Fierce Conversations with Toby

Check out the video of this interview here!

Chris Turner. Clifton Yarborough. Charles Turner. Timothy Catlett.

Our guests today spent 30+ years behind bars, being a number and not a name. We made sure their names are right at the very beginning to honor Chris, Cliff, Charles, and Tim as human beings who were never just numbers.

The Catherine Fuller murder occurred in Washington, D.C. in 1984. During the trial, eight boys were tried (4 of which are our guests today), wrongfully convicted, and sentenced to about 30 years in prison each. Their story came to light in Tom Dybdahl’s new book When Innocence Is Not Enough. Tom was interviewed in the last episode, YouTube video interview here.

Tom summed up their story this way:

“The men – boys, mostly, when it all began – were just guys from the 8th and H NE neighborhood in D.C. They had limited education and experience and resources… But each of them had a core of basic honesty. Under immense pressure, day after day after day, that core never cracked.

They were offered leniency in exchange for statements of guilt… But they hadn’t done the crime, so they wouldn’t say otherwise.

They did not want mercy. They wanted justice. They got neither. Yet they endured. They never sold their integrity for their freedom.”

Having served their full sentences, Chris, Cliff, Charles, and Tim share with us their journey through prison, how they found the courage and strength to endure, and how they’ve created new lives after prison. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

Guests:

Mayor's Office on Returning Citizen Affairs

Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop

____________________________________

Toby Dorr:

Books and Audiobook

Website  

Patreon

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.

Credits:

Created by Toby Dorr.

Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.

Theme song:

Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist

Caroline Parody: Piano

Tony Ventura: Bass

For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/

Content Warning:  This episode contains brief descriptions of violence, including sexual violence involved in the 1984 Catherine Fuller case.

Check out the video of this interview here!

“What’s at stake when prosecutors conceal evidence—and what we can do about it.”

 - From the description of the book When Innocence Is Not Enough: Hidden Evidence and the Failed Promise of the Brady Rule, written by today’s guest, Thomas L. Dybdahl.

Through stories of real criminal cases in which justice wasn’t served, Tom’s book and the discussions in this interview may outrage you. 

I hope it does. Let’s take our anger and our outrage and use it together to change our broken justice system.

Links mentioned in this episode:

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting Fierce Conversations with Toby through your purchases of what we feature on the podcast!

Thomas L. Dybdahl:

Book

____________________________________

Toby Dorr:

Books and Audiobook

Website  

Patreon

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.

Credits:

Created by Toby Dorr.

Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.

Theme song:

Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist

Caroline Parody: Piano

Tony Ventura: Bass

For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/

Content warning:

This episode contains dialogue that includes mentions of the death of our guest’s 5-year-old son. While this interview is intended to facilitate healing and hold space for all that have been affected by loss, some listeners may be troubled by the subject matter.

Check out the video of this interview here!

Wendy Elle’s precious five-year-old son died instantly when the plane he was on, piloted by his father, crashed in the woods. Through this unimaginable tragedy, Wendy has been able to find a way to choose the beauty in the flaws and the perfection in her mistakes. She has witnessed both the ordinary and extraordinary on the inevitable roller-coaster of life.

Wendy is currently writing her first book which is becoming her chance to share her survival skills and her smiles. Between writing books, playing with her dog Ralph who requires all of her attention (all of the time), completing her “Fish Shed Cottage” in Nova Scotia, and endeavoring to upgrade a prestigious winery at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Wendy managed to find the time to engage in a Fierce Conversation with Toby. Come along with us as we learn with Wendy and Toby how to Uncover Grief's Beauty.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Wendy Elle:

Instagram

____________________________________

Toby Dorr:

Books and Audiobook

Website  

Patreon

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.

Credits:

Created by Toby Dorr.

Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.

Theme song:

Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist

Caroline Parody: Piano

Tony Ventura: Bass

For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/

Check out the video of this interview here!

Two groups of people face the perilous path called reentry: astronauts and inmates. 

Our guest today is Carla Anderson, a reentry coordinator for a national nonprofit in Washington, D.C. Through her impactful work, Carla helps inmates to rise above societal prejudice, return to their families, and overcome the difficulties of starting over as they reenter the world after their release from prison. Inmates may not be reentering from the silent and cold vacuum of space, but an inmate’s reentry is not all that different from that of an astronaut.

In addition to her work as a reentry coordinator, Carla also ministers to inmates as co-vice president of the Jail and Prison Ministry of Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA., serves as Justice Ambassador with Prison Fellowship headquartered in Lansdowne, VA, and speaks as a voice of inmates to legislators about prison policy, process, and implementation. Carla now resides in Frederick County, VA with her life partner, Harold, and their rescue dog, Cardi.

One in twenty Americans do time. Whether you know someone who’s been to prison or you’ve already been on Carla’s and Toby’s side of entering into prison, we hope you find solidarity and hope in today’s Fierce Conversation with Toby.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Carla Anderson:

Email

____________________________________

Toby Dorr:

Books and Audiobook

Website  

Patreon

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.

Credits:

Created by Toby Dorr.

Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.

Theme song:

Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist

Caroline Parody: Piano

Tony Ventura: Bass

For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/

Check out the video of this episode here!

George Floyd. Derek Chauvin. Bill Cosby. Kyle Rittenhouse. Vicky White. Today’s guest, Laura Collins, has been there for all of them.

Laura reported from Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd and the ensuing unrest, and then returned for Derek Chauvin’s trial. She was in the courtroom during Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial. During the Bill Cosby trials she spoke with many of his accusers. She also interviewed the now infamous juror number 50 following the Ghislaine Maxwell trial. 

Toby and Laura first met when Laura was covering the tragic story of Vicky White, as Toby’s story and experience with breaking an inmate out of prison had a similar start – but a strikingly different outcome.

Born in Scotland, Laura Collins is an Emmy Award winning investigative journalist and has reported from around the globe for the United Kingdom’s largest media outlets. She also traveled extensively to bring us word of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, Laura regularly contributes from the Big Apple as the Chief Investigative Reporter for the Daily Mail (a British newspaper and news website with a daily online readership of 4 million people)

Join us to learn how Laura balances the power of journalism with the fulfillment of life while bearing witness to these monumental events.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Laura Collins:

Kate Moss Book

Twitter

____________________________________

Toby Dorr:

Books and Audiobook

Website  

Patreon

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.

Credits:

Created by Toby Dorr.

Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.

Theme song:

Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist

Caroline Parody: Piano

Tony Ventura: Bass

For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/

Check out the video of this interview here!

An eye-opening look into our broken justice system, one where innocence may not protect you from incarceration — or even the death penalty.

Today’s guest is Justin Brooks, the Director and Co-Founder of the California Innocence Project, an organization that has secured the release of dozens of innocent people who otherwise may have spent the rest of their lives wrongfully incarcerated. Justin was also portrayed by Academy Award nominated actor Greg Kinnear in the feature film, Brian Banks. Justin’s new book, You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You’re Innocent, is an inside examination of our “justice” system that just might change your life.

Links mentioned in this episode:

By clicking on the links here, we may earn some additional revenue that directly supports this podcast. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Justin Brooks:

Book

Website

California Innocence Project

Hamburger Video Mentioned Today 

____________________________________

Toby Dorr:

Patreon

Books and Audiobook

Website  

YouTube

Instagram

Facebook

Or head to https://linktr.ee/fierceconversations for all things Fierce Conversations with Toby.

Credits:

Created by Toby Dorr.

Produced by Number Three Productions, a division of GracePoint Publishing.

Theme song:

Lisa Plasse: Composer, arranger, and flutist

Caroline Parody: Piano

Tony Ventura: Bass

For more information on these fabulous musicians, please go to https://tobydorr.com/theme-song/