The U-M Innocence Clinic

continued

Luckily, Tienail Reed is in court, so they call him to the stand. He denies every single threatening act the prosecution witnesses accused him of doing—and says that Gholston “seemed very nervous about his family knowing” he planned to recant.

The judge continues the hearing to the next day, and the U-M team, summoning its collective adrenaline, pulls a virtual all-nighter investigating some of the claims raised by Breen’s surprise witnesses. Coming to court the next morning, Zoe Levine confesses she’s gotten very little sleep.

She calls Gholston’s friend Eric Hopkins, who had driven him to court the previous day and to the December deposition at the U-M. He testifies the recantation was entirely Gholston’s idea, that he wanted to get it off his chest even though his parents were dead set against it.

Dramatically, Bridget McCormack then puts Deshawn Reed himself on the stand. Smiling but chewing on her fingernails, she immediately asks, “Did you shoot Shannon Gholston?”