Me Facing Life: Cyntoias Story

Background

Cyntoia Brown, the subject of the documentary, had been given up for adoption by her biological mother, Georgina Mitchell when she was two years old. Her biological mother and maternal grandmother, Joan Warren, had difficult lives, a pattern which—"seemingly predestined by biology and circumstance"—was repeated in Brown's childhood. Warren was raped at the age of 19, which resulted in the birth of Georgina, who was not wanted. When Georgina became pregnant with Cyntoia, she continued to drink up to a fifth of liquor each day and in the eighth month of pregnancy began using crack cocaine. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, obtained by babies born to mothers who abuse alcohol, can "result in poor impulse control and a disconnect between thought and action." Brown lived in several foster homes before she was adopted by Ellenette Brown. Even though Ellenette Brown provided a generally stable home, Cyntoia had not had sufficient stability in her life for proper emotional development and by 2004 had become a runaway.

Sixteen-year-old Cyntoia Brown's sexual encounters had included many rapes, assaults during or before sex, and times when she was under the influence of drugs. Brown had a physically and sexually abusive boyfriend named "Cut-throat", who brandished guns at her and forced her into prostitution. Brown was picked up by a 43-year-old real estate agent, Johnny Allen and taken to his house on August 6, 2004. Brown stated that for several weeks leading up to that day, she had been repeatedly raped and was on drugs. When she arrived at Allen's house, she found it was full of guns. Brown said that she was afraid that she would be shot, which led her to shoot and kill Allen. Sixteen-year-old Cyntoia Brown was then arrested for Allen's murder.

Description

Daniel Birman, the film's producer and director, documented Brown's case from the week of her arrest until her conviction almost six years later. Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story delves into Brown's family background and her history to better understand the events leading up to the murder. Birman had been notified of the case by Kathy Evans in the Public Defender's Office. She requested an assessment by Dr. William Bernet, a juvenile forensic psychiatrist from Vanderbilt University. She was found to have had a difficult childhood, but was considered competent to stand trial, and therefore tried as an adult. Prosecutors argued that her motive for killing Allen was robbery. When she left Allen's house, Brown had taken his wallet and guns.

Brown was convicted of murder and sentenced to life / 51 years. The prosecutor of the case had argued for life without parole by stating the importance of ensuring that dangerous and violent people are imprisoned, regardless of the circumstances that may have arisen to make them violent. Brown is serving her sentence at the Tennessee Prison for Women. The film, which addresses harsh sentencing of minors, ends as Brown adjusts to life in prison.

Mark Jacob, author of "Life in Prison Begins at 16" says the

"deeply moving, quite disturbing film... has the weight and urgency of a Greek tragedy. The more we learn about this astonishingly articulate and intelligent teenager (her IQ was once measured at 140), the more we realize her tragic life was essentially preordained. That doesn't absolve the people and institutions that failed her along the way, but it does raise fundamental questions about responsibility and where it lies."

Aftermath

The documentary shown on PBS, and later picked up by BBC, generated interest in Brown's case. In November 2012, Charles Bone, a Nashville attorney, saw the film and decided to join Brown's attorneys on the case. They argued for a new trial, particularly to allow Brown to testify on her behalf, something that was discouraged by her attorneys in the original case, and to present evidence about her developmental delays due to fetal alcohol syndrome.