Cotton is the man who raped me, she told the jury. Fifteen feet away he could feel the hatred in her heart. She looked directly at Poole and she looked directly at Cotton. Back on the stand, she was as confident as ever. He had forgotten the power of Jennifer Thompson. Finally, Cotton thought, he would be set free. An appeals court had ruled that evidence relating to the second victim should have been allowed in the first trial.Īt the new trial, the witnesses would get a look at Poole, who was subpoenaed by Cotton’s lawyer. And when he learned he had won a second trial, his heart filled with hope.Īnother woman had been raped just an hour after Thompson: same Burlington neighborhood, same kind of attack. So Cotton threw his blade away and he put his faith in God. If you kill Bobby Poole, then you really do belong behind these bars. He describes how he fashioned a blade out of a piece of metal and planned to kill him. And he was bragging to other inmates that Cotton was doing some of his time.
CUZ I REMEMBER EVERY TIME SERIES
He was serving consecutive life sentences for a series of brutal rapes. One day, about a year after Cotton was convicted, another man joined him working in the prison kitchen. He tried to believe what his father kept telling him - that someday justice would prevail. He spent his days pounding the punching bag. In prison, Cotton spent his nights writing letters to lawyers, newspapers, anyone who would listen. Someday, somewhere, the truth is going to come out in my case. “I say the truth will come to light and the Lord knows I am an innocent man. “It was the happiest day of my life,” she said. 17, 1985, the day Cotton was sentenced to life in prison, Thompson toasted her victory with champagne. I’m 22 years old, he thought, and my life is over. Thompson has told the story many times, but the most powerful was the first time in court. She’d send him to prison for the rest of his life. And if she couldn’t kill him, she would do the next best thing. She would track down this stranger who had smashed into her life. In the suffocating terror of a shattered summer night, Thompson made a vow. She would study his features for scars, tattoos, anything that would help identify him later. She would trick him into turning on a light. She would remember everything about this night: his voice, his hair, his leering eyes. “Shut up or I’ll cut you.”Įven as she screamed, even as her attacker shoved her down on the bed, pinning her hands behind her, even as her head exploded with revulsion and fear, the 22-year-old college student knew exactly what to do. The knife at her throat was cold, the voice menacing. A piece of foam was missing from his shoe, similar to a piece found at the crime scene.īut it wasn’t circumstantial evidence that brought Ronald Cotton down. But he said nothing, betrayed no emotion.Ĭotton’s actions and past hadn’t helped his case. Confronted by Thompson, his normal calm failed him.
CUZ I REMEMBER EVERY TIME SKIN
When Thompson picked him out of the lineup, everyone was sure they had the right man.Ĭotton is tall and handsome, with baby-smooth chocolate skin and a warm, engaging smile. Cotton had insisted that the relationship resulting in the assault charge was consensual and that he was being unfairly targeted by police because he liked to date white women. He had been arrested on first-degree burglary charges and had served 18 months in prison for attempted sexual assault. Local man, headed down the wrong road, had already been in trouble with the law. His name was Ronald Cotton and he was the same age as she. Then she looked directly into the expressionless face of the suspect. In court, she put her right hand on the Bible and swore to tell the truth. Each walked up and repeated the words, “Shut up or I’ll cut you.” Thompson picked number five. There was no one-way mirror to shield her. She picked out his photo.Ī week later, she sat across a table from six men holding numbered cards. Just hours after her ordeal, after a jaded doctor swabbed her for semen samples in a hospital, she sat in a police station with Detective Mike Gauldin, combing through photos, working up a composite.She picked out his eyebrows, his nose, his pencil-thin mustache. Police had never seen a victim so composed, so determined, so sure. And when her perfect world was ripped apart, the petite blonde with the dark, expressive eyes became something she could never have imagined. Jennifer Thompson was the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect homecoming queen. Unfortunately, it was the wrong man.īURLINGTON, N.C. That powerful testimony sent a man to prison for 11 years. Associated Press When the worst happened, she fought back by memorizing her assailant’s face.
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