ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2005, the mayor of New Orleans called on the people of his city to evacuate voluntarily ahead of Hurricane Katrina. The governor of Louisiana and the president of the United States had already declared a state of emergency, and by midday on Sunday, the mayor made his evacuation order mandatory. When the storm hit shortly before dawn on Monday, however, many people remained behind, some by choice and some because they had no choice.
INTERVIEWER
How long have you lived in New Orleans?
DAN BRIGHT
Thirty-seven years.
INTERVIEWER
And how old are you?
BRIGHT
Thirty-seven.
INTERVIEWER
Where were you during Hurricane Katrina?
BRIGHT
I thought, as usual, that the storm was gonna turn or wasn’t gonna be a big thing. We’ve been escaping major hurricanes forever, so I stuck around.
INTERVIEWER
The storm hit Saturday night. What were you doing?
BRIGHT
Me and my girlfriend had a fuss. Some neighbors heard us fussing and called the police, saying it was domestic violence. I was unaware of this. I left. I went to a club, and I was pulled over. Maybe it was because of the car I was driving—a late-model Jaguar I was given by an aunt of mine. Either they thought the car was stolen or I was a drug dealer. You have to remember, this is New Orleans—even the cops is corrupted and envious. If a guy is driving a nice car he better have an Armani suit on. That’s just the way it is. They asked me to get out, asked for my license, and ran my name. Then they come back and say I got a warrant for domestic violence.
INTERVIEWER
Were these white cops or black cops?
BRIGHT
Black. I say all the time, it’s not a color thing. It’s just New Orleans. Bottom line is he left my car in the parking lot and brought me to Orleans Parish Prison, and that’s the predicament I was in for the storm. They put me straight in a cell. Cops, security guards, deputies, they’ll always single me out because they put my name in the computer and see that I was on death row.
INTERVIEWER
Why were you on death row?
BRIGHT
I was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder. A guy said I robbed someone and killed him, but the guy who said this was alcoholic. He’d been drinking for twelve hours and he was on parole. So the police used that to make him lie. They showed the guy my picture and said, Look, this is who we want, you’re in violation of your parole, and you’re gonna say he did it.
I was in prison for nine years—four years on death row, and five years in general population. Nine years. The way I got off death row is that the Louisiana Supreme Court downgraded my charge and gave me a life sentence without my permission. I had errors in my case, and instead of them giving me a new trial, they just took it upon themselves to give me a life sentence, like I was gonna be satisfied with that.
INTERVIEWER
How did you finally prove your innocence?