On wrongful conviction. Many of our guests have served in the US military. We at lava for good honor America's veterans, but let this episode serve as a reminder that even that revered status has historically not been enough to save innocent Americans from our criminal legal system and those who operated.
Keith Washington was an Army lieutenant colonel, police officer, and Homeland security official in Prince George's County, Maryland, when on January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, he was at home having dinner with his wife and daughter while waiting for a furniture delivery. When the delivery men, Brandon Clark and Robert White, arrived, Keith invited them into his home. However, when he found White snooping around his daughter's bedroom, he
asked them to leave, but they wouldn't. Overpowered by the two much larger men being kicked and stomped on, he feared for his wife and daughter's lives as well as his own, so 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 jockeyed 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 away for forty five years in prison. With the work of his legal team along with Georgetown Universities making an axanner reprogram, Keith is finally home after thirteen years, while he continues to fight
to clear his name. This is Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flamm. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. I'm your host, Jason Flamp and today's episode, well, 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 gonna 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, Jason, thanks for having me. I'm more than happy to be here. And with the help of a lot of good people, Marty, that's the reason I'm here right now.
And speaking of Marty, Marty Tanklft, my great friend and personal hero, has been on the show several times. Actually, his own story is harrowing as a story he can get. He was wrongfully 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 the Making an exuner reclass, which had everything to do with helping to get mister 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 the 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 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 for twenty five years with honor, speaks five 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'm just an average guy that worked hard 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 separated, 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 with my mother and I sometimes in the rain, the snow, whatever the conditions were. And so about seven thirty eight o'clock in the morning, we'd finished and then I'd head off the school. At some point in time, my mother suffered a serious illness. My three sisters had to go live with relatives. My mother spent five years in a mill institution, and so as a sixteen year old kid, I was homeless and just sleep in the car, still
going to school though every morning. At the end of my senior year, I saw a couple of 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. When I came back, I decided I want to go to college. I went to college at Northwestern State University. I joined an RTC program. I got commissioned as a second lieutenant. After three and a half years in the Army, I graduated and I was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, home with the Infantry.
Completed a few.
Schools there Airborne School, Infantry Officer Basic Course, a Giant F. Kennedy School of Special Warfare, few terrorism schools, and assigned in Special Operations Command. I couldn't believe my life how within a short almost ten year period had really changed. Based on the opportunities that the military had provided me. Around nineteen ninety eleven years later, I joined the police department.
I'm Prince Georgia's and ultimately, after nine to eleven, based on my background, I was selected to be Deputy Director of Homeman Security for Pristig's County, and I was just willing to do what it took to accomplass whatever was before me.
It's an amazing story. I mean, you transcended and triumphed over tough circumstances. I'm not a strong enough way of saying it. I mean, and you ended up giving back as well, volunteering at the Cane 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
you know, 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 twenty fourth, two thousand and seven. Marty, can you take us through what happened that awful night?
Sure? Absolutely so. To put it simply, he defended himself, his wife and daughter, and tragically instead of being labeled a hero 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, Stacy and his very young daughter, Kayla. The day passed, still no furniture. He called Marlowe. They assured him that the delivery would arrive
that night. Finally, during dinner, the delivery men, Brandon Clark and Robert White arrived. These are furniture movers, some really big guys. And it's a misnomer to call Robert White a furniture mover to begin with, because he wasn't even employed by Marlo Furniture at all. Instead, he was Brandon Clark's cousin. But the appearance was at that time he
worked for Marlo Furniture. Delivery was meant for the master bedroom of 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 door his bedroom, because I know the sound of my house. And I asked the guy, I said, 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 look 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 halfway comes out. So I walked toward him. I 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's six foot eight, three hundred and thirty pounds and Robert White six foot two, two hundred and eighty pounds, and I'm five nine five, 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 can 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 shots. Combined, they weighed 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 it. 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 you're a drilling kicks in and you do what you gotta do.
This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company, and by Accentsure, 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 AIG pro Bono program, which provides free legal services and other support to many nonprofit organizations and individuals most in need as part of Excensure'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 has called nine one one, and police and paramedics arrived. Eventually everyone's taken to the hospital. What happened next?
So when they got to the hospital that night, I guess about fifteen to twenty cops were there, alan the detectives in charge of a homicide division, and they were trying to.
Interview Robert White, and White played at the fifth amendment.
He refused to talk to the police. He 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 and Delivery company and that he was picked up on the side of the road by Clark and brought to my house Alan a couple of other houses for the best I can tell, other people have said that they were casing houses. White has several burglary
convictions and several convictions for fencing stolen property. So anyway, the state's attorney was aware of all that information also mister White, as I said, the fifth and the state's attorney in charge of the case, Glenn Ivy, informing 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 arrest a career criminal,
a suspect in a shooting and an assault, and they could leave, which they did after he informed them that they were not to interview mister 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 Clarke 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 third degree burglary, first degree burglary pointing a firearm, domestic violence, and first degreef sexual assault, for which he
had served ten years. He also had over twenty additional arrests for crimes ranging from peeping tom to attempted murder, but the state's attorney, Glenn Ivy, who eventually ran for Congress, purposefully turned a blind eye to all of that and instead focused on Keith.
They trying to dig something up that they could use against Keith, analyzing DNA, fiber transfer, gunshot residue, spenshell, casing's telephone records, nine one one cole, and so much more. All of the evidents, of course, didn't show them what they were looking for, but what it did show was that Keith had acted in self defense and he'd 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 of 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 out 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 Mumu 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 investigator, Lieutenant Charlie Walls, briefed them he had the DNA evidence, the gunshot 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 the ground. He was kicking when I shot him. The clothing fiber evidence showed the fibers from my shirt invest on his pants lit. 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 ATF show that he was shot from three inches away three to twelve inches. He said he shot from across the room. They resisted 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 they showed he never called my house before they arrived. They said that he was
a delivery man for Marlo's Furniture. Marlow's Furniture had given them a statement the human resources director, miss A Kila Ross that not only does he not work for them, that they've never heard of him or never seen him, and that Martels would never hire sex offenders to work in their delivery trucks because their insurance wouldn't cover. They had the toxicology report that showed that he was on cocaine the two States attorney denied that the toxicology test was.
Ever even given on Robert White.
They proffered to the court, to the jury, and to the general public that he was in a ploy Mordels furniture, that he was not a restrosex offender. All of these things in Moore happened in my trial by these two prosecutors.
I mean, this is a litany of hers. Right. We have a prosecution team that is 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 pidfibers 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 spens shell casings recovered by technicians were located even near the master bedroom where Robert White said Keith was allegedly standing when he shot them. Instead, the casings were recovered from the middle of the upstairs hallway and whole bathroom, where Keith and Stace had maintained that the altercation 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 test
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 Mumau, later said, he said, we put Robert White
on the stand 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 fucking getting me with this shit? Wow? And certainly if the jury would have learned those things, it would have had 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 came to the home of a trigger happy cop, a trigger happy cop who had never used his gun before, by the way, so let's not leave that out. And on February thirteenth, two thousand and 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 to over two times the maximum sentence.
As it relates to the moment the 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 pre sence investigation came back with a minimum of five years in a maximum of twenty years, and the judge gave me a forty five year sentence.
He went over one.
Hundred percent past the maximum sentence that was recommended, and he went over nine hundred percent passed the minimum sentence that was recommended, which was five years. And I don't think anyone's ever receive the forty five year sentence for involuntary man's form. In prison, you're either World four sheep, especially in the maximum security state prison. And so the fights, the stabbings, the gangs, the deaths, the atrocious conditions, the
mental stress, the anxiety, you name it. And you know, no matter what happens to me, I'm fine with 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 suffered. Listen.
It was the worst feeling I'd ever had, and I knew that I was going to fight like hell and get it out of prison. Every minute, every second, every eye, every day that I was just gonna fight.
I didn't know 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 put them together out of those twelve volumes, which was about almost twenty five hundred pages.
And then we.
Put 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 MoU Mal and Joseph Wright. We found out nine months after my conviction they had hidden just tons of evidence and lie about evidence that their own witnesses, their own state experts,
had collected and given to them. Numerous people, including states attorneys other prosecutors in that office, came forward with statements that they had told their boss, Hey, they falsified the evidence in mister Washington's case, they willingly manipulated light, falsify the evidence, and that mister White is not telling the truth on any of the issues according to the physical, forensic, and scientific evidence.
Mister 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 with 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 was doing what they were supposed to do? Just not a cooler enough story. I mean, do you have any theories at all on 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 spoke with my family, and they've illuminated the motive for this case where mister Wright allegedly bragged to several other attorneys what he and mister Moonmou
were promised for bringing back a conviction. Mister Wright was promised a political endorsement to run for State's Attorney by his boss, and that mister Mouvemou was promised to Judge h This is according to their colleagues in their very own office, that mister Wright was bragging it he was going to be the next States Attorney and he had to deliver the Keith.
Washington conviction to do that.
That his boss, mister Ivy, used the case to run for Congress in twenty ten, and that he was using this case as he was tough on police corruption and he ran for Congress on an issue using my case specifically. And he even went to the police academy and spoke to numerous people, including the cadets in the police academy, about my case in police corruption and used me as a whipping Boy while I was in prison, and so he ran in twenty ten for Congress.
He didn't win.
He lost the primary. Joseph Wright ran for a sex attorney twenty ten he also lost, and William Mumou put in for his judge ship and didn't get it. Now, a new administration came into office in twenty ten, and so mister Ivy had to fulfill his promises to those two guys, and he subsequently got Mumau a job as
an assistant US attorney. He didn't get him his judge ship, but he got him a job as assistant US attorney from what I'm told, and that mister Mumau's raise a state's attorney in Prince Rode's County made about fifty five thousand dollars a year. I'm assuming assistant US attorney makes about one ten or one twenty somewhere around there as
a GS twelve or so as a significant raise. And mister Wright was given a judge ship in twenty ten, so his salary went from fifty five thousand to about one point.
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 bullshitting lies as well, right.
Well, the lead investigator, Lieutenant Walls, he put on the record that he attended at least three meetings where the whole conversation between him and mister Wright and mister mumou that all they talked about was falsifying the evidence before the trial.
Mister 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 gunshot residue, Walls had collected the statements of individuals and homeowners who had saw injuries on me Later, the state's Attorney's office came to him and offered him a job as an investigator.
And it said Attorney'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 worked for the State 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 Walo said it. He'll tell anybody what actually happened if he's subpoena and
asked those questions. Another bit of good news is that mister Wright is no longer a judge, that he was convicted in twenty eighteen of perjury and falsifying government documents by the Maryland Judicial Disability Board that was clearly people with blind ambition winning to lie, cheater steal involved in my case, Marty.
In twenty twenty, your amazing students in the Making Xannery 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 the show today.
After extensive litigation, a retired judge was brought on to review Keith's entire matter. On May fourteenth of twenty twenty one, everyone got together and a hearing for a modification of Keith's 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?
Hour and a half ago?
I was in a department correction space height to three and now a home.
For my family And how's the field stakes? And Caylen to have your husband and your dad home, it feels 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 beautiful sound.
We sat around in his backyard and we had pizza and lemonade and enjoying the fresh air, 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 Ethan 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, whichard shouldn't.
Be absolutely and Keith, There's been news both a really long time ago as well as more recently that 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 two women. And then there's been some more recent news.
A district court commissioner here in Maryland issued an arrest warrant for Robert White for perjury in my criminal trial. Wow, So there's a rest warrant 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 expert nation legally or otherwise
as to how this happened. The current ST's 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 mister Washington's conviction. And so we believe they're going to do the right thing shortly, you know, will
turn it. Due to the fact that mister 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 U should Brave Boy meet with us and vindicate Keith and dismiss his conviction. I think people can support them making an exonery program and anything Keith 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. Anything. 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 lucky and fortunate to have that.
Well.
I would ask people to go to the one Innocentman dot org website and familiarize himself with the case and the evidence and the facts, and as Marty said, to call missus bray Boy's office hand Upper Marlborough, Maryland and implore her to go ahead and overturn the case. The other thing, if you would, we'd like to give Georgetown 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 Incanman dot org, which was created by the three students at Georgetown, there is a donate button which links directly to Keith's go fundme page. Who were 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 wrongful conviction team and from the man himself or the two men themselves and me keep doing the great work. I'm really proud of all the kids in the Making Zannery 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 Tanklive. What can I say, Man, you just never cease 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 a prison myself serving fifty years to life, and finally in two thousand and seven, I was freed. And now it's twenty twenty one and here I am an attorney after a professor at Georgetown and to our 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 Deviction 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 or system has And Jason has been a blessing for the making Exiginerary
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 Flahm told Jason Flohm, and that's do something you love that leads a lasting impression and makes a difference.
And if helping students get somebody out of prison doesn't fulfill that mantra, not really sure what does.
Keith.
I learned a long time ago that we all have our crosses to bear, we all go through difficult times, We're 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 of 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 going to.
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's 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 listen. I appreciate you. Jason. I appreciate your podcast. I just want to leave the people who.
Are listening to your program with 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 going to build from there. I thank you guys for the platform. I thank you for supporting our cause and we'll see you around the water cooler.
Thank you for listening to Wrongful 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 Connor Hall, Justin Golden, Jeff Clyburn, 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 a production of Lava for Good Podcasts and association with Signal Company Number one