in May of 2010 16-year-old Khalif Browder was walking home from a party in the Bronx when he was stopped by the police and arrested for robbery with his family unable to make the $10,000 bail he was hauled off to one of the toughest jails in the country Riker's Island he would then spend the next three years there locked up for a crime he never committed in June of 2013 all the charges were dropped so why did it take over 3 years for prosecutors to determine that they didn't have a case against khif while Khalif and his attorney Paul pretia are here right now demanding answers they join us at Huff Post Live welcome both to you hello Mark khif I want to start right with you uh what happened that night well on that night I had came from a party on Third Avenue with some friends and I was going home and that's when I was stopped by police officers and they has they was explaining to me that there was a guy in one of their police cars that was saying that I allegedly robbed them and they had searched me and the guy I actually he said at first he said I robbed him I didn't have anything on me and that's when you said nothing you mean no weapon and none of his property no weapon no money anything he said that I allegedly robbed him for so the guy actually changed up his story and said that I actually tried to Rob him and then another police officer came and they said that that um I robbed him two weeks prior and then they said we're going to take you to the precinct and most likely we're going to let you go home and then I never went home they took me to the precin and I was there so you go Precinct you're photograph you get your mug shot you get fingerprinted yes and they told you that you could post bail yes that's correct $10,000 yes and of course I I couldn't make that my family couldn't play it so you went to Riker Island and did they attempt what was the next step did you did they try to get you an attorney uh public defender what happens there well my family tried to get me a public um well tried to get me a lawyer but my family was doing um they was going through some hard times at the time so they couldn't post bail or either get me a lawyer so I was handed um a legal aid a legal um attorney so after that I had to leave my my case in his hands it wasn't the best choice but it was the only choice I have absolutely had did you have a record going into this no so you had had you been arrested before at all no so you hadn't been arrested you had no convictions then obviously if you Haven been arrested there's no conviction and you're in Riker's Island now charged with what were the formal charges against you robbery robbery in the second degree robber robbery in the second degree and no explanation is given to you what did your attorney tell you when he saw this case well he actually told me well he just showed me the evidence that they supposedly had on me which was the dude saying that I robbed him his statement and I told him I didn't do this I don't know how I'm here he said he's going to work on the case but after a while I just kept hearing the same thing from the whole three years and I just learned to cope with just just being in there and I was that was rough I already knew I after a while I just gave up hope three years it's a long time I mean did you find it odd I mean that you know month after month is going by and there's no updates there's no hearing there's nothing I mean wasn't that strange even when you talk to other prisoners who were in there I mean yes it was it was weird from from the first day I was in there from the first day they put the um handcuffs on me it was weird for me I mean CU I knew I didn't do it and then I don't know this dude and then I know that they not I felt like the police wasn't conducting their job correct so I knew from the first day I was in there that everything was wrong but it was it was hard knowing that for the whole three years was was very hard then it came to the fact I mean it came to the point when they offered me time serve and that was that that's when it really got real real stressful for me cuz being in there for about 33 bumps and you you miss everything everything about being home the fresh air your family certain events you want to be home and then when they give you an offer to go home right then and there it's like I want to go home but then you know you didn't do it so you don't want to plea take the plea and say that you do it is not right so so what happened is let me let me set this up for our viewers some who don't know the entire situation after 33 months right uh they come to khif and offer him a plea a deal where he would admit to committing the crime in exchange for A reduced sentence and because he'd already served 33 months in Riker's Island he would essentially have time served in other words he would go home having served his time for Crime that he would admit that he committed as you're saying that's a heck of a choice to make you're sitting there saying I know I didn't do this but I want to go home and you've already been sitting in prison for 3 years and if you go take this to trial yes you were facing a lot more than the three years you'd already served you were facing up to what up to 15 years up to 15 years so you had to choose between being in prison for up to 15 years and going home right then by admitting you did a crime you didn't do that's correct you a better man than me man how you you made a decision that you were going to fight this that's correct how'd you come to that conclusion because I don't deep down inside in my heart I didn't do it I didn't feel at least come comfortable do um saying that I did it I I wasn't going to say that I did a case that I didn't do why for the simple fact that I felt like I was done wrong I felt like something needed to be done about this I felt like something needs to be said if I just cop out and say that I did it nothing's going to be done about it I didn't do it no justice is served nobody hears nothing at all I I felt like I had to fight I had to fight how much of a struggle was that for you though cuz there was party I was saying I want to see my family I want to hear some some music again I want to feel the fresh air again I want to see my friends again I want to wear some different clothes again I want to eat a good meal again I want you know I mean I mean it was real stressful I mean there was times there was nights when I couldn't go to sleep cuz all I thought about was when I go home what would what would be the first thing I would do there was times when I had cried myself to sleep and it it was it was hard the whole thing and and and being in there with the correction officers and them making my stay even harder and that that was that was one of the main things that had me stressed because that that that court date that they had told me that if I say I did I could go home is is the same day that I came back from court and I had gotten a little petty argument with a correction officer and he had stared me so it's like you said he starved you yes I explain that there a lot of people here who don't understand what happens in prison well at the time I was put in solitary confinement because I was jumped by the correction officers and they said that I had allegedly assulted them first so they had put me in solitary confinement and in solitary confinement they control your food and how much food you get and when it's time for the feeding they give you your food so if you if you if you say anything that could tick them off in any type of way some of them which is a lot of them what they do is they starve you they they won't feed you and it's already hard in there because if you get the three trades that you get every day you're still hungry cuz I guess that's part of the punishment so if they starve you one trade that that that could really make an impact on you and how much were you starved I was starved a lot I can't even I can't even count but the worst the worst the worst time I was star is when they star me four times in a row they star me breakfast lunch dinner and breakfast again and finally it took it took cuz I was trying to tell the captains and they Superior the rest of their superiors about what they was doing but nobody wanted to listen to me and nobody wanted to help me and it finally I finally came across the captain that that heard me out and and fixed the problem make sure I was a I was fed and even the shower they was denying me a shower in there too so in the midst of all of that being starved being prepared for or or exp exposed to all sorts of violence you're faced with the choice if you can leave here right now yes or you can continue to fight this thing you made the decision to continue to fight it how scared were you that the outcome wouldn't be good I was petrified I was petrify I was cuz I already knew if I if I get up to 15 the jail I was in is bad already as is the whole thing is bad so I already knew if jail is bad just imagine if they send me to one of them Upstate prisons I never even been there so it it was very scary I mean how scared were you in general population on the dayto day petrified all day I was scared all day because I didn't know where it would come from I don't know where any harm would come I seen a lot of things being done to people in there and I I didn't know if I was going to be next for it I seen people getting jumped I seen people getting cut and and hit with weapons and all chairs all type of stuff so it's scary and I I wasn't I wasn't friends with a lot of people in there so when you don't got friends it's really scary cuz you don't know what anybody would do to you and they know you don't got nobody to back you up so so yeah now now this is a delicate question and and if you don't want to talk about this at this point I totally understand but um there were points where you attempted suicide is that is that corre how many times did that happen and and what were the circumstances around it I would say I committed suicide about five to six five or six times okay you attempted suicide five to six times yes while all all while still in prison yes wow and I I try I tried to resort to telling the correction officers that I wanted to um see a psychiatrist or counsel something I was telling I need mental he because I wasn't feeling right all all the stress from my case everything was just getting to me and I just I just couldn't take it I just needed somebody to talk to I need to just let let let I just needed to be I just needed to talk and be stress free but the correction officers they didn't want to hear me out nobody wanted to listen so when I tried to kill myself at at one point which was in 2010 2012 March at one point I tried to kill myself how what did you do I had I had took I had ripped my sheets on my um I had ripped my bed sheets and made a no out of it and I had hunger to something that's on the ceiling a light fixture and I was about to jump and the correction officers crack they open my cell and when I jump they grabbed me they th they they cut me down they threw me on the on bed they had um gave me a lot of punches they stopped me on the bed they took my sheets my books my covers and they stall me for about two three trays straight so they punished you for this yes they attacked you and punished you for this yes wow and then after that you know because in a lot of places the expectation would be that you'd be put on some sort of suicide watch You' be put into a mental facility that you'd be at least given some sort of treatment yes they put you right back into cell yes only only one time that there was a a suicide incident where they gave me the proper treatment that I was that I'm supposed to get only one time and that was the last time I had tried to kill myself in there and that was to that was that was about March too this year khif if I were you I would I don't know where I would be mentally right now or emotionally um how are you feeling since you first of all how did you feel when they when you got worried that you were going home I felt relieved I felt like that was the best feeling I ever had in my life just fresh air I'm able to see my family again enjoy the holidays yeah I'm able to do any type of fun I would like to do it it it felt great it was the best feeling I ever endured this is the first Thanksgiving Mark he's had with his family since 2009 oh my God that's a Thanksgiving indeed man and I'm glad you're able to enjoy it with your family thank you but this isn't over right this can't be what's next I mean I can't I can't really tell you what's next but like I feel like the whole point of me being on this show is just to get my story out there because I feel like this happens every day uh this happens every day and I feel like this got to stop because I feel like there there's a lot of people that's in there for stuff that they didn't do and they got to they got to be in there for about 3 years and when they get off of something like me a lot of people aren't strong so they would say they would say they would take the plea deal and take it knowing that they didn't do it and it happens every day yeah it happens every day so I just I don't know D you're GED are you are you seeing a therapist or psychi psychiatrist right now yes right now okay good because I mean that's so important for you now I'm being big brother now but I want to make sure you get your support psychologically I want to make sure you're handling school stuff and eventually we'll get you back in the work force as well but right now it's really important for you to take care of yourself but the words you said were so important the Gratitude you offered to people um is key the humility and the grace with which you've handled this uh is is admirable to me there are a lot of people who would walk out of there nothing but angry and you have a right to be angry and you should be angry but you're also turning your pain into Power by taking this story to other people and I thank you for that I thank you for spend us time with me today you're right