Maurice Chamas

Jeremy could clarify, could explain that there's really only one way Eddie Barton could help David Wood get off death row, by confessing to the murders himself.

But I can tell by Jeremy's expression, he knows this isn't going to happen.

It is striking how quickly Barton wanted to help, though.

He might not have understood the specifics, but he certainly seemed to understand what was at stake, that a man's life was on the line.

If he could help in some way, shouldn't he?

The lawyers on David Wood's defense team are living with a magnified version of this urgency all the time now.

The feeling that anything they do or decide not to do could lead to their client's execution.

An almost impossible amount of pressure to find something, anything, that'll improve their odds.

With six weeks left before the execution date, the lawyers now have very little time to work with.

Exhausting every avenue for their client will mean putting themselves right in the middle of some messy human dramas with complicated stakes all their own.

And the lawyers will have to figure out just how far they're willing to push people to save David Wood's life.

From Serial Productions, The Marshall Project, and The New York Times, I'm Alvin Mellif.

And I'm Maurice Chamas.

This is The Last 12 Weeks.

The day after Maurice and I interviewed Marcia, we watched as Greg and Naomi prepped their own approach with her.

Habeas lawyers don't always approach victims' family members.

Naomi, for example, seven years on the job, had never done it before.

But the lawyers were uniquely aware of Marcia's power in this case, the way she became the public face of the prosecution.

It would be a big coup for them to recruit her to their side.

But it seems like Naomi and Greg are starting with some of the same off-target assumptions that we had.