Perry Cobb
Perry Cobb spent eighteen years in prison, eight years on death row for a crime he did not commit.
“I’ve been tried more times than anyone in this country for the same offense, for something I never had anything to do with. They had latent fingerprints that weren’t mine, and I’ve never been 6 feet 11 and I’d never been light-skinned. My mother, grandmother, my father, grandfather, family, my children grew up without me. It’s nothing nice about that except for one thing, I was able to come back and spend just a little time with them. But they can’t get me a second back that they took away from me. So that is easy for me to put on paper, but to put what’s in my heart down on that paper, the pain and the hurt, that is what kind of gets you. It’s a mixture of pain and sorrow. It was hate. I stopped hating. I don’t like them, but I don’t hate them, because I hated them so much until that it almost destroyed me and I stopped that.”
Author, singer-songwriter Perry Cobb endured a record five trials and spent nearly nine years on death row as an innocent man. Now, Perry writes prolifically and brings his sense of justice and integrity to his death penalty abolition work, speaking about the tragic failings and racism of the criminal justice system.
Perry credits his survival to fearlessness, strength, and the truth. A trained boxer, others knew he would fight for justice. Perry studied law and encouraged his peers to do the same. stirring inspiration in his fellow inmates. This led those in power to see him as a threat.When we were doing law, the whole death row was quiet, all you could hear was typewriters. That’s when they said I was the most dangerous man.
Speaking truth to power saved Perry’s life. He took the witness stand on his own behalf, well prepared for the state’s attorneys’ tricks. Facts prevailed despite efforts to hide evidence. Although free, he reminds us of all that was taken away by a cruel, unjust system.
“My mother, father, grandfather, my children grew up without me. They can’t give back what they took away.“
“I’ve been tried more times than anyone in this country for the same offense, for something I never had anything to do with. They had latent fingerprints that weren’t mine, and I’ve never been 6 feet 11 and I’d never been light-skinned. My mother, grandmother, my father, grandfather, family, my children grew up without me. It’s nothing nice about that except for one thing, I was able to come back and spend just a little time with them. But they can’t get me a second back that they took away from me. So that is easy for me to put on paper, but to put what’s in my heart down on that paper, the pain and the hurt, that is what kind of gets you. It’s a mixture of pain and sorrow. It was hate. I stopped hating. I don’t like them, but I don’t hate them, because I hated them so much until that it almost destroyed me and I stopped that.”
Author, singer-songwriter Perry Cobb endured a record five trials and spent nearly nine years on death row as an innocent man. Now, Perry writes prolifically and brings his sense of justice and integrity to his death penalty abolition work, speaking about the tragic failings and racism of the criminal justice system.
Perry credits his survival to fearlessness, strength, and the truth. A trained boxer, others knew he would fight for justice. Perry studied law and encouraged his peers to do the same. stirring inspiration in his fellow inmates. This led those in power to see him as a threat.When we were doing law, the whole death row was quiet, all you could hear was typewriters. That’s when they said I was the most dangerous man.
Speaking truth to power saved Perry’s life. He took the witness stand on his own behalf, well prepared for the state’s attorneys’ tricks. Facts prevailed despite efforts to hide evidence. Although free, he reminds us of all that was taken away by a cruel, unjust system.
“My mother, father, grandfather, my children grew up without me. They can’t give back what they took away.“