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...
Feb 24, 2021•36 min•Ep. 186
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...
Feb 17, 2021•31 min•Ep. 185
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...
Feb 10, 2021•34 min•Ep. 184
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...
Feb 03, 2021•42 min•Ep. 183
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...
Jan 27, 2021•42 min•Ep. 182
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...
Jan 20, 2021•44 min•Ep. 181
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...
Jan 13, 2021•42 min•Ep. 180
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...
Jan 06, 2021•38 min•Ep. 179
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...
Dec 23, 2020•25 min•Ep. 178
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...
Dec 16, 2020•23 min•Ep. 177
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. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of...
Dec 14, 2020•24 min•Ep. 176
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. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in associa...
Dec 07, 2020•29 min•Ep. 175
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...
Nov 30, 2020•34 min•Ep. 174
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. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association ...
Nov 23, 2020•33 min•Ep. 173
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...
Nov 18, 2020•37 min•Ep. 172
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. Wrongful Conviction: Fals...
Nov 16, 2020•32 min•Ep. 171
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...
Nov 11, 2020•34 min•Ep. 170
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...
Nov 09, 2020•30 min•Ep. 169
The thing about torture is that it works, at least if your only goal is to find a scapegoat. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin take us to Birmingham, England. In 1972, two pubs were bombed, and six innocent Irish men were tortured into giving false confessions. The Birmingham Six were freed in 1991, but the crime’s never been solved. To this day, the public demands to know who really planted those bombs. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in associatio...
Nov 02, 2020•33 min•Ep. 168
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...
Oct 28, 2020•32 min•Ep. 167
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. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwro...
Oct 26, 2020•31 min•Ep. 166
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...
Oct 21, 2020•42 min•Ep. 165
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. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org...
Oct 19, 2020•29 min•Ep. 164
Josh Dubin talks about Tool Mark Analysis with Tim Requarth, a freelance journalist who often writes about the intersection between science and criminal justice and a lecturer in science and writing at New York University. The notion that tools leave a unique mark on a surface is commonly presented to unsuspecting juries. But, it turns out that it's not necessarily the case at all. Learn more and get involved. “Forensic Science Put Jimmy Genrich in Prison for 24 Years. What if It Wasn’t Science”...
Oct 14, 2020•37 min•Ep. 163
I shall no longer tinker with the machinery of death. Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin bring us inside a decades-long fight for the truth. The story of Henry McCollum and Leon Brown is living proof that false confessions can send innocent people to death row. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/false-confessions Learn more and get involved...
Oct 12, 2020•31 min•Ep. 162
Josh Dubin explores Gunshot Residue Evidence with Joanna Sanchez from the Wrongful Conviction Project at the Office of the Ohio Public Defender. Of all the many faulty forensic sciences, Gunshot Residue certainly has some truly startling and scary issues that began almost a century ago. Learn more and get involved. www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/junk-science Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1. See omnystudio.com/liste...
Oct 07, 2020•34 min•Ep. 161
Four honorable men volunteered to fight for their country, but ended up fighting for their own freedom. Hosts Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin, co-directors at Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions and central figures in the smash hit Netflix docuseries Making a Murderer, tell us about not one, but four U.S. Navy sailors who falsely confessed to murdering another sailor’s wife. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with ...
Oct 05, 2020•33 min•Ep. 160
After being wrongfully convicted for the first time as a child and paroled from juvie, Keyontay Ricks got involved with mentoring at risk kids, including a 14 year old weed dealer named Kurtel Walker. Kurtel and one of his customers conjured up a plot to settle a drug debt through the customer’s workplace, and their combined behavior got pinned on Keyontay when a racist cop decided to abuse his power. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/attorney-general-racist-amherst-police...
Sep 28, 2020•50 min•Ep. 159
Approaching midnight on April 11th, 1989, 18 year old single mother Sabrina Butler found her 9 month old, Walter, not breathing. A genetic kidney disorder sent a series of events in motion that took Walter’s life and nearly his mother’s along with it. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/list...
Sep 21, 2020•39 min•Ep. 158
In June 1986, Kevin Dykes witnessed the attempted murder of 2 people and the actual murder of a 3rd person in his neighborhood in Compton, CA. Kevin decided to go to the police, partly out of fear of reprisals by the killers who knew he witnessed the murder. The prosecutors then used his knowledge of the crimes that he witnessed against him and charged him with all 3 crimes. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a product...
Sep 14, 2020•36 min•Ep. 157
