Wrongful Conviction

In this episode, Rabia and Colin chat with Jason Flom about his transition from leading roles in the music industry to becoming an advocate for criminal justice reform, wrongful convictions, and innocence work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On July 5, 2000, Ricardo Aguilera was shot and wounded in a gang related drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California. Several witnesses identified 25-year-old Rafael Madrigal Jr. in a photo lineup as either the shooter or driver of the car involved.  Those witnesses testified against Rafael at trial. Rafael, who maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal, had been at work at Proactive Packaging, a 50-minute drive away, at the time of the shooting.  A co-worker could have confirmed his alibi, and his boss could have testified that he was certain Madrigal was at work because he was the only one who knew how to operate one of the machines in the production line. But Rafael’s defense attorney only called a single co-worker to the stand at the trial, and did not present a recording of Rafael’s co-defendant admitting that Rafael was not involved. On January 18, 2002, a jury convicted Rafael of attempted murder and he was sentenced to 53 years to life in prison. 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 1998, Vanessa Gathers was wrongfully convicted of robbing and beating 71-year-old Michael Shaw to death. There was no physical evidence linking Vanessa to the crime, and her conviction was based on a false confession extracted from her by notorious New York police detective Louis Scarcella, whose tactics led to the wrongful convictions of more than a dozen people. She is joined by her attorney Lisa Cahill in this episode. 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 1, 1990, Thomas Peters and James Coleman were shot while shooting craps outside a liquor store on the west side of Chicago, IL at about 1:30 am. The men were taken to a hospital, where Peters died and Coleman was treated and released for a gunshot wound in the back. Day and a codefendant were arrested eight days later after a nephew of Peters and witness to the crime, told police they were the shooters. Despite several other witnesses willing to attest to Day’s innocence, both he and his codefendant were found guilty and sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 60 years for murder and 25 years for attempted murder. In this episode, Antoine Day is joined by Laura Caldwell, a former civil trial attorney who is now the director of Life After Innocence. 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 January 18, 1991, six teenage boys were standing on a curb talking in front of a house in the Los Angeles, CA suburb of Lynwood. Donald Sarpy, the father of one of the boys, stepped onto the driveway to call his son inside when a car drove by and two shots were fired, killing Sarpy. 16-year-old Francisco “Franky” Carrillo Jr. became a suspect in the case after he was mistakenly identified by the police as the shooter in separate case. On the night of the Sarpy shooting, the police showed one of the eyewitnesses a picture of Carrillo. That witness later identified Carrillo as the shooter and told the five other witnesses to identify Carrillo as the shooter. There was no physical evidence linking Carrillo to the crime. However, all the eyewitnesses identified Carrillo as the shooter and testified to the identification. Franky was convicted of murder, attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison. 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 the early morning hours of July 14, 2004, 19 year-old Adrian Payan and 18 year-old Emerson Bojorquez were ambushed at a nightclub in Houston, TX. A man named Jason Wooley fired the first shot of the shootout, and a man waited outside in a Cadillac, wearing a blue shirt and firing shots from an assault rifle. Bojorquez was killed, but Payan survived. Witnesses noted the Cadillac’s license plate number and police traced it to Pablo Velez, Jr. Velez had a solid alibi, but an eyewitness apparently identified him in a photo lineup. As a result, Velez was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. To learn more and get involved: https://www.facebook.com/JusticeforPabloVelezJr/Texas Board of Pardons and ParolesP. O. Box 13401Austin, Texas 78711-3401E-mail: bpp_pio@tdcj.texas.govhttps://www.lw.com/ To get involved in helping exonerees like Pablo Velez rebuild their lives after release: www.after-innocence.org Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco  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 August 1987, the body of 44-year-old single mother of two, Sandra Lison, was found in the Machickanee Forest in Green Bay, WI. She went missing from her bar the night prior. An autopsy showed that she was strangled and evidence suggested she was raped. Investigators interviewed the bar’s patrons, including brothers, 32-year-old David Bintz and 31-year-old Robert Bintz. No evidence suggested their, or anyone else’s involvement, and the case went cold for four years. In 1991, Lison’s purse was found 40 miles south of where her body was found. Yet, the case went cold again for the next seven years. Meanwhile, David was incarcerated for an unrelated crime, and a fellow inmate reported hearing David, who is intellectually disabled, sleep-talking about Lison’s death, apparently talking about killing her with his brother. This so-called confession gave investigators the lead they needed to arrest David and Robert. Once in custody, David confessed to the crime while simultaneously stating that he was at home at the time and not involved. What’s more – DNA evidence exonerated David and Robert from the rape before trial. The prosecution just changed their theory though, and David and Robert were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. To learn more and get involved: https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/ https://law.wisc.edu/fjr/clinicals/ip/ To get involved in helping exonerees like Robert Bintz rebuild their lives after release:  www.after-innocence.org Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco  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.