Wrongful Conviction

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.

On May 21, 1988, about 5:00 a.m., the victim, after an argument with her boyfriend, left his parked car and walked alone toward her home in St. Louis, MO. Shortly thereafter, three males pulled their car alongside her, jumped out of the car, grabbed the victim by the hair, pulled her into an alley, pushed her to the ground, and tore her dress. Two of the men held her down, while the third man sodomized and raped her.  The victim identified the rapist as Fredrico Lowe-Bey. 

Fredrico Lowe-Bey was charged and convicted for kidnapping, rape, and sodomy of the woman and received consecutive sentences of 35 years for each sex-offense count and 15 years for tampering.

Years later DNA testing has "affirmatively excluded Lowe-Bey", though he remains behind bars today.

To learn more and get involved:

https://centurion.org/donatenow/

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.

Jason Flom sits down for an interview with Maggie Freleng, the Pulitzer prize-winning producer, journalist and host of Bone Valley Season 3 | Graves County. In this special episode, Maggie talks with Jason about her experiences reporting this show from a small town in Kentucky for over 2 years, and how truth and justice can get lost in the pursuit of retribution.

Graves County is out now in the Bone Valley feed. New episodes are available every Wednesday. Subscribers to Lava For Good+ on Apple Podcasts can listen to the entire series today.

To learn more and get involved, please visit: 

http://apple.co/BoneValley

https://governor.ky.gov/contact

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/541-guest-host-maggie-freleng-with-quincy-cross/

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 April 9, 1997, shortly after midnight in Buffalo, NY, Officers Charles “Skip” McDougald and Michael Martinez were patrolling near Northampton and East Parade in Buffalo’s East Side when they observed what they described as a “suspicious person.” According to police accounts, when they approached, the individual produced a handgun and fired. Officer McDougald was struck in the chest and fatally wounded, and Officer Martinez was shot and seriously injured but survived. Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Parker was convicted for the shooting death of Officer McDougald and the attempted murder of Officer Martinez, and was sentenced to life without parole plus consecutive terms. The prosecution’s case rested heavily on eyewitness testimony and seized items, while Parker has consistently maintained his innocence. 

To learn more and get involved, please visit: 

https://www.instagram.com/metcalflawnyc/

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/159-jason-flom-with-keyontay-ricks/

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/s1e1-us-senator-dick-durbin-on-ending-mass-incarceration/

Or call: 

Steven Metcalf: 631.521.1499

[email protected]

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.

Maggie Freleng, along with Executive Producers Gilbert King and Jason Flom bring you the first episode of Maggie’s new documentary series, years in the making: Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY. 

In it Maggie takes us to a small town in Graves County, Kentucky, where a terrible discovery on the front lawn of a middle school invites a string of amateur and professional investigators to try to solve a murder. Maggie is the latest investigator to get pulled in. And she’ll take all of us along as she teases out this complicated web of rumors and lies, and perhaps even the truth.

In this special preview of Chapter 1, we hear from Victoria Caldwell. Her account of the killing of Jessica Currin would become the driving force in the conviction of Quincy Cross and others for the murder of Jessica Currin.  

You can hear Chapter 2 right now in the Bone Valley feed. New episodes of Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY are available every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. To binge the entire season, ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

Tomorrow we’ll bring you the next, new episode of Wrongful Conviction.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the night of February 4, 2011, Avalisa Morris was shot and killed at a birthday party in the basement of a two-family home in Queens, NY. The fatal gunshots were fired from outside the party, through the closed door of the entrance to the basement. Even though no eyewitnesses placed Allen at the door with a weapon, he was tried under an acting-in-concert theory, and convicted of second‑degree manslaughter and related firearms charges. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

To learn more and get involved, please visit: 

https://www.instagram.com/brukky_freewise/

https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2024/09/18/tim-pearson-investigation

https://jacobin.com/2024/10/timothy-pearson-nyc-asylum-seekers

https://www.netflix.com/title/80187052 

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.

In Season 1 of Bone Valley, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King tells a story of a man, Leo Schofield, fighting to prove his innocence in the case of his wife Michelle’s murder.

In Season 2, “JEREMY” Gilbert King brings us a story about her actual killer, Jeremy Scott, fighting to prove his guilt. The State of Florida does not believe either man.

Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY is a new story about a new case. A story that shares many familiar themes with the first two seasons of Bone Valley - an unspeakable crime, a dubious investigation, half-truths that ensnare innocent people, and heartbroken families caught in the middle.

GRAVES COUNTY is hosted by Maggie Freleng, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the hosts of Lava For Good’s Wrongful Conviction and is executive produced by Gilbert King.

Maggie is going to take us to a small town in Graves County, Kentucky, where a terrible discovery on the front lawn of a middle school invites a string of amateur and professional investigators to try to solve a murder. Maggie is the latest investigator to get pulled in. And she’ll take all of us along as she teases out this complicated web of rumors and lies, and perhaps even the truth.

Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY will be available every Wednesday beginning September 17 wherever you get your podcasts. To binge the entire season, ad-free, starting September 17, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18-year-old Jessica Currin’s burned and decomposing body was discovered on August 1, 2000 behind Mayfield Middle School in Mayfield, KY. Jessica had lacerations on the back of her head, nose and chin, and stab wounds. The medical examiner also believed she had been strangled but there was no evidence to support this theory. The case went cold for a few years, until a couple of supposed eyewitnesses came forward, motivated by promises of reward money, and told inconsistent stories that they and multiple others had kidnapped, killed, and raped Jessica. They said Quincy Cross was one of the people involved, and that he was the person who hit and strangled Jessica. Based on this unreliable testimony, as well as a jailhouse snitch, and despite a lack of physical evidence connecting him to this crime, Quincy was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of Jessica Currin and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Maggie Freleng talks to Quincy Cross and Miranda Hellman, Quincy's attorney. 

To learn more and get involved, please visit: 

https://www.change.org/p/free-quincy-cross

www.kentuckyinnocenceproject.org

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.