The 16-Year-Old Killer: Cyntoia's Story

This programme contains some strong language

This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find disturbing

Cyntoia is a complex child.

She is the little girl that everyone would love to have.

This is a kid who had some horrible life experiences,

many, many bad things happened to her

and it wasn't just an isolated bad thing,

but it was a pattern of bad things.

And this shaped...

..the way she related to people.

She would step out of bad situations and then she would find herself another bad situation to get into.

She allowed herself to get involved with one more bad situation.

All right.

We are here this afternoon, I believe,

in the matter of Cyntoia Brown.

And it's my understanding that this is set as a transfer hearing, is that correct?

-Yes, your honour.

-All right?

-Yes, ma'am.

-So are we ready to proceed?

-Yes, ma'am.

All right.

-You are Cyntoia Brown?

-Yes, ma'am.

I have your date of birth listed as January 29th, 1988.

-Is that correct?

-Yes, ma'am.

-That makes you 15 now?

-16.

-Do you understand why you're here?

-Yes, ma'am.

This is not a hearing to determine if you're guilty or innocent of the charges against you.

The only purpose of today's hearing is to determine where your case should be tried.

Whether it should be heard here in the juvenile court...

If she stays in juvenile court, she'll undoubtedly go to some sort of juvenile detention facility,

but only until she's 19.

If she were to be tried as an adult,

she might get many, many years in prison.

-State your name, please.

-My name is Cyntoia Brown.

The night of August 6th, 2004, where did you begin that evening around 7 o'clock?

I was in the hotel room.

And what were you doing with Kut at the Inn Town Suites?

We were either getting high or having sex, that's all we ever did.

He said that I was slipping and that I was starting to become a slouch,

that I needed to get out and get on my grind and get some money.

When I left I was looking for a ride, so I could go out to East Nashville.

Who were you going to see in East Nashville?

Well, I wasn't going to go to see particularly anyone,

I was going to an area that I knew was very...

I don't know, it's... A lot of people go there and prostitute.

OK. And how were you going to get there?

I was going to get a ride from someone.

And when you walked up to the Sonic, who approached you?

A man in a white truck.

-And is this the person that has been referred to throughout this hearing, Mr Allen?

-Yes.

The question came up, was I up for any action?

And the action, I guess you should know, that it was insinuating sexual.

He asked me how much and I told him 200 and he said, "No, 100."

And we decided finally on 150.

Who made the suggestion of going to his house?

He did. I had actually suggested the hotel we was right there at,

but he didn't want to go to the hotel.

He said he wanted to go to his house, because there was no one there.

-Did he tell you who he lived with, or anything like that?

-He said he lived by himself.

That time he was just finished telling me about his accomplishments

and saying how he used to be in the army and, cos I mentioned I was from Fort Campbell,

and so he related to how he was also in the army before

and he was a sharpshooter in the army.

And then he had told me how a lot of women want him for his money

and that he wanted someone to make love with him with desire.

OK. Did you see any guns in the house?

Yes, I'd seen two shotguns downstairs and he showed me a chrome gun with a black handle.

Where were you when he showed you that?

I was sitting at a table, eating my food.

-Do you tend to be a nervous person?

-Yeah.

Was there anything that made you especially nervous that night?

Just, how he was acting, just how he talked.

It's like, the way he talked, how he was just so important and stuff

and then me - I look at myself, "Who am I? Who am I to him?"

It's like...

Then he talks about the guns and stuff.

If he does something to me, I'm sitting here thinking, "What can I do?"

I'm in his house, ain't nobody gonna know where I'm at.

My mom and them, they don't know where I'm at.

The people I stay with, Chico and them, they don't know where I'm at.

Nobody's gonna know what happens to me.

Kut, he doesn't care. He doesn't even know who I left with.

And all this is just running through my mind, and I'm just a nervous wreck.

Mr Allen was asleep and facing away from you when you shot him.

No, sir.

What I want you to do is explain to the courtroom how -

-you have a gun in your purse on the nightstand, correct?

-Correct.

You don't want to do this, you don't want to be here.

-So you felt like if you tried to leave, he would harm you?

-Right.

And your belief in that is based on the fact

that he told you he had some guns and he's a sharpshooter.

Not only that, but the way he was acting.

Well, all I know about his activities is what you've told us,

-and that's really all we'll ever know, Miss Brown.

-Right.

Since you killed him.

The only thing we know is that he took you to Sonic, he bought you food, he took you home,

you used his bathroom - you felt comfortable doing that.

You ate with him - you felt comfortable doing that.

You sat on the couch and watched TV with him - you felt comfortable doing that.

You got in the bed and at least one time went to sleep while he was there -

-you felt comfortable doing that.

-I never went to sleep.

What happened next?

At first he was just stroking me, but then

he just grabbed me, like, in between my legs,

he just grabbed it real hard

and he just gave me this look, it was, like, a very fierce look.

And it just sent these chills up my spine.

I'm thinking, "He's gonna hit me or do something like that."

But then he rolls over and reaches, like, he's reaching to the side of the bed or something.

So I'm thinking, "He's not gonna hit me, he's gonna get a gun."

-And what did you do at that time?

-I just grabbed the gun and I shot him.

How did you become involved with the case of Cyntoia Brown?

You contacted me and you asked me if I could do a pre-trial forensic psychiatric evaluation.

Usually we do both a psychiatric part,

which is a psychiatric interview,

and we also have psychological testing done.

Let's start with adopted family.

Yeah, Mom - Ellenette Brown. And then my dad, Thomas Brown.

-What's her name, Ellenette?

-E-L-L-E-N-E-T-T-E.

-OK. What kind of work does she do?

-She's a teacher.

-And then father is Thomas?

-Mm-hmm.

-What does he do?

-He's a truck driver. Yep, you already know.

And I know that you have two sisters in this family.

No, I have a sister and a brother.

Tell me about your, I guess your biological family, who are they?

Just, I just know Gina.

-Gina? Is this your biological mother?

-Yeah.

-Gina as in Gina?

-Georgina Mitchell.

-OK. How old is she, do you think?

-Ah, she's probably 32.

Yeah, do you know how to tell?

She had me when she was about 16 and I'm 16.

Right. That's right. Does that seem sort of funny to you that your mom was 16 and now you're 16?

-I guess.

-Does that seem sort of strange?

I don't know. I guess.

Tell me about these people, your adoptive mom and dad,

-what are they like?

-My mom, she nags a lot, but she's a good person,

but she wants me to be "perfect" and like, "her daughter".

And my dad's an asshole. That's the only word you need to describe him.

Like it, and saying I like it and stuff like that.

Well, I'm going to talk to Kathy Evans.

And then we're going to try to do something that might help you out when you go to court.

-OK?

-Thank you.

I said, "Let's talk about...

"there are people...there are times you really like somebody

"and then something happens, and then you don't like 'em."

And she says, "Yeah, yeah, that's me, that's what I do".

That people will be nice to you and then they'll be bad to you, I mean that's the way people are.

In other words her perception of life is that everybody's like that.

In other words, she doesn't see that she's the one who's...

casting people in these roles.

As far as she can tell, that's the way people are.

Now, how did this manifest itself

when this guy Johnny was killed?

See, I think some of these characteristics affected the behaviour,

specifically her affective instability.

In other words, becoming suddenly frightened about the situation she was in.

And her paranoia, which is part of this condition.

So I think it's possible to say

that the criminal act was related to

her personality disorder.

Were you able to establish a rapport and were you able to get additional information from Cyntoia?

Yes, I had a good meeting with her.

We met for two hours and she talked a great deal

about her life and about the offence.

Her biological mother's side of the family

is extremely heavily loaded with psychiatric disorders.

Bipolar, personality disorder, suicidal, manic depressive,

which is unguarded condition.

At times I've had homicidal thoughts for people that have hurt me.

For...

I've been raped, and I've always wanted to do things to them for hurting me.

Let me ask you this, you've actually attempted suicide in the past?

Yes, ma'am.

-What does this tattoo on your arm say?

-Suicide.

Dr Bernet will address, but is there a history of suicide throughout your family? Actual suicides?

Yeah, my mom shot herself in front of me when I was in second grade.

Her sister, which is my aunt, just killed herself with a shotgun.

My grandpa, he shot himself in the head.

My aunt Shirley, she's tried to kill herself God knows how many times.

So that's the half having to do with genetics.

The half having to do with early development is, I guess is interesting in a sense that,

the basic theory is people have trouble during achieving these first two stages of life.

And that's ages zero to three, or four.

And that's exactly the point in Cyntoia's life

that was...

just totally messed up.

First of all, she lived with a number of different people.

I was trying to keep track of the different caretakers,

but there were six or seven different people

who took care of Cyntoia, and this meant comings and goings and separations.

At one point, she was kidnapped by a family member

and she felt like she had been abandoned by the other mother.

This is exactly the kinds of problems that would create a failure

to achieve the attachment and then the healthy separation.

We started to see really, really bizarre behaviours as far as...

..very manipulative...

..controlling the situation, you know, very possessive.

How was she possessive, what types of things?

Well, I can only speak like, she was very possessive

when it came to her and I, as far as our relationship goes, you know?

Whenever she thought I was getting too close to someone,

or someone was getting too close to me - then she would act out.

I mean, you know, pouting,

stubborn behaviour, jealousy, that sort of thing.

I think that's exactly what happened here,

is that she was born with a vulnerability

and then during this critical period up to age three,

she ends up with all these wrong separation experiences

and she ends up with this personality disorder.

I'm not actually sure even how this even happened.

I'm under the impression that it was kind of an informal arrangement

by which the mother let the Browns raise Cyntoia.

But we need to find out how that happened.

Today, we're going to have an opportunity to talk to her adoptive mother,

with whom she's lived since about age two,

and also with her biological mother.

It's a little bit unusual to be able to talk to her biological mother,

because she really has been out of the picture now for many years in Cyntoia's life.

Trashcan?

Ms Mitchell, I'll tell you what I would find helpful to get up to date,

is how things went yesterday when you saw Cyntoia. How'd that go?

I was just so glad to see her,

um, you know, for the first time since she was little.

And...I mean, she's very beautiful.

And...she just reminds me so much of me when I was that age.

-Oh really?

-Yeah.

Like, can you give us an example?

A twin.

Um...

The ups and downs, um...

Angry one minute, happy the next.

You know, she wanted to know about our side of the family,

and, you know, how I was doing.

And how, you know, the way I used to be,

how I changed my life around, how I rehabilitated myself.

When I met Cyntoia's mother, Georgina,

she was pregnant with Cyntoia.

Of course, at the time, I didn't know that,

because all of the kids wore the big jerseys,

you know, with the numbers on them, my older daughter included.

She came to my house like most teenagers did,

during the time, my house was the house where all the teenagers hung out.

My son said to me, "Mom, can we go to see Gina at the hospital?"

Of course, my first reaction was, "Why? What's wrong with her?"

And my son said, "Well, Mom, she had a baby."

I said, "She had a baby?!"

He said, "Yes, Ma'am". I said, "Well, is it yours?"

He said, "No, Ma'am, she was pregnant when we met her."

It really didn't sink in that I was really pregnant,

you know, until my stomach got big,

but I'd psyched my mind out, you know, "This is not true."

It couldn't be real. I didn't understand it.

Until the baby came.

When I got pregnant I was drinking,

and even after my pregnancy I still drank, on a daily basis.

Having a newborn, and I was a child myself,

I couldn't handle it, so I would escape to the bottle.

I drank for about...

..eight months of her life, and the eighth month,

that's when I was introduced to crack cocaine.

So when I got introduced to crack cocaine,

I also got introduced to the easy money on how to get it,

which was prostituting.

So during this time when I was... when I started smoking,

I liked that I could escape all my problems.

All my responsibilities.

Because I didn't even know the responsibility of taking care of a child.

You know, I couldn't keep putting her, a child,

into that type of lifestyle that I was in,

because I never knew where I was.

She came to my son and asked my son, Chico,

if he would take the child, because she was in trouble.

And at the time I didn't know what kind of trouble.

But we soon found out later, and of course she was in serious trouble.

She had gone to jail,

and it was just several incidents after that with the police.

So we took her, the first time I think, she was six months old,

and had her until she was eighteen months.

They had always told me Gina never tried to get in contact with me,

that she didn't want me, and it used to hurt my feelings.

I used to wonder why would she not want me?

Why would she not try to write me and stuff?

And I found a whole lot of letters, like 20 letters from Gina,

from when she wrote me when I was a baby.

And there was all kinds of pretty pictures drawn on the envelopes and stuff.

And it was written from jail.

And it just made me mad, cos they should've given that to me

as soon as I was able to read, you know?

But they didn't.

And she was telling me how she loved me and stuff.

Yeah, we're going to see my mom.

If I don't say too much around here, it's best.

Cos if she gets started,

it's just going to send me into a whirlwind.

I'm gonna go berserk, I already know it.

She knows how to push my buttons.

She knows which ones to touch.

And it doesn't take very long, because we usually can't stay

around each other no more than five or 10 minutes.

Sometimes it's better to adopt a child than it is to keep it.

What about in this case?

I can't say, Gina, because you were so young.

You were so young.

I'm saying look at then and now.

Was adoption the right thing for her, you think?

The way her life ended up?

-Adoption...

-But we can't blame that on adoption.

-Oh my God.

-I don't think.

Unless he knows more than I do, and there're things that...

What about unwilling adoption? I didn't want adopt Toia.

-Oh, unwilling adoption?

-Yeah.

It was done against my will.

How were you going to feed this child?

How were you going to take care of this child?

-That's what they have systems for.

-I did see you try.

Now she did have an apartment, and had just gotten it, I think,

and was going to beauty school.

-And working.

-And working.

But sometimes the load gets too heavy,

and some people aren't strong enough to carry it.

Yeah, it had to be heavy on a 17-year-old with a baby,

goin' to school and workin'.

And that's the point right there. That's the point.

All I wanted was somebody to help me, show me something.

Linda had to show me how to make a bottle.

I didn't even know how to make a bottle.

That's why children should not have children.

That's exactly why they should not have children.

That's why parents intervene.

But I don't think because you couldn't make a bottle

is why Toia has turned out such as she has.

That's a start right there.

If you can't feed 'em, how the hell can you raise 'em?

I think Cyntoia was abused as a child.

She was physically abused,

and it sounds like she was sexually abused over a period of time.

Sexual abuse is a really, really big problem.

In a way, our society has gotten much, much better

at identifying these children.

Now unfortunately, we don't always, and I think Cyntoia's case...

..her sexual abuse went on unrecognised, for, I guess,

a considerable period of time.

And it does affect a person later.

All right, you're ready to stand up.

Go get the other ones. I can't move in them.

What do you mean, "In these"?

They're like this. The other ones are on the side.

Go get the other ones, where the handcuffs are on the side.

I can move.

Did you hear me? Stand up.

Winston's got 'em on the girl who went to court.

There's more than one. You're lying.

-They're all like this.

-No, they're not.

-The other four are like this.

-They're not.

How is that when me, Crystal, and Miss Caroline had one last time we went to court?

I'll check.

You need to do that too.

-24, 25, 26...

-What are these?

Memories. There's just a whole lot of memories.

Are they good memories or bad memories,

or just memories in general?

Uh, mostly bad.

Oh, this is my sex list,

and you know what that means, don't you?

-Sex list? People you had sex with?

-Yeah.

That person, I was asleep, I woke up and he was fucking me in my ass.

Him, he tricked me into it.

He was his best friend.

And he got me.

I just watched the pornos, and seen when men came up to girls,

and started taking off the girl's clothes,

the girl just lays there and does whatever.

Screams, and all that stuff.

And that's what I figured was supposed to happen,

so anybody, anytime wanted to have sex with me, I just did it.

I felt like obligated, like that's what I was supposed to do.

You know what I mean?

I had sex with 21 people out of 36, where I felt I just had to do it,

it was what I was supposed to do.

And 22 people out of the 36 people were hardly or not known.

And 28 people are connected with a bad experience.

And Esau raped you at gunpoint?

Well, he didn't sit there and fuck me with the gun to my head,

but when I tried to leave, that's when he pulled the gun out.

And I started to walk off, and he just grabbed me by my arm,

and he had a gun in his hand.

He's like "Naw, you're not leaving."

"Oh."

And he pushed the gun, and he pulled it up or whatever,

and he said "Take these off."

And then he did it, like that, on my shirt.

So I took my clothes off.

I just got on the bed and I just lay there.

I just cried.

You know, where was I when all of this was happening?

Where was I?

I mean, could you not come to me and talk,

to let me know how you was feeling?

And it's just - I don't know.

I'm thinking at that age -

I won't say most children, or even all children,

but Cyntoia...

..I don't think she was very trusting of me.

Maybe she thought that anything she confided to me about,

that it wouldn't be just to me.

Maybe she thought that I would share that with someone else.

I don't know, because we have a good relationship.

I don't understand why she felt she couldn't come to me and talk to me.

No matter what it was.

If I tried to tell her, she wouldn't listen.

She'd probably just tell me "OK, sweetie, go play."

That's what she used to always say.

No parent wants to think that their, their young daughter, you know,

is experiencing sex, especially at such a young age.

And then to find out that there's been many,

you know, several boys and men.

But...

it does not change how I feel.

That is my daughter. She's always gonna be my daughter,

no matter what she does, or have done.

That isn't gonna change how I feel about her.

I didn't want people to know I was dumb, so I didn't say anything.

I didn't say anything about this, that Miss Kathy says could help me,

because I don't want people to know how dumb I was,

and all the dumb stuff I did.

Especially this. This is dumb.

For some girl to have sex with 36 people, OK.

11 of those people, it was not statutory rape.

There were three people out of 36 people that were relatives.

There were four people out of 36 people that I actually liked or lusted for.

There are nine people out of 36 people, that it was protected sex.

There was five people out of 36 people that were girls.

And there was four people out of 36 people

(that were prostitution.)

Lots of girls experience some degree of sexual abuse

and it's estimated like 30, 35% have some...

sexual abuse in the broad sense of some unwanted sexual activity,

or exposure to sexual activity as a child.

Part of what happens is that the more severe the abuse,

the more likely it is to have psychological affects later in life.

Depression, suicidality, uh, anxiety problems,

substance abuse problems, um...

..in some cases, behaviour problems.

I was, I was very well put together.

I got married when I was 19.

I married David, who was a very poor provider.

I would find myself cringing when he would come towards me

with any sexual manner, or any way like that.

I mean, I would just cry.

And I knew I had to get away.

Tommy came to my house.

I was doing dishes and he came up behind me.

And I really wasn't expecting that by no means.

Cos I never been around folks like that.

And then he started slapping me, and he said,

"You're gonna get what you deserve."

And he grabbed me and snatched me

and started beating me and dragged me to the bedroom.

I got pregnant from that particular rape.

How did I cope with it? I went from this, to where I am now.

But you know you can use the word "rape" in many ways

because I feel like all of us has been raped of our life

when this incident happened to me.

There's Tommy, there's Gina, and then there's Toia.

The genetics are strong.

And the genetics should stop.

DOOR OPENS

So what happened to your hair?

You know, I cut my hair.

Why'd you do that?

Cos I don't wanna be pretty no more.

Why not?

Cos it don't do nothin' but cause you trouble.

'Think of what got me into this mess.'

'Yeah? What got you into....'

'Being attractive. And what do you attract?

'Crazy people.'

So, what do you see as similarities between all the different men

who have been in your life?

Besides the fact that they're men.

How are they similar, how are they different?

Selfish. That's how they're similar, they're all selfish.

They do whatever to get what they want.

Makes them happy. They don't think about others' happiness.

And everything they do, they feel they're justified.

They don't ever accept fault, that's what my dad said.

He said, in his letter, he goes home and sleeps at night knowing that he did his best.

Bullshit!

What did Johnny want from you?

Sex, for money.

No.

They all wanted acceptance and admiration.

Hell, yeah. That's what they wanted.

My dad wanted to be admired because of the hard work he put in,

driving trucks and making that money,

and supplying us with the life we lived.

Mmm, Kut-throat, he wanted to be admired by everyone else in the street,

because I remember that one time when he said, I was going to work

and get him this truck, it was a suburban, on some 26s.

He wanted admiration, he wanted somebody to respect him.

He wanted people to admire him. That's... Oh my God, fuck.

Then, you got Johnny. What did he say?

"I want a woman to make love with me with desire."

Remember I told you that part? Desire.

He wants to be accepted.

Hell, yeah. And those are my fucking problems.

How are they your fucking problems?

Cos I always wanna be accepted.

For 18 fucking years.

-Can we go?

-Yes, of course.

-How's it going?

-Good.

..number is 04-45...

..436. Today's date is August the 8th of 2004.

Tag-along watch is 03.28 hours.

You know the whole thing about when you make a statement,

that they read you your rights and stuff like that?

That's what we're going to talk about now.

'After I read each sentence to you,'

I will read three other sentences

that mean the same thing, or not the same thing,

as the sentence you'll be seeing at the top of the page.

So the sentence at the top says,

"You do not have to make a statement,

"and have the right to remain silent."

Well, the first one says, "You should not say anything

"until the police ask you questions." Does that mean...

Same.

"If you won't talk to the police, then that will be used against you in court."

Same.

"If you tell the police anything, it can be repeated in court."

Same.

These questions I was asking, tell me how they fit into your situation.

They, uh, I don't know.

See, right now I see it and I understand 'em,

but then I didn't understand. I was high and tired, kinda everything.

So what kind of deal did they give you?

They didn't give me none.

But what did they say about the deal?

They just said they'd give me a deal. They promised they could give me a deal.

And when he was reading the rights it said, "No promises have been made."

And I said, "Yes, promises was made."

And, uh, it's on the tape that I said that.

What kind of promises did they give you?

He promised me that he was going to give me a deal.

But what... What was he talking about? What kind of deal?

About time.

What does that mean when he says, "I'll talk to the DA"?

I don't know.

"I talk to him, I talk to him..."

Well, he might talk to him every day, about the weather, the football game.

Yeah, but he meant that he'd talk to him about giving me a deal.

But what would the deal be? What kind of deal?

Like, less time... to serve.

Cos if I didn't, he said nine times out of ten I was going to do life.

So, did he say...

And they screwed me because I might be doin' life anyways!

Did he say, that, um...

-Did he actually say that?

-Mm-hmm.

-That he would give you less time?

-Mm-hmm.

-He actually use that word?

No, he said, "I can promise that we can get you a lighter,

"a lighter sentence."

I think they need to look at, she's a real person,

and she's, she's a kid.

She's, umm, a kid who is basically adrift

and she ends up in a bad situation.

And that's really different, in my mind,

than a person who's committing first-degree pre-meditated murder.

First-degree murder, for an adult, you can get the death penalty.

Now, she's not eligible for that because she was a minor

when this happened.

But, when you think of first-degree murder,

it's a really serious event.

First-degree murder is what our society feels the response

should be the death penalty, should be life in prison.

And, in my mind, it doesn't fit...

..an action by a 15-year-old in a bad situation.

In a bad, impossible, gruesome situation.

To me, what our society means by first-degree murder is not what happened that night.

You know what I fear most? Words, you know what words?

No, what?

"When it comes to the charge of first-degree murder,

"we, the jury, find Cyntoia Brown guilty.

"When it comes to the charge of felony murder, we, the jury,

"find Cyntoia Brown guilty.

"When it comes to the charge of special aggravated robbery,

"we, the jury, find Cyntoia Brown guilty."

Those are the words I fear most. More than anything else in life.

And we need to add, probably self defence,

in the jury instructions.

That's going to come out.

This defendant shot Johnny Allen in the head, in his bed,

in his home,

27-28 Milestone Drive.

When you walked in the door,

the closest items to the door were his silk underwear

-and these socks on the floor, right?

-I believe so.

-They weren't hidden.

-No.

Likewise, this is 4B, again the hardwood floor and the shirt.

Yes, sir.

It was after him getting

into the bed, this 43-year-old man, naked, touching her,

she's moving away, that she said she reached for the weapon

-and fired one time. Correct?

-Yes.

Medical examiner's opinion was he was in this position when he was shot. And that wasn't challenged.

"I killed a man,"

which is not sufficiently descriptive.

"I executed him".

You spoke with Cyntoia numerous times

-in the last two years since she's been in jail, right?

-Yes, I have.

-And you've visited her just about every weekend, correct?

-Yes.

And when you visited her, you have spoken with her about her situation.

Yes.

And every single time when you visited

that you talked about her situation,

Cyntoia told you that she shot Mr Allen

-because she was fearful of him, didn't she?

-Yes.

So when you had this phone conversation,

the jury's heard the whole call to put it in context,

and she said the words, "I killed a man, I executed him, Mommy,"

did you think that was some sudden change

of her confessing to you what happened?

No. Um, Cyntoia has a way of...

taking things out of context.

Um, you know, she may say one thing

but actually mean something different.

And, uh, she does that a lot.

But the conversation was that

not so much as her trying to confess to me,

she was at a point in her life that she was feeling very...

..helpless.

Um...

she was in essence trying to tell me

to go on with my life.

Don't waste my life, you know,

trying to wait for her.

She felt that she had embarrassed herself,

but mainly she had embarrassed me.

At that point, I could tell because I'm her mother,

all she wanted was

saying...

"I know what my outcome is

"so you go on, and you do what you have to do.

"Don't waste it on me."

And I guess she did find herself trapped in this way.

She found herself trapped

between what she knew the detective knew and could easily prove

and her need, her dire need to make up a story about this.

She knew she was had. What else can she say?

What else can she say?

She's taken care of the one person

who could really counter

this preposterous and ridiculous self-defence opt.

She knows he can't say anything.

Because this is what she did to him...

'You and your partner

'are using all the experience and training that you have,'

using every technique you've been taught,

to get a statement from her.

-Correct?

-That's correct.

And at the very beginning of that entire process,

your partner and you said, "All we want is the truth".

-That's correct.

-And you said, "If you tell me the truth,

"then we're going to go to the District Attorney's office."

-Right?

-That's right.

Because you had to make certain

that Ms Brown understood that this is serious business.

Yes.

You were going to question her about a very serious situation.

-Right?

-Right.

And you know from your training

that you've got to start it out

by saying, "You have the right to remain silent"

because if she says "I'm not going to talk to you," that's the end of it.

-Right.

-But she chose to talk to you.

-Correct.

-You and your partner.

-Yes.

22 years of police experience

and a 16-year-old young lady.

-Right.

-OK.

Didn't you say to Ms Brown,

"We will do everything we can to help you"?

-Where is that in the transcript?

-Page 5, line 1.

-I'd like to look at that.

-Help her - I explained what I meant by that is,

"We talk to the District Attorney's office

"and tell them you're co-operating."

Johnny Allen was trolling Murfreesboro road.

That's what he was doing and we all know it.

And we know what he intended to do.

If she acts in self-defence

from an honest, even though mistaken conviction

as to the extent of the danger,

she will not be held criminally liable for her action.

I'm not trying to tell you Cyntoia Brown is an angel. We never have.

We've told you from the beginning

that she was a 16-year-old runaway doing the best she could

and on August the 6th, she thought

she was going to have a night where she would be safe.

She was wrong.

She exercised the only right

that is available to anyone in that situation.

As to these charges of murder, not guilty.

As to this charge of especially aggravated robbery,

not guilty.

Not guilty.

Not guilty!

That was not her intent when she shot him and you know it.

And you know it.

Thank you.

Has the jury found a verdict?

Yes, sir. We have.

Please stand and tell the court what that verdict is.

We the jury find the defendant, Cyntoia Denise Brown...

Count one,

guilty of first-degree murder.

Count two,

guilty of felony murder.

Count three,

guilty of especially aggravated robbery.

This is our verdict this 25th day of August, 2006.

Thank you. You can have a seat.

Hey, Mommy.

Yeah. It's over with now.

Well, I got life.

Yep.

Momma, don't stress yourself out.

I don't want you having a stroke or a heart attack or nothing.

Cos that's the only thing that would get to me.

You or Uncle Frank.

And don't let it affect your job either.

I love you too. Tell Uncle Frank I love him.

And tell him we still have things that we can do.

Yes, ma'am.

L... Love you too.

OK.

Right.

Bye, Mommy. I love you too.

I think I might cry

when I go back up to my room.

Yeah. When I start listening to the radio,

then it's going to kick in.

What can we do?

What's the right thing to do

when teenagers get into this kind of trouble?

I don't think it's right...

I don't think it makes sense just to throw them away.

I don't think it makes sense

to give a life sentence to a teenager who has committed a crime.

To me...to me it seems wasteful.

It seems wasteful to take a life, you know, that's just starting

and to say it's worth nothing,

that nothing is ever going to come of it.

To me, that's not the right thing to do.

It's hard to find young people like that.

See, I get my commissary tonight.

We'll see you in the morning, young lady.

-See you in the morning.

-Don't be in no trouble.

I'm not saying that we should

just slap people on the wrists when they commit crimes like this.

I think that we need to have a way to deal with it.

But, um, I think we should find a way

that does not involve throwing away the next 51 years.

It is depressing, but there are juveniles

from whom society, and this community, has to be protected.

We all have our own opinions, I think, of where that line is drawn,

where we stop trying to treat and rehabilitate this child

and start imprisoning this child.

Where's that line to be drawn?

Sometimes it's a tough call.

You have this little girl that's been in this adult life

for a year or so

and now she's there permanently

because whatever happens to her,

she can't just say, "Well, you know, Mommy will take care of this"

because Mommy can't take care of that.

She has to fend for herself.

We all have choices, you know, and as an adult,

you can pretty well think beyond what's happening right now.

But with a child,

you know, they're going to always think like a child, regardless.

Regardless.

I think the 15 and 16-year-olds of the world

are in this wonderful stage

between childhood and adulthood.

And, uh...

there are so many different things,

there are so many different pathways through that stage,

I think the more that we know

about how genetic influences, environmental influence

and brain development all interact to create certain kinds of behaviour,

I think the more we know about that,

the more we'll discover interventions and what to do about them.

There's not a day that goes by that I don't hate myself

for the way that she's ended up.

I say it begins with me. It's ultimately my fault.

From the beginning, it's my fault.

I didn't do what I was supposed to do.

I feel sad.

Because to think

after all this time...

Um...

Cyntoia feels that, you know, she can talk to me,

she can be open with me,

and the horrible realisation

that there's a possibility

that outside of the glass

and the barbed wire and the bars,

that we may never actually be...

..like a mother and a daughter should be.

It breaks my heart to think

that we've come this far...

..and we may never, never...

..have the type of contact...

..that we so deserve to have.

MUSIC: "Ready for Love" by India.Arie

# I am ready for love

# Why are you hiding from me?

# I'd quickly give my freedom

# To be held in your captivity... #

# I am ready for love

# Here with an offering of

# My voice, my eyes

# My soul, my mind

# Tell me what is enough

# To prove I am ready for love? #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd