444: #444 Jason Flom with Rafael Martinez
Authorities believe Rafael Martinez, his brothers Lorenzo Martinez, Daniel Martinez and Isidoro Medina-DeLeon killed Jose ‘Chino’ Jiminez because Mr. Jiminez shot Mr. Martinez in 1987 in Washington Heights, NY. However, Mr. Jiminez was never killed and is in fact alive and well to this day. Nevertheless, Rafael was convicted of murder and is presently serving consecutive sentences totaling 213 ...
51m Apr 18, 2024
51m
Introducing - Season 2 of PROOF: Murder at the Warehouse
The second season of PROOF: Murder at the Warehouse takes Susan Simpson and Jacinda Davis to Manteca, CA where they reinvestigate the murder of 18-year-old Renee Ramos. On June 5, 2000, Ramos’ body was found buried under a pile of debris inside the shell of a new Home Depot building. Despite tips hinting at alternate suspects - tips that were ignored until now - Renee’s boyfriend, 18-year-old s...
6m Apr 16, 2024
6m
443: #443 Jason Flom with Mario Casciaro
On December 21, 2002, 17-year-old Brian Carrick, a stock boy at Val’s Foods, a grocery store in Johnsburg, IL, was reported missing by his mother. Police determined that one of the last sightings of Carrick was a day earlier, on December 20, when he went to the store to pick up his paycheck. On December 22, police found blood spatter near a cooler used to store produce and a bloody fingerprint ...
48m Apr 11, 2024
48m
442: #442 Maggie Freleng with Amer Zada
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 innocen...
48m Apr 08, 2024
48m
441: #441 Jason Flom with Jeremy Puckett
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 ...
39m Apr 04, 2024
39m
440: #440 Maggie Freleng with Cassandra Black Elk
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...
39m Apr 01, 2024
39m
439: #439 Jason Flom with Glynn Simmons
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 ...
41m Mar 28, 2024
41m
438: #438 Maggie Freleng with Catina Curley
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...
46m Mar 25, 2024
46m
437: #437 Jason Flom with James Kluppleberg
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 ...
46m Mar 21, 2024
46m
436: #436 Maggie Freleng with Evaristo Salas
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.” Des...
54m Mar 18, 2024
54m
435: #435 Jason Flom with Chris Smith
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 l...
49m Mar 14, 2024
49m
433: #433 Jason Flom with Carl Miller
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...
45m Mar 07, 2024
45m
432: #432 Maggie Freleng with Eron Shelman
One day in May of 1992, 19-year-old Eron Shelman was driving around Detroit, MI with three of his buddies. Eron was at the wheel with his friend Antonio Knight beside him when suddenly, a shot rang out, and Antonio fell over, dead. “I almost crashed the car,” Eron recalls. “I had my dearest friend laying in my lap, bleeding out the back of his head.” Despite someone else confessing to the shoot...
50m Mar 04, 2024
50m
434: #434 Maggie Freleng with Kim Hoover
On November 29, 2002, 7-month-old Samaisha Benson began to struggle to breathe while under the care of childcare provider Kim Hoover. After being taken to the hospital, the baby was found to have a skull fracture and bleeding on her brain and tragically passed away two days later. Doctors and authorities suspected Samaisha was a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. A month later, Kim was arrested an...
48m Mar 03, 2024
48m
431: #431 Jason Flom with Tyrone Clark
On Saturday, June 23, 1973, a man attacked Anne Kane outside of her apartment in Boston, MA.  The man forced her inside, beat her, robbed her, raped her, and then kidnapped her dragging her all over the city for the next 6 and a half hours. She escaped into a local firehouse and ran away before the police arrived. A few days later, she identified Tyrone Clark as the assailant by picking his pho...
42m Feb 29, 2024
42m
430: #430 Maggie Freleng with Lorinda Swain
“When I tell people that I was sentenced 25 to 50 years, they automatically assume that I was accused of murder,” says Lorinda Swain. “And I always tell them, no, I was accused of worse than that.” In August of 2001, Lorinda was arrested in Calhoun County, Michigan for allegedly sexually molesting her adopted son, who was seven years old at the time. Although the boy recanted the allegation pri...
41m Feb 26, 2024
41m
429: #429 Jason Flom with Greg Brown
A house in Pittsburgh, PA, went up in flames on February 14, 1995, killing three firefighters while they were trying to put out the fire. A week later, a neighbor of 17-year-old Greg Brown came forward and said that he suspected Greg of lighting the fire. Greg and his mother lived at the house that had caught fire, and authorities suspected that the two of them set the fire to claim insurance m...
49m Feb 22, 2024
49m
428: #428 Maggie Freleng with Gary Williams
In February of 1999, 86-year-old Rosemary “Mama Rose” Williams arrived at a hospital in Queens NY, claiming that she’d been raped at knifepoint. She named her 36-year-old grandson, Gary, as the assailant. Despite there being no physical evidence that Ms. Williams was assaulted, and the fact that Gary was in another state he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Years later, Mama Rose adm...
49m Feb 19, 2024
49m
427: #427 Jason Flom with Lamont Hunter
January 18, 2006, 3-year-old Trustin Blue tumbled down his basement stairs in Cincinnati, OH, became unresponsive, and later brain dead. Trustin had been under the supervision of his mother’s boyfriend, Lamont Hunter, at the time of the incident. When Trustin was declared dead, the police began suspecting that Trustin had been raped and abused by Lamont, and had not actually fallen down the sta...
44m Feb 15, 2024
44m
426: #426 Maggie Freleng with Jason Walton
On a November Sunday in 2005, two 14-year-olds were shot outside of a street carnival in South Central Los Angeles, CA. One of the teenagers died, but the surviving victim and other individuals identified 21-year-old Jason Walton as the gunman. Despite having been seen on video surveillance footage miles from the scene at the time, and with no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Jason w...
54m Feb 12, 2024
54m
425: #425 Jason Flom with Larry Smith Jr.
In the early morning of March 24, 1994, 20-year-old Kenneth Hayes was getting out of his car when someone emerged from the bushes, chased him down, and fatally shot him in front of his home in Detroit, MI. 18-year-old Larry Smith Jr. became a suspect when a car belonging to a friend of his was spotted near the scene of the crime. Since there was no physical evidence tying Larry to the crime, au...
48m Feb 08, 2024
48m
424: #424 Maggie Freleng with Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance
In February of 1993, 70-year-old Anthony Dolff was found murdered in his home in Saskatchewan, Canada. That morning, indigenous sisters Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were picked up by police. The two were held at the station for five days and questioned repeatedly without counsel - even though someone else had confessed to the killing. “These were two young indigenous women trying to cope with ...
47m Feb 05, 2024
47m
423: #423 Jason Flom with Fabian Santiago
Several shots were fired from an alley toward a group of friends on the night of January 16, 1993, in Chicago, IL. One person was fatally shot and two others were wounded. Chicago detectives brought 16-year-old Fabian Santiago in for questioning and interrogated him for hours. The detectives claimed that Fabian admitted to the shooting, but there was no written or electronic record of this stat...
44m Feb 01, 2024
44m
422: #422 Maggie Freleng with Angela Garcia
In November of 1999, a fire broke out in Angela Garcia’s home in Cleveland, OH. Angela jumped out of a second-story window and ran for help, but her two young daughters died of smoke inhalation. Several months later, she was charged with their murder and received two life sentences. “I didn't hurt my daughters…I loved them like I love myself,” Angela tells Maggie. “I always believed that the tr...
48m Jan 29, 2024
48m
421: #421 Jason Flom with James Gibson
On December 22, 1989, two men were fatally shot at a garage on the south side of Chicago, IL. Twenty-three-year-old James Gibson was falsely implicated in the shooting and severely beaten by local police officers. After brutal interrogations and despite no physical evidence tying him to the crime, James was sentenced to life in prison for the murders. To learn more and get involved, visit: ht...
54m Jan 25, 2024
54m
420: #420 Maggie Freleng with Wilson Rivera
On September 15, 1993, two gunmen entered a home in Detroit, Michigan, and murdered Lavonda Brown and her son, 20-year old Douglas Williams. Detroit police rounded up  a number of suspects, questioning them for hours, including Wilson Rivera. Wilson had a solid alibi for that night. Not only that - the shooter had actually confessed to Wilson that he’d done it.  “I asked Roger, like, what's goi...
48m Jan 22, 2024
48m
419: #419 Jason Flom with Matt Huang
On January 15, 2013, Matt Huang’s eight-year-old adopted daughter, Gloria, unexpectedly passed away in Doha, Qatar. Despite the fact that Gloria had a variety of health issues and often exhibited symptoms of an eating disorder, authorities in Qatar immediately suspected Matt and his wife, Grace, of starving their daughter to death. The couple was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the death of ...
46m Jan 18, 2024
46m
418: #418 Maggie Freleng with Nikki Zinger
On March 8, 1991, 27-year-old Nikki Zinger and her boyfriend Daniel Risher returned home to find Nikki's mother brutally murdered. Despite there being no evidence that tied them to the crime, and a number of potential alternate suspects, both were convicted. Now sixty and in declining health, Nikki is still hopeful that DNA testing could exonerate her.  And she's still grieving her mother's dea...
56m Jan 15, 2024
56m
417: #417 Jason Flom with Larry Walker
In May of 1983, Clyde Coleman was fatally shot at his home in Philadelphia, PA. Eyewitnesses reported seeing three men fleeing the scene. But when police found that 22-year old Larry Walker was in a relationship with the victim, they stopped looking for other suspects. Two of the three eyewitnesses, one of whom was a juvenile at the time, testified that Larry was the perpetrator. The third test...
41m Jan 11, 2024
41m
416: #416 Jason Flom and Maggie Freleng with Andre Brown (Live from the UJC Summit 2023)
This special edition of Wrongful Conviction was recorded on December 1, 2023 live from the United Justice Coalition (UJC) Summit in New York City. This annual gathering brings together activists from all over the world with the expressed purpose of raising awareness of and devising ways to address some of the key social issues of our time. In this episode, Jason and Maggie sit down with Andre ...
52m Jan 08, 2024
52m
Wrongful Conviction 2024 - Trailer
Lava for Good’s critically acclaimed Wrongful Conviction podcast, co-hosted by celebrated criminal justice reform advocate and founding board member of the Innocence Project Jason Flom, and Pulitzer prize-winning podcast host and producer Maggie Freleng, returns with gripping new episodes that delve into harrowing stories highlighting pervasive issues in the criminal justice system. Flom and Fr...
2m Jan 01, 2024
2m
415: #415 Maggie Freleng with Faye Jacobs
February 9, 1992 started as a normal day for 16 year old Faye Jacobs – she attended church and hung out with friends in Little Rock, AR. When she and her mom drove home later, they passed bustling police activity. Intrigued, they stopped the car and got out. Suddenly, Faye was grabbed, pushed against the car and arrested for the shooting murder of Kevin Gaddy, a classmate of hers. Despite an ex...
42m Dec 28, 2023
42m
414: #414 Guest Host John Huffington with Elmer Daniels
On January 15, 1980, in Wilmington, DE, a 15-year-old girl, "G.S," reported she had been raped alongside the railroad tracks. The victim and her young male friend, "K.C.", said they were together on the tracks when a young black man approached them and assaulted G.S. After giving numerous inconsistent statements, K.C. told police he recognized the attacker from school and that his name was Elme...
55m Dec 21, 2023
55m
413: #413 Jason Flom with Rickey Jackson
On May 19th, 1975, in front of a store in Cleveland, OH, two assailants robbed a man, splashed acid in his face, shot and killed him, and then fired into the store injuring the co-owner. 12 year-old Eddie Vernon was riding a bus near the scene and later bragged that he had seen Rickey Jackson, as well as Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman commit the crime. However, according to all the other occupants ...
45m Dec 14, 2023
45m
Introducing: Radical
Hi, Wrongfrul Conviction fans! Tenderfoot TV, iHeartPodcasts, and Campside Media have teamed up for a riveting podcast called Radical. Hosted by journalist Mosi Secret, Radical investigates an Atlanta crime story to assess if justice was truly served. Since you enjoyed our show, we think you'll like this podcast too. Don't just take our word for it, though. Check out this trailer and start list...
3m Dec 12, 2023
3m
412: #412 Jason Flom with Douglas DiLosa
In September 1986, 34-year-old Douglas DiLosa was found bound with rope in his Jefferson Parish, LA home. His wife was found strangled upstairs. DiLosa, who is white, told police that he was awakened by a noise, and when he went downstairs to investigate, he was beaten and bound by two black men. Police suspected that DiLosa, who was in financial trouble, had murdered his wife for the insurance...
1hr 1m Dec 07, 2023
1hr 1m
411: #411 Jason Flom with John Jerome White
Early on the morning of August 11, 1979, an intruder broke into a Manchester, GA home to find a 74-year-old woman asleep on her couch. The man beat and sexually assaulted the woman and then demanded all her money. She gave the attacker cash from her purse and then he left through the back door. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but no rape kit was collected due to the ext...
53m Nov 30, 2023
53m
410: #410 Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Shaken Baby Syndrome
Kate Judson, Executive Director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, updates Josh Dubin's exploration of Shaken Baby Syndrome on Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science. Shaken Baby Syndrome isn’t a foolproof diagnosis. There are in fact many other causes for the symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome that do not arise from intentionally shaking a baby at all. Learn more and get involved: h...
50m Nov 27, 2023
50m
409: #409 Jason Flom with Terry Ceasor
On October 3, 2004, in Port Huron, MI, Terry Ceasor was at home alone with his girlfriend Cheryl’s 1 year old son, Brenden. Terry and Brenden had been playing a game that consisted of Terry chasing Brenden behind the couch when Terry briefly stepped away from the room to use the bathroom. After he left the room, Terry heard a loud thud and found Brenden unconscious on the living room floor. The...
46m Nov 23, 2023
46m
408: #408 Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Eyewitness Testimony
Josh Dubin discusses Eyewitness Testimony with renowned psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. She studies human memory, specifically the malleability of memory, a huge factor in cases where eyewitness testimony is used as evidence. It turns out that memories, just like other forms of evidence, can be manipulated, contaminated, and planted. Kate Ju...
48m Nov 20, 2023
48m
407: #407 Jason Flom with Jerome Dixon
Just after midnight on July 25, 1990, a man was shot and killed in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Oakland, CA. Shortly after the shooting, police picked up 17-year-old Jerome Dixon, who had been hanging out with his friends nearby, and drove him to the crime scene and then to the police station. Police interrogated Jerome for 25 hours eliciting a confession. Despite no physical evid...
47m Nov 16, 2023
47m
406: #406 Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Roadside Drug Test Evidence
Josh Dubin examines Roadside Drug Testing with Greg Glod, Criminal Justice Senior Policy Fellow. Faulty tests, which cost police departments $2 a piece or less, are widely used across the United States, causing countless people to plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit, despite scientific evidence that proves just how ineffective they really are. Kate Judson, Executive Director of the Cent...
46m Nov 13, 2023
46m
405: #405 Jason Flom with Pierre Rushing
On April 15, 2011, Dawone Taylor was murdered in Oakland, CA over a dispute about an allegedly stolen ipod. Pierre Rushing, a promising young musician who never met Mr. Taylor, was later charged and convicted for the murder primarily on the questionable testimony of a struggling drug addict who was unable to accurately describe Pierre’s appearance. Learn more and get involved: Pamela Price alc...
48m Nov 09, 2023
48m
404: #404 Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Coerced Confession Evidence
Josh Dubin does a deep dive into the psychology behind Coerced Confession Evidence with David Rudolf, criminal defense and civil rights attorney, and co-host of the podcast Abuse of Power. It turns out tactics used to extract Coerced Confessions are also rooted in Junk Science. Just like Bite Mark Evidence, Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, and so many others covered in this show, Coerced, or False...
52m Nov 06, 2023
52m
403: #403 Jason Flom with Gilbert King on the Groveland Four
On July 16, 1949, 17-year-old Norma Padgett and her estranged husband, Willie Padgett, reported to police that they had been attacked by four black men in Lake County, FL, with Norma claiming that the men had raped her. On the same day, police arrested 16-year-old Charles Greenlee, and 22-year-olds Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin. 26-year-old Ernest Thomas was hunted into the woods and gunned ...
43m Nov 02, 2023
43m
402: #402 Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Tool Mark Analysis
The notion that tools leave a unique mark on a surface is commonly presented to unsuspecting juries. But, it turns out that it's not necessarily the case at all. Josh Dubin talks about Tool Mark Analysis with Tim Requarth, a freelance journalist who often writes about the intersection between science and criminal justice and a lecturer in science and writing at New York University. Kate Judso...
46m Oct 30, 2023
46m
401: #401 Guest Host Ashley Fantz with Marvin Anderson
On July 17, 1982, in Hanover County, VA, a white woman was brutally raped by a black man who was a total stranger. During the rape, the man beat her and threatened her with a gun, and also mentioned that she was not the only white woman he had had sexual relations with. Based on this statement alone, police immediately suspected 18-year-old Marvin Anderson to be the perpetrator because Marvin l...
51m Oct 26, 2023
51m
400: #400 Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Gunshot Residue Evidence
Of all the many faulty forensic sciences, Gunshot Residue certainly has some truly startling and scary issues that began almost a century ago. Josh Dubin explores Gunshot Residue Evidence with Joanna Sanchez, Managing Counsel from the Wrongful Conviction Project at the Office of the Ohio Public Defender. Kate Judson, Executive Director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, updates...
43m Oct 23, 2023
43m
399: #399 Jason Flom with Sean Tyler and Reginald Henderson
On March 29, 1994, 10-year-old Rodney Collins was fatally shot while riding his bike after being caught in a crossfire between two street gangs in Chicago, IL. Two brothers, 17-year-old Sean Tyler and 18-year-old Reginald Henderson, came under suspicion after a corrupt police force used extreme physical abuse to force false confessions out of them and others. Despite no evidence linking them to...
50m Oct 19, 2023
50m
398: #398 Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science - Fingerprint Evidence
Contrary to what pop culture has ingrained in the American conscience, matching known fingerprints of a suspect to prints left at the scene of a crime is not an exact science. It’s entirely subjective. So how did fingerprints become so widely accepted and thought of as the gold standard, as fool proof evidence? Josh Dubin discusses Fingerprint Evidence with Mary Moriarty, former Chief Public D...
44m Oct 16, 2023
44m