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THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
A wrongly convicted death-row survivor tells his story
BY CAMILLE DODERO

Kerry Max Cook’s story needs no embellishment. Indicted for the barbarous rape and murder of a young woman living in his apartment building, Cook spent more than 20 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. Not only was he repeatedly sodomized and beaten by his fellow inmates in prison, but Cook’s attackers carved horrendous slurs into his backside — etchings hewed so deeply that plastic surgery still can’t erase the scars. Finally, in 1999, DNA tests of the undergarments found at the scene of the crime detected the sperm of a married professor who’d been the young victim’s lover. But instead of facing the long process of another trial, Cook pleaded " no contest " — which is not an admission of guilt, but still leaves a murder conviction on one’s permanent record — in order to forgo additional time in jail.

Cook’s story is one of six narratives recounted in The Exonerated, a play based on court documents, interviews, and police reports of six falsely convicted death-row survivors (see the review on the Theater page of this site). Cook spoke to the Phoenix from a Boston hotel room.

Q: Why’d you share your story with the play’s authors, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen?

A: After having experienced a wrongful conviction and having been on Texas death row for 22 years, I jumped at the opportunity, as I do whenever I have the time, to speak out against the human-rights violation that the death penalty is for all people — regardless of race, creed, or color.

Q: Is it uncomfortable to have complete strangers say, someone like me know very sensitive details about your past?

A: Wow, you’re good. I don’t think anyone’s ever acknowledged that since the play’s been running. Yes, to be frank with you, it is very difficult. [Swallows] It’s very embarrassing to have people know such personal things about me, like know that I was raped and abused and know that I have all these things carved on me from my attacks in prison. It’s very embarrassing at times.

Q: Do you regret sharing as much as you did?

A: No, I don’t regret it. It’s part of the overall picture that gives the death penalty a face in America. People need to understand what happens: someone innocent doesn’t go to death row and then the system finds its mistake several years later and frees you. No, a system doesn’t correct its own mistake. Outside agencies help find your innocence. People need to know what happens to innocent people in prison.

Q: In the play, the real killer, Professor James Mayfield, is a free man. Is he still?

A: Oh, of course. They don’t go after the actual culprits in actual death-penalty cases. Going after them would be an admission of guilt. They never admit they did anything wrong.

Q: Have you ever had any dealings with him?

A: Numerous members of the media through the years have contacted him. Geraldo Rivera camped outside of his house and wouldn’t leave. Finally, two days later, a haggard Geraldo says, " Well, he’s not coming out and answering us. This is crazy what this man did, but he won’t come out! " He looks behind himself and through the guy’s window and says, " Come out, James Mayfield! Come out! " He did that on national television. It was great. I was loving it, actually.

Q: Toward the end of The Exonerated, the wife of another death-penalty survivor, Gary Gauger, talks about the stigma that’s still attached to her husband even though he’s been absolved. Have you encountered similar social prejudices since your release?

A: You always run into that. People have such faith in the criminal-justice system that they don’t believe it’s possible not only to convict an innocent person, but to have an innocent person face the death penalty. But there’s always going to be idiots, as Gary Gauger says, and you just got to keep on going. In the end, the facts speak louder than words.

Q: Is there anything that you miss about prison?

A: [Whistles] Yes, oh yes. To be honest with you, I went to prison when I was 19. I was a little kid; I’d lived a very sheltered life. So at times, what I miss the most is being told what to do. I know it sounds crazy. But trying to adjust, to become independent, and to break the mental and emotional training that prison gave me has been hard.

Q: After what you’ve been through, do you fear anything?

A: I don’t fear anything now. I lost my fear of death. I guess my greatest fear is not to find the most happiness out of life because I lost so much, I suffered so much in prison, I want nothing but happiness the rest of my life. I don’t want to deal with anything negative, I don’t want to deal with any dramas. I just want to live a happy life.

The Exonerated is at the Wilbur Theatre through February 2. Tickets are $25 to $67, available at the Wilbur box office or through Ticketmaster at (617) 931-2787.

Issue Date: January 23 - 30, 2003
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