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.

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-washington

https://www.makinganexoneree.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9d5w10I_kI&t=1s

https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

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.

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 with Jason Flom is a production of Lava For Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

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=491860da219c9bf0cf77becda36001aa

https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

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-ohio

https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/

https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

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/#/main

https://www.lifeafterjustice.org/ 

https://law.wisc.edu/fjr/clinicals/ip/support.html

https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

Anthony Sims is going into the 24th year of a 25 to life sentence based on a narrative constructed by his former friend Julius Graves. The only witness that was neither related to Graves nor coerced by police continues to tell the story of Anthony’s innocence (and Graves’s guilt) to this day.

Learn more and get involved at: 

https://www.freeanthonysims.com/

https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

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/

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 with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.