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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NewsTranscript
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.