Bryan Stevenson

So I went to the trial judge and said, he's intellectually disabled, you can't execute him.

But the trial judge again said, too late, somebody should have filed that motion years ago.

The appellate court said too late.

The federal court said too late.

And I did the hardest thing I have to do, which is to pick up the phone and talk to this man.

I said, I'm so sorry, but I can't stop this execution.

And then he did the thing that I dread.

He started to cry.

He became very emotional.

And he was literally sobbing on the other end of the phone.

And I just gave him space and I was holding the phone.

And then he said, please don't hang up, Mr. Stevenson.

There's something I want to say to you.

I said, of course.

And then he tried to say something to me, but in addition to being intellectually disabled, when he got overwhelmed, when he got distraught and challenged, he had a speech impediment, and he would really struggle to get his words out.

So he began stuttering terribly.

He could not get out a single word.

And I was standing there holding the phone, and tears were literally running down my face.

It was so challenging that my mind wandered, and I remembered when I was a little boy that

My mom had taken us to church and I was talking to my friends and there was this little skinny kid I'd never seen before.