On July 9, 2006, at Club Crystal in Waterloo, IA, an individual later identified as Tonye Jackson was shot multiple times and killed on the property. The shooting occurred during active nightclub hours, with multiple patrons present at the scene. Three gunshots along with Jeff Smith’s nickname were audible on a recorded Black Hawk County Jail phone call contemporaneous with the incident. After a trial lacking physical evidence tying Jeff to the crime and marked by timeline manipulation, unreliable witness statements, and significant nondisclosure of exculpatory evidence, a Black Hawk County jury found Jeff Smith guilty of First-Degree Murder and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.instagram.com/thereal_atprichie/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGVQsUTD9IQF1POBPkLgXTA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV4qNY9U5g4

To get involved in helping exonerees like Jeff Smith rebuild their lives after release:

www.after-innocence.org

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder,  and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.”  David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death & Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? 

New episodes of The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance are every Tuesday and Friday wherever you get your podcasts. To binge the entire season, ad-free, subscribe to True Crime Clubhouse on Apple podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In August 1987, the body of 44-year-old single mother of two, Sandra Lison, was found in the Machickanee Forest in Green Bay, WI. She went missing from her bar the night prior. An autopsy showed that she was strangled and evidence suggested she was raped. Investigators interviewed the bar’s patrons, including brothers, 32-year-old David Bintz and 31-year-old Robert Bintz. No evidence suggested their, or anyone else’s involvement, and the case went cold for four years. In 1991, Lison’s purse was found 40 miles south of where her body was found. Yet, the case went cold again for the next seven years. Meanwhile, David was incarcerated for an unrelated crime, and a fellow inmate reported hearing David, who is intellectually disabled, sleep-talking about Lison’s death, apparently talking about killing her with his brother. This so-called confession gave investigators the lead they needed to arrest David and Robert. Once in custody, David confessed to the crime while simultaneously stating that he was at home at the time and not involved. What’s more – DNA evidence exonerated David and Robert from the rape before trial. The prosecution just changed their theory though, and David and Robert were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/

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

To get involved in helping exonerees like Robert Bintz rebuild their lives after release: 

www.after-innocence.org

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 22, 1975, a mother reported her three-year-old son missing after seeing him roaming in the vicinity of a wooded area behind their apartment complex in Richmond, VA. His body was found in the river nine miles from his home four days later. The murder garnered tremendous media attention and public outrage, yet the police failed to find a lead or suspect. 20-year-old Marvin Grimm Jr. lived across the hall from the family and, based on two arguments Grimm had with the boy’s father almost a month after the murder, police set their sights on him. After a nine-hour work day, police picked up Grimm and subjected him to another nine-plus hours of interrogation, causing Grimm to break down and confess to killing the boy. Grimm pleaded guilty, and the court sentenced him to life in prison. 

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.arnoldporter.com/en

https://innocenceproject.org/

https://www.law.virginia.edu/clinics/innocence-project-uva-school-law

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/236-jason-flom-with-thomas-haynesworth/

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/401-guest-host-ashley-fantz-with-marvin-anderson/

To get involved in helping exonerees like Marvin Grimm Jr. rebuild their lives after release: 

www.after-innocence.org

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On March 14, 1998, 16-year-old Benjamin Urias was shot in the Pico-Union neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA. The shot was not fatal, but Urias was hospitalized for two days. Urius was member of the 18th Street Gang, and told investigators that the shooter walked with a limp and shouted “Burlington Locos,” the name of another Los Angeles gang. Four days before the shooting, Oscar Eagle turned 18 years old. And two days before that, Eagle was shot in the leg. He was walking with a limp, and the since disgraced CRASH Unit targeted Eagle. A corrupted photo lineup and identification, coupled with egregiously ineffective counsel resulted in Eagle’s conviction for attempted first-degree murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life. 

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.calinnocence.org/

To get involved in helping exonerees like Oscar Eagle rebuild their lives after release: 

www.after-innocence.org

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Six new, inspiring episodes of Wrongful Conviction, hosted by Lauren Bright Pacheco, that celebrate the potential of human connection to empower ordinary people to overcome extraordinary odds and injustices. Real individuals who unexpectedly became one another’s personal heroes by turning tragedy into triumph.

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco will be available every Thursday beginning November 13 wherever you get your podcasts. To hear episodes ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco is back November 13th with all new episodes. So today, we’re revisiting one of the most memorable episode from her last season, episode #454, James Soto:
James “Jimmy” Soto was wrongfully convicted at age 20 for a 1981 double homicide in Chicago’s Little Village despite no physical evidence and multiple alibi witnesses. Jimmy and his cousin David spent 42 years in prison — the longest wrongful conviction sentences in Illinois history. While incarcerated, Jimmy earned a college degree and became a jailhouse lawyer, helping others, including his former cellmate Robert Almodovar. The two formed a lifelong bond — and now, both exonerated, they’re rebuilding their lives together on the outside.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/life-after-42-yrs-of-wrongful-imprisonment
https://paroleillinois.org/

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 19, 1988, drug dealer Richard Valdez and his pregnant girlfriend Sharon Condon were shot in their house near Scottsbluff, NE. Police quickly focused on Jeff Boppre based on a purported “dying declaration” that Valdez, after being shot multiple times, wrote parts of Boppre’s name in engine grease on the ground next to him. The investigation was built against Boppre and he was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and sentenced to two life sentences. 

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.change.org/p/state-of-nebraska-free-jeff-boppre-ec9e405b-9502-47e7-a4c3-36b47a0d5e01

https://www.facebook.com/groups/326510333156/

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On December 5th, 1984, the naked body of Theresa Fusco was pulled out of a wooded area in Lynbrook, NY - the 3rd in a string of recent disappearances, putting pressure on police to find the monster among them. The medical examiner determined that a rape lkely occurred and the cause of death was ligature strangulation. Dennis Halstead had been linked to one of the victims, and in a police interview about Halstead, John Restivo inadvertently mentioned an occasional employee John Kogut. 

When police interrogated Kogut for 12 hours, during which interrogators lied to him about his failing a polygraph, Kogut signed a confession that was hand-written by one of the detectives. With the false confession, the trio were convicted and sentenced to 33 and a half years in prison. 

John Restivo and Innocence Project Senior Staff Attorney Nina Morrison joined Jason at the Atlanta Innocence Network Conference to tell this amazing and terrifying tale.

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.kimlawcrimlaw.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kimlawcrimlaw/?hl=en
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/377-jason-flom-with-tyrone-noling-update/
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/335-maggie-freleng-with-charles-jackson/

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On October 15, 2015, Quortney Tolliver was attacked with a hammer in her home in Ravenna Township, OH. She woke up from a medically induced coma weeks later with absolutely no recollection of the incident. Nevertheless, Portage County detectives pressed her to identify the person they “found out who did this” – 47 year old David Smith. Ms. Tolliver refused to identify Mr. Smith until she faced her own charges and had a dream with Mr. Smith in it, apparently indicating that he was the perpetrator. Based on Ms. Tolliver’s fraught identification alone, a jury convicted Mr. Smith of attempted murder and sentenced him to 22 years in prison.

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.kimlawcrimlaw.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kimlawcrimlaw/?hl=en

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/377-jason-flom-with-tyrone-noling-update/

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/335-maggie-freleng-with-charles-jackson/

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

​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.