You Think Maybe a Bit of Exploitation by the Media?

Then Marty Stroud went to meet Glenn Ford.

Stroud was the prosecutor who put Ford on death row 30 years ago.  Ford's the innocent guy Stroud put on death row 30 years ago.

Stroud's the guy who wrote an apology to the Shreveport Times.  Stroud's the guy who now says he was a kid, concerned with winning at all costs.  Stroud's the guy who says he cheated to get Ford convicted and sentenced to die.  Stroud's the guy who says Ford should get all the money Louisiana makes available to the wrongly convicted and the should get a lot more.

Ford's the guy who lost 30 years of his life because of what Stroud did.  Ford's the guy who got out of prison a month ago and then discovered he has stage 4 lung cancer and only a few more months to live.  Ford's the guy who, the courts said, won't get any of the money Louisiana theoretically makes available to the wrongfully convicted.

So Marty Stroud went to meet Glenn Ford.

Ford, who was released from prison with a manila envelope holding a $20 debit card ('cause they're so damned generous) and maybe the 24 cents he had in his account, lives on the kindness of volunteers and from donations.  While he dies of the disease they didn't bother telling him he had.

I'd like to think ABC News paid Ford for the privilege of ogling the meeting.  They certainly had the cameras there.  They picked Stroud up at the airport and drove him to the meeting.  They had the cameras in the car, too.

When Marty Stroud went to meet Glenn Ford.

And Marty Stroud said he was sorry.  He said he hopes he's a better man now.  He said he's learned.  

Ford said anger's not what drives him.  Trying to stay alive is what drives him.

Stroud said he's thought "for a long, long time," about this - whichever "this" exactly he meant.

I want you to know that I am very sorry. It's a stain on me that will be with me until I go to my grave, and I wasn't a very good person at all. I apologize for that.

But 30 years is a hell of long time.  Ford:

I'm sorry.  I can't forgive you.

They shook hands.  Wished each other well.  

Stroud left.  Ford, who really had nowhere to go and no means to get there, stayed.  The volunteers who care for him came and circled him.

ABC kept the cameras rolling for a bit.

When Marty Stroud went to meet Glenn Ford.

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