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Wrongful Conviction

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.

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Latest Episodes:

#312 Guest Host Laura Nirider with Davontae Sanford Nov 28, 2022

Show notes

On September 17, 2007, two men broke into a home in Detroit, MI and fatally shot four people. 14 year old Davontae Sanford, who lived nearby, went outside in his pajamas to see the commotion. Police approached Davontae and brought him back to the station where he was interrogated for two days without a parent or guardian present. The questioning ended when Davontae falsely confessed. Despite someone else taking responsibility for the crimes, Davontae was sentenced to 37 to 90 years in prison.

As Co-Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and co-host and writer of the award-winning Lava For Good podcast, Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions, Laura represents individuals who were wrongfully convicted when they were children or teenagers.

To learn more about false confessions, visit:

https://lavaforgood.com/false-confessions/

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#311 Jason Flom with Dennis and Lee Horton Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

Brothers, Dennis and Lee Horton, were having a pleasant Memorial Day in 1993 until they decided to visit their father in North Philadelphia and ran into a childhood friend, Robert Leaf. Unbeknownst to the Hortons, Robert Leaf had committed an armed robbery turned homicide earlier that day. Shortly after Robert joined the brothers in their car, police pulled them over. All three were arrested and tried for second degree murder. Robert Leaf's attorney used confusion among the witnesses about the identity of the shooter to win Leaf a lesser sentence, while the Hortons received life without the possibility of parole. After all appeals were denied on procedural grounds, they applied for commutation with the support of an up and coming politician named John Fetterman who was recently elected to the United States Senate for the state of Pennsylvania.

To learn more and get involved, go to:

https://lavaforgood.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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#310 Guest Host Laura Nirider with Herman Williams Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

In 1993, Herman Williams, a decorated member of the US Navy, was stationed in Waukegan, IL where he lived with his ex-wife, Penny, and their two children. On September 26, Penny’s deceased body was found in a shallow pond and Herman immediately became the sole suspect. Based on faulty forensic science as well as prosecutorial and questionable police conduct, Herman was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

As Co-Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and co-host and writer of the award-winning Lava For Good podcast, Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions, Laura represents individuals who were wrongfully convicted when they were children or teenagers.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

www.mightycause.com/story/Hermanwilliams

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#309 Jason Flom with Jace Washington Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

On April 29, 2007, six undocumented immigrants from El Salvador were living in a trailer in Slidell, LA when they were robbed at gunpoint. The robbery went awry and Jose Carlos Matinez-Carpio was shot and killed. Two men were arrested for the killing and one of the men, Edric Cooper, implicated Jace Washington in an effort to earn leniency from the state. Jace had no prior criminal record, and no physical or forensic evidence pointed to him. Nevertheless, Jace Washington was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

to learn more and get involved, visit:

https://izzyafriyie.com/jace-washington/

https://www.change.org/p/st-tammany-parish-district-attorney-office-and-louisiana-department-of-justice-please-help-me-bring-my-son-jace-colby-washington-home

https://izzyafriyie.com/petition-to-free-innocent-man-jace-washington/

https://friendsofjustice.blog/2021/07/17/jace-washington-and-the-monsters-of-saint-tammany/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMS-0ynDS14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm3X1GRnxTI

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#308 Guest Host Amanda Knox with Heidi Fero Nov 14, 2022

Show notes

On January 7, 2002, Heidi Fero was taking care of 15 month old Brynn and her 4.5 year old brother, Kaed, along with her own two similarly aged children. That evening, Heidi called the children’s father, reporting that Kaed physically hurt Brynn by pushing her head against the wall. Within hours, Brynn was unresponsive and Heidi called 911. Brynn survived, but she will forever require a caregiver from the injuries she endured. Heidi was ultimately prosecuted and convicted for first degree assault of a child, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In 2007, as an American college student abroad in Italy, Amanda was accused of murdering her roommate. After an 8-year trial and 4 years in an Italian prison, Italy’s highest court ultimately exonerated Amanda. She has since become an advocate for criminal justice reform and media ethics. Amanda is also a journalist, public speaker, author, and co-host, with her partner Christopher Robinson, of the podcast Labyrinths.

Amanda’s personal experience has led her to become a fierce advocate for wrongfully convicted women – and the same goes for Heidi. Heidi and Amanda met at an Innocence Network Conference years ago, and they have remained friends since. Separately and together, their advocacy work is largely driven by the importance of highlighting female wrongful convictions, and, as in Heidi’s case, the fact that the majority of wrongfully convicted women were – and are – incarcerated for crimes that never even happened.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://wainnocenceproject.org/

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#307 Jason Flom with John Jerome White Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

Early on the morning of August 11, 1979, an intruder broke into a Manchester, GA home to find a 74-year-old woman asleep on her couch. The man beat and sexually assaulted the woman and then demanded all her money. She gave the attacker cash from her purse and then he left through the back door.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but no rape kit was collected due to the extent of her injuries. At the victim’s house, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) crime scene investigators collected pubic hairs from a bed sheet that had been on the couch at the time of the rape. Police then created a composite sketch of the attacker from the victim’s description, and a GBI agent who was investigating John Jerome White on another charge thought he resembled the sketch. White was convicted on May 30, 1980 of rape, assault, burglary, and robbery.

To learn more about the junk science of hair microscopy evidence:

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/152-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-hair-microscopy-evidence/

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.ajc.com/news/local/from-2007-snapshot-eyewitness-mistake/TxDolwbHy82ba4w1eefq8H/

https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#306 Guest Host Beth Shelburne with Jeffrey Holemon Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

In March of 1987, a female University of Alabama student was returning to her apartment in Tuscaloosa, AL, when she was attacked by a masked man who raped her and stole her car keys and bank card. The woman’s abandoned car was later located, and a witness reported seeing a man emerge from it some time earlier. This witness’s singular identification of 23 year old Jeffrey Holemon, who had been in jail on an unrelated, nonviolent charge, led to Jeffrey’s conviction and life sentence.

Beth is an award-winning journalist and writer based in Birmingham, AL. Her work has been published by The Los Angeles Times, The Bitter Southerner, The Daily Beast and Facing South. Beth was a 2019 Writing for Justice Fellow with Pen America and has done extensive reporting on Alabama prisons. Before her focus on criminal justice issues, she spent 20 years working as a TV news anchor and reporter.

Beth and Jeffrey had never met before, but with Beth’s connection to Alabama, Beth found Jeffrey’s case and was immediately taken. Beth found it remarkable that the DNA evidence from Jeffrey’s appeals was a result of his own pro se litigation efforts. Litigation filed pro se, or ‘on one’s own behalf,’ is often discounted by courts, and it is an incredible accomplishment for an individual to gain any traction as a result of pro se motions.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.kairosprisonministry.org/kairos-inside-prison-ministry.php

This episode is part of a special series in our Wrongful Conviction podcast feed of 15 episodes focused on individual cases of wrongful incarceration, guest hosted by formerly incarcerated returning citizens and leading criminal justice advocates, award-winning journalists and progressive influencers.

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#305 Jason Flom with Raymond Allan Warren Nov 03, 2022

Show notes

On July 10, 1994, Wendell Scott Simpson was found dead in his car on Kilmer Street in Dayton, OH. Shortly after police arrived, they encountered 16 year old Raymond Allan Warren who also lived on Kilmer street. Warren told the police that he and his friends Antonio Johnson and Chante Hunt saw Simpson looking to buy drugs earlier that day. Police later questioned Johnson and Hunt who were both pressured into testifying that Warren was the shooter. By relying on the testimony of 2 minors and a questionable gunshot residue test, the state convicted Warren of one count of murder and sentenced him to life in prison.

To learn more about the junk science of gunshot residue evidence:

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/161-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-gunshot-residue-evidence/

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://linktr.ee/FreeRaymondAllanWarren

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#304 Guest Host Gilbert King with Robert DuBoise Oct 31, 2022

Show notes

On August 19, 1983, a 19-year-old woman was found raped and beaten to death in Tampa, FL. Police focused on 18-year-old Robert DuBoise who allegedly “caused problems” in the area. Dr. Richard Souviron, a forensic odontologist, matched Robert’s teeth to a supposed bite mark on the victim’s cheek using bite mark analysis techniques that have since been discredited. Based on the supposed dental match, Robert was ultimately sentenced to death.

Gilbert King is the writer and host of the Lava For Good podcast, Bone Valley. He is also a New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book Devil in the Grove. Gilbert has written about race, civil rights, and the death penalty for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The Marshall Project.

While in Florida working on the Lava for Good podcast Bone Valley, Gilbert learned of Robert’s exoneration, which moved and inspired Gilbert to continue the fight for other innocent individuals. Robert and Leo Schofield, the subject of Bone Valley, were incarcerated together in the same Florida facility. In this episode, Gilbert and Robert connect over their ties to the Tampa area and the Florida criminal justice system.

To learn more about the junk science of bite mark evidence, visit:

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/145-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidence/

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/help-fix-floridas-compensation-law/

This episode is part of a special series in our Wrongful Conviction podcast feed of 15 episodes focused on individual cases of wrongful incarceration, guest hosted by formerly incarcerated returning citizens and leading criminal justice advocates, award-winning journalists and progressive influencers.

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#303 Jason Flom with Billie Allen Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

On March 18, 1997, two men exited a minivan and walked into the lobby of a bank in St. Louis, MO wearing ski masks and armed with semi-automatic rifles. Shots were fired and a security guard, Richard Heflin, was shot and fatally wounded. Billie Allen, aged 19, was arrested at about 2am the next morning and taken to police headquarters where he remained in an interrogation room, handcuffed to a table, for the next several hours. Later that morning, he was positively identified in a line-up by two forestry workers who had come across an individual in the woods. According to the police, after being told of these identifications, Billie Allen said he wanted to discuss the robbery, recanted his request for a lawyer and made statements incriminating himself in the murder. Billie Allen was charged with committing an armed bank robbery and using a firearm to commit a crime of violence. He was convicted on both counts and sentenced to death.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://linktr.ee/freebillieallen

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 accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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