Sometimes when detectives can't get a confession they'll settle for a something else

Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin explore the story of Emerson Stevens, a fisherman from Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. When a young mother was found murdered, it seemed all the evidence pointed to Emerson, until the case fell apart when a key witness was convicted of lying about the case and a forensic test technique was debunked and discredited.

Since the initial release of this episode, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam heard our voices, reviewed the case, and issued a pardon based on actual innocence. Emerson Stevens is finally free.

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

Learn more and get involved at https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/false-confessions

A portion of this podcast series’ proceeds will be donated to the Center on Wrongful Convictions. To donate, learn more, or get involved, go to http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an updated episode that originally aired on January 15, 2020.

In this live audience recording at ComplexCon Chicago 2019, Patrick Pursley tells us how a false identification, a coerced and immediately recanted statement, and false expert testimony led to his wrongful conviction. Amazingly, Patrick Pursley spearheaded changes to the law while still in prison in order to obtain the ballistic testing necessary to set himself free. His fight continues on the outside for his Certificate of Actual Innocence, as the state has yet to admit what is evidently true. His hearing is set for August 27th, 2021.

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.iamkidculture.org/
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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.

This is an updated episode that originally aired on May 20, 2020.

On July 28th, 1999, Julius Jones was playing monopoly with his family and soon to be a sophomore on an academic scholarship at the University of Oklahoma. That night, a man named Paul Howell was shot for his GMC Suburban in the nearby suburb of Edmund, Oklahoma. A few days later, Julius was awakened and dragged out of bed, barefoot and shirtless, and taken into police custody as a murder suspect even though the eyewitness description should have excluded him as a suspect.

3 witnesses (and counting) have come forward with sworn affidavits claiming that Julius’ former friend and co-defendant Chris Jordan has often taken responsibility for Paul Howell’s murder - while Julius awaits lethal injection.

Julius’ attorney Dale Baich, his mother and sister, Madeline and Antoinette Jones, as well as special guest Kim Kardashian join Jason Flom to discuss Julius’ case and the race to right this wrong before it's too late.

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.justiceforjuliusjones.com/
https://www.change.org/p/julius-jones-is-innocent-don-t-let-him-be-executed-by-the-state-of-oklahoma
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s12e64-wrongful-conviction-with-jason-flom-richard-glossip
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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.

This is an updated episode that originally aired on September 14, 2020.

In June 1986, Kevin Dykes witnessed the attempted murder of 2 people and the actual murder of a 3rd person in his neighborhood in Compton, CA. Kevin decided to go to the police, partly out of fear of reprisals by the killers who knew he witnessed the murder. The prosecutors then used his knowledge of the crimes that he witnessed against him and charged him with all 3 crimes.

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.change.org/free-kevin-dykes
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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.

James King has been sitting in prison for almost 25 years for a rape that he adamantly maintains he did not commit. His conviction strongly relied on the inconsistent and contradictory word of a then 13-year old girl who was allegedly hiding her inappropriate relationship with a neighbor twice her age. Despite the lack of material evidence, changed testimonies for the prosecution, and the credible rebuttal of the state’s expert’s absurd findings, King remains incarcerated, desperately working to establish his innocence.

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-free-james-eddie-king
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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.

At about 9:40AM on March 19th, 2010, John Jones woke to find his daughter Jada unresponsive and called 9-1-1. She was rushed to the hospital where she remained until July 16th, 2010, when she was removed from life support and passed away. Based on the junk science of shaken baby syndrome, John was convicted of murdering his daughter and sentenced to 15 years to life.

Greg Glod, Criminal Justice Fellow at Americans for Prosperity, returns
to our podcast to co-host with Jason Flom and share this tragic example of our
legal system gone awry.

For more on the junk science of Shaken Baby Syndrome, check out
Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Shaken Baby Syndrome with host
Josh Dubin, released on November 18th, 2020.
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s12e14-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-shaken-baby-syndrome

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.ohioinnocenceproject.org
https://cifsjustice.org/
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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 September 26th, 1989, Kevin Jones and a friend drove to an apartment with $40,000 cash to buy cocaine. Jones went inside, while the friend waited down the block. Almost two hours later, the friend saw Jones’ car approaching him, but Jones was not in it. Jones was later found dead, wrapped up, beaten and shot, in the trunk of that car. Troy Coleman, the owner of the apartment, was 60 miles away in Atlantic City at the time. Despite knowing of Coleman's whereabouts during the crime, prosecutors charged him anyway. Coleman was convicted and sentenced to life in prison where he has been for over 31 years, fighting for his freedom.

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.troycolemancase.com/
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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.

Joe Bryan was a high school principal, and his wife Mickey Bryan was a 4th-grade teacher in the small town of Clifton, TX. On Tuesday, October 15th, 1985, Mickey did not show up for work. Her body was discovered later that day in her bedroom. Joe was 120 miles away in Austin at a conference at that time. Prosecutors came up with a theory that Joe drove back to Clifton, killed his wife, and returned to Austin, using the conference as an alibi. He was convicted with "bloodstain analysis" which was later exposed to be wholly unreliable.

For more on the junk science of bloodstain analysis check out Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Bloodstain Pattern Evidence with host Josh Dubin, released on August 10, 2020. https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s11e14-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bloodstain-pattern-evidence

Learn more and get involved at:
https://innocencetexas.org/
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-forensic-science-commission-blood-spatter-evidence-testimony-murder-case-joe-bryan
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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 16, 1996, the owner of Tardy Furniture Company and three employees were found shot and killed. Curtis Flowers, who previously worked at the store, was charged with four counts of capital murder. Even though no physical evidence linked him to the crime, District Attorney Doug Evans used coerced and incentivized witnesses and racially discriminatory jury selection to send Curtis to Death Row. When his conviction was overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, DA Evans continued with the same tactics for 5 more trials over the next 23 years. It took the Supreme Court, the Mississippi Attorney General's office, and a podcast called In The Dark to set him free.

Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Gunshot Residue Evidence released on October 7, 2020:
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s12e2-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-gunshot-residue-evidence

Learn more and get involved at:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/curtis-flowers
https://features.apmreports.org/in-the-dark/season-two/
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

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.

At age 13, Marcus Wiggins became one of many young black men to be tortured into a false statement by sadistic Chicago PD Detective Commander Jon Burge and his “Midnight Crew.” When an eyewitness foiled their first frame job, Marcus’ mother Carolyn successfully sued and exposed these men, leading Burge’s underlings to embark on a vendetta to frame Marcus Wiggins for murder. After another failed attempt in 1994, they succeeded and sent Marcus to prison in 1999 for a crime that he did not commit.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-marcus-as-a-free-man

Northwestern University Students’ Documentary, “Heroes for a Semester”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUtWjeFkIbM

Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions - The Midnight Crew released on October 26, 2020:
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s12e7-wrongful-conviction-false-confessions-the-midnight-crew

Righteous Convictions - Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx released on April 26, 2021:
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/podcast/s12e49-righteous-convictions-cook-county-states-attorney-kim-foxx

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

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.