On June 7, 1988, joggers discovered the body of 35 year old Robert Mejia on a running trail in the woods behind his apartment complex in Pontiac, MI. Mejia had been stabbed to death. Primarily due to the junk science of bite mark evidence, Gilbert Poole was convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

With 20 years of expertise in criminal justice, Chris Fabricant leads the Innocence Project’s Strategic Litigation Department as the Joseph Flom Special Counsel and Director of Strategic Litigation. His knowledge of forensic sciences drives his work’s focus on the intersection of science, law reform and social justice. 

Chris learned about Gilbert's case when he and Marla Mitchell-Cichon, Gilbert's attorney, discussed the bite mark junk science that sent him to prison. Then, at the 2022 Innocence Network Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Chris listened to Gilbert speak about his case and experience.

To learn more about the junk science of bite mark evidence: https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/145-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidence/

http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/junk-science/

To get involved, visit:

https://www.cooley.edu/alumni/help-our-students?hsCtaTracking=4ff403ba-26dd-4fdf-80fe-1990814d3858%7C959d4c89-aa90-400a-a2a7-6c2bc608119f 

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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