Randy Etheridge Defends Kendrick Lewis | Felony Murder | Pensacola

In this episode of Not Guilty Florida, hosts Andrew Albrecht, Esq. and Landon Stinson, Esq. of Beacon Legal sit down with Randy Etheridge, a veteran criminal defense attorney, to discuss his defense of Kendrick Lewis in a felony murder case.

Kendrick gave the State valuable information—then found himself prosecuted for felony murder. Randy breaks down how the case unfolded, the challenges of defending against a broad felony murder theory, and what it takes to push back when the State stretches liability.

In a straightforward and candid conversation, Randy shares how the defense focused on the facts, the strategy behind the case, and the importance of holding the State to its burden. As he put it: “If the shoe doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

If you’re a criminal defense attorney, this episode offers a clear look at the realities of defending serious charges when the stakes are as high as they get.

Guest Contact Information

Randy Etheridge, Esq.

Law Office of Randall J. Etheridge, P.A.

3 West Garden Street, Suite 516

Pensacola, FL 32502

Phone: 850-433-3213

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

I met this young man. He was only 16. But here in this particular county, the state attorney's office filed on him as an adult. His mother worked at the Dairy Queen, and she came to me, and the story just touched me from the get-go. This is just a poor African-American kid that grew up with nothing. I mean, you know, no father in his family. He was just living on the streets, basically. My client was across the street observing. He was just watching. He had absolutely no involvement in the case whatsoever, other than watch what unfolded. The law enforcement arrested my client as well, and he got charged with uh what we call felony murder. They knew and told me because we were friends, you know, we've known each other since we were kids. Say, look, Randy, we know that Kendrick didn't do it, but you know, we need him to come forward and tell us who did it. My client was scared to death of this guy because he thought if he said anything about this guy, the killer, the trigger man, that both he and his family would be killed or certainly harmed. So for over a year, this young man just was stuck in jail, couldn't get out. And if I finally convinced him, look, I think if you tell you know your story, tell them what you saw, what you heard, then this case will be over with. Finally, I talked him into it, and the prosecutor was there, and my client literally served this murderer up on a silver platter, scared to death. But he did it anyway. The most galling thing about it still troubles me to this day. After my client exposed himself to retribution from this killer, the prosecutor came to me and said, Look, I'll let him plead to a second-degree murder. I said, Well, you know what, we're going to try this case.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

You are listening to Not Guilty Florida, where you hear directly from the nation's leading criminal trial lawyers about their clients' most impactful not guilty verdicts in Florida. Your host is Andrew Albrecht, trial lawyer at Beacon Legal. Beacon Legal has offices in both Pensacola and Gainesville, Florida.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Good afternoon. We're back here on the podcast. We have with us here today Randy Etheridge, who's a world-famous criminal defense lawyer here in Northwest Florida. He's been practicing all over Northwest Florida for the last 40 years. He's well known in the community as someone who represents criminal defendants and anybody who's in trouble. And he's gotten some very significant, very impactful verdicts all over Northwest Florida for many, many years. And he's a hero to many people here in the community. So I'm thrilled and honored to introduce uh attorney Randy Etheridge, a uh champion for the accused all over Northwest Florida. Randy, welcome. Thank you, Andrew.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

I appreciate uh you giving me the opportunity and the honor and privilege of being on your podcast.

SPEAKER_04 3:07

Thank you for being here, Randy. Can you just give us a little bit of background story about yourself, where you're from, how you're connected to the community, and how you got interested in criminal defense?

SPEAKER_02 3:17

I was born in California but raised here in Pensacola. My father was a pipe fitter. I was the first person in my family ever to go past high school. I got started in law and specifically criminal law, because my brother got sent to prison for doing something he really didn't do. So I kind of made it my life goal to help out people that needed help. So I graduated from Florida State Law School in 1985. I've been practicing. Since then, I first started off with the public defender's office in Oklaosa County as a public defender. Then I got transferred to Santa Rosa County. I was a chief assistant public defender there. Because I was the only one over there. I told everybody I was a chief assistant. I was the only attorney there. So anyway, after that, I went into private practice. When I first started, I was just trying to make enough money to pay my bills. So I did what I call threshold law. Anything that came over the threshold, I did. Dabbled in family law, some personal interest stuff like you guys do. But mostly I've I've restricted my uh practice to criminal law. I grew up in a rough side of town here in Pensacola, Brownsville. And uh my claim to fame, I was the only white boy on uh all black basketball high school team at Pensacola High School, and I played baseball as well. But anyway, uh that's I started out of my own, I took a leap of faith. Uh it's a kind of a God thing, like you guys are which is why I admire both you and Landon so much, you know, because your firm is Christ-centered, or you know, to me that means a lot because uh I believe in it and it works. It truly does, which is why I was attracted to you guys anyway. So I went out on my own. I've handled at least well over 100 murder cases before. Not tried all of them, but handled handled that many over the years. And you know, that the the thing that makes my my work worthwhile is every now and again, you know, you truly get justice for your client. Wrongly accuse people, you you're able to get an acquittal and change it. You literally save somebody's life. And with all the odds, all the odds are stacked against you as a criminal defense attorney, because first of all, nobody likes your client anyway. Probably, as you know, Andrew, one of the most commonly asked questions, you know, how do you defend somebody that you know is guilty? And when you take your oath of office, part of that is that you know you're supposed to zealously represent your client to the best of your ability. So I always tell people that pose that question to me, look, you know, if you were wrongfully accused of something, wouldn't you want to have an attorney to help you and to stand up for you? Because this whole system, basically speaking, is geared against you. Uh the odds are sometimes seem insurmountable. Uh, but every now and again, you do you do a case which makes you proud and you know, literally save someone's life. So that's that's kind of where I get you know get my fun, uh, which justifies what I do every day. It's a tough business, as you know, Andrew, but you know, every now and again you do something that makes it all worthwhile.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

You you mentioned your faith and in Christ and stuff like that. Uh, how did you how did you come to to believe that and uh how has that helped you in your practice?

SPEAKER_02 6:48

Even as a small child, um, you know, my family was the type that uh you're gonna be in church every time the doors open, uh, whether it was Sunday evening, Sunday morning, Wednesday. I was brought up in that as a strict Baptist back in the day. Um, went to went to law school, went to college, went to law school, and I kind of got away from uh from God. Um but some things happened in my personal life. I uh had a drinking problem and a drug use uh problem, and I got me too. I got DUI, I got DUIs, and I was suspended from the practice of law for three years. I ended up going to because I had a home on the beach and you know, cars and boats and all that stuff. But all that went away uh after my arrest. I was not adjudicated guilty of a felony or anything like that. And that's a long story, I don't need to go through. But all my resources were gone. So one of my friends, instead of going to jail, which is what the judge originally was going to send me to jail for the GY incident, I found a place called the Waterfront Rescue Mission. It's a Christian faith-based deal. So I was there with homeless people doing a rehab because I didn't have the resources to pay for any rehab anywhere else. And it was a faith-based thing. And what happened, you know, is I re-found my faith. I mean, God reached out to me, you know, when no one else would. I didn't have anything, anything at that particular time. But I stayed there, worked at the front desk. We put we brought in homeless people every day, and I would help get them situated, get them a shower, a hot meal, what have you. And uh one particular pastor, every night they would have a different pastor. It could be somebody from a big church like First Baptist, or it could be somebody that preached on the on the corner of the street. But this one fellow came in, it looked like Rick Flair. He had white hair. And I said, Who is this joker? But immediately, and he's the same age as I am. Immediately I felt something with this guy. And what would happen is on Sundays we could go to a church. We had like three or four churches we could go to, and they would load you up in a van, just like your prisoner, an inmate, and you would go to the church of your choice. Well, the name of this particular church was Hearts of Love. It's kind of a kind of lukewarm Pentecostal, I would say. But just as soon as I walked into the church, you could feel the presence, and there's no ifs, ands, or buts to it. I mean, it was palpable, it was real, it was the Holy Ghost, and there's absolutely no doubt in my mind. And after that, I got married and had a child, which I never thought that would happen all these years. You know, I had leaving single, I never had any kids. And we got with this uh my now wife, we were just friends. About six or seven weeks later, she uh calls me and says, Hey, I need to talk to you. I said, About what? I said, About this baby we're about to have. Oh it was the best thing that ever happened to me. She married me when I didn't have two nickels to rub together, uh, which was a lot different than the the women that I used to associate with and date. So, anyway, it's the best thing ever happened to me. It's a God thing. And what I what I found out through this waterfront rescue mission, when I learned is to let go and let God do it. Because I wasn't making real good decisions. And when I finally learned, you know, step back and let him handle it. Man, nothing but good things have happened to me. I've never advertised ever. And it I like to think it's good, I don't have to because God's got it. You know, every day, you know, I know in the morning on my knees, every night on my knees. You know, I thank him for his provision and his mercy and grace and his blessings he's given me. Because my you know, my life has been a roller coaster. But nothing but good things have happened ever since I let him handle it, and he quit inserting me into the situation, letting him handle it. You know, I've got a beautiful wife, I've got a beautiful daughter. Like I don't advertise. I never had, I never had to. How I started my my uh business, my brother and I, we I had about 500 um business cards made up. We went to every bar, strip club, honky tonk, uh dive, any place we could, we would go in there with a card, you know, drop off a $20 bill or something like that. And you know, it was amazing how God always provided for me.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

Well, it's it's funny you say that because I'm I just finished John and I'm reading Luke, and you know, Jesus himself was criticized for hanging out with people like that. Exactly. For associating with, you know, tax I'm sure you wouldn't get as accosted for going out of the tax collector's office and drawing off the cars these days, but you used to. So last thing, and I'll Andrew, you take over after this. If someone's listening to this podcast right now, or in a year or two years from now, and they have problems with substance abuse, like I had, you know, I I had them as well. Um I don't drink or do drugs at all anymore because you know same with you, gave my life to Christ. What would you tell that man or woman who's listening to, you know, what advice would you have for them if they're dealing with that?

SPEAKER_02 12:12

The bottom line is this, man, if you let go and let him let him handle stuff, good things are gonna happen to you. You know, it's amazing the provisions that the blessings that I've had just by letting him handle things and not me, taking me out of the situation and let God handle the situation. Because he wants my God, my God anyway, he wants nothing but good things for you. He's gonna bless you if you let him.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

And uh, you know, just you know, give it a shot. You got nothing to lose, that's for sure. And just let him, you know, give it a shot. Uh it's it's you know, it's uh made me what I am today in my family, you know, things I never thought I would could accomplish or do. You know, I've I've I've gotten everything that I ever even dreamed of having. And it's just by being simple, you know, let let go, let God. You know, that's my my mantra every day that I do. And I get on my hands and knees. It's it's it's it's I think it's the act of humbling yourself a little bit. Because I when I used to pray, I never prayed on my knees, but then it was suggested to me, you know, that you know you might want to do that. And whatever that is, whatever reason that is, it sounds trivial, but it works. You know, I wake up, that's the first thing I do when I get out of bed every day. I get on my knees immediately. And before I go to bed at night, that's what I do. I get on my knees and thank God for his grace, his mercy, and his favor. And, you know, just give it a shot, you know. That's the bottom line. Give, you know, let him try it. Just try and you'll you'll be amazed at the results because it works, it truly works. That's why you and I and Andrew are where we're at now, you know, God's God's grace, mercy, and favor. So that would be my thumbnail sketch of what to how to do it.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

Preach. Agreed, agreed.

SPEAKER_04 14:09

Randy, I was just thinking about your whole story as you were talking through it, and uh, it's just really amazing how divine providence, how God will lay out our paths before us. You know, here you are, you have this situation with your brother where he's wrongfully accused and convicted of something that he didn't do, and he ends up in prison. That that horrible thing that happens to him ends up being your calling to go into your career for you to see the talents that God gave you, which are on display and have been on display for the last 40 years. You grow up in a blue-collar area of town in Brownsville and Pensacola. You know, I grew up in a little more of a blue-collar area in southern Illinois as well. And I feel that that background really helps us a lot when it comes to talking to juries and when it comes to talking with clients and connecting with people because you know, we don't come from a lot of money. We don't come from, we we come from a background where we can connect with people in a genuine way. So it's like everything you had happen built you up into who you're supposed to be. And like you say, when you take yourself out of the equation, you can see things so much more clearly. So I just really thought that was interesting. Um and I think that also plays into the calling of a criminal defense attorney. Like you said, the criminal defense attorney is the underdog in the courtroom every time. It's the state of Florida or the government of the United States against one man, and that one man is represented by one man, that being you in any given case. So tell me a little bit about how your background or your personality attracted you to that underdog in the arena.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Yeah, that's exactly what you said, Andrew. You know, blue-collar place. I think that resonates with people because I'm certainly not anywhere near your acumen or anything like that as far as smartness. But, you know, just being real with people because that's how we grew up. I think people really want to hear that. They don't want to be lectured to, they don't want to be talked down to, you know, they want something to relate. Uh, my brother, uh, he passed away about six years ago, unfortunately, of a drug overdose. But he used to attend my trials regularly. Uh, he was a courtroom junkie, but routinely I would ask him questions because us being lawyers, we being lawyers, you know, we were always thinking the legal parameters of this and that. But my brother would always come up, and other people would, I would always ask him, you know, well, if you were sitting over there, what would you like to hear? And and my brother and other people would routinely come up with stuff I wasn't even thinking about. Uh, and I think that connection is what's is what really makes a good criminal defense attorney is being able to talk to people and be real with people. You know, I'm kind of like the old Colombo uh TV series. You know, I'm not real smart, I don't know what's going on here, but something ain't right. Okay, let's talk about, let's talk about it. Uh, and I think that resonates with people. I really do. Uh just like you, you know, the way you uh that's why I admire you so much. I had the opportunity to see you in action, and I was just blown away with how well put together you were with your presentation. You're talking, reminded me of a young me, except you're a lot smarter.

SPEAKER_04 17:41

Thank you. I appreciate the kind words. I mean, really nice to say that. I really appreciate it. Now, all of us admire you, and I'll tell you that you know, I was at the public defender's office, and you're a hero to everybody. All the young lawyers in the community, all the criminal defense attorneys look at you as the true top dog in town. So thank you. Absolutely. One other thing I wanted to ask you. Your father, you said was a pipe fitter. Were you the first attorney uh in your family?

SPEAKER_02 18:07

I'm the first one to go past high school in my family. No one ever, my brothers and sisters had the opportunity to do so, but they uh they never you know took advantage of it. And um, I was a pipe fitter for a long time. Uh, and I'll never forget uh I was working with my father. We used to do shutdowns and stuff like that, where you've worked 12, seven, 12-hour days. We were in a boiler um room in a paper mill plant, and it was 130 degrees in there, so you could only have shifts of about 15 or 20 minutes because of the heat factor. And I'll never forget after finishing that, I was looking at my dad and sweat's pouring down my face. And I looked at my dad and said, you know what, dad? I'm going to school. I'm not going to do this anymore.

SPEAKER_04 19:00

Well, Landon and I both understand that. Landon's uh father uh is a welder, uh, owns Brownsville welding. He's from the same area of town, has uh business in the same area of town. I know Landon did a lot of work in that area too. I worked for his father, and growing up, I worked on a farm as a farmhand for five or six years, and after some time I decided I'm not spending my whole life.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

It was so funny when uh I was going, haven't had the opportunity to have lunch with you and Landon, and I'll be danged. I grew up right literally maybe a quarter of a mile from where his father's the the welding shot was. I used to throw papers. My dad had us working, we were children. I was 11 years old and throwing papers, but I threw papers all all around his dad's place, and I grew up literally about a quarter of a mile away from the Brownsville welding. So that was you know, that's it's such such such a small world sometime.

SPEAKER_03 20:03

Well, the the I think the best part of uh doing construction or farmhand is that those guys work ten times harder than lawyers do. And no doubt. They get up at the crack of dawn for whatever reason, construction, you know, farming, they all feel like they need to start work when the sun comes up or before. And that's one thing that I really took away from from my dad at Brownsville Welding is you know, getting up and going and just getting after it first thing. And uh so yeah, I I do think it's really helpful to have that blue-collar work ethic and then bring it in to uh to what we do as trial lawyers.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

100%. Well, Randy, I want to get into one of these cases that was a uh very interesting case. Before I do that, I just wanted to put a capstone on how amazing it is coming from the background you came from and having the experiences you experience, just the journey that your life went on. And you know, at some point in your career you don't have a law license and you're serving people at the Waterfed uh Waterfront Rescue Mission. And now here you are years later, sitting in your office, and you get to fight for people and essentially save people's lives for a living. And it just seems that your life had a certain track to it, had a certain plan to it. And no matter what you experienced and went through, uh, that's where you ended up. So you're right where you were supposed to be, and it's just a very impressive story. And working at the waterfront rescue mission is something that can kind of prepare you for being a criminal defense attorney and everything else you went with, too. So uh you were sharpened to be who you are now.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

I agree a hundred percent. God, I had a plan the whole time, I just didn't know what it was. But his was a lot better than mine, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_04 22:04

Well, Randy, let's talk about this uh this one uh murder case that you represented a gentleman in that seemed to me to be very interesting. Uh the it's a matter of public record. Uh, the name of the case is the state of Florida versus Kendrick Lewis. So this is a case that was a big deal in the community back in 2009 when it happened. It's hard to believe that that's almost over 20 years ago, not quite 20 years ago at this time. Tell us a little bit about this case, just kind of give us the factual background of what led to your client being arrested. And then uh once you get through that, we're talking, we'll talk about some of the procedure. I think the listeners will be really interested to hear kind of some of the inside baseball of what goes on after somebody's arrested between you and the state's attorney and the judges.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

I met this young man. He was only 16, he might have been 17, I'm not sure. But here in this particular county, uh the state attorney's office filed on him as an adult. It's called a direct file. And the state has the discretion to charge you as an adult, and they charge his kid as an adult, even though he's only 16 at the time. His mother worked at the Dairy Queen up there on St. Highway at the Exxon Station. And she came to me, and you know, the story just touched me from the get-go. And this young man, he had limited intellectual skills. Um, I mean, he wasn't he wasn't mentally challenged or anything, but he was just a slow learner. And uh it intrigued me. The whole story intrigued me. And the the basic fact scenario was this: Mr. Lewis Kendrick, he lived in a really, really, really bad neighborhood. Uh, my private investigator back at the time, and he's with the public defender's office now, uh, David Alverson, he and he's a big giant former cop, tough guy. He refused to serve subpoenas in the area because it was such a bad part of town. Well, anyway, uh what happens is uh two white kids go to this bad area of town to buy some marijuana. My client was across the street observing, he was just watching it. He had absolutely no involvement in the case whatsoever, other than watched what unfolded. Well, these two white kids come in there, the shooter, the actual killer, shot the passenger and killed him instantly. The driver of the car was approached by another young man, an African-American man, who opened the door and what they would do is stick their leg inside the door so you couldn't close the door and take off. He punches the driver and then robs him. My clients watching all this. Well, the actual shooter was a person that was a suspect in countless home invasion robberies and suspects in several murders as well. But they could never, the law enforcer could never actually pint anything on him. Well, what happened is the law enforcement arrested my client as well, and he got charged with uh what we call felony murder. Basically, there was the allegation is that he was assisting these two guys that committed the robbery and the murder. Um as I said, he was charged as an adult. The state made the decision to charge him as an adult, even though he's 16 years old. Well, we went through what we call discovery depositions, which are basically you take statements from potential witnesses under oath. We went through discovery uh depositions. Interestingly enough, some uh guys that I grew up with in Brownsville, the rough side of town, a couple of them were detectives at the time, investigators, they're both retired now. But anyway, they knew and told me because we were friends, we you know, we've known each other since we were kids. I said, look, Randy, we know that uh Kendrick didn't do it, but you know, we need him to come forward and tell us who did it. Well, my client was scared to death of this guy because he thought if he said anything about this guy, the killer, the the trigger man, that both he and his family would be killed or certainly harmed. Um, so for over a year, this young man just you know was stuck in jail, couldn't get out. For over a year, we went through the discovery uh process, and I finally convinced him look, I think if you tell you know your story, tell them what you saw, what you heard, then this case will be over with. Uh so finally I talked him into it, and we had a debriefing, for lack of a better word, at the Skami County Jail. And the prosecutor was there, and my client literally served this murderer up on a silver platter, scared to death, but he did it anyway. The thing, the most galling thing about it, it still troubles me to this day. Um, after my client exposed himself um to retribution from this killer, the prosecutor came to me after we gave the uh the debrief and came to me and said, Look, I'll let him plead to a second-degree murder. Here in Florida, it's kind of an anomaly in the law, but you can get a life sentence on a second-degree murder, natural life. Whereas if you're convicted of first-degree murder, uh you have it's life, but you have the possibility of parole after 25 years. So, anyway, the prosecutor uh told me that, and I was furious. I said, Well, you know what, we're gonna try this case. So it went to trial. It was Judge Bergosh, he was a great judge, he's retired now, and he was an excellent judge. Um, he ran, he's very fair and ran uh uh really gave you every opportunity for a fair trial, which I always respected him for that and I was appreciative of that. Um what happened at trial was we found out uh the person who had struck the driver, robbed him, uh, took his money, uh, had left him when he stuck his leg into the car, he left his shoe there. Well, I introduced that shoe into evidence. This fellow wore a size 12 shoe. My client wore a nine and a half shoe. So I had both shoes in my hands during my closing arguments, and I said, if the shoe does not fit, you must acquit. And the jury literally was out for 15 minutes, and this young man was exonerated, and you know, the feeling victories in murder cases are few and far between. Maybe one percent of one percent of criminal defense attorneys have ever achieved that, and the the exhilaration, the rush that you got from that, and my client just weeping, you know, sobbing uh loudly, um, because you know, it we just saved his life. I didn't. That's it's a god thing, and I always make it a point, you know, to give him the glory because it's from him, it wasn't from me. Um but a strange twist happened after that. Although my client had given them all the information that they needed, uh they wanted another prosecutor who shall remain nameless, uh, wanted him to give another statement. And at this point, my client already been found not guilty of murder or having anything to do with it. He's not guilty, but this prosecutor demanded that he give another statement. My client refused to do so. The judge, Judge Brigash, held him in direct criminal contempt indefinitely, which meant he was gonna stay in jail until he made that statement again. So this poor kid who spent about 18 months, as I recall, before we got his case resolved, he had been in county jail for that long. He just gets found guilty by a jury of his peers. He's free, and then immediately he's put right back in jail because he will not uh recant or tell tell his story again. We got we finally got it resolved. I I did it for I did the case for uh basically almost nothing because I really believed in this kid. Um and it it's it it's like I said, it resonated with me. This is just a poor African-American kid that grew up with nothing. I mean, he you know, no father in his family. No, I mean he was just living on the streets basically. So I did the case basically for almost nothing because I believed in this kid. But finally, um so I went ahead and handled that for him too, and I got him out of jail. And he still regularly will call me, like you know, Christmas and things like that and thank me. You know, that feeling you get from you know from that, you know, I mean you can't replicate that. That's that's something that not very many people will ever have a chance to do. But that's what makes what I do worthwhile. And just like you, Andrew, you know, there's there are these certain cases where you know you did the right thing. And it's a once again, I always go back to a God thing because I'm convinced that it is. You know, his will is gonna be done. And that's what I always before any any case I have, big or small, that's what I always do. I just pray for God's will to be done. Look, you know, what this is gonna turn out just the way that God wants it to turn out. And you know, just I always pray for him, give me the words, okay, give me the words to say. And uh these are few and far between. As you know, Andrew, you know, most, if not all of our cases, you know, the the accused usually did exactly what they uh they're they're alleged to have done. And our job is just to give them their day in court and you know, do the best that we can for them. But these type cases, you know, some of these cases, you know, that that will live with me as long as I live. Um, and that's what makes it worthwhile, me doing what I'm doing. And I get paid for it too. Um, like I said, my family never had much of anything. We weren't dirt poor, but we dang sure weren't middle class, anything like that. So uh being able to sit in an office, you know, go to a nice courthouse, you know, wear decent clothes. I didn't even have a jacket when I when I first started, didn't have a suit. Um, but you know, it's just blessings. It's just blessings that you get. So that that was one of my favorite cases I ever had was Mr. Kendrick Lewis. Uh his mother's still working at the uh Dairy Queen. She's a manager up there now, doing well. She will call me every now and again to thank me again. And as far as I know, Kendrick is doing well as as well. So it was a good story.

SPEAKER_04 33:51

That's an amazing story, Randy. And I I want to recap some of it with you and just ask you a few questions about it. So, as far as how this all started, this was really just a 16-year-old kid in his own neighborhood who basically witnessed a uh robbery and a shooting. And because he was around, he got arrested. Seems to me, maybe under some um to be put under some pressure to potentially turn in who the actual shooters were.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

100%.

SPEAKER_04 34:20

Now, when you're representing him, you're taking these depositions and you're talking to these investigators, and they're telling you, look, we know that he didn't do it, but we need him to tell on the people who did. And so, you know, this whole time was he in the jail?

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Yeah, he remained in jail the whole time on a no bond. Wow. We filed several motions to get him a bond, but they were to no avail.

SPEAKER_04 34:46

Now, when you're talking to him in the jail, I mean, this is you're building trust with him. And one thing that oftentimes criminal defense lawyers say is the most difficult case you're gonna have is where your client's innocent.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

100%.

SPEAKER_04 34:59

Because you're under the most pressure. And there's I've had cases too where I find myself telling myself, I have got to win this case. I cannot lose this case. And inevitably, like in this case, we often do, because I feel the same way you do. The people who are supposed to lose lose, and the people who are supposed to win win at these trials. But still, there's you've got to do your end. You know, as the attorney, you've really got to be an A plus representative of him. When you're talking to him in the jail and you've got these investigators telling you, we need you to him to just say who did it, for you to bring him out there and tell the prosecutor his whole story, say everything that happened, from an attorney perspective to bring the listeners in, you're putting a lot of trust onto that state's attorney who's prosecuting your client. That if you do this, they're going to do the right thing and dismiss the case, whatever. They're going to give your client their end of a bargain because you, as the criminal defense attorney, in doing that, you're relinquishing all leverage you have in the case. You're coming cards out showing everything, giving up everything, and you're expecting some good faith in return. When you went into that meeting to have your client spill everything he knew to the prosecutor, did you trust that something good would come from that?

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Oh, absolutely. And that's uh that's why I was literally stunned. I was speechless when the prosecutor, you know, told me that after working so hard with this young man, he's terrified of the actual murderer and if the danger to both himself personally as well as his family if he came forward. And to have that response, I was shocked. Uh I was just absolutely dumbfounded. I said, this cannot be happening. I mean, are you kidding me right now? Um, yeah, which is what's what made the outcome that much sweeter. Not that, you know, we're up there on a scorecard or something, getting points for doing this or that, but the right thing, just do the right thing. Um, and that's like I said, this is one of my favorite cases I ever had, ever, because of that, because of the injustice done to this young man who's out there trying to do the right thing. And he took him a year to come around, but he's up there trying to do the right thing, and this is how he's rewarded to be treated like this. And his life, literally, his life is on the line, because that's what he's going to get. You know, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the judge would have given him life. No doubt.

SPEAKER_04 37:52

Because the reward that he was given by every by explaining everything and giving up any leverage he had and protecting himself and by exposing himself and his family to retribution from the man he told on, the reward he got was okay, we'll amend this from first degree murder where there's you know mandatory life or whatever. We'll let him plea to second degree murder and we'll see if the judge gives him 25 years, but the judge might give him life too. And knowing this area, I mean, if you plea up to a judge on second-degree murder, you're gonna get life. You're gonna get life. That's right. So the reward he got was nothing after everything he gave. Absolutely zero.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

Can I ask some nitty-gritty questions? Uh great result. I love that. If the shoe doesn't fit, uh you must have quit. Uh you know.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

I borrowed that one from Johnny Cochrane by the right.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

Yeah, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

Rest in peace.

SPEAKER_03 38:50

Did the shooting happen in Brownsville or is it a different part of Pensacola?

SPEAKER_02 38:53

It was in a different part of Pensacola.

SPEAKER_03 38:55

Okay, all right. So rough part of Pensacola, unfortunately, there are, you know, various Pensacola have higher crime than others. And the shooting was a drug deal gone bad, essentially, right? Exactly. The person who is actually the victim, uh, other than your client, through the you know, wrongful conduct of our government officials, uh, was the guy sitting shotgun in the car of the people who were pulling up to buy the weed, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:23

Right.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

So they come up. Does the guy who put his foot inside the car, that's the person who shot the passenger?

SPEAKER_02 39:31

No, uh, the murderer was on the passenger side and he shot the passenger immediately. He robbed him and shot him immediately. And the other other assailant, he was at the driver's door with the door open with his leg, foot inside the car. He was just basically there for lack of a better phrase, security control or whatever, to make sure the guy didn't drive off as his partner was robbing the passenger and shooting him.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

All right, okay. So, so you've got this car, and I guess why it's it's advantageous to to rob people in a drug deal is because you know they have cash, and uh, you know, okay, so they know you had cash to be him up, boom, boom, shoots the guy and shotgun, the other guy puts his foot inside the car, and then the guy, the driver then drives off fast and the shoe comes off. Is that how it happens? Okay, right. And then uh, and then your guy, how old were the people who did the shooting and then the the person who put the foot in the car? Do you recall?

SPEAKER_02 40:39

My memory uh is that they were either late teens, early 20s, the the two white uh white kids. The uh shooter was late 20s, early 30s, as I recall.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

And your client, he he lived right, this was happened in his neighborhood, right? Oh yeah, yeah. Got it. So did he know the shooter and the emotional support uh robber?

SPEAKER_01 41:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 41:05

Okay, he knew them personally.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 41:07

Okay, got it. And so the so then the prosecutor, when the prosecutor originally put him in jail, uh they were they had charged them with what with pulling the trigger?

SPEAKER_02 41:17

It's murder while engaged in a certain felony offense. Uh, Andrew knows what it is. It's called felony murder. What that principle or concept is, is that even if you're not the person that pulled the trigger or did shoot shoot shot anybody, if you participate in any way, aiding or abetting is the legal mumbo jumbo, they say. But if you assisted in any way at all, you're just as guilty as the person that pulled the trigger. Uh, so that's how he was charged.

SPEAKER_03 41:49

Got it. So just like if you're robbing a bank, me and Andrew rob a bank, Andrew shoots the teller, I don't, but I drive the getaway car, I'm also charged with felony murder.

SPEAKER_02 41:58

Even if you're just uh Mr. Landon, even if you're just a lookout, okay, you're just or the getaway driver or something, you have uh no idea what's going to go down if it happens and they can prove that you ate it or abed it in any way, you're just as guilty as the one that pulled the trigger.

SPEAKER_03 42:14

Got it. So so the anyone in the circle of of you know of a of a crime like that, a murder, can be, and that's what they got him in there for. And when he was in jail for that year, did they have the other two guys in jail as well, or they didn't know the idea of the other?

SPEAKER_02 42:30

No, they never, they never they never were arrested. Okay. They're out there free, free as a bird, walking the streets while this poor kid that I have is in jail because he witnessed it and wouldn't tell him, wouldn't tell them what that they wanted to hear.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

Okay, and so then in your in your closing argument, we was the argument basically just like, hey, he just simply was not involved with this shooting at all. Exactly. Because in personal injury, I do a lot of personal injury work, and this leverage doesn't exist on either side in personal injury. Like the most leverage that we have is like we'll take it to trial, get a big verdict, and you're gonna owe us a bunch of money. But in criminal defense, it's like in civil defense, the stick is equal, but in criminal defense, that's the state has a giant stick, and you don't really, you know, have that leverage.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

100%.

SPEAKER_03 43:27

It's really unsettling to me as a citizen that the prosecutor, you know, given I haven't heard what a statement was to her, but he gave a statement that took a jury 15 minutes to understand. Did you let him testify in trial?

SPEAKER_02 43:44

No.

SPEAKER_03 43:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 43:45

As as I said, he's he wasn't really, he didn't have he wasn't, didn't have mental retardation or anything like that, but he was a very poor speaker, and he was basically uneducated. I don't think he even got past the age. Eighth grade, and I didn't want to chance uh putting him on the stand because I really didn't think didn't think I needed it. I mean, the facts were the facts. No one could put a gun in his hand. I knew that. Uh the jury knew that. Um, no one, his DNA wasn't on anything, his fingerprints weren't on anything. They never recovered the murder weapon anyway. And the bottom line is, you know, I really kind of hung my hat on on the shoe deal. Um, you know, luckily, thank, thank God, thank God, thank you, Jesus. Um, it worked. But that really was my I saved that to the last. Um I didn't even talk about it in my opening statement or or anything else. I never even mentioned it till the end because to me that was that was the linchpin to the whole case, was that. And they dang sure couldn't say my my client had anything to do with it because his shoe wasn't in there, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_04 44:59

That was the slam dunk at the end. You were able to build everything up to that and then really hammer it home with that. That's fantastic. It takes it takes stage presence and theatrics. You know, you have to plan out how you're gonna do it. And if you can do it well and perform it well and hit it home the way you've got to hit it home, that can be very impactful. As a criminal defense attorney myself, one of the things that can be really frustrating about this is for the prosecutors, the state's attorneys, they're not really thinking about this often in times of the people element. This is just a process, this is just a working its way through the system type thing. And it can be really frustrating because here you are knowing that your client is innocent. The state's attorney has taken his statement, also has great grounds to believe that your client is innocent, definitely knows that there's reasonable doubt, and you're taking the position, state's attorney, you're certainly not going to try to put my client away for life if you know that it's very likely he didn't commit this crime. State's attorney is taking the position, we'll just roll the dice and see what happens.

SPEAKER_02 46:12

Right. It just blows my mind. The longer I practice, you know, everybody I was always uh led to believe that you know, the older you get, the less work, less uh work that you have to do. Everything's easier. I've never worked so hard in my life. I tried 17 cases last year uh because for whatever reason, and I'm not it's it's none of my business. What the state attorney's office does, they do they have the discretion to do it, so they they do it, but they throw out these plea offers of state prison like it's candy, like it's no big deal. If you've ever had to spend one night in jail or one day in jail, you wouldn't know how what how serious that is and what that does to a a a young person or an older person for that matter as well. And I I can't tolerate that. I I just will not, I refuse to do that. Um, you know, if you're gonna if you're gonna do my client in that fashion, then we're gonna go to trial and you're gonna have to prove it. And you know, if nothing else, you know, um you're gonna get a couple days of of uh of hell for me, that's for sure. You're gonna have to, you know, if you you want to do that, you're gonna have to earn it because I refuse to allow my clients to be screwed like that uh if I can help it. And you know, many times, you know, Andrews, you know, sometimes we just have to try the case because there's no other alternative. If the only thing that the prosecution is offering you is a maximum sentence in state prison, then what do you have to lose? Um, and you never know what a jury's gonna say. Anybody that tells you, I guarantee we're gonna win this case, whether you're Johnny Cochran, F. Lee Bailey, Abraham Lincoln, I don't care who who it is, anybody that guarantees you're gonna win a case, you're a liar because you don't know what a jury's gonna do. Um, and trying to over the years, trying to read a jury is fruitless. Uh all the the tips they give you, look, you know, if they walk in and they're looking at you and smiling, everything's gonna be great. That's not correct most of the time. Uh so anyway, you know, I just I like the underdog because that's what I was. Um when I grew up, I had really, really thick glasses. And I got picked on back then, glasses weren't were not cool, and I had really thick ones, like you could, you know, use it as a magnifying glass and burn paper and stuff like that. And I got picked on when I was a kid a lot. Um, Professor P. Motti, four eyes, all that stuff. So all my life I've kind of gravitated toward the underdog. Um and I that's why I could have been a prosecutor, wouldn't, you know, I could have been fined as a prosecutor, wouldn't I actually um I interviewed for a job with the state attorney's office, and during the process, the it just floored me because the kind of some older lawyers in the state attorney's office to interview me, and they were asking me the most asinine questions, you know, what do you think about abortion? You know, have you ever used pot? I mean, stuff that had absolutely nothing to do with. And I'd already interned and tried, I tried three cases as an intern with the public defender's office. I said, look, you saw me in court, you know, I I can do this. Uh, and for whatever reason, they didn't hire me, but I could have gone either way, it didn't bother me one way or the other. But um it just something about the underdog has always resonated with me. I've always pulled from the underdog, whether it's in sports or whatever it may be. So I just ended up on this side.

SPEAKER_04 49:56

It's a temperamental difference that leads people to different um prosecution or defense. I just want to ask you a couple more questions about this trial, and then we'll wrap things up soon. Walking in the door to the jury trial, you're standing up to give your opening statement. The state's attorney's already spoken. What does it feel like for you? As a preface, I'll say a lot of times you go into a jury trial, you know your client's innocent, and you feel strongly about it. What does it feel like to you standing up to give them the opening statement, not only knowing that your client is innocent, but knowing that the state's attorney knows it too?

SPEAKER_02 50:32

That's probably to this day, having done this for 40 years, 40 plus years, that's really the only time I ever get nervous because I have that to me, and it's probably self-inflicted, but I have this tremendous weight on my shoulders, knowing that my client is innocent and his fate is at least partially in my hands, and the responsibility goes along with it. That's the only time really that I ever get nervous, except when the verdict comes out and they read the verdict, I get a little tight then. But it that's when I get tight then. Once again, before every trial, I get on my hands and knees and I pray for God's will to be done. And I said, I can always tell, ask God anyway. I said, look, give me the words, you know, give me the words that that I need. And so I I I sometimes I'll stumble and bumble a little bit um when I first get started. But after that, I don't worry about there's nothing else that's in my mind. I don't worry about the crowd, the jurors. I mean, I'm in my own world and I don't worry about spectators that's watching me or anything like that. You know, my full focus is on helping my client to justice, you know, right a wrong. Okay. Um so that's uh I get really, really uptight about that. Once I once I say my first couple of words, I'm usually okay. I'm of the opinion that jurors want to see a show. Okay, they want you to be zealous, they want you to be energetic, and they want you to be into the case, not nonchalant, you know, just going through the motions. You know, they want you to be a vigorous advocate, and I dang sure believe in that. I'll run up, I go around the courtroom banging on tables and doing crazy stuff like that, because I'm convinced most jurors, that's what they want to see. It's a it's a show, okay. And you know, they want you to be up there fighting fighting your butt off for your client, and I don't have any problem doing that. Uh absolutely not.

SPEAKER_04 52:41

Yeah, and I agree with you 100% about that. There were uh jurors who were interviewed in the O.J. Simpson trial, you know, that trial, I was real interested in that. I watched a lot about it, read a lot about it. I watched a lot of the raw footage of the cross-examinations. And the jurors, I mean, that trial took over a year, I think. And what the jurors were saying about the lawyers, they were like, you know, the trial was humming around humming along, humdrum, boring, not that exciting. And then when F Lee Bailey stood up to do the cross-examinations of the police officers and was just a battle axe on these guys, they the jurors were like, Whoa, this is the real deal, right here. You know, so it it really you can feel the effect in the courtroom when you're really cooking in there, like you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 53:29

100%.

SPEAKER_04 53:30

Now, I just want to ask you two other things about this. One of them is I want you to just paint the picture for the listeners when the jury walked in to give the not guilty verdict, the feeling in the room, what was going through your head, your client's composure, and how it how it landed, if you could just paint that for us.

SPEAKER_02 53:47

Well, the tension in the air was palpable. I mean, you dang sure could feel it. It's like electricity coursing through the room. His mother was behind right behind the defense table, sobbing quietly, but you know, and I'm tight as a tight as a drum at that particular time. And I've learned over the years just to keep my head down and not look at the jurors or anything else. And and what I'm doing, quite frankly, is praying every single time. Look, God, your will, this is it. And my client obviously was a bundle of uh nervous energy because he he didn't have the chance, uh, he didn't testify, didn't want him to tell, he didn't need to testify. But he's literally underneath the table. Uh Andrew, he's grabbing my leg and putting so much, he's a real stocky little guy, but muscular. And I I thought he was going to tear my kneecap off. And of course, they walk in and I'm telling, look, no matter what happens, good or bad, I said, Don't be demonstrative, anything else, just be cool, uh, no matter what the verdict is. And um of course the four-person hands it to um the clerk, and the clerk usually just brigage made the clerk read the you're sitting there and you're sweating bullets, you're literally sweating bullets, waiting, and they'll go through in the circuit court interference gaming county in uh Florida. Uh we the jury has to count one and they come up with a not guilty. And my my boy, um, not a boy, he's a man now, but he literally just collapsed on the defense table and started sobbing.

SPEAKER_04 55:40

Really, something a life saved, yes, and it was justice done in a situation that never needed to be that way, just people wielding power to put pressure on people and somebody standing up for them and divine providence walking them out of it.

SPEAKER_02 55:55

100%. Absolutely no doubt about that.

SPEAKER_03 55:59

What witnesses did the prosecution call?

SPEAKER_02 56:02

Well, the cops, of course. As a matter of fact, I think here's some of the witnesses. There's a Calvin Johnson and a Matthew Kyles. Matthew Kyles, as I recall, I think he was the driver of the car. There's something I didn't even uh forgot about it, Landon and Andrew. The um, of course, nobody could ever identify my client, the driver, no, because he wasn't involved. And I made a big point of that too. Yeah, did any of you talking to jurors? Any of you any of you see any witness that came up here? It was a three-day trial, that came or two-day trial. They came up here. Did you see anybody point their finger at my client and say, hey, that's him right there. He was the one that had a gun, or he's the one that stuck the leg in my car, or he assisted them and something. Did anybody ever see that or hear that? Absolutely not. So it it's more cops than anything else. Of course, a medical examiner came in and testified as to the cause of death, you know, the trajectory of the bullet, what have you, how long this uh poor kid would have uh been alive before he succumbed to his gunshot wounds. Um, and the cops basically coming in and said, This is our the prostitute really didn't even put on the cops because they couldn't add anything, and they really couldn't add anything to it. They didn't have anything.

SPEAKER_03 57:20

That's why I keep scratching my head because you know I'm I'm kind of like I'm just confused as to what the state said in their opening statement of like he was standing out there because he was the watchman or he was gonna jump in the car too. I mean, what what role did they uh hypothesize he was playing in this felony murder?

SPEAKER_02 57:43

That he helped set it up and he was there assisting them. Under the felony murder doctor, you know, he he's guilty of murder. That's basically was their in my opinion, anyway. That's what they were going on.

SPEAKER_03 57:54

Okay, they just said they're they're all in this together, they're they're they're buddies, he's in on it. Don't ask us how, but he's in on it.

SPEAKER_02 58:01

Right.

SPEAKER_03 58:03

That's such a waste of time. And so they say that, and then you who who do you put on, or do you just cross and then I just crossed them.

SPEAKER_02 58:11

I didn't have put on any witnesses at all, other than the evidence custodian to introduce the shoe, and also the officer that booked in my client uh that testified as to what size shoe he had, and they still have I got the shoe brought in too, and I've literally held up both shoes, once a 12, once a nine and a half.

SPEAKER_03 58:32

And then you said the jury was out for a very short period of time?

SPEAKER_02 58:36

15 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 58:37

And afterwards, did the state attorney apologize to your client?

SPEAKER_02 58:42

Never. Yeah, not once, not one trace of empathy or sympathy for this poor kid that just spent 18 months of his life behind bars for something he never did.

SPEAKER_04 58:54

That's what I wanted to bring up here, too. We're talking about the power that can be wielded against these people, against any criminal defendant, anybody. What happened here was you know, he sat in jail for 18 months for a crime he didn't commit. He told his story to the prosecutor, trusting that something good would come of it as promised. You went out and stuck your neck out saying this is what you got to do. You got to tell the prosecutor what happened. He tells him, now you look bad to the client. You know, it's a betrayal. It's a betrayal of your trust to do that and not get any reward. So now you got to go all the way, you fight it all the way, you win. So he's been sitting in jail, 16-year-old kid, year and a half, acquitted of murder, and then they come back and they say, We want him to give another recorded statement like he did in the jail when he was not given any reward. We want him to give another recorded statement. And from my reading of this, your client said, No, I'm not giving another recorded statement. I gave you one. You stabbed me in the back, and then you tried to pin a murder on me that I didn't commit when you knew I didn't commit it. I'm not giving another recorded statement. And when he refused to give another recorded statement, the state's attorney brought that information to the judge, and they took your kid who had just been gotten out of jail, beating the murder charge, and threw him right back in jail and said, You're not getting out until you give another recorded statement.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:20

That is correct. It's galling. It was the epitome of you know, betrayal, like you said, Andrew. That's the best way to characterize it. It's the system failed.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:32

So what how how long was the period of time between the not guilty verdict and then them saying they then need to double?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:40

Um just a matter of weeks. They had him back in jail. We brought him up, they brought him in front of uh Judge Brigosh, and I represented him pro bono. And I said, Look, Judge, you know, he just got found not guilty. Well, he's gonna be, he's either gonna he's gonna answer these questions under oath, or I'm putting him in jail for direct criminal contempt. And it's indefinite. That was a crazy thing, Landon. It was indefinite. Technically, they could have kept him there for perpetuity, uh, and unless he came and told them uh again what he had told them before and was screwed, basically, for for giving them exactly what he what they were asking for. He got absolutely no reward whatsoever than you know going to trial and taking his chances and looking at the very real possibility that he could spend the rest of his life in prison for something he didn't do.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:35

I think it just goes to show what a privilege it is to be able to be called to this profession and to be able to be called to be a criminal defense lawyer when that's your true calling and that's what it is you're supposed to be doing. Like we laid out how your whole life led you up to this, Randy. To be the one that's chosen to stand up there and right the wrong, like in a situation like this, it is truly an honor and a privilege to be given the opportunity to do that and to do it well. And that's what you did. And there is not one point when somebody looks at this case when they're looking at it, and you are not the one chosen to be the hero of the case, and that's the way that it ends up. So looking at it up and down, that's who you were in the case. And you know, you don't attribute that to yourself, that's what you were called to do. And I'm just all I can say is it's just such an honor to have that calling.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:28

Yeah, it's my privilege, and you know, I'm blessed. I'm very blessed. I've been blessed all my life. And, you know, when you do one of those, you get a result like that. You know, that's what carries you through some stuff that you have to go through on a regular basis um as a criminal defense attorney. Uh, but that's what to this day, that's what carries me. And like I said, this kid and his mom, still routinely, like on Christmas, usually in the holidays, will always send me a little card or something like that. And uh, you know, it just makes me smile.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:06

Thank you all so much for listening. If you have any questions or are interested in the podcast, you can send me a text at 618 514 9583. If you like the podcast, please leave us a review. Share it with your friends and colleagues. And remember, don't just read about it in the pleadings and the news articles. Come with us on The Ledger.