After charges against Elwood Jones were dismissed, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters—the former prosecutor who originally secured Jones’ conviction—went on talk radio insisting Jones was still guilty. The next day, phone records show Justice Deters had a 10-minute call with his former colleague, Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco. Four days later, the coroner announced false forensic evidence about the victim—evidence that collapsed within 24 hours. Through phone logs, text messages, and public records obtained exclusively for this investigation, this episode reveals the coordination between a sitting justice, former prosecutors and county officials after the case was supposed to be closed.

What If They're Wrong? After The Accusation is published early and ad-free for subscribers over at www.grabbagcollab.com

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Prosecutors once said a single piece of evidence — a gold pendant worn daily by murder victim Rhoda Nathan — was more damning than a fingerprint in pinning her death on suspect Elwood Jones. But a new appeals court ruling just blew a hole in their case, tossing out testimony from the officer who found that pendant in Jones’ car. The problem? He’s dead now, and Jones never got a fair shot at cross-examining him. We unpack what the ruling means, why it matters and what might happen next.

What If They're Wrong? After The Accusation is published early and ad-free for subscribers over at www.grabbagcollab.com

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An overturned conviction. A fight to reinstate it. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

It’s been two years since journalist Amber Hunt updated the podcast world on the status of the case against Elwood Jones, an Ohio man who spent nearly 30 years on death row for a murder conviction that was overturned in late 2022. Judge Wende Cross said prosecutors had a “win at all costs mentality” and withheld nearly 4,000 investigatory documents that could have swayed jurors to acquit Jones.

Since then, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office has seen a change in leadership, with a new top prosecutor who campaigned on promises of reform. Yet the office continues to pursue reinstatement of Jones’s conviction and recently argued before the Ohio Supreme Court.

Amber and producer Amanda Rossmann originally reported this story in the fourth season of the award-winning podcast Accused, which they created while working for The Cincinnati Enquirer. In this new feed, they pick up where they left off—with new developments, exclusive interviews, and fresh analysis of the high-stakes oral arguments just heard by the state’s highest court.

What If They're Wrong? After The Accusation is published early and ad-free for subscribers over at www.grabbagcollab.com

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