

It's got to be at least a 46 inch TV bed. Nice. Wow. You know, I used to sleep on a metal frame and now I'm on a comfortable bed. But the real joy for Eric. and now I'm on a comfortable bed. But the real joy for Eric is reuniting with his daughter Cynthia. Ready, set, go. She was just a week old when he was arrested. Now, she's nearly 18.

Don't get too excited. You cheated. You cheated. And that degree he began working on behind bars? Eric started taking classes again two days after his release. Eric! And finally received that long-awaited diploma from Mercy College. Today, a fully exonerated Eric Glisson is a businessman, an entrepreneur.

I'm basically doing everything single-handedly, all of the reconstruction of the ceiling. There's going to be four tables. On the one-year anniversary of his release, Eric opened a fresh juice business that he built himself named Fresh Take. Afternoon, sir. How are you doing? Nice place you have here. Thanks. Where'd you get Fresh Take? Well, I knew that I had a Fresh Take all life. I'm free now. I'm no longer the victim. I'm the victor. I won. You seem to have come through this remarkably free

of bitterness and anger, or you're hiding it very well. Well, I don't have any animosity against anybody at this point. Except the people who grow strawberries and raise the prices. Because the strawberries are the primary thing. Because that's a crime.

Yeah, it is a crime. Eric has a business partner, someone he met when he was still locked up. He's become my brother. It's Charmaine Chester, his lawyer's assistant. I call him my bratty little brother, and I'm the annoying older sister. They opened their store in late 2013. Eric says he loves it. Pivotal point in my life. It gave me a lot of tools. On this day, we had a little surprise for him. He hasn't seen sister Joanna Chan since he's been released. The woman

who put Eric on a quest for freedom all those years ago. Working together collectively. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Grandma. Grandma. Oh my God. Congratulations.

Thank you. Oh, my God. They told me you were in China. I was. Eric has now been a free man for more than seven years. It's been rough. It's not the walk into the sunset that everyone expects. It's events that took place in my life that will be with me forever. I can't unshake them.

And he says he's not the only one who's been having a hard time. Like, especially with my daughter, Cynthia, our relationship has been strained. I still sense a lot of the resentment of my absence for a major part of her life. But now there's a new person for whom Eric can be fully present. Cynthia has a new sister. Meet baby Scarlett. I have a second chance to raise a daughter, to be in her life, to take her to the park, horsey back rides, you know,

all the kisses, and hopefully one day give her hand away in marriage. There's no price for that. And what's the price for unjustly spending 18 years in prison. Eric and the rest of the Bronx Six all filed lawsuits for their wrongful convictions. The state and city of New York settled the cases, and the Bronx Six were awarded 12 million dollars each. There was one last thing we wanted to do with Eric. Remember that bench Eric could see from inside Sing Sing? Not too long after his release, we took him back there. And watched him finally make good on that promise to himself. To get that other view of the prison. This time, from the outside.