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Life & Times Transcript
8/1/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Locked up, exonerated, then set free, but what happens then? Herman Atkins>> All of a sudden, one day you're free and you're told to go back into a society and function the best way you can. Lola Vollen>> They come out like newborns with nothing and stripped of their identify and their dignity. Val Zavala>> And then, there are places you have heard about or seen in films, but can you get there by walking? It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> You may have heard about the more than one hundred million dollars paid to four convicts who were unjustly convicted. They were framed by the FBI for a murder that happened more than forty years ago. But that kind of money makes headlines because it's so unusual. As Saul Gonzalez tells us, most of the people wrongly convicted never see a dime and get even less support. Saul Gonzalez>> There are more than two million people serving hard time in America's state and federal prisons. However, some of the incarcerated, how many no one really knows for sure, shouldn't be behind bars. They're innocent people wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for crimes they did not commit. David Pope>> It's like a bad story from the Twilight Zone. The man wakes up in jail and he keeps waking up and he can't believe it's really happening. Saul Gonzalez>> When he was twenty-four years old, David Pope was sentenced by a Texas court to forty-five years in prison for breaking into an apartment and raping a woman. Years later, DNA testing proved that Pope was not the attacker. He was finally released in 2001, but by that time, Pope had already served fifteen years behind bars. David Pope>> I still kind of struggle with questions. You know, why did I have to stay in there so long, right? You know, there's a part of me that there's going to be this sadness, right? Because that's just part of it. It's like grieving for -- Saul Gonzalez>> -- grieving over this hole in your life. David Pope>> This loss of years. Saul Gonzalez>> Pope represents a small, but growing, number of the wrongfully incarcerated in this country who have had their convictions overturned and then been released. These innocent men and women were convicted and sent to prison for a variety of reasons such as incorrect eye witness identifications, police and prosecutorial misconduct and coerced confessions. However, after surviving prison and proving their innocence, exonerated individuals often face a multitude of new challenges once they're released. Lola Vollen>> They come out like newborns with nothing and stripped of their identity and their dignity. Saul Gonzalez>> And left to fend for themselves. Lola Vollen>> Yes. And what they have to fend against are ongoing injustices. Saul Gonzalez>> Lola Vollen is the founder and executive director of the Berkeley, California-based Life After Exoneration Program called LEAP by its members. Lola Vollen>> It's an effort to help those whose lives have been virtually destroyed by the criminal justice system and move forward in a meaningful and satisfying way, to help them heal and move forward. Saul Gonzalez>> Run on a shoestring budget, LEAP organizes meetings of the exonerated where men like Herman Atkins can discuss their wrongful conviction experiences. Herman Atkins>> "I was tried and found guilty for two counts of rape. I was exonerated from all charges after serving twelve years of a forty-seven year prison sentence." Saul Gonzalez>> LEAP also tries to connect the wrongfully convicted with psychological counseling, job training programs, housing and pro bono legal assistance. >> "The important factor is that you guys stay in touch with each other, that you guys build a bond and a fellowship." Saul Gonzalez>> Many of those exonerated complain that, once released from prison, they often receive no official apologies and compensation. Their criminal records aren't expunged and they have nowhere to turn to for help as they try to rebuild their lives. Herman Atkins>> All of a sudden, one day you're free and you're told to go back into a society and function the best way you can. Well, the best way I can is not good enough because I now have a criminal history that I didn't have before. I don't have an education needed to apply for a job that's worthwhile having. I don't have the funds needed to pay for basic necessities such as clothing, housing, food, transportation. David Pope>> "You know, I have post traumatic issues and it's really hard for me to re-socialize and integrate into, I guess, "normal" society. Saul Gonzalez>> Even though his innocence was proven, David Pope says he got no special treatment when he was released from a Texas prison. David Pope>> They let me out at night and there was no bus. Because I couldn't go anywhere at night, so I actually came back in and spent the night in the prison so that my father could come pick me up the next morning. Saul Gonzalez>> And there was nothing done for you? No ride given? No money in your wallet? No change of clothes? David Pope>> The change of clothes, I got. Saul Gonzalez>> The change of clothes, you got. David Pope>> Right. Because they actually won't let you walk out of there naked and they also won't let you walk out of there with prison clothes on because that's illegal. Saul Gonzalez>> Pope eventually won a more than four hundred thousand dollar legal settlement. However, most of the exonerated individuals LEAP works with have received no compensation for their imprisonment. Only twenty-one states have passed legislation that allow the wrongfully convicted to seek compensation after their release. Many states that do offer settlements often cap payments no matter how much time has been served. Lola Vollen>> The United States has failed in its duty and obligation to help those that have been wrongfully convicted and exonerated with compensation and reparations. Saul Gonzalez>> How much would Vollen and other activists like to see the wrongfully convicted rewarded upon their release? Lola Vollen>> The number that seems to be the settling point for a lot of people that have looked at this issue is fifty thousand dollars a year for every year that is spent in prison. It is enough money for those that have been in for the average of ten to twelve years to have a secure financial basis for a period of time in which they can acquire the skills they need to go forward. Saul Gonzalez>> But many of the exonerated say no amount of money can make up for the years they've lost behind bars. Harold Hall>> Nothing can ever make up. I mean, a money compensation can only make you live comfortably now. Saul Gonzalez>> Harold Hall was convicted of a double murder in Los Angeles. Sentenced when he was eighteen, Hall served nineteen years behind bars before his conviction was overturned. Now an administrator at the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Hall says he sometimes thinks about the opportunities prison stole from him. Harold Hall>> You take away my life for nineteen years. I could have been a judge. I could have been an attorney. I could have been a doctor. I could have been anything. I could have had kids. That was taken away from me. I could have had, you know, a family. Saul Gonzalez>> Pope, who is unemployed and lives with his mother in a small town north of San Francisco, has similar feelings. David Pope>> How do I fit back in now out here? Let me just mention dating. You know, I'm forty-five now. I've been out, you know, six years. When I was released, I was basically forty. I was already middle aged. I'm dealing with middle age issues which are, well, women my age or everybody I know has already been married, had kids. Where do I quite fit in, you know? Am I ready for marriage? No. There's a lot of post traumatic stress that can come up for me. You know, certain things out in the free world trigger that. Saul Gonzalez>> Although they don't oppose greater help and compensation for the wrongfully convicted, defenders of the criminal justice system argue that there are numerous safeguards to prevent innocent people from being put behind bars. Rebecca Lonergan>> Is our system broken? No. Saul Gonzalez>> Rebecca Lonergan, a former federal prosecutor, is a law professor at the University of Southern California. Rebecca Lonergan>> I do believe we have a good system. I believe that we have the presumption of innocence. We have a court system with competent defense attorneys fighting for peoples' rights. We have jurors generally and usually trying to do the right thing and I think we have a damn good system in place where we do the best that we can to find the actually guilty parties. It is just reality that mistakes are going to be made, but from what I see in my twenty years, those are rare. >> "We have to support each other." Saul Gonzalez>> However, the recognition that the innocent usually stay free -- Herman Atkins>> Every morning for me, when I wake up every morning, I'm angry. Saul Gonzalez>> Is small comfort to those individuals who have spent years behind bars for crimes they didn't commit. I'm Saul Gonzalez for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> We'd love to know your response to that story and you can post your opinion on our blog. Just go to kcet.org/lifeandtimes/blog. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> If you had to have heart surgery, in particular coronary bypass surgery, you'd want to know what kind of record your surgeon has, wouldn't you? Well, now there's a way to find out. It's part of a growing trend in transparency for the quality of medical care and this latest report by the state of California names names. It's called Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery in California. It's a report card on a hundred twenty-one hospitals and three hundred two surgeons in California. Dr. David Carlisle is head of the office that issued the report. I met him at the Marriott Hotel near LAX where he was attending a conference. So tell us what did your office of Planning and Development look at and what did you find? Dr. David Carlisle>> Yes, our office is the office of Health Planning and Development, a statewide office. We're part of the Schwarzenegger administration. The governor has called for increased quality and transparency in health care data reporting for the state of California as part of his health care reform effort. This report focuses on coronary artery bypass graft surgery. In California in the years 2003 and 2004, we reported on hospitals and surgeons for the first time for the state of California that perform this surgery and we reported on their outcomes, their results, and -- Val Zavala>> -- why did you choose that surgery? Dr. David Carlisle>> Well, it's a very common surgery. It is the open heart surgery. It is the most common cardiovascular surgery. When people think of open heart surgery, they are typically thinking of coronary artery bypass graft surgery and indeed this particular procedure has had a lot to do with the reduction in mortality from heart disease that we've seen in this country in the last twenty years. It's a major contributor to increased life expectancy for Americans. Val Zavala>> What did you find in terms of hospitals, in terms of the range of the quality of care? Dr. David Carlisle>> Well, there were several hospitals that performed better than expected in our statistical model and there were hospitals that performed worse than expected. Of course, for the surgeons, we found the same thing essentially. About ninety-five percent of the surgeons performed as expected. Val Zavala>> Well, that's pretty good, ninety-five percent. Dr. David Carlisle>> Yes. It's actually reassuring to the consumer that basically, when you're having open heart surgery, surgery that can be very complex and even potentially dangerous, you generally get the quality that you expect to get when you go into the hospital for this procedure and that is reassuring to the consumer. Val Zavala>> So how did surgeons rate? Well, among the best, meaning those with the lowest mortality rates, are Dr. Richard Declusin in Oxnard and Dr. Nan Wang in the Inland Empire. Among those worst-performing surgeons are Dr. Alon Aharon in the Inland Empire, Dr. Ismael Nuno in Los Angeles, Dr. Thomas Tzeng in Whittier and Dr. Syam Vunnamadala in Orange County. And how did hospitals in southern California stack up? Among the better performing were Fountain Valley Regional Hospital on Euclid and St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. Among the worst-performing hospitals were Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Beverly Hospital in Montebello and Lakewood Regional Medical Center. In particular, you focused on the mortality rate that can occur after this surgery. What did you find both in hospitals and doctors? Dr. David Carlisle>> Well, we found that there was a lot of variation in mortality. In fact, after you adjust for the risk or severity of the patients which is a very important part of the model, you have to do that to level the playing field when you're making these critical comparisons, we found that hospital mortality ranged from zero percent to almost eight percent, and surgeons' mortality ranged from zero percent to almost thirty-three percent. Val Zavala>> So again, those figures are zero percent to eight percent. So that eight percent for hospitals means -- Dr. David Carlisle>> That eight percent of patients after you adjust for their risk died within thirty days of the surgery or before they were discharged from the hospital. Val Zavala>> And for doctors, that means thirty-three percent of the worst doctors? Dr. David Carlisle>> Yes. Of course, you have a wider range because you had many more doctors performing probably lower numbers of surgeries than you saw at the hospitals, so that tended to created more scatter in their results. That's why you see a greater range among surgeons. Some surgeons may have had very few cases during the study period and, if they had, say, ten cases and three died, then you had a much higher percentage of mortality. Val Zavala>> Still, I would want to know if the surgeon who is operating on me had a thirty-three percent mortality rate. That would make me -- Dr. David Carlisle>> -- that's exactly what the governor is calling for when he talks about quality and transparency and health care reform. He wants the consumers to have that information. He wants the providers to benefit from that information so they can improve their quality of care. He wants the purchasers, the folks that pay for health care, to know where to go not only to get the best deal, but to get the best results. Val Zavala>> So the idea is not to go after or target bad doctors, although it's important in a sense that they be known, but really the idea is to lift overall quality of care? Dr. David Carlisle>> Yes. We want to make sure that we're improving quality of care in California. We have four other states in the United States that have released similar reports over time. In New York, there has been a dramatic decline in mortality from CABG surgery from about 3.5 percent down to 2.2 percent since they started reporting outcome results for hospitals and surgeons. We'd like to see the same results here in California because our overall mortality rate right now is substantially higher than that for the state of New York or the state of New Jersey. As you know from our report, our mortality rate is about 3.1 percent in the state of California. Val Zavala>> Overall? Dr. David Carlisle>> Overall. New York and New Jersey have mortality rates of about 2.2 percent using the same mortality measures that California does. Val Zavala>> Now half of all these coronary bypass surgeries are done under emergency situations. We don't have a choice. We can't check out the hospitals and doctors when it's an emergency, so what advice would you have under those situations? Dr. David Carlisle>> Well, half are done under emergency situations and half are done under elective situations. Again, this is an expensive, somewhat high-risk surgical procedure. It's done very commonly, so consumers are in the position to choose where they go if they're having elective surgery. But for those emergency cases, this study also provides providers, that is, surgeons and the hospitals, with incentives, additional measures by which they can improve their quality of care. Even if they're doing an emergency operation which we control for in the study, the providers have information that can guide and improve their quality of care performance. Val Zavala>> Tell us about this other factor called IMA. What is that about? Dr. David Carlisle>> It stands for Internal Mammary Artery. Basically, there are two ways of getting the bypass grafts. We talk about coronary artery bypass graft surgery? You're actually bypassing a coronary artery that has a blockage in it using either a vein from the leg called the saphenous vein or the internal mammary artery. The reason this report focuses on internal mammary artery usage is that you have better long-term survival. The grafts stay open longer if you can use the artery instead of the vein circulation as a source of the bypass vessel. For consumers that are choosing where to go for this procedure, this might be one thing that you want to look at or ask your doctor about before you undergo the surgery. "Are you going to use the internal mammary artery or the bypass?" Val Zavala>> But you used IMA as an indicator of better performance. In fact, it synced up. Those hospitals and doctors who used IMA were generally rated higher. Why is that? Dr. David Carlisle>> Well, I can't tell you if that's a statistical association because the internal mammary artery usage is associated with better long-term performance three years out, five years out. The difference is, say you take your car in to get a repair job. You get a clutch change or a transmission repaired or something. You want the repair to go right the first time, of course. You want to drive home with your car, but you also want it to run for years after that and not have to bring it back to the shop. That's the difference between short-term mortality and the internal mammary artery in terms of long-term performance. Val Zavala>> Dr. Carlisle, thank you so much. That's really important information for many, many people. Dr. David Carlisle>> It's been a pleasure. Thank you. Val Zavala>> If you'd like to see the entire report, it's on the website of the office of the statewide Health Planning and Development. Their website is oshpd.ca.gov and the report on bypass surgery is on the home page. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> Remember that joke, "What do you call pedestrians in Los Angeles?" Answer: "Los Angeles Dodgers". Well, contrary to popular humor, there are actually a lot of nice places to enjoy on foot. Want some suggestions? Vicki Curry met an avid walker who has put several dozen routes in a book called "Walking L.A." Vicki Curry>> Los Angeles. It's the kingdom of the automobile and the freeway where four wheels are considered better than two legs. It's no wonder nobody walks in Los Angeles. Erin Mahoney>> You know, that's the popular belief, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are actually plenty of places in Los Angeles that are very rewarding to walk through and that's why I wrote the book, to make it as easy as possible for readers to visit new neighborhoods or maybe a neighborhood they'd only passed through briefly before and really get up close and personal with it so they could appreciate everything it has to offer. Vicki Curry>> I asked Erin Mahoney, author of "Walking L.A.", to show me some of her favorite places to walk around town. So we're here in Los Feliz which is a little village and there's actually quite a lot of neighborhoods like this sort of scattered throughout the Los Angeles area. Erin Mahoney>> Definitely. Larchmont comes to mind, Main Street in Venice like we were talking about. Santa Monica along Santa Monica Avenue. There's a lot of nice little neighborhood streets with great restaurants and shops, independent bookstores, movie theaters, lots of ways to kill an afternoon here. Vicki Curry>> A street like this is a perfect example of one that you might drive on over and over again and yet not really notice the details on it unless you get out and walk. Erin Mahoney>> Exactly. I mean, look at these adorable cafes, the bookstore I mentioned earlier, the movie theater. These are independent businesses and they have that really quaint neighborhood feel. The only way to really get to know any new area is by walking. Like you said, you see so much more on foot than you do by car. It's really essential to understanding a new place. I haven't always been an avid walker. I grew up in the Inland Empire in a city called Rialto that's not entirely pedestrian-friendly. I really drove to a lot of the places I went to. It's not really the most scenic place, but once I moved to Los Angeles, I really found myself looking for opportunities to walk whenever possible because I did want to get to know the city better. Vicki Curry>> Another of Mahoney's favorite walks is hidden in the hills by the Hollywood Bowl. It's a neighborhood called Hightower. Erin Mahoney>> You see these streets up here. Many of these houses are only accessible from walk streets and from stairs. Vicki Curry>> Oh, really? Erin Mahoney>> Yeah, so this tower contains an elevator that the residents can use when they don't feel like climbing all the stairs to get up to their houses. So only the residents have a key to the elevator and the tower and they park in these row garages down here and they can go up to their houses that way. It's very unusual. I mean, part of what makes it such a cool neighborhood is that it has that feeling of a secret discovery. You know, it's very peaceful and secluded up there and you really feel like you're discovering something new. Vicki Curry>> So even if you don't live in this neighborhood, these pedestrian walkways are open to anyone? Erin Mahoney>> Yeah, if you know where to find them, then they're accessible to you. Vicki Curry>> So this is definitely a good example of an L.A. walk that you probably wouldn't think of otherwise. Erin Mahoney>> Right, exactly. It's sort of a hidden treasure. Vicki Curry>> Wow. It looks like if we just take this sidewalk up a couple of flights, we get this view. Erin Mahoney>> Yeah, it's fabulous. You get a view over -- you're looking southeast and then downtown is over there. You can't see it because Whitley Heights is actually in the way, but you still got a lovely view of a good part of Los Angeles right here. Vicki Curry>> It's pretty cool to walk up those sort of tree-covered steps and then come upon a vista like this. Erin Mahoney>> Yes, it's a beautiful open view. You don't get a lot of that in some of the over-developed areas of Los Angeles. This is where you end up when you climb all those stairs up here or, if you're a resident, when you take the Hightower elevator. What's so great about this neighborhood is that it just has this wonderfully secluded, peaceful feeling to it. Vicki Curry>> Right. So this is only a pedestrian walkway. Erin Mahoney>> It is. Vicki Curry>> And you can only get to these houses via this sidewalk? Erin Mahoney>> Right, not accessible by car. Vicki Curry>> That's amazing. It's really beautiful. Erin Mahoney>> It is. It's a lot of fun and it's a nice little escape from the city. Vicki Curry>> Our next stop was back in the city at the end of Santa Monica Boulevard where it meets Sunset. Now we're in Silver Lake and it's a somewhat unlikely walking area. Erin Mahoney>> You know, in some sense of it, it is because you've got these busy streets and everything, but there's a lot of great hidden stairway walks up in the hills here. And this area, Sunset Junction, is a wonderful area to walk along because there are so many great shops and cafes. There is always little things that you're going to find, an interesting store or a restaurant or the architecture. I mean, Los Angeles has so much to offer in terms of architecture. Angeleno Heights is a wonderful example and the Victorian homes up above Echo Park Lake. Vicki Curry>> Throughout her book, Mahoney points out parts of Los Angeles that many people may not know about. Erin Mahoney>> Almost any of the walks would be unknown to a certain segment of the population because people tend to be a little more comfortable in their area where they live and where they work. There are a few walks that include more popular tourist destinations. For example, the Venice walk includes the Boardwalk and Venice is actually a wonderful find for people who don't realize that there are canals there. The canals are just so lovely and quaint and a lot of people don't realize that they're there. It's a very peaceful place to walk around. Then throughout Los Angeles city, pretty much any neighborhood where there's hills, there's all these great hidden staircases. I think that's a very interesting find for people who don't really get on foot to explore those neighborhoods and see those secret stairways tucked between the houses. Vicki Curry>> This is a perfect example of these hidden stairways that we were talking about. Erin Mahoney>> It is, and this one is actually a little more famous than most of the other stairways in the book because it was featured in the Laurel and Hardy film, "The Music Box", in which they tried to move a piano up this very narrow, steep, long staircase. Vicki Curry>> What's amazing to me personally is that KCET is located nearby and this is just south of Sunset Boulevard. I drive by here at least twice a day on Sunset and I've never once turned down this street and known that these steps were right here even though I've heard about them from the films. Erin Mahoney>> Right, and why would you? Because it's not on your route, so you kind of get into a routine and you don't really think about what's off on these side streets. Vicki Curry>> Well, and again, perfect example of things that you would discover if you just get out of your car at the place you drive every day and take a walk and see what you'd find. Erin Mahoney>> Exactly, right. Vicki Curry>> That's what Erin Mahoney hopes will happen when people read "Walking L.A." Erin Mahoney>> People are so entrenched in this car culture that it doesn't really occur to them to leave the car in the garage and to walk somewhere that is maybe, you know, less than a mile away or a mile and a half away. It's really pretty easy to walk and they might find that, if they walked it, they'd find things along the way that were of interest to them. I want to make it as easy as possible for readers to go to a new place and to feel comfortable just setting out and exploring and, by doing so, really be able to know exactly where they're going so that they can focus on what they're seeing. Los Angeles is a wonderful city, but it can be pretty overwhelming. It's vast and sprawling and diverse, but getting to know Los Angeles's many neighborhoods is a very rewarding experience that I think everybody should be able to enjoy. Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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