Infinite Hope

by Anthony Graves

  I sustained myself through the longest nights with the simple assurance that God is good. And now that I’m living as a free man, I know this to be true. I’ve been blessed with opportunities to travel the world and tell my story. I’ve been asked to speak in front of national and international audiences. I’m doing the work I was meant to do—sharing my story in hopes that all of you out there will keep the faith, find your purpose, and prepare for the opportunity to effect change in a world that desperately needs reform.

  I’ve been truly blessed since coming home. One of my proudest achievements is launching the Anthony Graves Foundation, which is geared toward making positive change throughout the criminal justice system. My foundation, located in Houston, Texas, has three main programs. First, the Humane Investigation Project, or HIP, is a program I established to help those who have been wrongfully convicted by finding pro bono attorneys willing to take their cases. One of the greatest obstacles for people in my position on death row is that you feel you can’t get help because you don’t have money. Too often, that’s true. HIP is aimed at helping connect qualified attorneys to truly needy inmates, without the burden of money. There are generous lawyers who donate this vital service, and I help locate them.

  Second, my foundation has a Re-entry Program established to arrange counseling and wraparound services for women and girls returning from incarceration. It was a choice I made based on the fact that women are forgotten in our criminal justice system. The plan is to expand it to address the needs of men and boys as well.

  Finally, my foundation has an Exoneree Speakers Bureau, where we teach exonerees how to tell their stories to have the most impact. It’s a small part in our efforts to reform a broken system, yet this program is particularly rewarding. I can see huge progress in the exonerees’ self-confidence, communication skills, and overall improvement of self-image. For men whose shoes I have stood in myself, it is deeply satisfying to witness the transformation.

  I’ve been able to have an impact on people’s lives all over the world through sharing my story. After my release, I took a job with the Texas Defender Service as an investigator. From there, I was able to help get the next innocent man after me off Texas death row! Alfred Brown’s key alibi witness shared information with me that I then provided to his attorneys, and this led to Brown’s release. I also became a public speaker in high demand. I started speaking at conferences for law enforcement, DA’s offices, defense attorney associations, and big law firms. I’ve traveled to places as far away as Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and France to tell my story. I’ve spoken in some of the largest and oldest churches. I’ve spoken at prestigious universities, such as Yale, Emory, the University of Texas, the University of Bern (Switzerland), Cornell, and Texas Tech. I once introduced Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC, hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA). I wrote an article for Time magazine.

  I’ve spoken before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the request of Senators Dick Durbin, Al Franken, and Lindsey Graham about the effects of solitary confinement. I’ve sat on panels hosted by the ABA and the American Civil Liberties Union focused on criminal justice reform. I’ve been a keynote speaker for events hosted by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Amnesty International, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, and the Houston Forensic Science Center. And I’ve done more television appearances than I can count, both in the United States and abroad. My story was featured on 48 Hours in an episode titled “Grave Injustice,” which won an Emmy Award.

  I am proud to have created a scholarship fund in honor of the lady who saved my life. The Nicole B. Cásarez Scholarship Fund at the University of Texas will help train young people who aspire to become criminal defense attorneys. Nicole is the model they should all aspire to—her heart and her mind are in exactly the right place for this weary world.

  I spent a lot of time reading books during my incarceration. In general, books that gave me fresh insight into life are the ones I admired most, but I read a lot of law books too. These are the titles that stand out:

  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: This book reminded me of the journey I wanted to travel when I came home. It reminded me that everything I needed in this world was already within me.

  • Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho: It reminded me that you must be careful what you ask for in life because you just might get it.

  • The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho: Like so many of his writings, this book gave me a spiritual connection to something higher than myself.

  • The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.: Taught me about inner strength.

  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley): Taught me about fighting back against a system out to kill me.

  • The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson: Opened my eyes to the importance of investing back into our communities.

  • Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs: One of my all-time favorite books! Jacobs was a slave, and she wrote about escaping to freedom. I gained a lot of strength from her described struggles.

  • The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier: Reinforced the value of my family.

  • Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver: Taught me a lot about race relationships from the perspective of a black man.

  • Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama: Made me feel hopeful about good things happening from bad situations; it was like giving me fuel when I needed some most.

  • The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama: Made me feel proud to read a book by our first black president.

  • Native Son by Richard Wright: Gave me insight into racism before the civil rights era.

  • Love and Lies by Kimberla Lawson Roby: Made me sit, cross my legs, and read about God and relationships.

  • The Ways of White Folks by Langston Hughes: Painful and funny about racism and white people.

  • Loving by Henry Green: Good novel that talked about things outside the US, which allowed me to travel abroad in my mind.

  • Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin: Drew emotions out of me that spoke volumes to my own black experience.

  • The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene: I read this book and felt that I already knew everything it was talking about; it made me feel right.

  • Maximize the Moment by T. D. Jakes: I read his books when I needed to feel inspired on a spiritual level.

  • The Bible: For peace and a sense of purpose.

  • Thieves’ Paradise by Eric Jerome Dickey: For when I felt like watching television and didn’t have one.

  • Roots by Alex Haley: I loved reading this book for the first time. It was better than the TV series I had watched many years before.

  • For the Love of Money by Omar Tyree: Relaxed me and made me feel like I was watching a movie.

  • The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield: A thoughtful and provocative book, particularly given the isolation of my environment while reading it.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE that I would like to thank for making my freedom possible.

  First, there’s no possible way I could have done this without God being my shining light throughout the darkest corners of my life. I also must thank my mom for being the best mother that she could be under those circumstances. You kept my spirits up and encouraged me along the way to never give up. I love and deeply appreciate you always for that.

  Thank you Isabelle Perin for coming into my life and showing me the true meaning of unconditional love. You will always shine brightly in my world.

  Thank you Nicole Cásarez for being the greatest attorney who ever walked into my life! And then for becoming my big sister and my angel along the way. You should run for governor of Texas. I am forever grateful.

  Thank you Neal Manne from the Susman Godfrey law firm for taking up my cause and seeking justice. It is because of you, Charles Eskridge at Quinn Eman
uel law firm, and Kathryn Kase that Charles Sebesta is now disbarred and can never harm another innocent man again. I owe you my deep gratitude.

  Thank you Kelly Siegler for having the guts to stand up and do the right thing for justice. My family and I thank you deeply for giving us back our freedom.

  Thank you Pamela Colloff for writing an amazing article on my story that revealed the truth about my wrongful conviction. In my estimation, you are the best journalist on the planet.

  Thank you Coby DuBose for helping prepare my story for book form.

  Thank you to my manager, David Kuhn; literary agent, David McCormick; and editor, Rakia Clark, and everyone at Beacon Press for helping me get this book across the finish line. I appreciate all your efforts.

  Thank you Marina Vorlander, Lars Augustsson, Nick Bell, Katherine Scardino, and Jimmy Phillips Jr.

  Most importantly, I thank my sons for always believing in me from the first day. I love you guys deeply.

  I couldn’t end this without sending a shout-out to all the men and women who are behind bars fighting for justice. Keep your heads up, and keep your spirits up, because your freedom is possible.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ANTHONY GRAVES was wrongfully convicted of multiple homicides in 1992 and spent nearly two decades behind bars, including twelve years on Texas’s death row. While still in prison, he cofounded Join Hands for Justice, a France-based activist group that led global efforts to prove his innocence. Graves’s conviction and death sentence were overturned in 2006, and after four years of legal wrangling, he was fully exonerated and released in 2010. Since then, he has become a full-time advocate for criminal justice reform, testifying to the US Senate about the harms of solitary confinement, serving on the board of directors for the Houston Forensic Science Center, and working with the ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice. Graves speaks widely and runs the Anthony Graves Foundation, which works to draw attention to problems within the American criminal justice system. He lives in Houston.

  BEACON PRESS

  Boston, Massachusetts

  www.beacon.org

  Beacon Press books

  are published under the auspices of

  the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

  © 2018 by Anthony Graves

  All rights reserved

  Text design and composition by Kim Arney

  This is a work of nonfiction. The events portrayed are presented to the best of the author’s memory and records.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Graves, Anthony.

  Title: Infinite hope : how wrongful conviction, solitary confinement, and 12 years on death row failed to kill my soul / Anthony Graves.

  Description: Boston : Beacon Press, 2018.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017035843 (print) | LCCN 2017038075 (ebook) | ISBN 9780807062548 (e-book) | ISBN 9780807062524 (hardback)

  Subjects: LCSH: Graves, Anthony—Trials, litigation, etc. | Death row inmates—Texas—Biography. | Trials (Murder)—Texas. | Judicial error—Texas. | BISAC: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs. | LAW / Criminal Law / General. | POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Freedom & Security / Civil Rights.

  Classification: LCC KF224.G735 (ebook) | LCC KF224.G735 G73 2018 (print) | DDC 345.764/02523—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017035843