Ben Bowlin, new co-host of Wrongful Conviction and host of the long-standing podcast Stuff the Don’t Want You to Know and Jason Flom from the Wrongful Conviction podcast had the honor of sitting down for many hours to speak with Leonard Peltier about his personal life, the historical context of the resistance movement and events that led to the attack on Jumping Bull Ranch in ‘75, as well as his near 50 year fight for justice that led to his sentence commutation in the final minutes of the Biden Administration.

In part one of this three-part series, Leonard discusses his early life and experiences with American injustice before joining the American Indian Movement (AIM). He goes on to explain how the FBI targeted AIM with the same counterintelligence apparatus that was used against Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers.

When American businesses were interested in mining uranium in South Dakota, the FBI funded a paramilitary group that sought to neutralize any resistance on the Pine Ridge Reservation. To support the resistance effort, AIM set up camp at Jumping Bull Ranch. Leonard and his co-defendant Dino Butler tell us about their harrowing experience on June 26th, 1975, when tensions broke out into a deadly firefight.

The Wrongful Conviction of Leonard Peltier is a production of Lava For Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. It follows the January 2025 Sundance premiere of the documentary FREE LEONARD PELTIER, a searing investigation of the case from Public Square Films and directors David France and Jesse Short Bull.

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.

Absolute, Season 1: Taser Incorporated is at once a tale as old as time - a true believer learns the hard way that the costs of lofty ambition and hubris just might outweigh even the most optimistic upside - and a thoroughly modern story of technology overtaking the very people it is meant to serve.  In this case:  the ubiquitous electric gun carried by cops everywhere and inspiring comedic shenanigans in movies like The Hangover.

Host and documentarian Nick Berardini has been obsessed with this story for his entire adult life. With Absolute, Season 1: Taser Incorporated, he left no stone unturned. 

Taser, Inc., now known as Axon, the 800-pound gorilla in the paramilitary police equipment industry, is led by its charismatic CEO and co-founder, Rick Smith.  Fueled by a self-described religious dedication, Smith’s Star Trek obsession, and an ambitious vision of a world without gun violence, Rick leads Taser, Inc. to be the key tech supplier to virtually every police force in America. But as stories of alleged misuse, deaths, and serious injuries from Tasers begin to emerge, Taser, Inc. and Rick arrive at a crossroads between Rick’s vision and reality, with cops and the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect paying the price.

Absolute, Season 1: Taser Incorporated is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 18, 2001, a woman returned home from church to a man burglarizing her apartment in Thunderbolt, GA. While wearing a pair of batting gloves, the man proceeded to sexually assault her and steal various items. In the days following, police found those items in the residence of a man named Sterling Flint. When the victim identified Flint as a possible perpetrator, Flint blamed a man named Sonny Bharadia, who had pressed charges against Flint days prior for stealing his car and threatening to kill Sonny and his family. A new photo array was presented to the victim, and she identified Sonny, however that photo array disappeared prior to trial. Nevertheless, Sonny was convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. 

To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://www.instagram.com/sonb1944/
https://healingjusticeproject.org/
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/050-jason-flom-with-ronald-cotton/
https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/act/donate-2/ 

Wrongful Conviction with Ben Bowlin 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 5, 1985, around 11 p.m., a woman exiting her car in her apartment complex parking lot just north of Atlanta, GA was approached by an African-American man. The man asked her if she could help him find "Paul." He then pulled out a gun and told her to move into the passenger seat. He drove to a nearby dead-end street where he raped the victim. After the attack, he drove her back to the parking lot and left on foot. She reported the attack to the police and helped them draw a composite sketch of the perpetrator.

Five days later, another woman exiting her car in her apartment complex was approached by an African-American man. This parking lot was on the same street in the same area as the other crime. The man asked her if she could help him find "Carol." He then put a razor blade to her throat and got in the car. He demanded sex and tried to pull off her clothes. She was able to talk the man into leaving her car. The police showed the second victim the first victim's composite sketch, and the second victim immediately identified the sketch as resembling her attacker.

Later that month,  Willie “Pete” Williams, a 23-year-old part-time painter, was in a car pulled over for a traffic violation when police noted that he resembled the composite sketch of a serial rapist in a nearby neighborhood. The officers included Pete in a line-up, and two victims and a witness identified Pete as the perpetrator. The actual rapist was not included in the line-up. 

Based solely on faulty eyewitness identification, and despite arguments Pete’s attorney made about an alternate suspect, a jury convicted Pete of rape, aggravated sodomy, and kidnapping. The judge sentenced him to 45 years in prison.

Learn more and get involved at:

https://nacdl.org/

https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Coming of age in Honduras, Clemente “Shorty” Aguirre was faced with a choice: join MS13 or die. He moved to Nicaragua with his grandmother instead, but with no economic prospects, he chose to come to the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Life was calm for a while, as he worked as a cook and lived in a trailer park, where he had found a place in a nice community of friends. Then, on June 17th, 2004, after a long night out, Shorty dropped by a neighboring trailer shared by his friends Cheryl Williams, part-time by her daughter Samantha, and her mother Carol Bareis. They were known for always having a stockpile of beer, and Shorty was going to ask them for an early morning nightcap, when he discovered Cheryl and Carol had been stabbed and were lying in pools of their own blood. Realizing that they were gone and that making a call to the police would certainly get him deported to a country where MS13 awaited his return, he went to his own trailer to lay low. Later that day, he came forward to investigators with his discovery and became the prime suspect. With the combination of an ineffective public defender, the prosecution’s tunnel vision, and plenty of circumstantial evidence, Clemente would be tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.

If you feel compelled to support Clemente, please go to: https://www.mightycause.com/story/Clementeaguirree2019

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 21, 1997, Gene Artis and his sister Yvonne Giles were shot and killed at their apartment in Suffolk, VA. Six-year-old Travone Artis was the only witness who saw his mother and uncle get murdered, and he unequivocally told authorities that a relative of his was the shooter. Despite this, 18 year old Lerico Kearney became a suspect when police found out he and Gene gambled together.There was no physical evidence linking Lerico to this crime, but with the help of multiple jailhouse snitches, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.change.org/p/governor-glen-youngkin-governor-youngkin-lerico-kearney-does-not-deserve-to-die-in-prison

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this updated special edition of Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom & Maggie Freleng, we revisit the case of Andre Brown, whose conviction was vacated in 2022 after newly presented evidence and witness testimony demonstrated he could not have committed the crime.

Despite this, the Bronx District Attorney has shockingly overturned the vacated ruling—and Andre is now being sent back to prison this Friday, April 25, 2025, to serve an additional 17 years, after already spending 23 years behind bars for a crime he has always maintained he did not commit.

Recorded live at the UJC Summit 2023, Jason and Maggie sat down with Andre to hear his firsthand account of the nightmare that began in 1999, when he was wrongfully convicted of attempted murder in the Bronx. Although Andre suffered from a medical condition that made running nearly impossible—and multiple witnesses pointed to another suspect—he was sentenced to two 20-year terms.

This episode is a Call to Action. Andre Brown’s life is once again on the line. We need your help!

Listen, share, and speak out. Justice must be upheld.

Take Action Below:

1. Contact the Bronx DA , Darcel Clark, and respectfully ask her to consent to resentencing: 718-590-2000 and email (email script is here)

2. Contact New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and respectfully ask her to grant Andre Brown clemency: 518-474-8390 and complete contact form (script for form is here)

3. Sign the Petition: https://www.change.org/p/nyc-government-the-people-free-andre-brown

To learn more, please visit: 
https://www.unjustandunsolved.com/post/episode-19-andre-brown

https://www.jiarizvi.com/andrebrown

https://www.deskovicfoundation.org/cases/the-case-of-andre-brown

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On March 25, 1988, Harold Wesley shot and killed Jimmy Calibera in a drug deal gone wrong. The crime occurred in front of the Breukelen Houses estates in Brooklyn, NY where John “Divine G” Whitfield lived with his mother and sister. Divine G was scheduled to turn himself in on drug charges in May of that year, but due to the testimony of an unreliable and incentivized informant, and despite evidence disproving this account, Divine was convicted of the murder and sentenced to 25 to life. 

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://chng.it/cX5Fb9vnZk

https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/new-york-discovery/

https://a24films.com/films/sing-sing

https://pen.org/the-whitfeld-files/

https://divinegentertainment.com/shop/

https://www.instagram.com/divine_g47

https://rta-arts.org/blog/sing-sings-john-divine-g-whitfield-clarence-divine-eye-maclin-where-are-they-now/ 

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 July 10, 1994, in Houston, TX, four to six armed men forcibly entered a house that was being used as a base for selling crack cocaine. The intruders kicked down the door and immediately opened fire. Willie Williams and Clifford Tyler were shot while trying to flee but survived. Alton “Bud” Brown managed to escape unharmed but Charles Monroe was shot and succumbed to his injuries and died. Neither Williams nor Tyler were able to identity the shooter and since there was no physical evidence the case was closed. 

12 years later, the case was re-opened with Ivery Dorsery as the primary suspect. Even though Ivery had several alibi witnesses who attested to his whereabouts the night of the crime and even though there was still no physical evidence tying anyone to the shooting, Ivery was charged and convicted with felony murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-iverys-fight-for-justicehttps://www.instagram.com/bringiveryhome/https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/186-jason-flom-with-alfred-dewayne-brown/

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 March 24, 2001, the burned body of Howard Rose was found in a pick up truck in Pennsylvania. Rose had been shot in the back of the head in Cleveland, OH the night before. Investigators centered on four suspects, including Arketa Willis and Marcus Blalock. As a result of a deal with the prosecution, Willis testified against Blalock, blaming him for the murder. No physical evidence defended this claim. Her testimony was the sole basis for his conviction of murder and sentence of twenty years to life. 

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.change.org/p/cuyahoga-county-prosecutor-michael-c-o-malley-assistant-pro[…]or-mary-mcgrath-conviction-integrity-unit-free-marcus-blalock

https://www.buycadmusbooks.com/pages/marcus-blalock

https://www.kimlawcrimlaw.com/

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/191-jason-flom-with-ru-el-sailor/

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/326-jason-flom-with-octavius-williams/

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.