They Wanted Justice with Chris, Cliff, Charles, and Tim
Fierce Conversations with Toby
Release Date: 05/09/2023
Fierce Conversations with Toby
Trigger warning/disclaimer: This episode contains discussions about death, including personal experiences and journeys. The content may be emotionally intense and could be triggering for some individuals. If you find these discussions distressing, it may be advisable to skip this episode or listen with caution. Remember to prioritize your mental and emotional well-being. “And so she (our daughter Anna who was nearly her college graduation) signed off her Facebook that morning with four words, “getting near the end.” That evening there was a knock on the door and two men dressed in...
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Find all interviews at Transcripts available at In this episode, Brittany Means discusses her new memoir, Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways. About Brittany Means: Brittany Means is a writer and editor living in Albuquerque, NM. A graduate of Iowa's MFA Nonfiction Writing Program, Means has worked with Inara Verzemnieks and Kiese Laymon. She has received several awards for her work, including the Magdalena Award, the Herodotus Award, and the Grace Paley Fellowship at Under the Volcano. Notes from Toby: I have long been a fan of Jeannette Walls. Her memoir Glass Castle gave me...
info_outlineCheck out the video of this interview here!
Chris Turner. Clifton Yarborough. Charles Turner. Timothy Catlett.
Our guests today spent 30+ years behind bars, being a number and not a name. We made sure their names are right at the very beginning to honor Chris, Cliff, Charles, and Tim as human beings who were never just numbers.
The Catherine Fuller murder occurred in Washington, D.C. in 1984. During the trial, eight boys were tried (4 of which are our guests today), wrongfully convicted, and sentenced to about 30 years in prison each. Their story came to light in Tom Dybdahl’s new book When Innocence Is Not Enough. Tom was interviewed in the last episode, YouTube video interview here.
Tom summed up their story this way:
“The men – boys, mostly, when it all began – were just guys from the 8th and H NE neighborhood in D.C. They had limited education and experience and resources… But each of them had a core of basic honesty. Under immense pressure, day after day after day, that core never cracked.
They were offered leniency in exchange for statements of guilt… But they hadn’t done the crime, so they wouldn’t say otherwise.
They did not want mercy. They wanted justice. They got neither. Yet they endured. They never sold their integrity for their freedom.”
Having served their full sentences, Chris, Cliff, Charles, and Tim share with us their journey through prison, how they found the courage and strength to endure, and how they’ve created new lives after prison.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Guests:
Mayor's Office on Returning Citizen Affairs
Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop
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Toby Dorr:
Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.
Credits:
Created by Toby Dorr.
Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.
Theme song:
Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist
Caroline Parody: Piano
Tony Ventura: Bass
For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/