i was in another world. literally. i had to be in another world. because if not, i would have cracked down and resorted to my suicidal tendencies that i experienced during the course of my whole life. just one day before his scheduled execution, abu received a visit from a federal investigator. and i looked at her. and she said she finally got a stay. and that s when i almost said if it wasn t for this shelf life thing, the hold me as i was going down, i probably would have fell all the way to the floor. we have four holding cells that are here on death watch. we have staff that work back here on 12-hour shifts when we activate this. staff are trained to work in this environment. and they re all volunteers. you know it s serious business, of course. everything is very clinical and methodical. and, of course, as each hour goes by, you get closer and closer.
life on death row, just what you make of it. it could be a living hell. it could be peace. you know, you can experience the highs and lows no matter where you are. unit two is death row. currently we have 92 inmates here at this site. we monitor everything by camera to see who is standing there. if you don t recognize them, an officer will go back there and see who it is. in the past 45 years, tennessee has only executed one person. but that statistic doesn t give false hope to those living on death row. according to the tennessee supreme court, supposed to be executed on the eighth of june. i don t see clemency from the governor or anybody else in my future. i got within six days of execution date. in november of 2004. when it comes my time, hey, i m going to lay down and just deal it with, you know? while most of the men on death row hope for clemency, there is one inmate who admits his guilt and expects to be executed.
i m going to have to get used to being back out and not knowing where to go. across the unit six pod, david taylor is also getting ready to be released on parole. i was 23 years old and robbed a bank. i didn t have a weapon. there is no intention of hurting anybody. i made a mistake. david taylor had been a free man. out on parole for seven years when he failed to report to his parole officer. david has been back at riverbend for one year. i m not coming back. ain t no chance of that. no way. just a rat race. a controlled life. can t do nothing. 42 years old. too old for this. michael was very young when he first came to prison on a parole violation for aggravated assault. he believes his time at riverbend has matured him. it s helped me to cope with some issues that i have. and it s i was going to say a
come out toe first. but when i was on death row, i went to the library every day. every time the library was open, i was there. eventually his lawyers, with frederick s help, got his death sentence overturned. it was converted to life in prison with parole. the biggest difference that i see compared to death row and population is the fact that you go from being in a cage to out in the open like we are in the open now. while at riverbend, frederick writes articles for the prison newspaper about his experience. three years ago i sat on death row, contemplating my future. you never know what to expect out of life. but death has no exception. i realize that by being on death row how much my life meant to me. the past stays the same. but we as a people, are capable of changing. i think my future is bright. i m still fighting my case. i know one day i ll be out.
riverbend maximum security prison houses most of tennessee s death row inmates. life on death row, just what you make of it. it could be a living hell. it could be peace. you know, you can experience the highs and lows no matter where you are. unit two is death row. currently we have 92 inmates here at this site. we monitor everything by camera to see who is standing there. if you don t recognize them, an officer will go back there and see who it is. in the past 45 years, tennessee has only executed one person. but that statistic doesn t give false hope to those living on death row. according to the tennessee supreme court, supposed to be executed on the eighth of june. i don t see clemency from the governor or anybody else in my future. i got within six days of execution date.