Saddest Parts of the Movie

Many of you have commented on how much this movie makes you cry. It makes me cry too...and every single time! I think that is why this movie has such a huge following. This movie was not made by Lifetime. It originally premiered on NBC. It was a high drama movie. The music just makes you break down in tears. I don't think anyone could have played the parents better than Patty Duke and Martin Sheen. Patty Duke captured the very essence of Mary Brown. I was told that Martin Sheen wanted Jack to appear "less likeable" in the film. The grandmother's portrayal was far from what the real lady was like according to sources.

The parts that make me cry everytime
1. The scene where Mary Brown is at the window and Chris is leaving
2. The part where Mary Brown screams and drops to the floor as Dusty tells her that Chris has been killed.
3. The entire funeral scene...especially when Jack tries to help Mary up, and she refuses to go with him, and he just walks away, and then he turns around to look at her one more time as if he is helpless.
4. The scene where Mary blames Jack. He looks hurt to the core, and he finally blames himself for letting Chris go.

What are the saddest parts for you?

Why Rocky and Dusty Didn't Serve Much Time in Prison

Feistymom,

I did get your questions this morning. The truth is I don't know. Rocky actually did 20 years in prison, and remember when he was first sentenced he sort of took the wrap for her. It was only after he learned that she had used him and virtually dumped him that he decided to tell the real story of what happened. This could have had an impact on how much time he actually served. Dusty didn't serve all of her time. I will have to go back through my notes in a few to check, but if I am not mistaken, I thought Dusty Brown's defense attorney told me that the judge felt sympathetic towards her. Let me double check that.

Update: 11:41am: I wasn't able to find a copy of the entire conversation that I had with Dusty's public defender. So I can't be sure if she said that. Someone did, I just can't remember who. Anyway, in my Rocky Jackson notes I had a comment that he made regarding his case:

"Confrontation with me". I regret it. I live with it everyday."

"The military found me guilty before I was even tried."

This part is not legible, but it says "Eligible for parole after 10 years. The Clemency Board told me to enjoy my time."

The notes on that part are choppy, which is why I didn't include them in the first notes. That's all I have on him for now. Hope that helps Fiestymom.

Mary Brown's Other Son

Thanks for that question fiestymom. Yes, Jack and Mary did have another son. They did not feature him at all in the movie. It is my understanding that he has had a really hard time dealing with seeing his mother and father go through what they have concerning Chris' death. He has also had to put up with a lot of problems stemming from Christy's behavior.

Jack and Mary Divorce

For anyone wondering about the obit. Yes, Jack and Mary Brown did divorce. I will look back through the rest of my notes tonight to find the exact date of the divorce. They were not able to make it after Chris' death I am told. There was a lot of resentment among other things. Jack remarried. Mary did not.

Update: Mary P Brown died Saturday Feb 13, 2010

 

 

Mary P. Brown, mother of Chris Brown,  died on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010. Graveside services for her were held at Gallant First Baptist Church Cemetery in Gallant, Alabama. She was 74 years old. Her body was cremated.

Side Note:  Her sons' murder and Charlene Brown consumed her until the end. I was told that she never got over his death, and that she continued to talk about the case to any and everyone who would listen. RIP Mary Brown.

 

Kathy Dusty Brown Death November 2011

Kathy Dusty Brown passed away on Monday, November 21, 2011. Please visit her page to see the obituary.

Interview with Dusty Brown's Sister and Rocky Jackson

 Interview with Dusty Brown's Sister and Rocky Jackson

by Traciy Curry-Reyes

First recorded: February 6, 2009

This has been an interesting week. I had the chance to interview both Rocky Jackson and Dusty's sister again. Also made some headway with Hawaii by talking to the former prosecuting attorney today in Kathy Brown's case.




The former prosecutor, Mark Bennett, is now the Attorney General there in Hawaii. I am in the process of ordering some documents in the case and hope to scan and post the prosecutions opening statements. Remember, even though this is Kathy Brown's trial, the evidence is a repeat from the findings in Ralph Jackson's case. But for now here is a gist of the opening and closing statements:




 The evidence proved that Kathy Brown told her roommates that she wanted to see Chris dead for the insurance money. They testified in court that Kathy made these statements to them. Evidence showed that Kathy Brown promised Jackson that they would marry once Chris was out of the way. On the evening of the murder, Ralph Jackson broke into the living quarters and hid in Chris' bedroom.




 Chris was attacked by surprise and stabbed 26-27 times. It was a very bloody scene. According to forensic evidence, Chris suffered defensive wounds. Jackson had some wounds but not defensive wounds. Once the officials realized that Jackson  was their man, he was brought back and charged with the crime.




Kathy Charlene Brown made no contact with him at all while he was incarcerated. Rocky wrote many times but received no answer. One of the letters that she finally wrote to him was incriminating. Phone calls were also recorded between the two which further incriminated her. (Hopefully I will have more details, if and when I receive the actual documents.)

According to Edwina (Kathy Brown's Sister)

Chris is a sweet guy. But, it was proven that Chris was no saint. In fact I think they mentioned this in the movie. According to Kathy's family, Chris was abusive to her. According to Dusty's sister Edwina, Chris would break in and hide in Kathy's apartment and tell her you are "my F*****g wife!" There were physical altercations, slashed tires and the like. I asked Edwina to describe Kathy's reaction to Chris' death. She stated that Kathy "was more relieved than anything. Just not to have to deal with it anymore."

The night of the crime according to Edwina

Edwina said, when Rocky testified in Dusty's trial, she stepped in to see what his testimony would be. She said that Rocky stated that he went over to tell Chris to leave Dusty alone, and that when he got there Chris already had the knife and "was swinging at Rocky." Rocky then got the knife away from Chris and stabbed him. "But Chris just kept coming at him," she stated.

 Extra Tidbit

 Another source stated that Chris had been out to sea. A friend told him that Kathy was seeing another Marine. Chris returned earlier than expected. This is when Rocky decided to kill him. He got inside the apartment and waited. When Chris arrived, Rocky took him by surprise. Chris was stabbed 26 times. Chris' thumb was severed in the attack.

Jack Brown Obituary

I was told that Jack Brown never got over his son's murder. He sort of always blamed himself for letting Chris go....Mary blamed him too.

A Matter of Justice Research

Old Notes on the movie A Matter of Justice

by Traciy Curry-Reyes

Old notes that I scribbled in 1999 about this case (notes are unedited. Sorry maybe some day I will edit this page.)

Chris' mother Mary still lives in Etowah County Gadsden, Alabama. I had the chance to speak with her about 8 years ago about this case. She indicated that she might be writing a book on the case, and that she had also been trying to find out some info on Ralph Rocky Jackson. At the time she did not know if he was still incarcerated or not. I told her that I would look into it to see what I could find. I never mentioned this before now, but you know Ms. Brown did not really want to give me any info about the case.

She kept mentioning that she was planning on writing a book about the case, so my request to her for pictures and news articles on the case was denied. 10 years ago when I started this site, this story was one of the first that I featured on the site. The site started out as just a memorial site for those who had been featured in the movies. So at the time I had no readership and no other sites existed like this one. It was just my way of paying some respect to those who had been murdered so senselessly.


Anyway, I told her that it was ok, and that I would find out where Rocky was housed, and that I would find a picture of Chris on my own. So that year I made the trek to Gadsden, Alabama. I had my grandmother babysit my infant daughter, IvyBrook, at the time for a couple of hours while I tried to gather the information from the local library. Now this is back in 1997, and at the time it was a very small library. They said they could vaguely remember the case, but had no database for me to search in any organized and timely fashion.

 I remember telling the librarian, the movie came out in 1993, and to please give me all of the papers for that year and month, and then we both started looking. Finally, the articles that I found gave me the actual year of the crime and a photo of Chris Randall Brown. I then emailed Ms. Brown the link to the site with a post that Ralph Rocky Jackson would be released in 2002. I never heard back from her...

Rocky Jackson aka Ralph G Jackson

Ralph G. Jackson aka Rocky

Rocky Jackson

 

My Interview with Ralph Rocky Jackson

by Traciy Curry-Reyes

first recorded in 2009

 I had the chance to speak with Rocky Jackson a few nights ago. Wow. I wasn’t sure I would ever know what happened to him once he left prison in 2002. He was in good spirits though. He showed no emotion…really, when I first spoke with him. He did not sound alarmed, or shocked. He acknowledged calmly that he was indeed the same Rocky. I found him a little cold in the beginning. Not rude at all, but frigid…reluctant to revisit that place in his mind that he so badly wants to forget. I began to speak with him about how life had treated him since he left Federal prison 7 years ago, and he let me know eagerly that he was now married (his wife is very pretty and blonde just like Dusty) with a small daughter, repeating over and over that “it was the past,” and that he has moved on. Rocky is considered a respectable person in the community, according to him. He is a homeowner; he has finished a business degree, owns his own business, and is an artist. It was really hard to get into the “other stuff” the “real stuff” that I wanted to know. How it happened? What was running through his mind at the time? What attracted him to Dusty? Yes, all of that, I wanted to know.

 I finally got him to go back a little bit and relay to me just how he met “Dusty” as he called her. Not being able to remember, he paused for a minute and answered with a quick “I think at a party. I really don’t remember.” I wanted to know if Kathy Charlene Brown was as sultry as the movie made her out to be. He said “well, yes she was pretty, but more than that she was charismatic.” It seemed that she just had this charm that made her very appealing. I could tell that just talking about Dusty put a bitter taste in his mouth. His voice would change, you know? Like, his voice would drop whenever we talked about Dusty.

 I could feel and sense a little bit of the resentment that he has toward her. He never said it, but it was evident, because after all, she was 4 or 5 years older than him. “When I was younger, I was susceptible,” Rocky said. He never would say to me anything about the roll she played in this whole thing. In fact he stated emphatically “No comment. I have always wanted to say that” he said. He did express a lot of regret over what happened. “Who I am now is not who I was 28 years ago. It is something that I live with everyday.” He has tried to block it out of his mind and move forward with life, but it is still there. The cloud of that fateful night still hovers over him…

Only having seen the movie once since his release, Jackson disagreed with much of what took place in the movie, although he was pleased with Cole Hauser as a choice to play him. He did not agree with Hauser’s portrayal of him as “some sort of a hick,” as he stated. Also, according to Rocky the movie was not based on court transcripts. (However, I found out today from the attorneys in the case that this movie was most definitely based on court transcripts) However, he stands firm that this was self defense. “On that day, Sept 3, 1982 it could have been me in Chris’ place. The knife was his knife. It came out of his hand. I am not justifying what happened. I live each day with regret that Chris died.”

Until this day, Ralph 'Rocky' Jackson claims self defense. The part in the movie where he sits and waits for Chris to come home so that he can kill him was not true at all, he claimed. He actually walked up to Chris and the confrontation ensued right there in front of Chris’ apartment according to Rocky. However, the evidence proves that Chris was stabbed about 27 times in his bedroom.

 In any event, his self defense theory did not hold up because he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. He was released in 2002. The news media there barely covered the trial at all. They were given statements for release by the military, but not much other than that. The military really down played the crime a lot so as not to bring a lot of media attention to the case. And that is what actually happened. It just sort of died there. And the Birmingham articles only happened after the movie came out.

A couple of tidbits that I didn't include in the first notes.
1. Rocky taught art while in prison.
2. He has friends in law enforcement
3. When asked if he ever talked to Dusty again or if he knows what ever happened to her his response was: "I don't care what happened to her."
4. When he first went to prison, he had a lot of self hatred.
5. He received a degree in business management
6. He owns his own home and business

You can read a gist of the prosecutions statements here.

Here are a few relevant comments from some people who knew Rocky before and after his conviction.

j.pennington said...

"I happen to know Ralph very well. I can speak for myself and everyone who knows him he is a very loving and giving person. He is a loving husband and amazing father. That being said I have much sympathy for the Brown family. Rocky lives with what happened everyday, he is not a heartless or evil man. He spent most of his life in prison and I know there are those who believe he should still be there, but for those who love and depend on him we're very grateful he has done his time and is out. Judge not or ye to shall be judged."
"I dated rocky when we were just teenagers and I can not believe this is the same Rocky I new. He was kind and gentle and very sweet. I am glad he is doing good I wish him all the luck in the world."
C. S.