Wrongful Conviction With Jason Flom

Josh Dubin speaks with Vanessa Antoun, Senior Resource Counsel at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) to learn about Hair Microscopy Evidence. Even when examined under a microscope, the similarities that can be observed between two hairs are open to wide interpretation, there are no definitive traits that can prove with any scientific certainty that a suspect’s hair matches a hair found at a crime scene. Yet hair comparison analysis was still being used to falsely identify and convict innocent people up until the year 2000 and people are still incarcerated who were convicted based on this false evidence. So how did this evidence get admitted into courts in the first place? Learn more and get involved. https://www.nacdl.org/ innocenceproject.org/exoneree-fund-2020 https://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/listener for privacy information.

In the early morning hours of June 30th, 1995, 21 year old mother Kristine Bunch awoke in a carbon monoxide haze to the decimation of her entire world - only for junk science and the false testimony of an actual scientist to make matters worse. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.justis4justus.org/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s11e16-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-arson-evidence 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.

At the tail end of the 1980’s, Randal Padgett was living an idyllic rural life of farm and family, when admittedly he made his biggest mistake that began with a skinny dipping joke. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.questforjusticethebook.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.

Josh Dubin sits down with Barry Scheck, Co-Founder of the Innocence Project to discuss Arson Evidence. Built on a foundation of conjecture and best guesses that were never adequately tested and confirmed according to any valid scientific principles, what Arson Evidence experts and prosecutors have been telling juries for decades, that one can definitively determine that a fire was intentionally set, is completely wrong. But why, after generations of experts have all been proven wrong, is there still an unwillingness to change? Learn more and get involved. 2009 Article in The New Yorker by David Grann https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/07/trial-by-fire https://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/listener for privacy information.

On January 24th, 2004, a party at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple devolved into violence, resulting in one man’s death. Before the violence erupted, an overserved young man left the party into the care of his new girlfriend - only to become the murder suspect on the word of his jilted ex. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/brooklyn-district-attorney-eric-gonzalez-free-james-davis?redirect=false https://youtu.be/weiNinFs6qM 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.

Josh Dubin, civil rights and criminal defense attorney, and Innocence Ambassador to the Innocence Project in New York explores bloodstain pattern evidence with Pamela Colloff, senior reporter at ProPublica and staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. Bloodstain pattern experts falsely claim that they can identify the culprit of violent crimes by examining the shape and distribution of bloodstains from a crime scene. But, bloodstain pattern evidence has no grounding in any verifiable science. So how did this kind of junk science become admissible? Learn more and get involved. Pamela Coloff’s two part story on the Joe Bryan case Blood Will Tell - ProPublica Part 1 https://features.propublica.org/blood-spatter/mickey-bryan-murder-blood-spatter-forensic-evidence/ Part 2 https://features.propublica.org/blood-spatter/joe-bryan-conviction-blood-spatter-forensic-evidence/ National Academy of Sciences: Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/22

In the summer of 2007, Jamal Trulove was an aspiring rapper from San Francisco’s Sunnydale projects. He had hoped that scoring himself a role on a reality television show would help his music career. Instead, his appearance on television would help police pin a July 27 murder on him. Over 30 witnesses, including Jamal himself, would not snitch, but someone had to go down for it. His most momentous mention on television yet would occur during the 2020 Democratic Primary debate. 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.

Introducing Josh Dubin, civil rights and criminal defense attorney, and Innocence Ambassador to the Innocence Project in New York. On the debut episode of Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science, Josh explores bite mark evidence. Like other forms of junk science used in criminal trials, bite mark evidence does not benefit crime victims or their loved ones. So why is it treated like credible science? It turns out that the charade of bite mark evidence is actually older than the United States. Learn more and get involved. https://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/listener for privacy information.

On the night of April 25th, 1976, a wealthy, 54 year old widow was burglarized and raped in Concord, North Carolina. What happened next paints a stark picture of American policing and race relations that arguably remains unchanged to this day. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/demand-nc-governor-to-commute-ronnie-long-s-sentence-immediately 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.

In 1996, Hulon Howard was allowing competing crack dealers to operate out of the front porch and basement of his home in West Philadelphia. He and his girlfriend, Lena Laws, enjoyed the fringe benefits until the usual trappings of the drug trade claimed Mr Howard’s life along with the freedom of a man with an unfortunate nickname. Learn more and get involved at: https://tlewisfoundation.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.

On May 5th, 1985, a group of friends were bar hopping around Clearwater, Florida, when they ran into their drug dealer’s 14 year old daughter, Shelly Boggio. She tagged along for a night of fun that tragically ended in her death and an innocent man spending over 3 decades on Florida’s death row. We are joined by James Dailey’s attorney, Josh Dubin, who has had a hand in freeing many of our previous guests, including Barry Gibbs (S1E2); Robert Jones (S3E6); Jeffrey Deskovic (S4E8); Clemente Aguirre (S9E6); John Restivo (S9E10); Herman Atkins (S9E11); and Huwe Burton (S10E10), among so many others. He speaks with Jason, as he persists in one of his most exhaustive quests for justice yet. Learn more and get involved at: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/james-m-dailey-is-innocent-stop-the-execution 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 April 15th, 2011, an Oakland, CA drug dealer lost his iPod, and an addict lost his life. 5 weeks later, the questionable word of another addict derailed the promising musical career of a young man whom he had never met. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-justice-for-pierre-rushing-wrongfully-convicted/u/25484884 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 August 13, 2018. Since his release in April 2018 and the ultimate end to his legal troubles in August 2019, Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill is using his voice to fight on behalf of those entangled in the many trappings of the criminal legal system. He is joined by his friend, e-commerce billionaire, and co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, Michael Rubin, to discuss their shared hopes for reform. Learn more and get involved at: https://reformalliance.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.

Terrel Barros and his friends thought they were just going out clubbing until a tragic encounter changed all that. Then, authorities compounded that tragedy by sending an innocent man to prison and setting the confessed killer free. Learn more and get involved at: http://www.change.org/freeterrelbarros https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LQPNFwumJQ 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.

Tim Howard and Brian Day were best friends with drug habits to match. Brian did some deals to support his habit, ending up in debt to some nasty characters. When Brian and Shannon Day are murdered, and their 7 month old boy, Trevor, is left for dead in a duffel bag, authorities get a case of tunnel vision for the Day’s only black friend. Learn more and get involved at: http://www.proclaimjustice.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.

On Thursday June 11, 2020, justice advocate and philanthropist Jason Flom moderated a forum on Facebook Live with four extraordinary leaders in civil rights, justice, and advocacy: Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors; prison industry expert Bianca Tylek; Drug Policy Alliance executive director Kassandra Frederique; and civil rights lawyer and author Alec Karakatsanis. The goal of this event was to empower people to take action, find resources, and learn how to use their unique talents/resources to move us forward in the urgent fight for racial justice. This is a list of the many organizations mentioned during this discussion. Learn more and get involved at: 8 to Abolition https://www.8toabolition.com/ Black Lives Matter https://blacklivesmatter.com/ Blackout Collective https://blackoutcollective.org/ Black Youth Project 100 https://www.byp100.org/ Civil Rights Core https://www.civilrightscorps.org/ Dignity and Power Now http://dignityandpowernow.org/ Drug Policy Alliance https://www.drugpolicy.org/

After a short stint in prison, Steven Carrington was a newlywed father, training to be an EMT and getting his life back on track. But when the police came looking for his brother at the same Brooklyn, NY address, the police mistakenly zeroed in on Steven as the primary suspect of a felony murder at a Brooklyn lumber store. Steven was convicted and sentence to 23 years to life.  Learn more and get involved at: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=6802 http://www.brooklynda.org/2024/05/16/brooklyn-district-attorney-moves-to-vacate-conviction-of-brooklyn-man-who-served-23-years-for-homicide-in-case-of-mistaken-identity/ https://www.nyls.edu/faculty/adele-bernhard/ 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 25, 2017. On the afternoon of April 15th, 1994, two men were sitting in a powder-blue Cadillac in the Quindaro neighborhood of Kansas City, KS. A man dressed in black ran up to the passenger side, raised a shotgun and fired four rounds in what looked like a drug-related hit, killing the two passengers Doniel Quinn and Donald Ewing. Lamonte McIntyre, who was 17 at the time, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. The prosecution relied primarily on the testimonies of two eyewitnesses who identified Lamonte as the shooter. Both eyewitnesses later recanted. Even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, he was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.  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 inf

In July of 1996, Damon Thibodeaux was visiting family, when his 14 year-old step cousin, Crystal, walked to the grocery store and never came back. When Crystal’s mother Dawn began to worry, Damon went looking for her daughter. Soon, neighbors and emergency workers would join the search that ended under the Huey P Long Bridge with a partially nude Crystal strangled to death. However, even before the body was found, the police already had their sights on Damon for what they thought was a rape and murder. Returning guest Innocence Project Senior Staff attorney Vanessa Potkin and death row exoneree Damon Thibodeaux tell Jason this unbelievable tale of triumph over tragedy. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the fall of 1998, Julius Jones had the whole world ahead of him. He was a freshman who planned to study engineering and was attending the University of Oklahoma on an academic scholarship. The following summer, just three days after his 19th birthday, Julius was awakened and dragged out of bed, barefoot and shirtless, and taken into police custody as a murder suspect. In 2002, he was convicted of killing a prominent local businessman – this after eyewitness testimony that should have excluded the young man as a suspect, as well as overt racial bias both in the news media and in the jury box. Julius Jones is facing execution as early as the fall of 2020. Special guests Kim Kardashian West along with Julius’ current attorney, Dale Baich and his mother and sister, Madeline and Antoinette Jones, join Jason Flom to discuss Julius’ case and the race for the State of Oklahoma to grant him clemency before it’s too late. Learn more and get involved at: https://www.justiceforjuliusjones.com/ https://www.change.org/