Triumphing Over Trials: The Andre Davis Story

We promise an episode that goes beyond the surface, delving into the complexities of the legal system, but in an inspiring and uplifting way. Can you imagine a public defender persuading a house owner to drop charges or a District Attorney having a last-minute change of heart? That’s just a glimpse into Andre's riveting tale. But it's not all about the trials and tribulations. We also celebrate how Andre, through his unwavering faith in Jesus Christ and the incredible support of Gateway Rescue Mission, was able to transform his life and become a beacon of hope for his community. So tune in, and embark on this journey of redemption and renewal, where faith, hope, and the power of transformation take center stage.

Transcript

Rex Baker 0:13

Hello, I'm Rex Baker, your host, and welcome to God After Dark, a podcast produced by Gateway Rescue Mission where we take situations where God shows up in the darkness of life and does a miracle. Today we're going to be talking about a little different angle on some stories and that is it's sort of a hot button social issue. We don't get into those a lot typically, but we did have this one situation with one person, and that person is Andre Davis, and Andre came up against the state's three strikes law that basically says if you are convicted or plead guilty to a third charge, then you can be put away for potentially up to life. So, andre, you went through our new life program, you graduated the program, but you still had this legal situation hanging over your head. So kind of tell us what was going on with that.

Andre Davis 1:13

First of all, I was on drugs real bad and my MMO was a house burglar and I guess it just caught up with me and my last straw was a template house burglar. And when I went to court they tried to give me 25 out of life and I really didn't know how to handle the situation until I got Mr Ford and Brad and Pastor Sweden, bob, I mean, they stuck with me from the beginning to the end and I really thanked them for that. And the lawyer I had she was real and she stuck by me and she told me. She said I'm not going to let you go to jail, mr Davis, I'm going to work with you as hard as I can, and she did that.

Andre Davis 1:56

Like I say, gateway has really been a true blessing to me since I've been there and I just can't stop thinking them for the things they have done for me since I've been there. I just hope and pray that I continue to just stay focused on God and just keep doing the right thing so I won't have to go back through that kind of situation anymore. I pray about my situations every day and night to God and to God. He reveals a whole lot to me. He's asking me just stay still. He got plenty of blessings for me, so I just try to be the best I can around Gateway.

Rex Baker 2:37

Thank you, andre. What I want to do, you mentioned some of the people that are on staff at Gateway Rescue Mission and the role they played in your situation, but I want to go back to the house burglary charge, or attempted house burglary, specifically what happened that day that you remember.

Andre Davis 2:54

I remember riding the bike that morning and I seen this house. It looked like it was empty, but when I got closer it was. So I went to the front door and looked in. I didn't see any furniture in the house, so they had a rain doorbell and the lady had already seen me on the phone when she was at work. So I knocked the rain doorbell off the house. They couldn't see me anymore. So I entered the back and looked in and there were some boxes packed on the floor. I couldn't get in because they had two deadbolt locks, one on the inside and one on the outside. So I didn't try to force no entrance because I didn't have any burglary too. Once I got back to the front, the police was already around and waiting on me.

Rex Baker 3:34

Did you actually make it into the house? No, sir, I did so. You didn't make it into the house. No, sir, you kind of banged around on the back door Right, you knocked the rain doorbell off Right, and for that and I'm not saying that people should not have to pay a price for a crime, but for walking around the back door kicking around a little bit, looking inside, they called the police and you were facing what?

Andre Davis 4:03

25th of life for the attempt to housework the charge.

Rex Baker 4:06

What happened then? I mean, this has been, we've been working with you on this, this ordeal, but what, what we? What was going through your mind when you were thinking that you might be Going away for a long time over an Attempted burglary where you never really even made it inside the house?

Andre Davis 4:26

Well, I was thinking every day that, you know, I had a lot of stuff on my mind that I want to do, but God, like I say, he revealed a lot of things to me. He asked me to be still so. I did I show no, I Show no concern that that that people can concede that. You know I was worried about things, but I was, but I didn't show it. You know a few people know I was going through it. You know the main.

Rex Baker 4:51

So Remember that, that you seemed very calm on the outside Considering all that you were going in, going through there. So I want to bring into the conversation now For e-forward, who is our director of programs at Gateway Rescue Mission, for e you. You played a big part in Andre in his situation, so why don't you begin kind of walk us through where you come in on all this and and and what transpired from your point of view?

Injustice and Advocacy in Legal System

Forea Ford 5:24

Well, my position at the program as director is to support our clients as much as we can, and Andre was one of our folks that we knew had some significant legal Consequences that he had to face one of. We always tell him look you once you get yourself clean and sober, because he was an addict. You know he'd come to us when he had had some ongoing Addiction issues. I think he had gone to state hospital and came to our program and he was also a part of the drug court local drug court that we have and Andre had those charges hanging over his head and what we did Since he told me what he, what was going on with him With his charge, you know I said attempted house burglary, that could have been malicious mischief, those kind of things. So we kind of started to talk to his public defender and just in my Thing was to get her to know him as a person, not just a number, because they have so many people that come through that system. And so once we took Andre down there and introduced him personally to her, she put a face to the case, okay, and so, with that being said, she was a ex police officer as well as a lawyer, but she was a police officer and she didn't think the charges were correctly done. Andre was definitely under influence when the attempted burglary happened. We saw some videotape of his confession and we saw that he was not of himself, and they were pretty well leading him with the questions. Long story short, we worked with him, and one of the investigators with the public defender's office Was actually from Andre's neighborhood, kind of knew him and his family and knew the people that owned the house that Andre had attempted to burglarize, and and and. Once he talked to them, because the owner was out of town and he got a hold of her and family and Discussed with them, and they said well, nothing was broken in, nothing was taken. Maybe the ring camera, you know, can reimburse us for that, but we don't want to see anybody go to prison for that, so that kind of helped with it.

Forea Ford 7:51

The main thing, though, was the public, that the DA, the district attorney, was adamant. She didn't want to budge off of what she wanted. She wanted 25 years to life. This where prayer came in. We really had to pray a lot, and over the time the public defender Talked to her, the judge kind of was, was sort in the middle of it, but he couldn't make a decision because in those cases it's up to the state, and Finally, in the end of it, she changed her mind at the last minute. It was the last minute call and when we went there, in fact they let him go. He's got probation, I think of all parole for five years, but that's all he's got to do is go there, visit, stay clean, stay sober. He's in our, at our facility. We want to help him as much as we can, but that's one of those things that I always say a but God. He was headed to prison, but God intervened and gave him a second chance. And that's what we are. We are program of second chances.

Rex Baker 9:01

I and when you say last minute, it literally was the day, wasn't it that, that Andre went in to basically.

Forea Ford 9:11

Correct. I had talked to the public defender and she really didn't know Specifically. She said it there was a possibility. She didn't know. But once they got in that that day, that actual day, that's when the Prosecute, an attorney, said okay, she would go with the, the offer that the public defender had put out there, and the judge was fine with that.

Rex Baker 9:34

This is a situation where, ultimately, the system got it right that you were about to send somebody away for 25 years, to the rest of their life, over a misdemeanor type situation, and, and the system got it right.

Forea Ford 9:54

what I wonder about, though, is if Andre had not had you, mr Ford, and others on the gateway staff to go down and advocate for him, to support him, how things might have turned out it could have turned out a lot differently, because they have so many people that come through the system and a lot of them don't have the support of the outside support that Andre had, because he came through the gateway and We've been working with the courts, with many people over the years and so you know, knowing the system is. It's about, like I said, it's about putting a face on the case and and that's what we did. We put the face and and Andre's not a bad guy we pretty well know him when he's been around us a couple years, so we know his heart and he's not a bad guy. But he's had some bad breaks and, like a lot of us, have had bad breaks. And once God gives us the opportunity to shine, to excel, to Do what the things that he wants us to do, then we we wind up okay.

Rex Baker 11:04

Andre had a drug problem and and that's that's what we're doing in society. We're taking addicts who Break some law I'm not saying they're they're innocent, but we're we're locking them up by the Tens of thousands across the country when they're real. They're real problem is that they have an addiction. One thing this case brings to my mind is I get the question a lot, mr Ford, you probably do too Kind of like what all do y'all do down there at the rescue mission? It's kind of like oh, we feed people, we house people. So sometimes that creates a stereotype where we Sit around making soup all day long and and that's that's about. That sometimes is what people see.

Rex Baker 11:56

But this is a situation that Says we can say to the public, to our supporters, to our friends, that we have people on staff who are advocates, who are defenders, who are counselors, who are prayer warriors, who are Confidants, friends to a lot of the people coming through the mission that join our program, like like Andre, and so that goes on behind the scenes, it goes on away from public life. It's not the story that usually the, the media wants to cover when they come around. No knock on them, but it's just Something that goes on Sort of under the rate, but but we're like the iceberg, the tip of the iceberg. What you see above it is that we feed people, we, we house people. Below the iceberg is 90% of what we do. It's which is getting involved in people's lives, helping them overcome addictions, helping them work through life problems.

Rex Baker 12:56

And so, andre, I just want to say to you that I am, I'm, proud of you. You have stuck with the program and you have overcome. So let me kick it back to you now, andre. What, what's? What's next for Andre Davis?

Andre Davis 13:15

To be honest with Mr Baker, I'm in the process of finding the job, something I really can do, you know. So I can pay my fine. You know, once I pay that fine, they're going to cut my probation in half and I only have to serve like two and a half years on probation. And then my plan was just going on home to help my mom out because she's been very sick. So, and where is home for you? North Jacks, north Jacks, yes sir.

Rex Baker 13:41

Well, I know one thing I have I've seen we all do. Sometimes I've seen people out there, out on the streets, who probably needed to be in prison, but they're not. But, andre, you are not the kind of guy that the state of Mississippi needs to be spending money on to keep you locked up. You are productive, you are a good person and I want to commend you for that for getting help for your addiction through drug court, through other programs and through our programs. But I want to share one thing that I just pulled this off the website of Prison Fellowship. Prison Fellowship is the prison ministry that was founded by the late Charles Coulson, who came out of Watergate, went to prison and then founded Prison Fellowship. This is what they say on the front page of their prison fellowship website.

Rex Baker 14:40

According to Prison Fellowship, the United States imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation currently more than 1.8 million people. While more than 600,000 Americans are released from correctional facilities annually, two-thirds are re-arrested within three years. Each year, the nation spends over $80 billion to incarcerate and re-incarcerate people. Beyond the financial impact, the cycle of crime and incarceration produces broken relationships, victimization, despair, instability, impacting families and communities across the nation. Clearly something is not working. Also, there are 1.5 million children in the country with a parent in prison. Now, I'm not making these numbers up, I'm not out on some social justice crusade here, just pointing out that we have a problem. We are literally locking up millions of people who don't really need to be there. They need help for an addiction. Instead, we're putting them in prison.

Rex Baker 15:55

So let's get back to the words of Jesus here. Jesus said this is out of the Gospel of Luke 4, 18, and 19,. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. Sometimes when I've read that, you see this little phrase in there. He had sent me to proclaim release to the captives.

Rex Baker 16:33

I'll sort of make that an analogy of well, that's for anybody who's in some kind of bondage or an addiction or a problem. But I think Jesus is speaking. Part of his reason for coming was to set people free who were captives, and they had them then and we have them today, and Jesus takes seriously how we treat poor people and I believe he has a call on us as followers of Christ to also be there to help rehabilitate people who have gotten caught up in the legal system. Brother Ford, I'll bring you in for one last remark here on your view, because this is your world. You live it every day. I mean, you've been over there in your office. You've got people knocking on the door all day long. What is your take on this whole thing with? I'm not asking you to be political, I just want to know what kind of a where are we in addressing the problem of incarceration right here in the state of Mississippi?

Forea Ford 17:47

Well, mr Becker, I think incarceration, as you mentioned, is needed. In some instances it can act as a deterrent. But when you're talking about addiction specifically, if we want to put it into the addiction, a lot of it is coming from a need to feel that whole inside of yourself and a lot of folks get caught up with that. The addiction serves to feel that, it medicates whatever's wrong with them, whatever they're going through, maybe mentally, emotionally, sometimes even physically. But I think that whole can only be filled by God. It's a God-shaped whole and that's what we offer for them.

The Power of Prayer and Transformation

Forea Ford 18:29

Not only the psychological part. You know, we deal with the addictions and all the everything we do there, but we also look at the spiritual side and we want to introduce them to Christ. That's it Once we introduce them to Him and His love. I think a lot of them don't have that love. I talked to some of them last night. We did a service and the thing I said is a lot of you don't even love yourself, but we've got somebody who loves all of us regardless. So just come as you are and he will take care of you, Andre.

Rex Baker 19:01

One last question Over the last while of dealing with all of this, how much prayer have you been doing?

Andre Davis 19:10

I pray every day, mr Baker. I just can't stop thinking God, how much, how good he's been to me. You know how he's took control of my life. You know, I'm just gonna stand the word and stay focused on Him and I'm just gonna continue to take one day at a time and I want you to know something there's somebody looking at you.

Rex Baker 19:29

There's somebody coming in our program right now that is looking at you and they're saying, well, this guy, he's got a little something about you. You may not know who that is today, I don't either but you are serving as a testimony to somebody else who needs to know that there's hope right now, and that's the beauty of how this thing works. God changes us. Then he gives us the platform to go out and be an example to what he can do and make somebody else want what you have. Alright, folks, we're gonna wrap it up. This is God After Dark. I'm Rex Baker, production of Gateway Rescue Mission, and we've been talking with Mr Andre Davis, who went through our program and of our new life program at Gateway, and Forie Ford, our program director. Thank you both for joining us today and we're gonna close out this episode of God After Dark.