people always want to believe that somebody is innocent but it is really dangerous years after the fact to get a new trial for somebody, for some legal flaw like maybe his lawyer didn t work hard enough or maybe some witness was unreliable. in fact, gwen gurley, who recan ted her original testimony against jim duckett now claims she was coerced into recanting by an investigator work for the duckett family. he was at my house. if i was hanging up clothes he was behind the clothesline. he was always around. he never let my life at peace. so i told him what he wanted to hear. what he told me happened, i said okay, it happened. the only reason i even agreed to do this interview was just on record to let it be known that the last time i saw teresa
retired homicide investigator marshall frank was investigating james duckett s case on death row. at the same time, beth wells, an appeals attorney from atlanta was also fighting to prove duckett s innocence. i represent jim duckett. i have been representing him since 1990. when i started, it was a bloody time period in florida. there were seven execution warrants the day i was hired. we had seven active warrants. that means seven men were going to be executed and jim was one of my very first clients. if there ever is a god-sent person, i believe beth is mine. she s never gave up on me. i started investigating his case. and every time i would look into something, i would discover, well, hang on. that s not as they said it was at trial.
marshall contacted jim. whoa, i know nothing about this guy. i have no reason to testify him. from jim s point of view, maybe this will be the person who is able to get somebody to listen. with the case at a dead end and duckett headed toward execution, marshall frank had an idea. he said i ve got a friend that used to work for the miami herald. and i had read adam buchanan s stories before over the years. and so i knew who the name was. and so i felt excited. edna buchanan was a pulitzer crime winning crime report he for the miami herald. an outstanding reporter, one of the best i ve ever known. i wanted to tell her what the story was. marshall frank kept calling me. he had been a source of mine over the years and he said he found this case where he is convinced the man on death row was innocent. i was dubious because if the
to be executed and jim was one of my very first clients. if there is ever a godsent person, i believe beth is mine. she never gave up on me. i started investigating his case. and every time i would look into something, i would discover, hang on. that s not as they said it was in trial. that doesn t flush out. then you realize, wait, we have an innocent guy here. the prosecution s key evidence against james duckett was pubic hair that had been found in teresa mcabee s underwear. neither beth wells nor marshall frank were buying it. duckett was accused of sexually assaulting her. one of the things that troubled me a lot is that the prosecution was saying that the pubic hair inside her panties was from the killer, but it wasn t uncommon for teresa to put her mommy s panties on. complain that pubic hair was already there in those panties. the records show the
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