Hosted by celebrated criminal justice reform advocate and founding board member of the Innocence Project Jason Flom, Pulitzer prize-winning podcast host and producer Maggie Freleng, and Emmy Award-winning writer, producer and podcast host Lauren Bright Pacheco, Wrongful Conviction features intimate conversations with men and women who have spent years in prison for crimes they maintain they did not commit. Some have been fully exonerated and reunited with family and friends while others continue to languish, with some even facing execution on death row. Each episode peels back the layers behind the stories of those who have found themselves caught in a legal system gone wrong, with illuminating insights from lawyers and leading experts sharing their in-depth knowledge about each case, from prison visits and courtroom battles to reexamined crime scenes and witness interviews. This gripping series reveals the tragedy of injustice…as well as the triumph that is possible when people step up and demand change.
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Illinois, New York, and Oregon move to outlaw deception by interrogators. Deception, of course, is a long-recognized risk factor for false confessions. The Center on Wrongful Convictions and the Innocence Project are working with stakeholders in three states that have introduced bills that would ban the use of deception in the interrogation room: Illinois, New York, and Oregon. Laura Nirider speaks with special guests: Illinois State Senator Robert Peters; Exoneree and Attorney Marty Tankleff, a...
A Nova Scotia man was targeted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend despite a rock solid alibi and evidence pointing toward a man later discovered to be a serial killer. Learn more and get involved at: http://innocencecanada.com/ https://www.instagram.com/innocencecanada/?hl=en https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this ...
A night out in November 2002 turned deadly when Nicole Hubbard called for her protective older brother Cordell. Then, Ru-El Sailor took the fall for his best friend’s violence with the help of a vindictive vice detective. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.instagram.com/comma_club_clothing/?hl=en https://www.gofundme.com/f/ruel-sailor039s-homecoming https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association wit...
On April 9th, 1989, a fire took JoAnn Parks’ 3 children. Originally ruling the fire an accident, the nonscientific arson investigation - just as subjectively - switched directions to call her a monster and steal 29 years of her life. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are acc...
On March 28th, 1998, Nelson Cruz was celebrating his birthday over Chinese food with friends when they heard shots fired down the block. Police were immediately on scene to make an arrest, yet somehow, Nelson became the target of a notorious pair of NYPD detectives. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/brooklyn-district-attorney-eric-gonzalez-nelson-cruz-is-innocent https://wrongfullyconvicted.info/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction...
On September 9th, 1985, Paul Hildwin went hitchhiking, stole and cashed a personal check, but did not murdered anyone. However, both the state and cancer found him very hard to kill. Learn more and get involved at: https://innocenceproject.org/ https://sunnycenter.org/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are...
On August 23rd, 1984, Mary Anne Flynn was found dead in her Cleveland, OH bedroom. She had been strangled and severely beaten and there was evidence she had been sexually assaulted. There were multiple suspects including a violent ex-boyfriend, an ex-tenant who was an attempted rapist and an exterminator who had a copy of the house key. But investigators focused solely on Tony Apanovitch, a local painter Flynn hired to work on her house. Apanovitch cooperated with investigators and told them he ...
On April 3rd, 2003, 3 men robbed a check cashing store in Houston, TX, killing the clerk and the responding officer. When it comes to convictions, getting 2 out of 3 right is still very wrong, especially when the state knew it before trial. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.innocenceproject.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdvy14fdjj8&feature=emb_title https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Grace-and-Justice-on-Death-Row/Brian-W-Stolarz/9781510715103 https://www.wrongfulconvict...
On June 10th, 1993, Henry Gomez was wounded, and Manny Quintero was killed in a drive-by shooting in Harlem. Alleged ex coke dealer turned NYPD cop AJ Melino and repeat wrongful conviction offender Detective Mark Tebbens joined forces with members of the Yellow Top crack gang to spin a tale that sent Pablo Fernandez away for almost 25 years in exchange for leniency. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of La...
After a hot summer day - August 3rd, 1989, the DeLisle’s took their 4 children for ice cream along the Detroit River. A mechanical defect in their car caused the night to take a deadly turn that sent Larry DeLisle to prison for what should have been seen as a tragic accident. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/gretchen-whitmer-free-larry-he-lost-all-4-of-his-children-due-to-a-fatal-accident-is-falsely-in-prison https://www.netflix.com/title/80161702 https://www.wrongfulconv...
On the day after Easter 2001 in South Central, LA, a female 11 Deuce Hoover fired into a group of Blocc Crips, wounding one and killing another. Even though Kiera Newsome was in class at the time and avoided gangs entirely, the unending Crip-Hoover rivalry took both her boyfriend’s life and eventually 19 years of her own. Learn more and get involved at: http://chng.it/BqJKvbZs https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts...
It was Thanksgiving Eve when Maureen Fernandez went to a few of her usual bars with an unknown man in a black Monte Carlo. The next morning, her body was discovered in an empty lot, where the night watchman had seen a white car leaving in the early hours. Detectives and their star witness got really creative when the case went cold. Learn more and get involved at: https://innocenceproject.org/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava f...
In the late 80’s and early 90’s, the Sepulveda’s Red Top crew ran the crack game in the South Bronx. When the Yellow Top crew tried to open up shop in an alleyway on Beekman Avenue, Nelson Sepulveda and 3 enforcers sprayed the alleyway with bullets on December 16th, 1991, killing 4 and wounding 1. Danny Rincon, who was with the Orange Top crew, had his whereabouts accounted for, but that didn’t seem to matter to Detective Mark Tebbens. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/hel...
This is an updated episode that originally aired on November 7, 2016. On September 7th, 1988, Marty Tankleff awoke for his 1st day of his senior year of high school only to find his mother had been killed, while his father held on by a thread. Curiously, he became the target of the investigation, despite some glaringly suspicious characters. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.makinganexoneree.com/ https://metcalflawnyc.com/attorneys/martin-tankleff/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast...
At sunrise on December 4th, 2000, sheriff’s deputies rolled up on Rob Will and Michael Allen Rosario as they stripped hubcaps in North Houston. One of them thought escaping responsibility for this petty crime was more important than Deputy Barrett Hill’s life. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.freerobwill.org/ https://www.change.org/p/free-rob-will-an-innocent-man-on-texas-death-row https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/texas-execute-innocent-man-criminal-justice-944195...
No body, no bones, no motive. Just a decades long nightmare that has not ended. For the final episode of Season 2 Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin take us back to Ada, Oklahoma, for the second half of the story of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. When we left off last week, Tommy and Karl were sitting on death row, after police turned Tommy’s bad dream into a murder confession. This week, we hear about some serious twists in the case, from the discovery of the victim’s body to the revelation of hidde...
In the spring of 2019, Zephi was a high school sophomore troubled by a bad break up, when an older guy, Philip Baldenegro, swooped in through social media and began grooming her for the sex trade. One exchange between Baldenegro and a john turned deadly, and now, Dallas County is trying to send Zephi to prison for her trafficker’s crimes. Join us in speaking up for Zephi before the unthinkable happens. https://directlyto.org/projects/zephaniah-trevinos-defense-fund/ https://www.change.org/p/henr...
He thought the police would recognize this was just a dream, not reality. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin bring us a story from Ada, Oklahoma where a young woman went missing. A few months after her disappearance, a man named Tommy Ward told police that he’d had a bad dream about her murder. Incredibly, the police took that dream and turned it into a false confession... and into a prison sentence that continues to this day, 35 years later. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www....
These police were willing to sacrifice one of their own just to close a case. Laura and Steve tell us the story of a Michigan murder case with an unusual suspect: a small-town police officer named Ray McCann. After Ray helped investigate the disappearance of a little girl, he was wrongfully accused of her murder. In pursuit of their only suspect, police turned Ray’s whole life into an interrogation room. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/ Wr...
Michael was serving a life sentence until one person came to his rescue: his mom. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin bring us to Culpeper County, Virginia, to tell the story of teenage buddies Eric Weakley and Michael Hash. Local police solved a murder case by coercing Eric into falsely confessing and into falsely implicating his friend Michael as an accomplice. For years, lawyers couldn’t get justice for either of them -- until Michael’s mom found evidence that blew this case wide open. If you want...
One woman was forced to talk. The other was forced to listen. Both were powerless. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin tell us about a California man named Ricky Davis. In 1985, Ricky and his girlfriend, Connie, found their roommate brutally stabbed to death. Without any leads, the case went cold for 14 years until detectives convinced Connie that she had repressed memories of Ricky committing the crime. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/ Wrongfu...
In the final episode of the season, Josh Dubin explores Shaken Baby Syndrome with Kate Judson, Executive Director for the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences. Shaken Baby Syndrome isn’t a foolproof diagnosis. There are in fact many other causes for the symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome that do not arise from intentionally shaking a baby at all. Learn more and get involved. http://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/junk-science Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science is a production of Lava for Goo...
To win exoneration, it wasn’t enough for the DA to declare innocence. The judge had to agree, or Walter wasn’t going anywhere. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin bring us to Philadelphia for the story of Walter Ogrod. Walter was sent to death row by an old-school Philly justice system that was better known for injustice. He spent decades in prison for a murder he didn't commit -- until a new wave of reform-minded prosecutors found the truth behind Walter's false confession. To donate, learn more, or...
Josh Dubin discusses Eyewitness Testimony with renowned psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. She studies human memory, specifically the malleability of memory, a huge factor in cases where eyewitness testimony is used as evidence. It turns out that memories, just like other forms of evidence, can be manipulated, contaminated, and planted. Learn more and get involved. http://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/junk-science Wrongful Conviction: Junk Sci...
Sometimes when detectives can't get a confession they'll settle for a something else Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin explore the story of Emerson Stevens, a fisherman from Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. When a young mother was found murdered, it seemed all the evidence pointed to Emerson, until the case fell apart. Emerson survived 31 years in prison with the help of an ally from across the bay. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Sign...
This episode of "Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions" recounts the horrific case of the Birmingham Six, innocent Irish men who were tortured into false confessions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. It delves into the political climate of The Troubles, detailing the devastating attacks and the subsequent police abuse, which included state-sanctioned torture and fabrication of evidence. The story highlights their 16-year fight for justice, the judicial system's initial resistance to acknowledging misconduct, and the eventual exoneration that spurred significant criminal justice reforms in the UK, showcasing the enduring impact on the men and the system.
Josh Dubin examines Roadside Drug Testing with Greg Glod, Criminal Justice Senior Policy Fellow. Faulty tests, which cost police departments $2 a piece or less, are widely used across the United States, causing countless people to plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit, despite scientific evidence that proves just how ineffective they really are. Learn more and get involved. http://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/junk-science https://www.propublica.org/article/common-roadside-drug-test-rout...
In Chicago, old habits die hard. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin bring us inside one of the worst police abuse scandals in U.S. history. For decades on the southside of Chicago, a group of white cops turned the interrogation room into a torture chamber for Black men. Those cops called themselves the Midnight Crew. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/ Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in associatio...
Josh Dubin does a deep dive into the psychology behind Coerced Confession Evidence with David Rudolf, criminal defense and civil rights attorney, and co-host of the podcast Abuse of Power. It turns out tactics used to extract Coerced Confessions are also rooted in Junk Science. Just like Bite Mark Evidence, Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, and so many others covered in this show, Coerced, or False Confessions are another link in the chain of the Junk Science epidemic. Learn more and get involved. ht...
The prisons are filled with people convicted of murder who never killed anyone. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin take us to Dayton, Ohio where a young woman’s false confession to robbery gets turned into a false conviction for murder. There are two profound lies at work in the legal system here. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/ Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No...
