'You Intended To Murder Somebody Else?': Kennedy Has Tense Interchange With Prison Reform Advocate

4 months ago

At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned Terrance Winn, a prison reform advocate who was formerly incercerated, about his crime and decried his position.

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Transcript

00:00 What crime did you commit?

00:07 Second degree murder and attempt to second degree murder.

00:10 Okay. Who did you murder?

00:13 Jeffrey Owens.

00:15 Jeffrey Owen?

00:16 Yes, sir.

00:17 Why did you murder him?

00:20 I was a 16-year-old kid.

00:22 Me and DeJuan had a confrontation, and Jeffrey was an innocent bystander.

00:29 So you shot Jeffrey by accident?

00:32 Yes, sir.

00:33 You intended to murder somebody else?

00:36 I was defending myself against DeJuan Lewis.

00:39 Okay. Mr. Lewis, you shot at Mr. Lewis?

00:43 Yes.

00:44 And you missed?

00:45 Yes, sir.

00:46 And you hit Mr. What was his name?

00:48 Mr. Jeff Rowans.

00:49 Mr. Owens.

00:50 Yes, sir.

00:51 Did Mr. Owens have a mother?

00:56 I think everybody born in the world has a mother.

00:59 Yeah. But was his mother alive when you killed him?

01:04 Yes. She's still alive.

01:05 Okay. Did Mr. Owens have a father?

01:11 Yes, sir.

01:12 Who was alive when you killed him?

01:13 I don't know about his father's.

01:14 You never checked?

01:16 I mean, as a prisoner in Louisiana, you cannot check on those type of things.

01:22 Did Mr. Owens have any brothers or sisters?

01:24 Yes, he did.

01:25 Okay. How many?

01:26 I don't know.

01:27 Okay. You mentioned that your mother cried when you were sent to Angola.

01:35 Do you know how Mr. Owens' mother felt?

01:39 Have you ever reached out to them?

01:41 May I ask you a question, Senator?

01:42 Well, answer mine first.

01:44 I would answer yours.

01:46 Okay.

01:47 And you're asking me questions that an incarcerated person cannot answer.

01:51 I don't know what Jeffrey Owens' mother did, but human anatomy tells me that, yes,

01:56 his mother had to cry because she lost a son that she brought into the world.

01:59 Yes, his father, if he was living, he should have cried.

02:02 His brother cried.

02:03 Did you ever reach out to Mr. Owens' family?

02:06 Sir, you're a senator from Louisiana.

02:10 If a person like me that was incarcerated reached out to any person that's a victim, that's a sentence.

02:17 You go to prison for that.

02:19 And I was already in prison, so that's a different sentence.

02:21 So you couldn't write?

02:23 No. By law, you cannot reach out to the victim or the victim's family.

02:28 Well, I will tell you, I came today because I thought we were going to have a --

02:34 and I hoped we were going to have a rational discussion based on empirical evidence on a very complex,

02:43 nuanced subject.

02:48 Frankly, I'm disappointed.

02:50 You know, Ms. Turner, Professor, I just don't think these emotional arguments are at all productive in us trying to solve a problem.

03:00 You know, people are in prison for a reason.

03:07 I believe in free will.

03:09 I get the impression that the ACLU position and the professor's position --

03:14 I don't know about Mr. Wynn's position --

03:17 that you feel sorry for these folks who are in prison.

03:21 I wish they weren't there, too, because -- but they're there for a reason.

03:24 They really hurt somebody.

03:26 In Mr. Wynn's case, he murdered somebody.

03:28 He actually killed somebody by accident.

03:31 He meant to kill this person, and he shot this other person.

03:36 He could have killed two.

03:40 And I'm kind of disappointed.

03:43 I just don't think we're going to solve this problem with emotional arguments from people who don't believe in free will and responsibility.

03:52 That's just my point of view.

03:55 But I thank you all for being here.

'You Intended To Murder Somebody Else?': Kennedy Has Tense Interchange With Prison Reform Advocate

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