>>>
>>> A
>>> A CONCORD MAN HAS NEW HOPE FORGETTING OUT OF PRISON AFTER 44 YEARS BEHIND BARS AFTER
LAWYERS UNCOVERED POLICE HEAD
EVIDENCE IN THE CASE AND HAND
PICKED THE JURY THAT CONVICTED
HIM.
>> THIS IS A STORY WE'VE BEEN
FOLLOWING FOR YEARS.
MICHELLE BODEN WENT INTO THE
PRISON TO INTERVIEW RONNY LONG+
AS HE WAITS FOR A DECISION THAT
COULD CHANGE HIS +@LIFE.
>> Reporter: RONY LONG IS
SERVING OUT AN 80-YEAR SENTENCE
IN THIS PRISON.
WE WEREN'T ALLOWED TO BRING
CAMERAS IN, BUT WERE ABLE TO
RECORD HIS VOICE, AND HE SAYS
AFTER 44 YEARS BEHIND BARS, HE
STILL HAS FAITH THAT HE WILL
SOMEDAY WALK OUT A FREE MAN.
RONNY LONG HAS BEEN IN PRISON
SINCE 1976.
>> I AIN'T NEVER GIVE UP HOPE.
+@
SINCE 1976. >> I AIN'T NEVER GIVE UP HOPE. >> Reporter: CONVICTED OF A
RAPE HE+@ SWEARS HE DIDN'T
COMMIT.
A MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE SAYS HE
IS TELLING THE TRUTH.
>> HE WAS CONVICTED IN THE
FIRST PLACE WAS BE+@CAUSE THEY
WEREN'T SURE WHO IT WAS THAT
HAD ATTACKED THIS WOMAN, WHO
WAS A PROMINENT WIDOW.
>> Reporter: JAMIE LYLE HEADS
UP THE DUKE LAW WRONGFUL
CONVICTIONS CLINIC AND IS
REPRESENTING LONG IN HIS LATEST
+@
CONVICTIONS CLINIC AND IS REPRESENTING LONG IN HIS LATEST APPEAL.
>> I THINK REGIONALLY LONG IS
IN PRISON BECAUSE THE STATE SUN
WILLING TO LOOK BACKWARDS AND
TO ADMITTING THE REREASONIOUS,
OR THE ACTIONS THAT LED TO HIS
CONVICTION.
>> Reporter: DECADES AFTER HIS
TRIAL, ATTORNEYS DISCOVERED
THAT POLICE HEAD EVIDEN+@CE THA
WOULD HAVE HELPED HIS CASE.
IN THE ALL WHITE JURY WAS
PREVETTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT,
AND THE VICTIM'S I.D.
OF HIM, THE ONLY REAL EVIDENCE
PRESENTED AGAINST HIM WAS
QUESTIONABLE AT BEST.
>> THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE LAW.
IT'S A BLACK AND +@WHITE THING.
>> Reporter: HE HAD SPENT THAT
DAY WITH FRIENDS, PLANNING
THEIR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION IN
1976.
A TECHNOLOGILE TEEN, HE PLAYED
HIGH SCHOOL, FOOTBALL, AND
BASKETBALL.
BUT THIS WAS THE '70s IN
CONCORD, AND EMOT+@IONS RAN HIG
ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SON OF A
PROMINENT BLACK MAN WAS
ARRESTED, BASED ON AN UNUSUAL
I.D.
DETECTIVES BROUGHT THE VICTIM
TO THE COURTHOUSE IN A DISGUISE
AND TOLD HER TO SEE IF SHE
COULD RECOGNIZE THE PERSON WHO
RAPED HER.
>> SHE LATER TESTIFIED THAT
HE'S THE ONLY PERSON IN THE
COURTROOM THAT LOOKED REMOTELY
LIKE HER ATTACKER.
>> Reporter: HE WENT TO TRIAL
FACING AN UP LEGAL AND
SEEMINGLY UNFAIR BATTLE.
>> THE JURY WAS SELECTED IN A
MANNER THAT IS HIGHLY SUSPECT.
>> Reporter: LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT WORKED WET THE JURY
COMMISSION CHAIR, PRESELECTING
POTENTIAL JURORS.
>> ACTUALLY TESTIMONY FROM BACK
IN 1976 TALKING ABOUT HOW THE
CHIEF OF POLICE SAT WITH THE
MASTER LIST AND CROSSED OUT
MYSELF PEOPLE THEY DEEMED UNFIT
FOR JURY SERVICE.
>> Reporter: LONG'S CONVICTION
SET OFF ANOTHER ROUND OF
VIOLENT PROTESTS.
>> THEY READ THE VERDICT AND
STARTED FIGHTING.
>> Reporter: WITH POLICE USING
BILLY CLUBS AND TEAR GAS.
LONG REMEMBERS THE RIDE TO
PRISON.
PRISON. +@ >> MAN, WHAT HAVE I GOT MYSELF
INTO.
I'M GOING TO HELL, AND I'M GO
TO DIE.
>> Reporter: HE'S BEEN
FIGHTING FOR HIS FREEDOM EVER
SINCE.
>> YOU +@TALK ABOUT RAIN
INJUSTICE, RACIAL DISCRIME
CRIME?
IT'S REAL.
I'M LIVING IN IT, AND I FILE
ONE DAY AS LONG AS I KEEP
CHIPPING, ONE DAY I'M GOING TO
WALK OUT OF HERE.
>> Reporter: IN 2005, HIS THEN
LAWYERS REQUESTED THE VICTIM'S
MEDICAL RECORDS AND FOUND THERE
WAS A RANGE KIT THAT HAD BEEN
DONE THAT SOMEHOW VAINISHED.
>> WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED
ONCE THE SERGEANT TOOK FROM THE
HOSPITAL.
THERE'S NO RE+@CORD ANYWHERE.
>> Reporter: THE POLICE
DETECTIVE IN CHARGE OF THE CASE
ADMITS HE DIDN'T THINK THERE
WAS ANY USE IN TESTING THE RAPE
KIT.
>> AS FAR AS I KNOW AT THIS
POINT, BASED ON MY
RECOLLECTION, THE RAPE KIT WAS
NOT SUBMITTED TO ANY
LABORATORY.
I MEAN, TO ME THERE WASN'T A
NEED FOR IT.
>> Reporter: DNA TESTING
WASN'T DONE IN THE 1970s, BUT
IT WOULD HAVE REVEALED A BLOOD
TYPE THAT COULD HAVE TOW
TENTIALLY RULED LONG OUT AS A
SUSPECT.
THAT SAME YEAR, 5 YEARS AFTER
HIS CONVICTION, LONG'S
ATTORNEYS DISCOVERED SOMETHING
EVEN MORE SHOCKING, A CONCORD
POLICE DETECTIVE +@ON THE CASE,
GAVE CRUCIAL EVIDENCE, HAIR AND
FIBER SAMPLES FROM THE SCENE
THAT DIDN'T MATCH RONY LONG
PERFORM THE POLICE EVEN HIT HID
THE EVIDENCE FROM THE
+@
PERFORM THE POLICE EVEN HIT HID THE EVIDENCE FROM THE PROSECUTOR.
>> JUST WARRANT TO PUT HIM ON
THE STAND AND ASK HIM ONE
QUESTION DID YOU KNOW THIS
EVIDENCE EXISTED IN 1976, AND
HE SAID NO.
>> Reporter: IN 2015, EVEN
MORE SHOCKING EVIDENCE TURNED
UP.
>> OF THE 43 FINGER PRINTS
COLLECTED FROM THE HOME
BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN RELEVANT,
THEY DIDN'T MATCH RONNY.
+@
BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN RELEVANT, THEY DIDN'T MATCH RONNY. SO NONE +@OF THE TESTING THAT W
DONE MATCHED RONNY LONG.
THAT WAS ALL KEPT FROM HIS
COUNCIL AT THE TIME.
>> Reporter: THE DETECTIVE WAS
LATER SENT TO FEDERAL PRISON
HIMSELF FOR STEALING CHECKS.
>> WHY SHOULD YOU GET A SLAP ON
THE RISK AND I'M STILL IN THE
PENITENTIARY?
>> Reporter: LONG HAS NEW HOPE
AFTER A RECENT APPEAL.
TWO JUDGES RILED BEGINS HIM,
BUT A THIRD WITH A FIERY
DISSENT.
THAT DISSENTING JUDGE SAYING
LONG IS OWED A NEW TRIAL.
NOW THE QUESTION, WILL THE FULL
+@
LONG IS OWED A NEW TRIAL. NOW THE QUESTION, WILL THE FULL COURT HEAR HIS APPEAL?
SUPPLY MEAN, EVERYWHERE DAY
HE'S INCARCERATED IS AN
INJUSTICE PER PERSONIATED BY
THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
>> DO WHAT THE LAW SAY DO.
IF THEY DO WHAT THE LAW SA+@Y D
THEN I CAN WALK OUT OF HERE.
>> Reporter: LONG'S ATTORNEY
SAID WE SHOULD HEAR ANY DAY NOW
>> Reporter: LONG'S ATTORNEY SAID WE SHOULD HEAR ANY DAY NOW@