Original subtitles

I tried to tell him to calm down,

that's when he showed me his fists.

I got scared and I punched him.

Just one punch.

He hit the ground.

I was in a position to do what I had to do.

I wanted to help that night,

but I didn't know helping was gonna cause this.

Now, I'm thinking about prison every single day.

- I represent - Brandon joyner.

He's 22 years old.

Brandon is currently charged with

assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature,

which is a very serious offence.

It happened about two years ago.

Brandon witnessed a Mr. David Turner beating up

his son-in-law, Christopher caines.

He knew that Mr. Caines was previously disabled,

and at that point, he feels that he has to intervene.

They all lived in a very close neighborhood.

They were only a few houses away from each other,

and yes, the neighborhood knew that Mr. Turner

was a rather belligerent person.

Mr. Turner was cursing at Brandon.

It's apparent that he's been drinking,

he was highly intoxicated.

He's right in Brandon's face,

and Brandon at that point,

feels that he's about to be next.

And so, he punches Mr. Turner one time.

As a result, Mr. Turner then falls to the ground,

hits the back of his head,

and had some serious brain injuries.

Brandon had just watched him beat Mr. Caines to the ground,

who's had a stroke, is very disabled.

And at that point, he put himself in harm's way.

I would've done the exact same thing.

But the state believed that Brandon committed an assault

without justification,

and it's our position that he was acting in self-defense

and defending somebody who was disabled.

And he's facing 20 years just for one punch.

I fully believe he was absolutely in the right to throw that one punch.

I consider myself a typical American kid.

I go out and have fun with my friends,

I go to the movies, sometimes I go bowling.

I have a job, but I'm in college, so a typical American kid.

The label of being accused is a judgement.

But in my heart, I feel like I'm not guilty,

'cause I had to do what I had to do

to protect myself and someone else.

Today Brandon and his father are gonna come in.

We're gonna talk about what he's been charged with.

We're gonna go over the facts

and discuss his defenses.

Hey, Brandon. -How you doing?

Good to see you, Brandon. Hey, Lewis.

Brandon, tell me about what happened the night of the incident?

It was my birthday.

My friend, cam, he came and got me,

and we was all outside just talking.

And I seen Mr. Turner

push New York through the screen door,

and New York ended up falling on his head on the steps.

And "New York," his name is actually Christopher caines,

is that right? Yes.

I went over to help him up,

and you know, Mr. Turner was just jumping in front of my face,

you know, screaming, you know.

I got scared and I just threw a punch.

And you felt you were about to be attacked? Yes.

The punch was just to, like, back him off, honestly.

Well, Brandon,

I believe that you did the right thing

morally, as well as legally.

That you were definitely acting in self-defense. Okay.

And in south Carolina, with self-defense and defense of others,

and it applies equally whether it's you,

or whether you're stepping in to stop somebody else.

I can't promise you anything though.

You do face a serious penalty of up to 20 years,

and we're gonna do everything we can

to show a jury that you did

what they'd expect their kids to do

if they were in your position.

Thank you, Steve.

I've got serious concerns about Brandon.

He's facing a prison sentence.

It's really gonna weigh very heavily on him

going through this process.

All right, y'all, come on, let's say grace.

Father god, thank you for having our family at the table,

while we eat this food that my dad made.

We've got another grace.

God, thank you in continuing to watch over Brandon in his case,

and make sure everything comes out all right.

Lord, thank you for this wonderful family that I have.

Amen. -Amen.

Baby girl, you just sat there laughing.

Brandon, he's a goofy kid.

I'll yell at him,

but then I'll smile in the same breath.

Brandon has never been in trouble before.

He was trying to be a good samaritan

and it backfired in his face.

I'll try to hide my tears and tell him,

"it's gonna be all right."

But I don't know what's gonna happen.

And not knowing is... Is torture.

All right, Carlisle, thanks for

meeting with me today about this case.

I represent Brandon joyner,

he's charged with assault and battery

of a high and aggravated nature.

Essentially, what he's being accused of,

is punching Mr. Turner.

Brandon watched Mr. Turner beat his son-in-law,

Christopher caines, who is disabled.

What kind of disability did caine have?

He was a stroke victim.

So, he couldn't defend himself?

No, he certainly couldn't defend himself.

Brandon was actually recording this,

so we've got some short footage.

And you can hear Mr. Turner being very belligerent.

No!

At that point, Brandon just turns it off and goes to help.

I really applaud him for putting it down and doing something.

Most of the time, people videotape and not help.

While he's helping Mr. Caines to the car,

Mr. Turner's right there in their face,

cussing at him.

And at that point,

Brandon just punches Mr. Turner one time.

This is the body camera footage

from the first officer on the scene.

Why'd you hit him?

The ambulance is coming!

And that's Turner on the ground?

Yeah, that's Turner on the ground.

Who's that? Turner's wife?

And Mr. Caines is in the...

He's in the front seat of that vehicle.

I saw you hit him!

So, it was Brandon...

Right. ...Helping caines get into that car.

Say what?

You heard he said, "he can't talk, he had a stroke."

Just shortly after this assault,

Mr. Caines actually passed away.

Kind of shocking to me that there was no investigation about that,

whether or not Mr. Turner's assault precipitated Mr. Caines' death.

Where's Brandon at this point, do you have any idea?

He's back at his house.

He only lives a couple of houses up the street.

Okay.

He gives them names of independent witnesses

on the night of the incident.

And they don't interview any of them.

We'll definitely need to talk to them. Yeah.

To be accused of a serious crime,

people think that you're a criminal.

Even though you didn't do it, it's just weird.

You know, people go off appearances,

you're tall, and you're big

and you're black, and you look rough.

It's just like, "you did it!"

Today is a crucial day.

We're gonna go to the scene

and have him sort of reenact

everything that he did, and where he was.

Because the prosecution will be looking for

whether Brandon's covering something up,

or he's hiding from something.

That's why we have to get it absolutely correct.

Hey, Brandon.

Take me to where you were standing,

when you witnessed the altercation?

Where are we going to?

Right there. That's the house? Yeah.

And we was right here.

Okay, you were right over there. Yeah.

So,

we was...

I was standing over here.

So, when they got into arguing,

that's when I pulled my phone out, and I was recording it.

When he came out the house, he pushed him.

You know how you fall?

It was like... It looked ugly,

it looked like one of them jackass falls.

It looked bad.

'Cause he hit one of them steps.

So, the feeling was just like, "damn."

Let's look at that video while we're here

and check the angle.

No!

I went over there, see if New York was okay.

He was right here.

Right here?

Like right here.

So, I was like... I was like, "New York?"

I grabbed his hand.

I'm like, "New York, this is Brandon, do you know who I am?"

Mr. Turner, he's... He's like this right here.

"Yeah, mother!"

You know, he, he's going in.

I go down and I let New York grab the rail.

I get him in the car.

You know, Mr. Turner came through with some more jazz.

I was like, "chill! Chill!"

And then that's when he went like this right here.

So, when he did that,

I swung. Yeah.

I swung. I ain't gonna flex,

when he did that, I swung.

And his head hit the side of the car.

That's when I ran to the house and told my daddy.

I've always believed Brandon.

Now that we're out here on scene,

it just confirms how truthful he is,

and he wants to give a complete picture.

I thought he was gonna hit me.

Brandon and I talked about the punch.

I mean, he certainly says he didn't intend to hit him that hard,

it wasn't like he put a knock-out punch on him.

Brandon's a big guy. It probably doesn't take a whole lot.

The question is, whether or not

his punch was reasonable in light of self-defense.

What you see now is for his worship

in the name of the lord.

Amen. Y'all gonna pray with me now.

I've been going back to church more

since the incident happened.

Church has been important to me

with helping me, like, get through the week, and just staying solid.

Everybody in here has got something

that's coming apart in their lives.

Because of everything that's been going on,

I've prayed about it.

And when I pray, I pray for Mr. Turner and his family.

I just want him to continue getting better.

It was nothing malicious.

I don't wanna go to prison,

I just pray that my attorney can get me out of this situation.

We're gonna try to go talk to the turners.

The turners' version of the events

is what the police chose to believe.

If we don't talk to the victim in this case, we haven't done our job,

the investigation is incomplete.

That's his daughter, sade, on the porch.

Really bitter.

Yeah, they were very bitter.

They gave a pretty grim picture

that he still can't talk,

can't walk,

needs help being fed.

Patricia is David Turner's wife.

She was very confrontational.

They give a completely conflicting testimony,

from everything anyone else has told US.

They're maintaining that Brandon hit him with a brick.

That Brandon hit him with a brick!

The brick is huge

because the state's only got two witnesses.

They've got sade Turner and Patricia Turner and that's it.

And they didn't talk to any kids,

they didn't talk to anybody else.

It's gonna be very important for me

to contact all the witnesses

that could tell me about what happened.

This is Carlisle mcnair. I work for Steve hisker

who is Brandon joyner's attorney.

I'm in spartanburg now,

any chance I could come and meet you somewhere now?

Have you ever seen David Turner

drunk and belligerent like that before?

Yes, a lot of times.

He always got into it with people on the street when he'd get drunk.

And he threatened to shoot one of my homeboys

with his Smith & Wesson.

Turn left onto south center street.

You heard David yelling and arguing.

Do you know what they were arguing about?

From what we had seen, they were drunk,

they were having a family event,

and he... they are known to pretty much

get into altercations with the son-in-law a lot.

And the son-in-law, what's his name?

I don't... We call him New York.

That's what we know him as. Okay.

Why do you think Brandon went...

Why didn't you go over and help?

I mean, Brandon was pretty much

the strongest out of all of US,

so that's why he pretty much offered to go and help.

Did you see David push New York off the front porch?

Yes, sir.

Did Brandon hit him with a brick or anything like that?

No, sir.

Why do you think Brandon went over to help?

He's a nice person like that.

Brandon has always been brought up to help people.

I have seizure disorders.

So, sometime I have to stop for a few minutes.

My voice changes.

It's like something takes over your body when you have one.

But Brandon is very, very helpful,

and that's what's landed him in this situation.

He saw someone that needed help.

So, he went and did what he was brought up to do.

Go help the person.

It'll be hard not to have Brandon here.

I...

I don't even know if I can even handle it.

You know, not having my son around.

But your child to do something right

and serve consequences for doing something right,

is hard to believe.

I am typing up notes from all the witnesses that I spoke to.

We've talked to more people than law enforcement has talked to.

Everyone that I've spoken to,

is very consistent with what they saw.

Turner came up to Brandon in an aggressive manner,

and Brandon protected himself.

It's just a puzzle that should've been put together by law enforcement,

to be perfectly honest with you, and they didn't.

I was a cop for a lot of years, and I just, you know...

It's just that they got what they needed,

and didn't feel they had to go any farther.

Everything fits from what these people tell US,

and shows that what Brandon did was in self-defense of himself,

or self-defense of others.

The only person that has says anything different

is Patricia Turner by saying that, whoever,

that boy she says, hit her husband with a brick.

No one else says anything about a brick.

But you never know what a jury's gonna do, and Steve's got...

A tough road ahead of him

to save this kid from going to penitentiary for the rest of his life,

basically, well, 20 years.

Before the trial starts, we get to ask for an immunity hearing.

If we can convince the judge that Brandon was acting in self-defense,

he dismisses the case on the spot,

and says that Brandon's immune and he cannot be prosecuted for it.

Today is the day where it all really starts.

What happens in the next few days could change my life.

It could lift my burden,

or, you know, it could go the other way,

and I could have to do some prison time.

But it's about time that we got this finished with.

All right, Brandon. The prosecution's made an offer.

They're offering you a plea

to assault and battery in the second-degree,

which is classified as a misdemeanor.

If you have no convictions five years after it,

you'll be able to get expunged off of your record

like it did not happen.

If you choose to accept this plea,

you can go home today a free man.

Wow!

Here's the thing. In order for you to do it,

you'd have to plead guilty to assaulting somebody.

You'd have to admit to committing a crime.

And everything we talked about before said you didn't commit a crime.

You didn't do anything wrong, you were doing a good thing.

Doing this,

it feel like I could still grow up and move on with my life.

Brandon.

I know you're worried about what might happen with the jail time.

But I never want you to admit to something that you did not do.

Now, let's take a minute.

I'm not happy about the offer,

and I don't think he should take it.

I think it would make me sick for Brandon to plead guilty.

Of course, I just can't tell him that,

I can't tell him what to do.

With the plea, you know what is going to happen.

I take this deal I'm walking free,

I can sit on my front porch, I can go play basketball.

I can go home.

I don't want him

to admit to something that he didn't do.

That's not the way we raised Brandon to be.

Brandon's given it some thoughtful consideration.

He really wanted to go through with the immunity hearing first.

So, we've approached the prosecutor's office,

and told them that we wanna have the immunity hearing

and see if they'll consider

letting him weigh the offer again after.

If we win the immunity hearing, great.

The case is over with, it's done.

But if we lose that immunity hearing,

there's a potential that the state could withdraw the offer.

All rise.

Thank you, be seated.

Your honor, Brandon was trying to do something good.

He was trying to be a hero,

he was trying to help somebody who was hurt.

And Mr. Turner attempted to assault him.

Subsection c says that a person who's acting in self-defense

may meet force with force.

Your honor, I would submit that that lays the case

for you to find that Brandon is immune from prosecution.

Thank you.

The state calls Patricia Turner.

I saw Brandon

running down off the hill with a brick in his hand and hit my husband.

He hit him with a brick,

and he knows he hit him with that brick.

I have no life.

You took everything from me.

I can't go nowhere.

He can't talk, he can't walk,

he can't do nothing for himself!

You took everything from me. I have no life.

Mr. Turner's wife, she just said her piece,

and I can imagine it must be hard for her.

If we find out in the immunity hearing that,

you know, our standards didn't meet it

and we have to go to trial,

then that's when I'm taking the deal

because it's just like

that deal was better than trial to me.

So, I just hope and pray for the best

that you know, they dismiss the case tomorrow.

I would love to see the immunity hearing get wrapped up today

and end the whole case.

If the judge finds in our favor, this will be the end of it.

It just depends on how the judge is feeling,

and how his belief is about the testimony.

It's like it's all up in the air.

We don't know what's gonna happen.

Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, the judge is gonna throw this out.

I just hope so.

Thank you. Be seated.

Clearly, the testimony

that has been presented yesterday is conflicting.

There's evidence from which the jury could find

that he acted reasonably in self-defense.

There's also evidence that

the jury could find that he did not act in self-defense

and he was the aggressor,

that he struck the man for no good reason.

And therefore, the defendant's motion to dismiss the case

based upon immunity is therefore denied.

This is awful.

I should've took the deal.

Mom, we agreed that after the immunity hearing,

if it didn't work, I'd take the deal.

But I can't take it now. It's just like...

Brandon, I can't begin to understand how you feel.

I'm sorry for everything, mom.

I'm sorry. No, listen to me.

What if I never ever see you again?

You'll see me. Come here.

Mom, I wanna go home.

We're doing it.

I wanna go home, mom.

Mom, I wanna go home.

Brandon.

It's difficult to win those hearings.

But we lost, and the plea offer was revoked.

So, now the jury trial happens immediately.

The jury's gonna be charged with finding the truth

out of two completely different stories.

One of them's true, and one of them's false.

My god!

Juries can be unpredictable,

and Brandon's future is in their hands,

and he faces a very severe penalty if we lose.

This is what it's like to be accused of a serious crime,

it's torture for Brandon, it really is.

I should've, I should've just took the deal.

I should've just took the deal.

Brandon, the reason why you didn't take the deal

is because that was a lie.

You don't admit to something that you didn't do.

I would rather be pleading guilty

and go home tonight, working at Jimmy jazz, than going to trial.

It's prison. Why?

Brandon faces up to 20 years.

It's not a game,

it's a very serious situation that he finds himself in.

The state calls sade Turner.

Is this your parents' house?

Yes.

You said that you and your husband were leaving.

What happened then?

That's when the guy came and hit him,

and then my dad fell.

He wasn't doing nothing.

But when he hit my dad,

it was lights out, that was it!

You said you saw someone coming down from this position.

Was that your testimony, you saw that hit?

That's the way I'm assuming

that the young man came down and hit my father.

So, you told his honor

that you saw somebody

coming overhead like this and hitting your father,

that was just your "assuming"?

I don't know if my mind won't allow me to see that trauma.

Well, were you lying to his honor when you said

you did see the slam dunk?

Were you lying to this judge? No.

No further questions.

Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give,

will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,

so help you god? Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

So, Ms. Patricia Turner, David Turner's wife,

she says someone punched her husband one time, correct?

According to Ms. Patricia Turner, yes.

And she never once mentioned any time a brick to you,

did she? No, sir.

He had no lacerations or contusions, which would be bruising,

that would indicate facial trauma.

He had no broken bones of his face.

It would be highly unlikely

that he would have a significant facial injury,

and we would not have found it and documented it.

Does the jury believe Brandon,

or do they believe the turners?

I want the jury to hear the truth.

The only way to do that is to let them hear Brandon's side of the story.

It's extremely dangerous for Brandon

because his testimony could actually convict him

of something he did not do.

But I'm going to tell him that the jury

would be very helped by hearing from him.

It really comes down to the basic facts.

You're gonna have to stand up and tell that judge,

I understand my rights, and I wanna testify.

Do you wanna testify and present a case?

I'm scared, dude. -When he... I know,

but it's the only thing you can do, Brandon,

is go up there and tell the truth. Yeah.

You just need to get up there and be honest,

and tell the truth about what happened,

and don't worry about anything else.

Okay.

Yeah, I'll do it, I'm ready.

Taking the stand

is a huge thing to ask anyone to do.

Defendants rarely testify in criminal trials.

There is a fear that the system won't see past the fact that he's young and he's black

and he got into an altercation with an older gentlemen,

and they find him guilty wrongfully.

Put your left hand on the Bible and raise your right.

Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give,

will be the truth, the whole truth

and nothing but the truth, so help you god?

Yes. -Okay.

If I play this video, will you be able to tell the jury

what's going on in that video?

Yes.

I will call the police.

Who was the individual that Mr. Turner was beating up?

New York.

How did that make you feel?

I felt bad for him. Honestly.

I... I just knew that he could barely walk,

and why do this to him?

Does anyone in your family have a disability?

My mom does.

She has seizures a lot, she has to take medicine for it.

So, you're sensitive to people with disabilities?

Yes.

What did you do?

I went over there to help him.

What did you see Mr. Turner doing?

He got in a low fighting stance

and he threw his guard up like this.

When he dropped into that fighting stance

and showed you his fists, what did you do?

I looked and I just... You know.

I was scared, it happened quickly.

It was one punch.

What did you think would happen if you turned your back on him?

He probably would've hit me.

I've no further questions.

How big were you on march 24th in 2017?

About 6'2".

You admit he is a significantly smaller individual

than you, right? Yes.

That you would have a reach advantage on him,

correct? Yes.

Can you stand up? Can you stand next to...

Mr. Joyner, is that a similar size to what Mr. Turner is?

I would say they're about the same height.

He had that skinny, strong kind of build though.

You didn't try any more verbal thing like,

"back the hell off, old man," you just popped him?

Yes, sir.

I don't have any further questions.

I tried to be as clear and as coherent

as I could possibly be,

because I'm not good at that,

you know, I can't explain myself very well.

But I just really tried my best.

And I just hope that the jury understands that...

I didn't tell you a lie, I told you the truth.

Today is the verdict.

There's nothing more that I can do.

It's all in the hands of those 12 jurors.

Brandon, don't worry about those dishes in the sink,

you can leave that for tonight when you come home,

after court.

The system is unpredictable,

and I hate to make predictions about what's going to happen.

But, hopefully we get the verdict we want,

and Brandon's able to go home

and doesn't face a lengthy term in prison.

Good morning.

The defense argued when Brandon

decided to punch Mr. Turner, it was self-defense.

I mean, the discrepancy between these two individuals

is incredible.

You have to think about a 20-year-old guy

that is 10 inches taller, 120 pounds larger, and 44 years younger

punching a 64-year-old man.

It's clearly not a fair fight.

It was just an assault.

"The discrepancy is incredible

"between these two individuals."

Well, they're talking about size.

Well, let's talk to you about the discrepancy in behavior.

Let's talk to you about the discrepancy in demeanor.

You all heard the viciousness in that man's voice.

"I'm gonna this mother up!"

Does he sound like a meek little old man?

Brandon's meek.

Your saw him on the stand.

He's scared!

He's scared the whole time.

He's scared of Mr. Turner!

He's a meek young man, he's a gentle giant.

We ask you to find that what he did that night was unlawful.

That he was not acting as a hero.

And that it resulted in a great violent injury.

And please convict Mr. Joyner of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

It's done. Hopefully, they see it our way.

I don't think I could say anything other than I said,

and I did the best I could do.

If they get a verdict, just in case it goes bad,

we wanna be prepared to at least minimize the damage,

to see if we can keep you from going to prison for a long time.

Come on. Okay. Okay.

You've gotta be strong.

Come on, Brandon.

All rise within the court, please.

Madam foreman, have you and your fellow jurors

reached a unanimous decision?

Yes, judge.

We, the jury, find the defendant

Brandon Lewis joyner

not guilty.

I've got chores for you.

It's a sad situation for the turners,

but I'm happy for Brandon.

I love y'all.

I love you, too. I love you, too, man.

I can't stop shaking.

Can I give you a hug?

Thank you so much.

That's the scariest thing you're ever gonna encounter in your life,

I promise you.

A squeezing hug.

I appreciate you, Steve. Thank you.

We can't celebrate with all that shaking and stuff going on.

I know, I'm trying to stop.

He deserved it. He deserved to go home.

He's a good person, he's a hero in my mind.

Very pleased.

I told him that he was coming home today...

...because he had to wash the dishes.

I will mop every floor in there

and wash every dish.

I will clean out the cabinet and wash every dish.

No. No. No.

Brandon, he is not telling the truth.

I know it. I know it.