40. Jennifer Thompson survived a brutal attack and convicted the wrong man

On July 28th, 1984, Jennifer Thompson was asleep when a man broke into her apartment at 3:00am and brutally raped her. Jennifer knew in that moment that if she survived, memorizing his features would be critical in helping to catch and convict her attacker. The straight-A student studied him carefully and was later praised by police after picking him out of a line-up. The only problem? She picked the wrong man. Ronald Cotton spent over a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit. In this episode, Jennifer talks about how memory gets contaminated, why the need to blame someone can create an entirely false narrative, and how turning her pain into purpose has given victims of wrongful conviction a place to find healing and forgiveness. 

Episode benefitting https://healingjusticeproject.org/

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