On January 10, 1998, a 60-year-old woman was robbed and sexually assaulted in her home in Violet, LA. Upon his arrest, Ulysses Pierre implicated his cousin, Jarvis Ballard, in the crime. After severe abuse from detectives, Ballard produced a confession and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for aggravated rape.

Patrick was wrongfully convicted for a 1993 murder in Rockford, IL, for which he spent nearly 24 years in prison. Remarkably, he ended up writing the law that set him free. Patrick and Jarvis met for the first time in person at the 2022 Innocence Network Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Their shared experience of mistreatment by the criminal justice system gave them a lot to talk about.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://ip-no.org/what-we-do/free-innocent-prisoners/client-profiles/jarvis-ballard/

https://www.gofundme.com/f/jarvis-ballard-freedom-fund

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.

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