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Episode 20: Curtis Flowers

In a recent, hours-long conversation with In the Dark host Madeleine Baran, Curtis Flowers looked back on his life, and its extraordinary twists and turns. Flowers recalled his childhood in Winona: the family cookouts, how he got his start singing gospel music and his high school dreams of becoming a firefighter. And he recounted the day in July 1996 that police knocked on his door, and his life changed forever.


Flowers endured six trials for the same crime and survived nearly two decades on death row at the infamous Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. He suffered through life in a solitary cell, extreme heat, rats and raw sewage. He watched as his neighbors on death row prepared for their executions. He envisioned what it might be like, one day, if that same fate befell him.

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He also had moments of hope. When Flowers’ convictions were overturned or when his fourth and fifth trials ended in hung juries, it seemed he might soon be freed. But then he'd find himself on trial again, in a fight for his life against District Attorney Doug Evans.

But with the devotion of a family that refused to give up on him and — after In the Dark aired in 2018 — a community of supporters all over the world, Flowers made it through. He described what it was like to watch the case against him unravel one witness at a time and to finally see the path to freedom unfold before him.

The interview took place at a social distance, in a back yard in an undisclosed location, because Flowers still fears for his safety. He’s looking forward to rebuilding his life away from Winona, surrounded by people that love him.


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Curtis Flowers' story shows the power of facts, truth, and journalism in the face of injustice: Combined, they helped save his life.



Finding the facts and revealing the truth are vital to our democracy. It’s our mission as independent investigative journalists. And you can be part of it — Individual donations are the most important part of our budget. Please, give generously today.

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Will Doug Evans face accountability?
by Parker Yesko

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Curtis Flowers has gone free, but so has the prosecutor who relentlessly pursued him.

Doug Evans is still the chief prosecutor in seven central Mississippi counties. He was reelected in November 2019 to another four-year term, running unopposed. Last month, a civil rights lawsuit filed against him over his jury selection practices was thrown out by a federal judge. According to the Mississippi Bar Association, Evans has received no public sanction and is still a lawyer in good standing.

“It shows how flawed the system is,” said American University Washington College of Law Professor Angela J. Davis, who researches the power of prosecutors. “Evans is not an exception. He’s just an extreme example of what’s really wrong with the system in terms of holding prosecutors accountable.”


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