"I wish I wouldn't have gotten manipulated so quickly. I'm still just living in a mental prison, still to this day. My mind never frees. Woodruff expresses the lasting psychological toll of his coerced testimony, describing the enduring mental anguish that persists decades after providing false evidence under police pressure."
"Gonnerman examines new evidence, recounts courtroom battles, and documents moments of mental trauma and reconciliation, as Woodruff tries to make things right-and the men whom he implicated seek to overturn their convictions. The resulting story is a staggering look at the human costs of a broken system-but it's also a moving testament to the human capacity for forgiveness and compassion."
Jennifer Gonnerman documents the story of Tyrone Woodruff, who at seventeen provided false testimony under police pressure that resulted in the decades-long imprisonment of three friends for murder in Buffalo during the late 1970s. Now in his late sixties, Woodruff struggles with the psychological burden of his actions, describing himself as living in a mental prison. The narrative examines new evidence, courtroom battles, and moments of trauma and reconciliation as Woodruff attempts to make amends while the wrongfully convicted men seek to overturn their convictions. The story illustrates the profound human costs of systemic injustice while exploring themes of forgiveness and compassion, remaining unresolved fifty years after the original crime.
Read at The New Yorker
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