final chapter has been written. but for me i get to keep going on. >> what would you call yourself? >> i mean people have called me a survivor. i would call myself lucky. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. ♪ i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." ♪ we the jury find the defendant guilty. >> you actually think that they read the wrong verdict. >> you feel so alone and hopeless. >> it is like a shot in the chest. >> despair to hope, darkness to light. a fight for freedom. >> what happened to this teenager could happen to any one of our children. >> at 18 he was arrested for murder, adamant he was innocent. >> i had nothing to do with this, i swear to god.

>> so would could have led to this. >> you stabbed that woman. >> i stabbed her. >> why would you confess to something he didn't do? >> why would he? what happened during that police confession. >> i can't lie to you about the evidence. >> i can't lie to you about this, but the officer is lying about lying. >> an extraordinary look inside the interview room. >> if you don't talk, keep your word. >> i was scared, i was shaken. >> this was one of the most intense interrogations i have ever seen. ♪ >> welcome to "dateline." how could you confess to a crime you didn't commit? it seems to defy logic and common sense, but advocates say it happens far more often than any of us realizes. here is keith morrison with "the

interrogation." >> a freak snowstorm like an omen smothered the little town in the blue ridge mountains. february 19, 2003, just before 9:00 a.m., winter or no, crow's, virginia was unused to this. then through the white deadening blanket that covered the town, a piercing sound, fire alarm. a snowstorm was the last thing on the chief's mind. >> it went off for a fire with occupants possibly trapped inside. ramps everything up. >> it was on a quiet street with starter farm, cling lane. >> there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood so you are running things in your mind when you go in there. who are the occupants you're going to have to rescue. >> the fire trucks raced to the home of a recently-separated woman named ann charles and her children. thick black smoke poured from

the second story eaves. part of the roof burned away. >> we were concentrating on getting up the steps to the room where we were sure we had victims. >> neighbors crowded behind police barricades, one an 18-year-old who lived up the street with his mom, an awkward kid, big for his age. he had strep throat that morning, taking antibiotics, but nothing could keep him from this. his name was robert davis. >> was the fire department there by then? >> yes, the fire department was there by then. we sat and watched for about five minutes and one of the fire department people asked us to go to a truck that was made 100, 200 yards away to get oxygen and it felt good helping out. >> carrie green lived next door. she stood beside robert, watched the fire, worried about the pretty young mother trapped in there, and charles. >> she would come outside and play with the kids and we would

talk here and there, but she was a really nice person. >> and then something good. ann's two daughters katie and wendy escaped unharmed from their downstairs bedrooms, but that left ann and little thomas, just three years old, unaccounted for, somewhere upstairs. >> we put the fire out and then we started checking the bedroom for occupants. >> nothing good after that. upstairs firemen found little thomas on the floor beneath the window, dead of smoke inhalation. chief gentry felt his way through debris and lingering smoke to ann's room. >> i crawled over to the bunk bed and that's where we found a victim in the bunk bed, and that person was secured in the bunk bed, both hands and both legs were secured. >> tied up? >> yeah, tied up. >> now, that put an entirely different complexion on things.

this wasn't just a fire. >> so what did that tell you? >> right there, that keys up, this is a crime scene. so we basically extinguished the fire, left everything as is. >> and then, forensic investigator larry clater took over. >> one thing that jumped out that was out of place, there was a five gallon bucket sitting right in the middle of the living room floor with an empty bottle of rubbing alcohol. >> an empty bottle of rubbing alcohol? >> right, it didn't look like it belonged there. >> upstairs scattered near ann's body he found three aerosol cans, quite probably also accel rants. all of that liquid kindling for murder. >> there was a blob of melted plastic consistent with a smoke detector melted and laying on the floor. and then there was a battery, a nine volt battery that looked like it would go to a smoke detector in the sink. >> so somebody had taken it out of the smoke detector.

>> that's what it appeared to be, that someone had removed it. >> so cruel and deliberate, and all the more shocking in a town where murder is exceedingly rare, said detective phil giles. >> it is not a common occurrence, our style of a whom side. >> how did it hit you and members of the department? >> well, you have a victim and you also have a child. the child, of course, that always touches you in a different way because it is a three-year-old child. >> these things do touch you personally, don't they? yeah. outside, the curious onlookers were a beat behind. all they knew was that ann charles and her little boy were no more. >> it just devastated me. i was in shock, especially about that little boy. >> yeah. >> and still didn't know what had happened really. >> it wasn't long though. watching the silent, stern faces streaming in and out of that little house, that person couldn't help but put two and

two together. >> it was very scary, and i think the whole neighborhood was scared. >> right there in that very neighborhood police would find their suspects. coming up -- >> they had recovered a knife. >> quick work from investigators. two suspects, two confessions. >> it was supposed to be routine. we go in, find her purse and took the money and leave. >> were they telling the truth when "dateline" continues. the threat is everywhere. and it only takes one mosquito bite to transmit it. that's why you need to protect your dog with heartgard plus. just one real beef chew given once a month, every month, helps keep your dog safe all year long. test dogs for infection prior to use. in rare cases digestive and neurological side effects have been reported. for more information contact your vet. get your dog out of hiding. ask your vet about heartgard plus. the vet's # 1 choice

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>> announcer: at first it was just a rumor that sped around the town that february of 2003, but pretty soon everybody knew it was true. it wasn't any ordinary fire robert davis witnessed out on cling lane. >> you hear about it in the grocery store or the gas stations or stuff like that. >> so it was clear that it was a murder? >> yes, sir. >> announcer: ann charles and her three-year-old thomas were dead, horribly. the forensics man got a better look at it than anybody. >> this is probably one of the more horrendous cases i had worked in my career. >> announcer: larry couldn't give investigators much to go on, a few small footprints in the snow out back. but forget dna. any possibility of finding that was flushed away by fire hoses. >> and then i get word from the medical examiner's office that

they had recovered a knife that was sticking in the woman's back. >> what did you say when you heard that? >> i went back to my photographs and, sure enough, in the middle of her back was the knife. >> so someone stabbed her, but who? firefighters tipped police that a brother/sister duo across the street, rocky and jesse fugat, had been watching the fire, claimed to know the victim. robert davis and his friend kevin marsh knew them as aggressive trouble makers in high school. >> people were afraid of them. would just -- if they come through the hallway, people would move out of the way for them, try not to be around them. >> and kevin's friend, the shy and walk ard robert, seemed to be a favorite target. >> they picked on him all the time. they called him retarded, fat, ugly, stupid. >> robert tried to ignore it but they knew his vulnerabilities. >> i tried to keep my distance whenever i could.

>> safer that way, said robert. in any kay, the detectives paid a visit to their house where they learned enough to march the pair down to headquarters two days later for questioning. rocky admitted he was there to rob the place. >> i was in the house. >> why were you in the house. >> i started downstairs. jesse went upstairs first. >> detective phil giles interviewed jessica. >> she eventually acknowledged. she tried to say it was somebody else first, and then at some point put herself there. >> it was supposed to be routine. we go in, we find her purse, we take her money and then we leave. that was all that was supposed to happen. >> but then, rocky went way off script said jessica, tied ann to her bed with duct tape and turned it to murder. >> who set the place on fire. >> rocky. >> who cut ann's throat. >> rocky. >> who stabbed ann in the back?

>> rocky. >> jessica told detective giles the murder weapons were a kitchen life and a metal rod for bludgeoning which they stashed in the hole at ann's house. >> said we probably couldn't find it without her. so we drove her out there and we walked the entire path until we got to the hole and she said, that's it right there, and lo and behold, we had evidence people with us that reached in and discovered the two items that were there. >> what was it like? >> you know these are intimate details and only those involved will know where the instruments are that killed someone. >> so that was that. they had their story and culprits, exempt there was one significant detail offered up by both jessica and rocky, something the town's rumor mill failed to catch by the time kevin and robert went out for the evening a couple of days later. >> we went bowling. we went out to eat. just had a grand old time. >> by that time it was after midnight, about time to go home to bed. >> we were sitting in the

parking lot talking, just laughing, and all of a sudden multiple police cars pull up. they get out, guns drawn. they order me out of the vehicle first. they get me walking backwards to them with my hands up. >> then -- through all of the terror and confusion, it dawned on kevin marsh. it wasn't him they had come for. >> so then i see them getting robert out, kicking him about his feet, knocking him to the door, ramming his face into the asphalt, putting him in the handcuffs. >> the story the fugats told the police, they had accomplices when they murdered ann charles. and one was robert davis. coming up -- >> i was scared. i was shaking. >> now it would be robert davis' turn in the interrogation room. >> why don't you tell me, robert, what took place that night. >> when "dateline" continues. that's why i love light & fit greek non-fat yogurt.

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♪ by all accounts, including his own, robert davis was a mama's boy. because of his childlike ways perhaps or his learning disabilities maybe. >> he's easy to play. he's like me. he's got a kind heart. he's gullible. >> robert seemed to need his mother sandy to protect him from the big, bad world, while he took care of her when she was

attacked by chronic illness, medication for which tends to slur her speech. >> he's a big dude, but he's a teddy bear. he always wanted to grow up and be in health care and nursing like i was. >> mind you, robert did get into trouble once over a petit theft and his learning disabilities landed him in a special school for several years. but the good thing? a family acquaint answer was a school resource police officer. his name was randy snead. he had known robert and his mom for years. robert looked up to randy, trusted him. so when officer snead, now a detective with the albemarle county police, came looking for robert after the fire, sandy told him without hesitation where he could find her son. >> i says, is robert in trouble? he said, he's in serious trouble. >> but sandy had no idea just how serious or what was about to happen in that parking lot where robert was hanging out with his friend. >> guns pointed at you.

you're -- you're wondering what is going on. i mean i was scared. i was shaking. >> why robert? because the fugat siblings told police they had accomplices from their high school and he was one of them. another one was pulled in that same night and interviewed by text giles a detective giles and his partner. at the end of the interview we looked at each other and we were like this kid has no idea what we're tea talking about. >> the fugats lied when they fingered him and he was released. but robert had a far different experience in the interview room and different detective. >> and sitting across from you was randy snead? >> randy snead, yeah. >> you knew him? >> i knew him since i was 12 or 13, so i was on first name basis with him. >> kind of a friend? >> yeah, because i've known him for so long. >> why don't you tell me, robert, what took place that night. you tell me your story. >> that night, i was at my

house, man. >> at first robert swore he was innocent, but six hours later he had confessed to murder. >> i stabbed her. >> you stabbed her, didn't you? >> one or two times. >> everything you have told me is true, correct? >> true. >> everything you have done and been part of is true, correct? >> true. >> later that day officer snead allowed robert to call his mother. >> i said, robert, what did you say? he said, since they wanted to hear that, i told them fine. >> what did it feel like in here when you heard that from your son? >> i felt like i was going to have a heart attack and die. >> around the neighborhood people who had known robert for years couldn't believe it. >> he was always polite, manner-able, and i knew robert was a follower and i just still couldn't believe that robert was involved. >> and yet, the boy said it

himself. >> why would he confess to something that he didn't do? >> robert's mother couldn't afford an attorney, so the state appointed one for him, steve rosenfield. >> what was your impression of him when you first met him? >> robert was scared to death from the first meeting and forever. >> and then robert told attorney rosenfield just about what you would expect an accused murderer might say, he didn't do it. he didn't stab anybody. he wasn't even there. he only confessed, he said, because he was so scared. >> and you push hard enough to find out whether or not he was actually telling you the truth or playing you? >> i take what the client tells me and i do an independent evaluation based on what i learn. >> so he watched the tape of robert's confession, which didn't look right to him. besides -- >> there was no physical evidence at the crime scene to tie robert to the crime. >> but just as intriguing was

this question. >> why would rocky and jessica include a kid like robert? >> the fugat siblings as the kids at school and the neighborhood knew bullied robert mercilessly and he was terrified of them. surely he wouldn't help them murder the neighbor lady. yet rocky fugat was going to tell the court just that. >> his lawyer had advised me that rocky wanted to get a favorable sentencing and was going to be testifying against robert. >> so big problems. rosenfield knew from long experience that any jury hearing rocky's testimony and robert's confession would certainly convict. robert would very probably get a life sentence, no parole. robert's only chance of ever getting out of prison was to agree to something called an alford plea. >> and we told robert that if you plead guilty under an alford plea, you admit that there's sufficient evidence to prove your guilt but you do not admit

that you're guilty. >> it meant accepting a 23-year prison sentence. it also meant he could never file an appeal. >> 37 years of practice, it is the hardest decision that i've made to strongly recommend a client to take a plea for something he didn't do. >> but at least it wasn't life. he was sentenced to 20. he would be free in his early 40s. >> the day i was standing in front of the judge accepting that alford plea, crying and just praying that one day hopefully the truth would come out that i wasn't there. >> the fugats avoided the death penalty but got what amounted to life without parole. and steve rosenfield faithfully drove out to visit robert in prison, knowing the only way to get him out was to persuade the virginia governor to issue a pardon. fat chance of that. >> it was a pretty big long shot of getting him out before the

23 years for which he was sentenced. >> and then -- two years after robert went to prison, rosenfield opened the mail and found a letter from, of all people, rocky fugett. >> dear mr. rosenfield, i have some information about robert that i think can be awfully beneficial. you are welcome to come visit me. >> snail mail. rest assured, steve rosenfield's drive to the prison was much quicker. >> coming up -- >> this is one of the most intense interrogations i have ever seen. >> that interrogation will soon be the key to the case. >> i can't lie about the evidence! >> he's lying about lying. >> when "dateline" continues. ad tick protection from nexgard. nexgard kills both fleas and ticks all month long. and it comes in an easy-to-give tasty chew. so you'll be happy you're keeping your dog protected with nexgard.

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hello. i'm dara brown . here is what is happening. those 12 trapped soccer players in thailand and their coach have sent letters delivered by divers to say they're doing well. the coach promises to care for the children as best as possible

and apologizes to their parents. a federal judge will decide monday on a trump administration request for more time to reunite more than 100 migrant children under five years old. they were separated from their parents after crossing the border. that's what is happening. now back to "dateline." ♪ attorney steve rosenfield was in for a big surprise when he arrived at rocky fugett's prison. >> it was shocking. >> it certainly was. rocky wanted to sign a sworn affidavit saying robert davis was innocent, had nothing to do with the murders. >> that was pretty powerful for him to do that considering his circumstances, nothing to gain. >> but rocky's admission wasn't enough to undo robert's confession. and then seven years into robert's prison sentence, rosenfield answered a phone

call, and there she was. lauren nirider of northwestern's university's innocent project is a leading expert in false confessions by young people. nirider heard about robert's case and offered to help. >> what is really interesting -- >> and help us understand what happened to robert as we watch the interrogation unfold. >> this is one of the most intense interrogations i have ever seen. >> you have the right to remain silent. anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. >> you have these officers very, very close to robert who is a big guy, pushed into that corner, increasing the pressure without even touching him. >> randy snead, a man robert has long trusted, begins the interview at 2:00 a.m. by which time robert has been awake 18 hours. >> never been in that house? >> no. >> again and again, more than 70 times. >> start telling the truth. >> i am telling the truth. >> robert insists he is innocent. >> i had nothing to do with this, i swear to god. >> nine times robert asked for a polygraph.

>> i will take a polygraph test right now. i am being honest. i will take a polygraph test. i have said that how many times? officer snead, i was not there. i will take a polygraph test right now to prove to you i was not there. >> when you have somebody in the interrogation room that offers to take a polygraph, that's a strong sign of innocence that should not be disregarded. >> we know you were in the house. >> then his partner ups the ante. they have evidence he says. >> we have evidence that you were in the house, we can prove it. >> they don't have evidence of that, though it is legal for police to lie in an interrogation. >> there was a lot of people. you will -- >> just after 3:00 a.m., robert asked for his medicine. he has strep throat, remember. he's also asthmatic. >> i need to take my medication. >> we'll give you penicillin once we get going, okay. you work with me and i'll work with you. >> robert's been awake for nearly 20 hours. >> i will call my mom. tell her that i love her.

i'm sorry for all of the pain i've ever put her through. i had nothing to do with this. >> more than a dozen times he says he's tired and needs sleep and several times he tries to sleep on the cold floor. at 5:17 a.m. for no explained reason they attach shackles to robert's ankles. >> that's too tight. >> more than four hours into the interrogation, randy snead tells robert he has more bad news. overwhelming evidence of robert's guilt. >> i got evidence up the -- it is of human dead skin that can be picked up, that's dna. i'm trying to keep you from the worst, robert. if you don't talk to me i can't keep you from the worse. >> i wasn't there. >> robert, you were. you were there. the evidence shows you were there. i can't lie about the evidence. >> not only was that false,

there was no dna found in this case, but the officer then goes on to say i can't lie to you about this, robert. so, in fact, he is lying about lying. >> officer snead tells robert he faces what snooed calls the ultimate punishment. he also says falsely that he's been talking to robert's mother on the phone. >> i sit here and i told your mom that i would sit here and try to keep you from the most ultimate punishment you can get, and i'm trying to do that and you're not even helping me help you. i can't do no more. >> what was going on in there? >> there you see the police officer suggesting to robert he's going to face death, and you also see the officer very cleverly using robert's relationship with his mother. >> what can i say? >> that's when robert's resolve begins to weaken. >> what can i say that i did to get me out of this? >> just before 7:00 a.m., five hours in, robert begins to bargain. >> how many years would it be if i was just on the porch?

>> how many years will it be if you're just on the porch? robert -- >> i would like to go home. i would like to go home today. i would like to go home now. >> i can't promise you. you work with me and i will do everything i can the make sure your mom -- and we can maybe get you home. >> then hoping it might get him home to his mother, robert offers a story he hopes will satisfy snead. >> i never went upstairs. i stood right there at the door. then once i heard something i -- i got scared and i freaked and i ran. >> robert, sitting here trying to tell me and hide from me acts that took place is ridiculous. >> then snead lies to robert again. this time about one of the murder weapons. >> there's an item that you touched, all right, that had left some particles on it that did some damage to somebody, for which -- >> i think it was a bat. >> it was a bat? >> a bat, a baseball bat.

>> all right. some type of -- >> clubbing device. >> clubbing device. >> snead knows the weapon was really a metal rod. >> and then i hit her two times because they said if it was -- if i didn't it would be -- >> wait a minute, now i got somebody else clubbing her, robert. i got someone else doing that act. >> robert has it wrong. >> hit her in the head with this thing. >> jessica already confessed rocky clubbed ann charles. >> you know what that act is and we know, and that's the thing that has something on it that's yours. all right. >> what would that be? >> well, i'm not going to tell you. you're going to tell me. >> so again robert starts guessing. >> tell me what you did. >> i didn't rape nobody if that's what you're trying to -- >> no, no. >> i didn't kill the baby. >> no, i'm not saying that. i'm not saying that you raped anybody. >> i didn't cut nobody. >> i didn't say you cut. >> i didn't shoot nobody. >> i didn't say you shot nobody. robert, i'm going to come

straight out and tell you what i'm getting, all right, since you're not going to tell me. you stabbed that woman. >> i stabbed her. >> you stabbed her, didn't you? >> one or two times. >> then snead asks robert where. >> whereabouts on her body? >> it was in the middle. >> and, again, snead corrects him. >> you -- you had a knife in your hand, all right, and prior to stabbing -- stabbing her in the -- in the back, all right, you cut her. >> it was essentially the police's confession, not robert's. >> the thing about me telling you this is i want to go home. >> today, i doubt it. >> then why am i lying about all of this to you just so i can go home. >> you're not lying. >> i am lying, i am lying full front to your face. i am lying to you. >> i am lying to you just so i can go home, which is exactly what juveniles who have falsely confessed say was their motivating factor for falsely confessing. >> but by 8:00 a.m., six hours

after the interrogation began, randy snead has his confession. >> what you've said tonight or this morning to me, is that a true and accurate statement. >> yes. >> okay. >> when rosenfield delivered a clemency petition to virginia governor bock mcdonald, nirider added volumes of evidence in support, and then as they waited for an answer -- >> out of nowhere jessica sent a "dear mr. rosenfield" letter. she admitted to the throat cutting, the stab wounds to the back and absolutely adamant that robert had nothing to do with it whatsoever. >> so jessica's affidavit was sent off to the governor, too. everybody waited and waited, and then on the governor's very last day in office, more than nine years into robert's sentence, a decision. denied.

rosenfield, devastated, drove to the prison to tell robert. >> robert and i hugged and we cried, and it probably is about the most painful part of this process. >> robert's only door to freedom slammed shut. >> some of the tactics -- >> but half a world away, someone else was watching robert's case. could his opinion make a difference? coming up -- the police detective in robert's corner. when "dateline" continues. . proven to protect street skaters and freestylers. stops up to 97% uv. lasts through heat. through sweat. coppertone. proven to protect. 60% of women wear the wrong size pad and can experience leaks. you don't have to with always my fit try the next size up and get up to 20% better coverage day or night. because better coverage means better protection always

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♪ this is the coffeewood prison in mitchellsville, virginia, robert davis' home, this and other places like it for something like 40% of his life. every moment of those years dictated by one long night with officer randy snead at the miserable, exhausted end of which robert said the words he cannot take back. >> you stabbed that woman. >> i stabbed her. >> you stabbed her, didn't you? >> one or two times. >> most people would say i would never, ever in a million years confess -- >> or how could you be so stupid, not know, you know, and i was young. i didn't know. i was naive, you know. i was scared. >> robert is not alone, of course. there are people like him in situations just like his in jails and prisons all around the country, who confessed as

teenagers to crimes they maybe didn't commit. in fact, to prevent that very thing police departments in many other countries banned or dispenlsed years ago with interrogation techniques still used in america. had the murder happened elsewhere -- for example, here in the unite it kingdom, it is probable robert still would have brought in for questioning. he was after all named always a suspect in the case. but the chances that he would have been charged or even interviewed for very long, close to zero. >> the interview as it is on the recording would not be legal in the uk and that evidence would not have been admitted at trial. >> this is andy griffiths, 26 years a detective in the sussex police department, internationally recognized for his work in investigative interview techniques. when i was a rookie, british interrogation rules were much like they are in the u.s., but they are not anymore. >> what happened to precipitate

these changes in the united kingdom. >> changes really came about through problems. >> like a national scandal after a series of high profile false confessions, including an arson murder case eerily similar to robert davis'. >> so the government of the day instigated a whole review of the way that prisoners were dealt with in custody. >> the result? a complete overhaul of the system. every officer in the uk retrained to rigorous standards that apply in every region of the country. strict rules were put in place for suspect interviews. all interviews in serious cases video recorded. >> there are two cameras up there. one gives a head and shoulders shot of the interviewee. the idea behind that is if this enter rue was sho interview was shown in court, it gives a clear picture of you. the other one is a global view of the room. everyone in the room is shown in the picture. that's about showing exactly what happened.

>> and this was key. no more lying. in america it is legal for cops to lie to suspects, not here. >> could you, for example, go into the interview and say, i have a certain specific piece of evidence that tells me you're guilty if you don't have that evidence? >> no, absolutely not. >> can you talk to a suspect as long as you want to? >> no, you should only interview for two hours at a time and you should take recognized breaks at meal times, prayer times and nighttime. >> and someone a little challenged like robert -- >> they're entitled under the law to what is called an appropriate adult. that might be a parent, it might be a social worker, but they're entitled to that as well as their legal representative. >> but when the interrogation rules were changed, many veteran officers were not happy. they resisted. detective trevor bolles remembers it well. >> senior people thought it was a draconian piece of legislation that was going to prevent us from ever detecting anything

ever again. >> you would never solve a crime anymore. >> we would never solve a crime anymore, that it was going to tie our hands behind our back and we would be unable to work with it and they were wrong. >> very wrong. not only did false confessions all but stop, crime solving got better. >> detection rates in respect to homicide in the uk are very high. they're up in the 90% mark. >> and along the way, said griffis, confessions of hallmark of case solving in the u.s. became much less important here in britain. >> we would not prosecute somebody solely on confession. if someone did make a confession, we would try to corroborate what they said. so you would have the supporting evidence as well. >> but isn't the confession the strongest evidence you can get? >> not always. >> what is wrong with it? >> what confessions tend to do is they shape confirmation bias. people look for supporting evidence just to support what is being said because the confession exists.

>> so we asked griffis to watch with us robert davis' interrogation. >> why don't you tell me, robert -- >> and. >> what this guy's problem, he was arrested last and what they were saying is we gospel believe the people arrested first and you need to confirm what we know. that's clearly not a good approach for an investigator. >> you think i'm lying and i'm not. i'm not lying. i'm ready to go to sleep. because i the not do nothing. >> the time of day of the interview, the length of the interview, the use of leg irons halfway through the interview, the clear requests for medication and sleep at various points of the interview were all red flags. >> when you looked at the whole thing as you did, you sat back and you thought afterwards -- >> the life blood of any account is reliability, and the way this is done is you can't vouch for the reliability. >> we'd asked for his opinion and he gave it to us. robert's confession wasn't

believable. what we didn't expect was what happened a few months later when this british detective spoke to steve rosenfield and offered to write virginia's governor, adding his support to robert davis' clemency petition, a petition now waiting on the desk of a new governor. coming up -- >> i believe that the confession is an unreliable confession. >> strong words from the chief of police and from the governor's office. the wait begins. when "dateline" continues. from y heartworm disease. the threat is everywhere. and it only takes one mosquito bite to transmit it. that's why you need to protect your dog with heartgard plus. just one real beef chew given once a month, every month, helps keep your dog safe all year long. test dogs for infection prior to use. in rare cases digestive and neurological side effects have been reported. for more information contact your vet. get your dog out of hiding. ask your vet about heartgard plus. the vet's # 1 choice

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welcome back. convicted on a false confession, advocates were adamant that's what happened to robert davis. then, newfound hope, a new governor was taking office. would he consider the case? or was the young man so many believed innocent destined to spend another decade in jail? here's keith morrison with the conclusion of "the interrogation." >> i've never been emotional in a presentation as i feel in this case, because i've grown very close with robert. >> for years, steve rosenfield made his case for robert davis to legal conferences, to anybody who would listen. robert remained right where he was, in prison. during those same years we tried repeatedly to contact and

interview randy snead, the officer who took robert's confession. the closest we got was the current chief of police of albemarle county, colonel steve sellers. he wasn't in office when steve -- snead was a detective but -- you've talked to him, what's your sense of how he feels about it? >> i think he acted in the best interests. i think there wasn't a bit of malice in his actions. i think he had a very strong relationship with robert davis. >> but this was interesting. chief sellers did not support snead's interrogation. not at all. >> i will say this. i believe that the confession is an unreliable confession. >> what's more, the chief updated police methods when he took over to help prevent the kind of interrogation that ended up in robert's confession. >> i can't tell your mom that i can save you from the ultimate. >> as you look at it, what are things that would not be done? >> using terms like "the ultimate punishment." length of the interview.

those kinds of things would be clearly not done today. >> cold comfort for robert davis, who by 2014, had been in prison going on 11 years. a decade-plus to go. unless -- there was a new governor, terry mcauliffe in office now. so rosenfield renewed his appeal for clemency. though he was well aware that a tiny percentage of such petitions are ever granted. and as month after month went by, it wasn't clear what, if anything, was happening. >> what's disturbing about the clemency process is that it's secretive. >> what rosenfield didn't know is that this time it was different. the governor in fact ordered a new investigation. just before christmas 2015, we were there when the call came from the governor's office. >> carlos, it's steve. >> there it was.

finally, the words he had been hoping to hear year after year after year. robert davis was about to be set free. >> i'm elated. just in time for the holidays. today is robert's mother's birthday. come on, sandy, pick up. sandy, it's steve. set another plate for tonight's dinner. i'm going up to pick robert up. >> oh, my god! >> i think this will be the last time i ever see this prison. >> at last, the final drive to robert's prison, with the news that both had dreamed of for all those years. >> hey, robert! >> hello, hello. >> how are you feeling? >> i'm elated. words can't describe it. words cannot describe it. i'm just so happy. if it wasn't for that man fighting for me right there, i wouldn't be out right now. and this is just overwhelming right now.

i'm outside of these fences, man! hello? i'm just getting ready to pull out. yeah. it's unreal, mom. as long as this ain't a dream, i'm leaving right now. >> and that very night, robert was together again with his mother and his brother and freedom. >> robert! it's you! it's you! >> this is my boy. he's home. >> how does it feel out here? >> it feels great, man. >> a few weeks later we came to see robert here in his new apartment in charlottesville, virginia, his very own apartment. in which he tells us there is no room for bitterness.

there's too much to do. >> how does it feel? >> it feels great, man. i haven't stopped smiling since i come home. >> i can tell. what are you planning to do with your life now? >> get a job and thrive. i've got this opportunity, and i don't want to squander it, you know. >> that's a nice-looking club. >> he's got a job. working in a neighborhood deli. and he lives under the protective eye of the man who never stopped trying to prove his innocence. and who hasn't stopped yet. robert's pardon was conditional, meaning he has a parole officer and an ankle bracelet and still a record. this governor expressed to me that the door was open for a reconsideration toward an absolute pardon, which would erase, expunge his conviction. >> so he would no longer have a

record. it was like he had never been arrested at all. >> that's a possibility down the road. >> slowly these stories are beginning to make headlines. questions are beginning to be asked around the country. and that is what happened in robert davis' case. >> one night of your life made a hell of a difference, didn't it? >> yeah. >> it's a small town. have you ever run into randy snead? >> he lives here and if i were to see him walking down the street i'd probably keep walking because i don't have nothing to

say to him except for i told you so. i told you that i was innocent. >> so he was, so he is. >> that's all for this episode of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. good morning. i'm in new york at msnbc headquarters. prove it, a now report says president trump's attorney is changing up the rules for an interview with special counsel. and new reporting on the migrant parents, the government cannot find as only half of the kids under five are returned to their families. and why divers call the rescue of a soccer team a desperate ordeal amid new concerns about oxygen running out. >> we begin with a n