In the early morning hours of June 15, 1979, 17-year-old Amer Zada’s truck stalled out near the waterfront in Nyack, NY. While he waited for a ride, Amer discovered the body of Shirley Smith behind a dumpster in a restaurant parking lot. Minutes later, police arrived on the scene. Amer was thrown into the cruiser, arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. Evidence proving his innocence was never turned over to his trial attorney.  “I guess the first time the reality of my situation hit me was the day of my sentencing, when they gave me 25 to life,” Amer remembers. “I just fell apart. I can still feel that feeling right now in my heart.”

https://www.gofundme.com/f/innocent-man-released-from-prison-after-41-years

https://www.deskovicfoundation.org/

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

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On March 14, 1998, Anthony Galati was found murdered along the side of a road in Rancho Cordova, CA. The case went cold until October 1999, when Israel Septs, an inmate in a California prison, told police that he witnessed the crime. Septs claimed that 23-year-old Jeremy Puckett and 18-year-old Angela Dvorsky killed Galati after they robbed him. Despite having an alibi and no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Jeremy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder.

To learn more, visit:

https://ncip.org/

We started the Wrongful Conviction podcast to provide a voice to innocent people in prison. 

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Tell us how these powerful, often tragic and sometimes triumphant, stories make you feel.  

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

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On the morning of February 19th, 2022, Cassandra Black Elk awoke to find her three-week-old daughter StarLight lifeless beside her. Police insisted the baby had died due to Shaken Baby Syndrome - and that Cassandra was responsible. “They were telling me their story,” Cassandra remembers, “that somebody did something to StarLight…somebody killed her.” Cassandra knew she hadn’t hurt her baby. She asked her lawyer repeatedly - what does the autopsy report say? But by the time she got the answer, Cassandra had been convicted of having caused her daughter’s death, and was already in prison.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/cassi-black-elk-innocent-and-finally-freed

https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org

F5 Project

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two gunmen robbed a liquor store in Edmond, OK, on December 30, 1974. The gunmen fatally shot an employee and left an eyewitness injured. At this time, police were also investigating a series of unrelated crimes and brought 22-year-old Glynn Simmons and his co-defendant in for questioning due to a tangential connection to the suspects in the other crimes. Glynn was put into various lineups and charged with the liquor store crime despite no physical evidence tying him to the robbery/murder. The two men were ultimately both sentenced to death for the crime. 

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/glynnrsimmons

We started the Wrongful Conviction podcast to provide a voice to innocent people in prison. 

We want to hear your voices, too.

So call us at 833-207-4666 and leave us a message.

Tell us how these powerful, often tragic and sometimes triumphant, stories make you feel.  

Shocked?

Inspired?  

Motivated?

We want to know! 

We may even include your story in a future episode.

And hey, the more of you that join in, the more power our collective voices will have.

So tell a friend to listen and to call us too at 833-207-4666

 

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 30th, 2005, police were called to a home in New Orleans, LA. There, they found Renaldo Curley dead of a single gunshot wound. His estranged wife, 32-year-old Catina Curley, told police that she was in fear for her life when she shot Renaldo in self-defense. Police evidence - and the testimony of their children - showed that Renaldo had been physically abusing Catina for years. Yet, she was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. “It could have been me, you know,” she reflects. “It could have been me that was dead and away from my kids.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-safe or text “start” to 88788.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early morning hours of March 24,1984, a fire erupted on the first floor of an apartment building in Chicago, IL. The fire destroyed the building and killed six people, including young children. Four years later, James Kluppelberg was taken into police custody after he had reported an unrelated arson case. Police began intensely interrogating James about the apartment building fire until he falsely confessed to the crime. Despite the fact that the only evidence against James was the testimony of a single incentivized witness, he was sentenced to life in prison for the fire.  

To reach James, email him at: 

[email protected]

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/392-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-arson-evidence/

https://www.exonerationproject.org/

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jose Arreola was shot to death inside a pickup truck on November 14, 1995, in Sunnyside, WA. Five months later, a police informant identified a local teenager, Evaristo Salas, as the shooter. He was arrested and taken to the adult jail. “I'm 15 years old, I look like I'm 12. I weigh about a hundred pounds,” Evaristo remembers. “I'm five foot and I'm just surrounded. And I'm scared as hell.” Despite the fact that there was no physical evidence tying Evaristo to the crime, he was convicted and sentenced to 32 years and nine months in prison.

To learn more, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/v47qe2-a-new-beginning

https://wainnocenceproject.org

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2007, a man wearing a wig and sunglasses entered a Bell Wireless store on the west side of Cincinnati, OH brandishing a gun. He ordered the patrons to the floor, demanded money from the store manager, and fled with the store's till. A witness across the street allegedly saw the man put on the wig and sunglasses, enter the store and flee a few minutes later in a Ford Expedition. The witness later identified that man as Chris Smith. Soon after the robbery, police found the Ford Expedition, a wig and sunglasses in the vicinity of Chris’s residence. Despite DNA test results performed on the wig and sunglasses that pointed to another man, Chris was still convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 26 years in prison.

To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://www.instagram.com/therealolhound/?hl=en

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWVPwQ_EQ5KpY52SgneVAGw

https://open.spotify.com/artist/22mtNHFVtFOzdsPPuuJCJt

https://soundcloud.com/olhound

https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2020/04/n20907729.html

https://law.uc.edu/real-world-learning/centers/ohio-innocence-project-at-cincinnati-law.html

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 29, 2002, a 7-month-old baby enrolled in Kim Hoover's Columbus, Ohio home day care began to struggle to breathe. After being taken to the hospital, the baby was found to have a skull fracture and bleeding on her brain; tragically passing away two days later. Doctors and authorities began to suspect the child was a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome due to her brain injuries. Despite no evidence of prior abuse or accidents while under her care, Kim was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murder and child abuse. 

To learn more, visit:

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/410-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-shaken-baby-syndrome/

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On October 25, 1979, Rabbi David Okunov was robbed and fatally shot while on his way to temple in Brooklyn, New York. Two eyewitnesses described the perpetrator to authorities, and the police's first primary suspect fingered 19-year-old Carl Miller as the gunman. Despite not matching either eyewitness's descriptions, not being picked out of the line-up, and no physical evidence tying him to the crime, Carl was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder.

To learn more and get involved, please visit:
https://jhenninglaw.com/contact/

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.