One Minute Remaining - Stories from the inmates

For many men and women incarcerated across the United States, once all legal options for release have been exhausted, there is often one last avenue to hope for: clemency.

Clemency in most states is at the discretion of a single person – the governor. This is not to be confused with presidential pardons, as the president can only grant clemency in federal cases, while state-level clemency sits with state governors. Governors hold an incredible power: the ability to effectively give someone their life back, someone who might otherwise be condemned to die behind bars.

Of course, like most things, it’s never guaranteed. The exact number of clemencies granted isn’t clear, but it’s fair to say that, compared to the number of people incarcerated, the figure is extremely small. For a fortunate few, though, that mercy does come.

Today I speak with one of those people. A man whose story we covered some time ago.

Shawn Robert Johnson was staring down a minimum of more than 60 years in prison before he would even be eligible for parole. Instead, this Christmas he will be going home to his family after just shy of 20 years behind bars.

Today we catch up to talk about how it happened – and what his plans are for life on the outside.

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In today’s episode, I catch up with John Merritt, who’s been navigating a very serious health crisis. John talks me through how a growth on his head was left untreated for so long that he was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with cancer. He underwent surgery, but the doctor who operated on him failed to recognise just how severe the situation really was.

John explains what the last few months have been like and the conditions he faced inside a facility for sick prisoners — conditions that sound like something straight out of a horror film. This story genuinely gave me nightmares.

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John Merritt has been behind bars for longer than I’ve been alive. Like many of the men and women we speak to, John’s early life was marked by encounters with the law—mostly for petty, non-violent offences. He became trapped in a cycle, moving in and out of the system, until one day, while serving time for burglary, his life took an even darker turn.

A visit from a sheriff's investigator would change the course of his life forever, propelling him down an unexpected and terrifying path toward the death penalty for a crime he says he didn’t commit.

In the end, John faced a grim choice: life in prison or the electric chair.

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He’s simply a man who doesn’t stop. Since being exonerated for a crime that saw him spend almost 27 years behind bars, Evaristo Salas Jnr has wasted no time making up for the life that was taken from him.

In this catch-up, we dive into everything he’s achieved in the two years since his release. He’s travelled across the United States giving talks to everyone from school kids to some of the top legal minds in the country. He’s started a business, founded a non-profit, and even taken his message as far as Europe.

But the last two years, while full of incredible moments, haven’t been without challenges. Jnr opens up about the times he’s caught the old prison mentality creeping back in — and how he’s learning to navigate freedom after nearly three decades inside.

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Today I catch up with David Talley — a man serving a 100-year prison sentence for crimes that should only have carried a decade behind bars.

Now, more than 20 years later, David is still fighting for a resentencing hearing. We talk about how that fight is progressing, and about a recent stint in confinement following an issue with his cellmate.

Despite the contraband not being his, David was punished — spending two months in segregation, losing his job, his cell, and now finding himself housed in a punishment wing surrounded by drugs, gangs, and violence… all at the age of 63.

Today I catch up with Jeremy Cain for an update on what’s been happening with his case since we last spoke.

After his story aired on One Minute Remaining, the community of Pleasant Grove came together to raise awareness and funds to support the Cain brothers. Their efforts made it possible to hire an attorney — but what, if anything, did that attorney achieve? And where does the case stand now?