Wrongful Conviction With Jason Flom

In early May of 1977, Keith Laborde and his 14 year old twin cousins, Karen and Sharon Sanders, allegedly picked up a hitchhiking black man at a gas station in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. About 2 weeks later, when asked about a scratch on his neck, Keith Laborde and the twins told a story about this armed hitchhiker who allegedly forced Laborde into the trunk and raped both girls. Despite not matching the description, a man with a few petty priors, Vincent Simmons, was arrested, put into a suggestive line up, and ultimately selected. When he refused to confess, police officer Robert Laborde shot him in the chest. Vincent survived, but only to have ALL discovery withheld by the state, including the medical examination that proved that Sharon Sander's could not have been raped. Years later, according to the alleged victims' family members, the whole story appears to have been a cover for recurring incestuous victimization, yet Vincent remains in Angola penitentiary to this day. To learn more and get involved:

On the morning of December 29th, 1991, the body of a 36 year old woman was found nude in the men’s restroom of the bar where she worked in Phoenix, Arizona. She had been assaulted and fatally stabbed. No semen was left behind. With DNA testing in its infancy, serology could only show that any blood or saliva at the crime scene matched the victim’s blood type. There were, however, what appeared to be human bite marks on the victim’s breast and neck, and after a 34 year old bar regular named Ray Krone was identified as a potential boyfriend, the investigation relied on the junk science of bite mark analysis to send him to death row. Much later, DNA testing identified a convicted child molesterer as the actual killer, winning Ray’s freedom. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/s11e12-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidencehttps://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts

On January 6th, 1990, a 21 year old woman was working at a convenience store in Covington, Georgia. At around 4am, this woman, who we'll refer to as "BT," was abducted, forced into a truck, and sexually assaulted until she managed to escape 90 minutes later. Despite BT’s insistence that she hadn’t known the perpetrator, police ultimately persuaded her to believe a story that her ex-boyfriend Ronald Jacobsen was her attacker. There was no physical or forensic evidence pointing to Ron who was out of the state at the time with his pregnant fiancee and her family. Nevertheless, Ronald was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In 2017, the Innocence Project used DNA evidence to exclude him from the possible list of assailants, and it took until 2021 for the state to finally acknowledge it. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.mightycause.com/story/Ronaldjacobsen https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/dl/ls/1WXCLBD8D0HF8https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a produ

On March 16, 1989, Lloyd Witter and Jomo Kenyatta sustained several gunshot wounds at a residence in Jamaica, Queens. Witter died from his injuries. Paul Anderson, who also lived at the residence, was found handcuffed near Witter’s body. Under questioning, both Kenyatta and Anderson provided at least a half dozen different versions of the story that finally landed on Carlton Roman as the gunman. Roman claimed he’d been with his girlfriend on the night of Witter’s murder, an alibi that she corroborated. Nevertheless, he was charged with murder. Despite maintaining his innocence throughout the trial, and no forensic, ballistic, fingerprint, or DNA evidence tying him to the shooting, Roman was convicted and served 32 years until his exoneration in August 2021. 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 24th, 2007, Keith Washington, a police officer and former Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, was home with his wife and 6 year old daughter while they awaited a delivery from Marlo Furniture store. Two men, Robert White and Brandon Clark, arrived with the furniture, and while showing them to the master bedroom, Keith realized that White had broken away and was snooping in his daughter’s bedroom. Keith asked them to leave which started a fight. Overpowered by the two men, Keith shot them in self defense, killing Clarke. Meanwhile, 12 time convicted felon, Robert White, who wasn’t even a Marlo employee, became the state’s main witness. Keith was convicted and sentenced to 45 years, while Robert White continued his life of crime. Learn more and get involved at: https://oneinnocentman.org/https://www.gofundme.com/f/free-keith-washingtonhttps://www.makinganexoneree.com/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9d5w10I_kI&t=1shttps://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a

Atif Rafay was a thriving, brilliant, and happy student who had just finished his freshman year at Cornell University. On a weekend trip in July of 1994, while visiting his family in Bellevue, Washington, Atif Rafay’s mother, father, and sister were all brutally murdered in their home. Investigators targeted Atif and his best friend, Sebastian Burns, because they were ‘acting strangely.’ Despite a corroborated alibi that both young men were not present during the killings, as well as extensive evidence of other parties’ involvement, Atif and Sebastian were convicted of murder. Learn more and get involved at: https://rafayburnsappeal.com/https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/atif-rafay-and-sebastian-burns 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/listener for privacy information.

This is a re-release of an episode that originally aired on October 2, 2019. In 2006, 16 year old Wisconsin special education student Brendan Dassey gave a videotaped confession to the murder of a young woman named Teresa Halbach. Brendan recanted his confession immediately, but was still convicted and sentenced to life in prison even though there was no evidence connecting him to the crime and the confession is widely recognized as false and coerced. In this episode, Laura Nirider, acclaimed attorney and host of Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions, arranges Brendan Dassey's only interview from behind bars with Jason Flom. Listen in as Laura and Jason dissect the false confession to the crime that is the subject of the Netflix hit Making a Murderer. 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/listener for privacy information.

On November 6th, 1991, William Catlett was shot and killed on a street corner in West Philadelphia. Nearly all eyewitnesses identified a man named Edward “P-nut” Johnson as the shooter. Instead of following those leads, investigators coerced a witness to blame Eric Riddick a childhood friend of Catlett. The witness recanted in 1999, but Riddick was not told about it until 2003, long after the 60 day window to introduce new evidence to his case had elapsed. It took the support of Meek Mill, Georgetown’s “Making an Exoneree,” and the election of Larry Krasner for justice to finally be served in May 2021. Learn more and get involved at: https://erfoundation19.com/https://www.gofundme.com/f/er-foundation?qid=491860da219c9bf0cf77becda36001aahttps://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/listener for privacy information.

19 year old Anthony Klann was stabbed to death in Cleveland, Ohio in September of 1988. Two men who had a lot to gain worked with detectives to spin a narrative, claiming two other men, Joe D'Ambrosio and Michael Keenan, committed the murder on September 22nd; however, Anthony Klann was still very much alive the following night. Learn more and get involved at: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/urge-governor-dewine-to-end-executions-in-ohiohttps://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/listener for privacy information.

3 Chicago teenagers went to a party at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where embarrassment turned a consensual encounter into a far-fetched gang rape accusation wrapped up in well-worn racist tropes. Three radically different outcomes for each young man only served to underscore the absurdity of this tragic failure of our justice system. Jarrett Adams’ book Redeeming Justice: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624157/redeeming-justice-by-jarrett-adams/9780593395905 Learn more and get involved at: https://cifsjustice.org/#/mainhttps://www.lifeafterjustice.org/ https://law.wisc.edu/fjr/clinicals/ip/support.htmlhttps://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/listener for privacy information.

This is an updated episode that originally aired on September 21, 2021. On May 18th, 1998, Charlie Winbush told her fiancé, Julius Graves, that a man named Li Run Chen, who worked at a Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood had touched her inappropriately. Graves replied that he would scare him. Later that day, Julius Graves, his fiancée's cousin, and another younger friend had a few drinks with Graves and his friend Anthony Sims as they listened to music by Sims’ car.  That same evening, Graves asked Sims to drive him to the restaurant where Chen worked and Sims agreed, unaware of any issue with Chen. They went into the restaurant when it is believed that Graves shot and killed Chen. In shock, Sims fled alone while Graves and the two younger men returned to his apartment, wiped the gun clean, figured out where to stash it, and began to conjure up a story to deflect blame from Graves and onto Sims. Consequently, investigators set their sights on Sims who was eventually sentenced to 25 years to life for the cr

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 when a key witness was convicted of lying about the case and a forensic test technique was debunked and discredited. Since the initial release of this episode, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam heard our voices, reviewed the case, and issued a pardon based on actual innocence. Emerson Stevens is finally free. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1. Learn more and get involved at https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/false-confessions A portion of this podcast series’ proceeds will be donated to the Center on Wrongful Convictions. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/See omny

This is an updated episode that originally aired on January 15, 2020. In this live audience recording at ComplexCon Chicago 2019, Patrick Pursley tells us how a false identification, a coerced and immediately recanted statement, and false expert testimony led to his wrongful conviction. Amazingly, Patrick Pursley spearheaded changes to the law while still in prison in order to obtain the ballistic testing necessary to set himself free. His fight continues on the outside for his Certificate of Actual Innocence, as the state has yet to admit what is evidently true. His hearing is set for August 27th, 2021. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.iamkidculture.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/listener for privacy information.

This is an updated episode that originally aired on May 20, 2020. On July 28th, 1999, Julius Jones was playing monopoly with his family and soon to be a sophomore on an academic scholarship at the University of Oklahoma. That night, a man named Paul Howell was shot for his GMC Suburban in the nearby suburb of Edmund, Oklahoma. A few days later, Julius was awakened and dragged out of bed, barefoot and shirtless, and taken into police custody as a murder suspect even though the eyewitness description should have excluded him as a suspect. 3 witnesses (and counting) have come forward with sworn affidavits claiming that Julius’ former friend and co-defendant Chris Jordan has often taken responsibility for Paul Howell’s murder - while Julius awaits lethal injection. Julius’ attorney Dale Baich, his mother and sister, Madeline and Antoinette Jones, as well as special guest Kim Kardashian join Jason Flom to discuss Julius’ case and the race to right this wrong before it's too late. Learn more and get involved at: ht

This is an updated episode that originally aired on September 14, 2020. 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.change.org/free-kevin-dykeshttps://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/listener for privacy information.

James King has been sitting in prison for almost 25 years for a rape that he adamantly maintains he did not commit. His conviction strongly relied on the inconsistent and contradictory word of a then 13-year old girl who was allegedly hiding her inappropriate relationship with a neighbor twice her age. Despite the lack of material evidence, changed testimonies for the prosecution, and the credible rebuttal of the state’s expert’s absurd findings, King remains incarcerated, desperately working to establish his innocence. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-free-james-eddie-kinghttps://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/listener for privacy information.

At about 9:40AM on March 19th, 2010, John Jones woke to find his daughter Jada unresponsive and called 9-1-1. She was rushed to the hospital where she remained until July 16th, 2010, when she was removed from life support and passed away. Based on the junk science of shaken baby syndrome, John was convicted of murdering his daughter and sentenced to 15 years to life. Greg Glod, Criminal Justice Fellow at Americans for Prosperity, returnsto our podcast to co-host with Jason Flom and share this tragic example of ourlegal system gone awry. For more on the junk science of Shaken Baby Syndrome, check outWrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Shaken Baby Syndrome with hostJosh Dubin, released on November 18th, 2020.https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s12e14-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-shaken-baby-syndrome Learn more and get involved at: https://www.ohioinnocenceproject.orghttps://cifsjustice.org/https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for

On September 26th, 1989, Kevin Jones and a friend drove to an apartment with $40,000 cash to buy cocaine. Jones went inside, while the friend waited down the block. Almost two hours later, the friend saw Jones’ car approaching him, but Jones was not in it. Jones was later found dead, wrapped up, beaten and shot, in the trunk of that car. Troy Coleman, the owner of the apartment, was 60 miles away in Atlantic City at the time. Despite knowing of Coleman's whereabouts during the crime, prosecutors charged him anyway. Coleman was convicted and sentenced to life in prison where he has been for over 31 years, fighting for his freedom. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.troycolemancase.com/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/listener for privacy information.

Joe Bryan was a high school principal, and his wife Mickey Bryan was a 4th-grade teacher in the small town of Clifton, TX. On Tuesday, October 15th, 1985, Mickey did not show up for work. Her body was discovered later that day in her bedroom. Joe was 120 miles away in Austin at a conference at that time. Prosecutors came up with a theory that Joe drove back to Clifton, killed his wife, and returned to Austin, using the conference as an alibi. He was convicted with "bloodstain analysis" which was later exposed to be wholly unreliable. For more on the junk science of bloodstain analysis check out Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Bloodstain Pattern Evidence with host Josh Dubin, released on August 10, 2020. https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s11e14-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bloodstain-pattern-evidence Learn more and get involved at: https://innocencetexas.org/https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-forensic-science-commission-blood-spatter-evidence-testimony-murder-case-joe-bryanhttps:/

On July 16, 1996, the owner of Tardy Furniture Company and three employees were found shot and killed. Curtis Flowers, who previously worked at the store, was charged with four counts of capital murder. Even though no physical evidence linked him to the crime, District Attorney Doug Evans used coerced and incentivized witnesses and racially discriminatory jury selection to send Curtis to Death Row. When his conviction was overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, DA Evans continued with the same tactics for 5 more trials over the next 23 years. It took the Supreme Court, the Mississippi Attorney General's office, and a podcast called In The Dark to set him free. Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Gunshot Residue Evidence released on October 7, 2020:https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s12e2-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-gunshot-residue-evidence Learn more and get involved at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/curtis-flowershttps://features.apmreports.org/in-the-dark/season-two/https://www.wrongful