#227 Jason Flom with Keith Washington

but they wouldn't. Overpowered by the two much larger men being kicked and stomped on, he beared for his wife and daughter's lives as well as his own, so he shot the assailants. Both were taken to the hospital, but only Robert White survived. White, a twelve time convicted felon, fabricated a story that excused him from what was just one in a string of other home invasions. It's clear

which way this should have gone. With the official corruption and misconduct the Prince George's County is well documented, with the media frenzy that ensued. The prosecution team all jockey for ways to turn this justifiable shooting into an opportunity for their own career advancement with the appearance of upholding

equal standards of justice for those in law enforcement. While the physical evidence from the investigation supported Keith's story of self defense, they used the inconsistent story of a career criminal to send an upstanding citizen a way for forty five years in prison. With the work of his legal team along with Georgetown Universities making an exoner reprogram, Keith is finally home after thirteen years, while he continues to fight to clear his name. This is Wrongful Conviction with

Jason Flom. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. I'm your host Jason Flom today's episode. Let me just say this before I even introduce our two incredible guests today. Our producer, Connor Hall is an excellent researcher. But when he sent me the research on this case, and I was already familiar with the case, but I read it twice and I went, now, there's gotta be mistakes here. This can't be the way it is. But it's all true, and you're going to hear the story straight from the mouth

of the person who lived it. And I'm referring to Keith Washington. Keith, I'm sorry you're here because of the reason that you're here, but I'm very, very honored to have you on this show today. Well listen, just thanks for having me. I'm more than happy to be here and with the help of a lot of good people, including Marty, that's the reason I'm here right now. And speaking of Marty, Marty tank Left, my great friend and

personal hero, has been on the show several times. Actually, his own story is harrowing as a story can get. He was wrongly convicted of the murder of his parents and served seventeen years in prison and now but practicing attorney and a co professor at Georgetown University. He teaches to making an exonore class, which had everything to do with helping to get Mr Washington out of prison. And Marty is now Keith Washington's attorney. It's a full circle story,

but it's not over yet. But anyway, Marty, it's so fucking great to have you on the show in this role. Thank you. Jason. It's always an honor and a pleasure to come on the show as we continue to fight for justice for so many individuals out there, and when you hear Keith's story, I think people will just be floored. I couldn't have said it better. If this happened to Keith Washington, who is the very definition of an American hero,

then it can happen to anyone. And when I say that, Keith was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, served over twenty five years with honor, speaks five of languages, attended some of the foremost military schools in the country, and everyone's lost count of how many awards and citations he's received for his service to our country. Upon returning home, Keith rose up in the ranks of the police department, served as a police officer for seventeen years with distinction.

Never fired your weapon. I know that you were serving as a homeland security official as well. And by the way, when this happened, the father of a six year old girl happily married. I mean, like, what am I missing here? You almost sound too good to be true. What are your flaws? Hey? Listen, you know I thank you for that introduction, and I thank you for those comments. But I was just an average guy that worked toward all his life and tried to do the right thing. So Keith,

tell us about your upgringing. You came from a single mother, right, But give us a little bit of background if you don't mind. Listen. I've had a job since I was thirteen years old. My mother and father separate at it, and at that time I became the man of the house, so to speak. And so I had a paper route every morning from five am on my bicycle. My mother and I sometimes in the rain and the snow, whatever

the conditions were. And so about seven thirty eight o'clock in the morning we finished and then I head off the school. At some point in time, my mother suffered at a serious illness. My three sisters had to go live with relatives. My mother spent five years in the middle institution, and so as a sixteen year old kid, I was homeless and just sleep in the cars, still going to school. Though every morning at the end of

my senior year, I saw for friends of mine. I asked where they're going, and they said, hey, we're going to join the army. Just that quickly, I said, I'm going with you. And so I want to say that everything I've ever done or acquired in my life, I owe it to the Army, to the values they taught. It was the best thing that could have happened to me. Ever, from that, I grew into a man stationed over in Korea for a year and a half as a teenager, and I came back. I decided I wanted to go

to college. I went to college at Northwestern State University. I joined an OVERTC program. I got commissioned as a second lieutenant. After three and a half years in the army, I graduated and I would sit to Fort Benning, Georgia home with the Infantry. Completed a few schools there, Airborne school INFT Altar Basic Course and John F. Kennedy School of Special Warfare through Terrorism Schools, and assigned in Special

Operations Command. I couldn't believe my life how it within a short almost ten year period had really changed based on the opportunities that the military had provided me. Around nine eleven years later, I joined the police department on Prince George's and ultimately after nine eleven, based on my background, I was selected to be Deputy Director of propman Security for Prince George's County. And I was just willing to, you know, do what it took to accomplish whatever was

before me. It's an amazing story. I mean you transcended and triumphed over it. Tough circumstances and not a strong enough way of saying it, I mean, and you ended up giving back as well, found tearing at the Caine River Children's Home. I mean, it's really inspiring and it should have played out in the way that you deserve, which was to go on and have a happy, productive life and ultimately, you know, retire and have a bunch of grandchildren maybe and then even those play some golf whatever.

And then, of course, as we know, and as Marty knows intimately as well, everything can change in a second, and so it did on January thousand seven, Marty, can you take us through what happened that awful night? Sure? Absolutely so. To put it simply, Keith defended himself, his wife and daughter, and tragically, instead of being labeled a hero,

he was treated like a criminal. To walk you through what happened that day, Keith had taken the day off from work to accept a furniture delivery from Marlow Furniture, and he was home with his wife's day scene, his very young daughter, Kayla. The day passed, still no furniture. He called Marlow. He assured him that the delivery would arrive that night. Only during dinner, delivery men Brandon Clark and Robert White arrived. These are furniture movers, some really

big guys. And it's a misnumber to call Robert White a furniture mover to begin with, because he wasn't even employed by Maul of Furniture at all. Instead, he was Brandon Clark's cousin. But the appearance was at that time he worked for MAULA furniture delivery was meant for the master bedroom on the first floor, and at some point Keith recognized that one of the men, Robert White, is not with him anymore. And Keith was there and he

can give you more of the details. Brandon Clark was distracting me while Robert White was in my daughter's bedroom. I could hear the squeaking floorboards in my daughter's bedroom because I know the sound of my house. And I asked the guys that where's your friend, and he wouldn't answer, you know, he just kept giving me a frivolous answer and tried to brush me off. And so I looked and I see him poke his head out of my daughter's bedroom, and I said, what are you doing? In there.

Come out of there. He had halfway it comes out. So I walked toward him and said, hey, leave my house, you guys, get out of my house. And as I got close enough to him, the other guy punched me in the back of the head, and then White attacked me from the side. So I'm fighting two guys in my house, complete strangers, within three minutes of entering my house. You know, we were on the ground, on the floor, I should say, and the guy Clark was kicking me

while I was on the floor. Clark six eight three and thirty pounds and Robert White six ft two d and eighty pounds. And so he's attacking me like kicking me. I pulled my service revolver, I fired, and I struck both of them. The assault ceased. Later Clark died and Robert White lived. And as I think about this story, and as a father myself, I mean, and I think everybody could relate to this. You would do anything to protect your kids. We all would. And I'm trying to

put myself in your shoes at that moment. You're being brutally viciously attacked right there in your own home, and your wife and young daughter are right downstairs. These two men are beating you like and they're winning because you had no shot combined. They waited four times as much as you did, and they kicked you so hard that your watch broke, it flew off of your wrist. I mean, this is a life and death situation, and you had a grim choice to make. Am I getting this right? No,

you're right. Listen. My wife and my six year old daughter were home, and I knew that if I didn't survive, who knows what would have happened. In five minutes earlier, we were having dinner and just sitting around, laughing and joking. And five minutes later, I'm wrestling two strangers fighting two strangers on the floor in my own home. That's how quickly this thing unfolded. I mean, it's a heroin thought, but your drilling kicks in and you do what you

gotta do. This episode is underwritten by a i G, a leading global insurance company, and by Accenture, a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Working to reform the criminal justice system is a key pillar of the ai G Pro Bono program, which provides free legal services and other support to many nonprofit organizations

and individuals most in need. As part of Accenture's commitment to racial and civil justice, Accenture's Legal Access Program provides pro bono legal services in partnership with more than forty organizations, bringing meaningful change to people and communities worldwide. So the attack finally ceases. Both men have been shot. Your wife is called nine one one, and police and paramedics arrived.

Eventually everyone's taken to the hospital. What happened? Now, So when they got to the hospital that night, I guess about fifteen or twenty cops were there alone, the detectives in charge of Homicide division, and they were trying to interview Robert White, and White play at the fifth the amendment. He refused to talk to the police, refused to give

a statement, He refused to say what happened. Subsequently, what we found out is that he did not work for the French of delivery company and that he was picked up on the side of the road by Clark and brought to my house alone. A couple of other houses from best I can tell, other people said that they were casing houses. White has several burglary convictions and several convictions for fencing, stolen property, so anyway, the state attorney

was aware of all that information. Also, Mr White, as I said, played the fifth and the state's attorney in charge of the case, Glenn Ivy, informed two detectives at the hospital not to arrest Robert White under any circumstances out of the blue, that they had never seen a sitting state's attorney, a sitting prosecutor come to the hospital until the police not to arrist a career criminal, a suspect in a shooting, in an assault, and they could leave,

which they did after he informed them that they were not to interview Mr White or even talk to him.

It's so so bizarre, I mean, because obviously Robert White had a lot to gain, first by his silence and then by lying, because if Keith was not guilty, then he and Brandon Clark were, which wouldn't be hard to believe with White's twelve that's twelve previous convictions, including assault and battery, unlawful entry, larceny, grand largely receiving stolen goods, attempted their degree, burglary, first degree burglary pointing a firearm,

domestic violence, and first degree sexual assault, for which he had served ten years. He also had over twenty additional arrests for crimes ranging from peeping tom two attempted murder, but the state's attorney, Glenn Ivey, who eventually ran for Congress, purposefully turned a blind eye to all of that and

instead focused on Keith. They'm trying to eke something up that they could use against Keith, analyzing DNA, fiber transfer, gunshot residue, spential casings, telephone records and that one one coal and so much more. All of the events, of course, didn't show them what they were looking for. But what it did show was that Keith and acted in self

defense and he never should have been charged. And then, despite the clear nature of this incident, twelve time convicted felon Robert White's flow of inconsistent statements, let me repraise that Robert White's flow up total bullshit went totally unchecked. So they're just ignoring this career criminal who's a real

menace to society. And then here comes the kicker. Robert White filed a civil action against you, Keith and Prince George's County seeking ready four hundred million dollars in damages arising out of the shooting. Wow, it was dismissed, surprise, surprise, but not before garnering a serious amount of media coverage.

It also comes up later that someone else had filed that hand fisted civil action on White's behalf, perhaps someone who maybe wanted to draw a ton of media coverage, like a person who wanted to show what a bulwark of justice they were by holding a decorated veteran law enforcement officer and Homeland security official to account for what was alleged to be an unjustified shooting. And by the way, if it were the case that this was some trigger happy cop, I'd be the first one to say justice

should be applied equally. But that's just not what this was, and they fucking knew it. So this media attention ramps up to public pressure, and the prosecution is aiming to score big political points and advance their careers if they bring home the win. And that's not me editorializing. Both

prosecutors were overheard saying things to that effect. And I'm talking about prosecutors Joseph Wright and William Mumo, who had all the information and evidence proving Keith's use of self defense, and yet they still argued that the shootings were unprovoked

and unjustified. The state allowed Robert White to create his own version of events, where Keith was unattacked, unprovoked, where you hadn't been stomped on and kicked, where you hadn't exhausted all other options before pulling out your service revolver. They used this testimony that changed every time White recounted the incident, every time Keith, Can you take us through some of the evidence that should have ended this prosecution

before it started. They had the evidence. The lead Investigatortenant, Charlie Walls, briefed them. He had the DNA evidence, the gunshod residue evidence to trace fiber evidence from the clothing. They said they never touched me. Well, I said he was kicking me. I was on brown, He's kicking me. My shot him. The clothing fiber evidence showed the fibers from my shirt invest on his pants led. So they had that evidence that contradicted his statement. They had the

gunshot residue. He said that they were shot from across the room. The gunshot residue test done by the A T F show that he was shot from three inches away three to twelve inches He said he shot from across the room. They resided the room and a minimum of eight feet, which wouldn't have left any gunshot resident. He said he called my house. They had the phone records that showed he never called my house before they arrived. They said that he was a delivery man from Marlo's Furniture.

Mordeo's Furniture had given them a statement the human resources directed miss A Killer Rods that not only does he not work for them, that they've never heard of him or never seen him, and that Mordel's would never hire sex offenders to work on their delivery trucks because their insurance wouldn't cover. They had the toxic college report that showed that he was on cocaine. The two Stets attorneys denied that the college test was ever even given on

Robert White. They proffered to the court, to the jury, and to the general public that he was an employee Mordel's Furniture, that he was not arrested sexophonic. All of these things and Moore happened in my trial by these two prosecutors. I mean, this is a litany of horrors. Right.

We have a prosecution team that has hell bent on convicting an innocent man while protecting a guilty one, and they had all of the evidence pointing to Keith's version of the events, clearly contradicting what Robert White testified to. White maintained that neither he nor Clark were close enough

to Keith to assault him when he shot them. Now we've mentioned the gunshot residue and what that meant, but also White's DNA was found on Keith's gun, Clark's pan fivers were found on Keith's vest from when he was kicking him. Neither of these things can happen from across the freaking room. None of the spend showcasings recovered by technicians were located even near the master bedroom, where Robert

White said Keith was allegedly standing when he shot. Then instead, the casings were recovered from the middle of the upstairs whole and whole bathroom, where Keithen states had maintained the alsecution had taken place, but the prosecution doubled down on the lie. Listen to this. The prosecutors made thirty one false and misleading statements throughout the trial that were objected to and sustained. These were obviously meant to intentionally mislead

throw off the jurors. There were nine objections to statements made by prosecutor Joseph Wright during his closing argument alone, including that Robert White had only one conviction and that there was no cocaine tests given to Robert White. These were just straight up lies. His criminal record and toxicology report were absolutely available, yet the jury was not made aware of them. This is just so nuts, it's so wrong.

White had denied under oath to the grand jury about being a sex offender, which the prosecutors allowed him to do. The state's attorney in charge of the case knew all of this. The prosecutor, William Mumo, later said, he said, we put Robert White understand he was a witness of ours. But you'll never see me standing in front of a jury saying that this witness says the truth. Wow. Are

you getting me with this ship? Wow? And certainly if the jury would have learned those things, it would have had, you know, a real impact on the outcome of the trial. But they didn't get to know these things. They weren't presented and these jurors were not mind readers. So for all the jury knew Robert White and Brandon Clark, which is too humble furniture delivery man who had the misfortune of walking into the home of a trigger happy cop. Trigger happy cop who had never used his gun before,

by the way, so let's not leave that out. And on February eight, clearly the prosecution's lies and manipulations worked. The jury found you guilty, Keith. And what was that very moment, like, I mean, when you when you heard the word guilty and then when they sentence you two over two times the maximum sentence as it relates to the moment that jury came back with the conviction. I watched my wife cry. I watched my daughter cry. The guy put handcuffs on me. I watched my sister cry.

I watched a lot of friends and relatives, you know, I felt bad for them. The precinence investigation came back with a minimum of five years and a maximum of twenty years, and the judge gave me a forty five year sentence. He went over past the maximum sentence that was recommended, and he went over passed the minimum sentence that was recommended, which was five years. And I don't think anyone has ever received the forty five year sentence

for involuntary manslore. In prison, you're either wall for sheet, especially the maximum security state prison. And so the fights, the stabbings, the gangs, the deaths, the atrocious conditions, the mental stress, anxiety, you name it, and you know, no matter what happens to me, I'm find what what happens to me. But I knew that my family was going to go through the fire with me, because when a family member goes to prison, you know, in actuality, the

whole family goes to prison. Their life stops too. It was my family that stuff listening. It was the worst feeling I've ever had, and I knew that I was gonna fight like hell to get out of prison. Every minute, every second, every hour, every day that I was just gonna fight. I didn't do anything else to do. I was gonna work on my case. I had twelve volumes of transcripts, and so I talked to my wife on

the phone every day for about two years. I would dictate Robert White's testimony to her over the phone and she would type it. I would sit up at night and go over his testimony, get all the contradicting statements and putting together out of those twelve volumes, which was about almostes and then we put up a website after about two years of doing that because I wanted transparency in the case to show people that everything they said was false and that it was intentionally false. There's two

attorneys in the case, William moonmu and Joseph Right. We found out nine months after my conviction they had hidden just tons of evidence and lie about the evidence that their own witnesses, their own state experts had collected and

given to them. Numerous people, including the state's attorneys other prosecutors in that office, came forward with statements that they had told their boss, Hey, they falsified the evidence in Mr Washson's case, They willingly manipulated light, falsified the evidence, and that Mr White is not telling the truth on any of the issues according to the physical, forensic and

the scientific evidence. Mr Ivy, he told my wife that I got a raw deal, but he told her privately that there was nothing he would do because it would affect his wife's political career, who at the time was a state delegate. Jesus Christ. And to add another insult to injury, after you were wrongfully convicted, Robert White was arrested on two more occasions for breaking into the homes of two different women and physically assaulting both of them,

which should outrage all of us. These other incidents didn't have to happen, and they wouldn't have happened. They had a guy who you think that anyone in their position right should want off the street, anyone would want him off the street, But instead they chose you. I mean, why I was doing what they were supposed to do just not a cool enough story. I mean, do you

have any theories at all in this well? As near as we can tell, and I believe we can factually prove and provide to the current state's attorney that we have several officers of the court who called my family and spoken with my family and they've illuminated the mode for this case where Mr Wright allegedly bragg to several other attorneys, where he and Mr Moumo were promised for bringing back a conviction. Mr Wright was promised a political endorsement to run for a state's attorney by his boss,

and that Mr Mumo was promised to judge Hi. This is according to their colleagues in their very own office, that Mr Wright was bregging it. He was gonna be the next state's attorney and he had to deliver the

Keith Washington conviction to do that. That his boss, Mr. Ivy used the case to run for Congress in two thousand ten, and that he was using this case as he was tough on police corruption, and he ran for Congress on that issue, using my case specifically, and even went to the police academy and spoke to numerous people, including the cadets in the police academy, about my case and police corruption and used me as a whipping boy while I was in prison. And so he ran in

two thousand ten for Congress. He didn't win. He lost the primary. Joseph Wright ran for a State's attorney two thousand ten he also lost, and William Umou put in for his judge ship and didn't get it. Now, a new administration came into office in two thousand ten, and so Mr Ivy had to fulfill his promises to those two guys, and he subsequently got mom oua job as an assistant US attorney. He didn't get him his judge ship, but he got my job as assistant his attorney. From

what I'm told, and that Mr Mumu's raise. The States Attorney in Princes County made about fifty five thousand dollars a year. I'm assuming the sistemt your attorney makes about one ten or one twenties somewhere around there as a g S twelve or so as a significant race. And Mr Wright was given a judge ship in two thousand ten, so his salary went from fifty five thousand to about

one forty Holy actual fuck. I mean you're hearing this from the people immediately around them who were directly involved in the case. What about the investigators, I mean, they obviously knew that this case was built on bullshit and lies as well. Right well, the lead investigated, Lieutenant Walls. He put on the record that he attended at least three meetings where the whole conversation between him and Mr Wright and Mr Mumo that all they talked about was

falsifying the evidence before the trial. Mr Wall says he wouldn't go along with it. After the meeting, Joseph Wright fired him from the case and told him to turn over his case files and they have no further contact with the case. After he had collected the DNA he had collected the guns at residue. Wallace had collected the

statements of individuals and homeowners who had saw injuries on me. Later, the State's Attorney's officers came to him and offered him a job as an investigators at Sturney's office, that he could retire from the police department, draw his pension and come work for them, Come work for the very people

who just fired him from the case. Wall says that he put in his paperwork to retire from the police department and came back and work for the States Attorney's Office as an investigator, obviously with a significant raise, and enjoy your own conclusions. But I would say it appears to be hush money. And Walter said he'll tell anybody what actually happened if he's subpoenaed, And that's those questions.

Another bit of good news is that Mr Wright is no longer a judge, that he was convicted in two thousand eighteen of perjury and falsifying government documents by the Maryland Judicial Disability Board. That was clearly people with blind ambition wanting to lie. Cheater still involved in my case, Marty, in your amazing students in the making exonary program there at Georgetown investigated Keith's case and made a brilliant short documentary about it, and we're going to make sure to

include a link for that in the bio. And their hard work has made such a phenomenal impact on this case and so many others. So, Marty, if you could just summarize for us how it is that Keith is sitting here with us on this show today. After extensive litigation, a retired judge was brought on to review Keith's entire matter. On May fourteen one, everyone got together and a hearing for a modification of keith sentence was conducted based on the totality of everything at that time, and it almost

broke it down to time served. Within a few short weeks after the judge issuing that opinion, Keith was freed. I was there when Keith walked out. Keith, where were you an hour and a half ago? And where are you right now? I don't have to go. I was in a department corrections face after three and now at home for my family. And how does it feel stays in kla to have your husband, your dad home? Great?

It feels like I've been waiting on this for thirteen years, and that right there is the sound of Keith freed from prison, finally back with his family at his home. It's a it's a beautiful sound. We sat around in his backyard and we had pizza and lemonade and enjoying the a share and we were just sitting there talking and at one point we kind of just looked at

each other like, was this real? You're trying to fathom the reality that Keith had just spent over thirteen years in prison and here we were sitting in his backyard. There wasn't a bitterness about Keith about Stacy, you know, there was pure love and joy. Keith and Stacy have said to myself, Mark and the students who worked on Keith's case that if we're ever in the neighborhood and we don't stop by, they'll be offended because we are family to that, and I think that is something that

just demonstrates who Keith and Stacy are. They are just truly genuine people. Their love is probably stronger than ever. But even though Keith is free, the intentional, wrongful conviction is still hanging over Keith's head, which it shouldn't be. Absolutely and Keith there's been news both a really long time ago as well as more recently. They should have a positive effect I'm bringing about justice in your case.

We already mentioned that Robert White, just weeks after your trial was arrested not once but twice for breaking into homes and physically assaulting to women. And then there's been some more recent news. District Court commissioner here in Maryland issued an arrest warrant for Robert White for perjury in my criminal trial. Wow, so there's a wrest warran out for him as we speak, you know. So hopefully this

will facilitate the case being overturned. And so now honest and reasonable and ethical people who are reviewing the case and looking at it can see that because there's no good explanation legally or otherwise as to how this happened. The currency is attorney miss brave Boy. She reviewed the evidence and she saw that, hey, this is an excessive sentence to say the least, notwithstanding that there are other issues as it relates to an integrity of Mr Washington's conviction.

And so we believe they're gonna do the right thing. Shortly, you know, we're turning it due to the fact that Mr White now has been charged with perjury in my case, we can only be hopeful that justice will prevail in an expeditious manner because it's been thirteen years. Yeah, I think justice is coming in your case. I'm glad we're able to get the word out about it through this podcast. We're going to be shouting it from the rooftops. You've got an incredible team now, so I'm sure many of

our listeners are feeling the same way. I'm feeling that this is outrageous even by the standards of what we're used to hearing on the show, and that they want to help if they can. Is there a way that people can get involved? What can people do? And we'll link whatever it is in the bio so people can easily find it. A few things the listeners can do is demand that I used your brave boy and meet

with us and vindicate Keithan dismisses conviction. I think people can support the making an exonery program and anything he needs, because one thing that I think we as a society fail to really address and understand is that each year, innocent men and women get released from prison by exoneration and they connect with nothing. In many cases, there is

literally no programs available that help individuals reacclimate. If not for the grace of God that some of those people that get out have family and friends, I don't know what those men and women would do. Imagine being locked up for fifteen twenty years coming out and having nothing, no underwear, no soap, no shampoo, no toothbrushes, no toothpaste. And I think we as a society can do more.

I think the corporations of America can do more. Thankfully, Keith does have an amazing wife and daughter, but not everyone is luck unfortunate to have that. Well. I would ask people to go to the One Innocent Man dot org website and familiarize himself with the case and the evidence and the facts. And as Marty said, to call Mrs bray Boys office hand up in Marlborough, Maryland and

implore her to go ahead and overturn the case. The other thing, if you would, we'd like to give George Town all the kudos that they deserve because they're doing great work. Whatever we can do to support them, that's what we're going to do. On Keith's page one miss and Man dot org, which was created by the three students at Georgetown. There is a donate button which links directly to Keith's go fund me page. Who are the three students that worked on your case and created the website?

Because I know they are party or family, Josh, Selene and Trevor. All right, Josh, Selene and Trevor shout out from the wrong for Conviction team and from the man himself or the two men themselves and um doing the great work. I'm really proud of all the kids in the making Honorary program. It's been a privilege for me to work with them and lecture at the school and stuff.

So with that, we will now turn to the closing of the show, which is called Closing Arguments, and this is the part of the show that I always look forward to. First of all, thank you again Keith for your courage, for your service, for being here with us to share your incredible story. And of course, Marty Tankle, what can I say, Man, you just never ceased to amaze me. And I'm so proud to call you my friend, and I really appreciate both of you being here and

now Closing Arguments works like this. I turned my microphone off, kick back in my chair, close my eyes and just listen to any final thoughts that you want to share. Marty, Let's start with you and save Keith for the closing

of the closing arguments. So for me, it's remarkable that I think back to when I was sitting in the prison, my self serving fifty years to life, and finally in two thousand seven, I was freed, and now it's one and here I am an attorney at a professor at Georgetown and toward a law school, and I get to have the opportunity to pay it forward and give people

back their lives. I thank Jason and I think the entire Wrongful Diviction Team because it makes people understand the criminal justice system in ways that people don't want to believe exist. We wouldn't fully grasp how many problems our system has. And Jason has been a blessing for the making axonary program at Georgetown, and for that we are grateful.

And I would be remiss if I didn't say thank you Mark, who's my partner in doing this at Georgetown, Because with Mark and our amazing students, we are making a difference in people's lives. And I think it's the best thing that you can actually do. I'm always reminded by something that Joseph Flam told Jason Flam, and that's do something you love that leaves a lasting impression. It

makes a difference. And if helping students get somebody out of prison doesn't fulfill that mantra, I'm not really sure what does. Keith. I learned a long time ago that we all have our cross us to bear. We all go through difficult times, were all based on certainty in our future. We all fight for a better life for ourselves and our family, and we've all been hurt and wounded and abandoned. But you can't give up. And I

will tell people never give up. You're only facing a challenge in your life that other men have met, and so be a good courage, be strong of character and of will, have faith, do what you must, love your family, love your life, beautify your life. When people take your faith, they've really taken everything that you possess. When they take your courage, they've taken everything that you possess. So without

faith and courage, you're just an empty vessel. All I want to leave people with is to know that there are people of good will out there. There are people who are just, who are honest. There are people who have integrity. There are people who will fight for you because they believe in what's right, and I want to applaud those people. We are kindred spirits, and so wherever you find a person like that, support them. Believe that they're gonna support you if I can help anyone, because

I've been helped in my life. This has taught me a valuable lesson. No matter what myself and my family have gone through, we want to be a light to others. I appreciate everything that people at Georgetown have done. Marty, Mark Selene, Josh Trevor. I appreciate the Exoneration program. I appreciate you, Jason. I appreciate your podcast. I just want to leave the people who are listening to your program

or something to think about. You are what makes this country great, all of us, and so if there's a deficit somewhere, it's up to us to fix it no matter where we find it, and try to leave a better place, a better country, a better society for the next generation. My wounds will heal, and so we'll use this as a lesson to be remembered and learned and We're gonna build from there. I thank you guys for the platform. I thank you for supporting our calls and

uh we'll see you around the water cooler. Thank you for listening to Ron for Conviction. Please support your local innocence organizations and go to the links in our bio to see how you can help. I'd like to thank our production team Hunner Hall, Justin Golden, Jeff Cleiburne, and Kevin Wardis. The music on this show, as always, is

by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Twitter at wrong Conviction, and on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast. Wrongful Conviction is the production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company Number one