— Justin FullerCourtTVnews.com reporters Emanuella Grinberg and Andrew Brooks interviewed death row inmate Justin Chaz Fuller on Aug. 2 at the Polunsky Prison Unit in Livingston, Texas. He was executed on Thursday, Aug. 24. The transcript below has been edited for length and clarity.
COURTTVNEWS.COM: What's it like living on death row?
JUSTIN FULLER: It's kind of difficult, right. You go through a lot of emotional changes. Dealing with the guards, dealing with ups and downs, you know, missing family, missing kids, missing nieces and nephews. Also, I see things — the rejection of cases, dealing with inconsistent courts, seeing different rulings and things. You deal with a lot of emotions.
CTV: What's the highlight of your day?
FULLER: I guess I would say going to recreation. Even though it's isolated, it gives you a little free time outside of your cage to be in another cage.
CTV: What's the low point?
FULLER: I think my low point is probably no mail, no mail. Getting no letters or no mail.
CTV: Do you have a favorite movie or book?
FULLER: I think my favorite movie would probably be "Boyz n the Hood," or something like that ... It kind of like relates to different types of lifestyles. Even though some people say it's violent, but it's not really violent. It just shows how life is for a certain individual class, right. Maybe some black people. It just shows different sides of life — how people overcome struggles.
My favorite book is by Paulo Coelho. He writes about spiritual things. He has a new book out. It's called "The Zahir."
CTV: Are you close friends with any inmates?
FULLER: Yeah, well, I think you interviewed one of them. He was executed a couple of weeks ago. Mauriceo Brown. Yeah, he was one of my close friends.
CTV: Do you get letters from strangers?
FULLER: Oh yeah, you get all sorts of letters, all sorts of mail. Different, different situations, you get different mail. You get some hate mail — "You deserve to die," something like that, right. But that doesn't really affect you. I guess it gives me more motivation to strive to overcome the situation.
CTV: How has life in prison changed you?
FULLER: Life in prison has changed me a lot because I was a follower in the world, which I think most 18-year-olds are sometimes. I used to be a follower. I used to do crazy things just to be cool. But being in prison shows you that everybody ain't your friend. But you have to make your own decisions in your life. But that comes more with maturity, you know.
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