Page 3 - Michael Has News Today

You know, we know its in the news and everything. in the elections are coming up, but i think seeing somebody like michael and hearing his story is, it helps people access kind of this issue a little bit easier. now were doing that weird tv thing where we talk about you while youre here. but thats that also goes to kyle which is why does it matter to take some that, we talked about this in politics. we talked about this in numbers. sure. why did it matter to you to tell the story as haley was sa...

Being able to kind of tell this and work with michael and hailey and the nonprofit last prisoner project that are doing this amazing work around nonviolent, you know, offenders and when it comes to cannabis and you know, so being able to kind of, you know, its a, its a privilege, you know, and also a duty to kind of, you know, be able to get michael up platform because again, a lot of people dont have that platform. so we just tried to you know, do it in the most, you know, honest and authentic ...

And his family with this ongoing incarceration. - my father has grandchildren that he has not met. he even has great grandchildren he has not met. and i just want to bring him home with me. we could build a relationship, and get our life back on track like we used to have. he would give anyone a shirt off his back. he has a very good sense of humor. - mr. thompson has always been a great person, entrepreneur. he has so many friends in the community waiting for his release. - michael has demonstr...

- yeah. - im gonna try and schedule a call with michael. i was just hoping we had something to give him, but sounds like■ - i know. i wish. i wish. well, give him my best. im really■ well keep pushing. - okay. thanks, katerina. - sure. take care. - talk to you soon. bye. - bye-bye. [call ends] [vacuum whooshing] - the facts are someone came to michaels house, discussed purchasing marijuana. he went to another house, got that marijuana, and then delivered it to the confidential informant. and...

And thats what got you through. yeah. like i said, i dont know you, but i appreciate meeting you and you telling your story here. hayley, your thoughts. thank you for having us. and im just really happy to be seeing this day with michael. our whole goal is just to put a face to all of the numbers. like theres michael knows them. theres tons of other people that are in just like him. and we just wanted to use the film to kind of bring the humanity to the story because, you know, we know its in th...

The prison when youre very restricted, but thats the life that paul just referred to, and showing how you got here with a life that in some ways, thats been, thats been paused. yeah,i think the life inside the prison was mostly represented through his calls. we had a lot of calls, a lot of pictures so we felt very restricted in that way. i think in the filmmaking, since it felt very restricted, all the images representing, this prison felt restricted because we were just listening to michael whi...

Im not that person anymore. i dont have that criminal mentality anymore. period. im done with that. all i wanna do is get back to my life, get back to my life and get back■ you know what im saying? try to build me some kind of foundation for my kids. - all right. thank you. - i think the thing that attracted me to take this case is that its the most disparate sentencing ive seen in my career, which says a lot. because i handle a lot of post-conviction matters and a lot of matters that deal wit...

- police and prosecutors packaged the weed and the guns together like they were one big crime. - three pounds of marijuana with no weapon. you see how it doesnt make sense when we go to talk about the guns? the guns have nothing to do with the drugs. - his record is not very substantial in the first place. and to see this kind of sentence, i cant imagine what was going through the judges mind. - i dont even think people would get sent to prison at all for those types of crimes today. were really...

And theres a shadow and bars kind of across his face. so thats how we kind of got his that element across, but its mainly about focusing on michaels humanity. yeah. and similarly, lets also before we go kyle, look at this quiet moment when he does leave prison. final thought from you, some of the most important stories of injustice, are the hardest to tell because powerful forces make them hard to tell. sure yeah, i mean, you know, it was a difficult journey, you know, kind of being able to kind...

The only, the only one i can depend on was god. and i believed in him, i believed that one day. yeah, i believed in him. and thats what got you through. yeah. like i said, i dont know you, but i appreciate meeting you and you telling your story here. hayley, your thoughts. thank you for having us. and im just really happy to be seeing this day with michael. our whole goal is just to put a face to all of the numbers. like theres michael knows them. theres tons of other people that are in just lik...