Chris Rock opened up about a decision he made that has continued to “mess” with him.
He said he had refused to pay for a lawyer for a man he knew who was later found to have been wrongfully convicted.
Chris Rock admits he refused to pay for a lawyer for wrongfully convicted Roger Logan
In an interview with The New York Times, Rock revealed that Roger Logan, a man he knew growing up, had been wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 19 years in prison.
Rock admitted that the decision still haunted him, especially because he had the means to help fund Logan’s defense.
“A guy named Roger Logan, who I grew up with, he’s one of my best friend’s brothers, went to jail for 19 years for a murder he didn’t [commit],” Rock said.
Rock said Logan’s brother repeatedly asked him to pay for a lawyer, but he declined.
“His brother used to plead with me to pay for a lawyer for Roger and I never did it,” he said. “I always had like a no lawyer thing because a lawyer is like an open-ended thing. Like I’ll pay your mortgage. I’ll put whatever.”
Rock continued by explaining that the situation challenged his “no lawyers” policy.
“I always stay out of lawyers because it’s so open-ended and it still messes with me,” he said. He added, “I had the means to help him and I didn’t. I don’t know if we could have got him out or not.”
Rock also tied the discussion to a broader point about accusations and Black men. “So all that to say is I’m black. Black men get accused of things they didn’t do all the time,” he said. He also added that “white people believe every accusation is a conviction.”
