Day one of the commutation hearing. Get to the state prison at the crack of dawn. Leave everything in the car other than my ID and the photo gear that has been previously approved. Also left in my car is a photo editor who will edit and transmit my photos.
The hearing is scheduled to go from 8am to 2pm with two fifteen minute breaks. To get photos and news out we sent in three reporters. First break, first reporter grabbed my memory cards and left the prison, dropping the cards with the photo editor and calling in an update. Second break, second reporter grabbed my cards and left. With my memory cards I sent a note that said, “Mexican for lunch.” The system worked out well and we moved fifty photos to the pool* quickly.
The first parts of the hearing were statements from the families of Gardner’s victims. Tami Stewart read a statement with her niece Mandi Hull providing support…
After the families, Psychology professor Craig Haney testified for the defense about his findings on Gardner’s upbringing. To sum it up, Ronnie Lee’s early years were a nightmare: Neglected from the start by a mother who had more than she could handle. Huffing paint and gas at age six, on drugs at age ten. Sent to a mental institution in order to provide him with a healthier environment, not because he was mentally ill. While in a state institution, he and his brother were befriended by a man who took custody of them upon their release. Authorities checking in on the situation later found the home filled with men dressed as women and the Gardner’s new guardian to be a pedophile.
As it was all detailed, I photographed Haney with members of the victims families in the background, wondering what they were thinking. Of course, this case is twenty-five years old. They’ve probably thought enough about it already.
Twenty five years. Think about it.
* Pool – on big stories a single photographer is designated the pool photographer. That photographer is the only one allowed in but shares photographs with all media outlets in the pool.
