Wrongful Conviction Podcasts

In 1988, 16 year old Felix Valentin was shot in his car in an alley on the West Side of Chicago. Before slipping into a coma and eventually death, he was able to identify his shooter and the getaway driver, 2 members of the Imperial Gangsters. An 11 year old eyewitness named Orlando Lopez initially identified Jacques Rivera, a member of the Latin Kings. Shortly after, Lopez realized his mistake, b...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 10. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. James Anderson and Jason discuss the shortcomings of public defense, sentencing disparities, and the RAND Corporation's work on racial equity in our criminal legal system. htt...

On November 27, 2005, Catherine Woods was found viciously stabbed to death in her Upper Eastside apartment. At the time, her ex boyfriend David Haughn stayed on her couch while she was romantically involved with Paul Cortez. When David discovered this other man, he was jealous and upset, yet Haughn did not become the prime suspect despite damning evidence against him. A confluence of racism, a fal...

As a 30 year veteran of the Michigan Department of Corrections, Andy Potter has gained invaluable experience doing one of the toughest jobs in the country. After years of putting this knowledge to work through his leadership in the Michigan Corrections Organization, Andy founded his own organization. One Voice United incorporates corrections officers and other frontline staff into the discussion o...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 9. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. Katie Schaffer teams up with Jason to discuss penal education programs, bail reform, and making our carceral system more humane. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://...

43 year old Jerome Loach was performing in a play at a church in South Philadelphia, PA on the evening of January 10, 2009. At the same time, police responded to a home invasion, in which three women were confronted at gunpoint by men posing as pizza deliverers. Two men were arrested, but a third man was implicated – Jerome. While the incriminating statement was recanted before trial, it was prese...

Chris Redlitz, a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, has made a career of capitalizing on emerging technologies, but a visit to San Quentin made him recognize another great investment, the vast untapped human talent languishing in our nation's prisons. The Last Mile was co-founded by Chris in 2010 as an organization with the goal of breaking the cycle of incarceration by providing educatio...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 8. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. Kris Brown, President of Brady United chats with Jason about the impact of gun violence, the NRA and the legacy of Jim and Sarah Brady. To learn more and get involved, visit: h...

Stephanie Spurgeon was a married mother of two who had been running a daycare facility from her home for 15 years. On August 21, 2008, Stephanie took care of 1 year old Maria Harris for the first time. Maria’s grandmother picked her up that day, but soon noticed Maria was unresponsive. After 8 days in the hospital, Maria passed away. Since Stephanie was the last supervisor of the child, she was ac...

Record Industry promoter and manager Bill Underwood was given a life sentence for some old charges under the newly minted draconian laws of the war on drugs. His daughter Ebony Underwood eventually made it her life's work to gather the voices of other survivors of parental incarceration to affect change. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.wegotusnow.org/donate   https://www.ebonyun...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 4. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. Alex Duran joins Jason to share with us his transformation from inmate to criminal justice reformer. He now manages a $20 million annual fund on behalf of Galaxy Gives dedicate...

On August 10th, 1994, a man and a woman were in a van in West Philadelphia, when two males approached. One blocked the passenger door, while the other shot the man before he could get out of the van. The witness identified 16 year old Johnny Berry from a photo, but rescinded the ID at a preliminary hearing. Inexplicably, Johnny was re-arrested and sent back to juvenile detention, where he met Tauh...

James Anderson and Jason discuss the shortcomings of public defense, sentencing disparities, and the RAND Corporation's work on racial equity in our criminal legal system. https://www.rand.org/ https://lavaforgood.com/righteous-convictions Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom is a production of Lava For Good Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

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 taken into police custody even though the eyewitness description should have excluded him as a suspect. 3 wi...

One look at the usual dysfunction of our criminal legal system drew the attention and weight of this driven financier and philanthropist to engage and strategize for the biggest return on investment.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.galaxygives.com/ https://lavaforgood.com/righteous-convictions Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom is a production of Lava For Good Podcasts in as...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 4. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. DeRay McKesson joins Jason to talk about his journey from school administrator to activist. His work with Campaign Zero is bringing real reforms to police departments all over...

On October 11th, 1990, former New Haven, CT alderman Ricardo Turner and his lover were shot dead in their bed. Detective Vincent Raucci knew just who to pin it on, a small-time dealer named Scott Lewis. To make the case, Raucci attempted to extract false testimony from Scott’s friend Stefon Morant. When Stefon refused to go along with the scheme, Raucci pinned the murder on Stefon as well, even th...

Katie Schaffer teams up with Jason to discuss educating prisoners, bail reform and making our penal system more humane. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.communityalternatives.org/ https://envisionfreedom.org/ https://justiceandopportunity.org/ https://lavaforgood.com/righteous-convictions Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom is a production of Lava For Good Podcasts in associati...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 4. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. Alexander McLean joins Jason to talk about his work with Justice Defenders. Justice Defenders is a non-profit that works to provide prisoners and prison officers with legal edu...

In just the first month of 1984, five women from the ages of 18 to 20 were sexually assaulted in East Richmond, Virginia. One victim saw an 18 year old named Thomas Haynesworth while he was walking to his local grocery store and called the police naming him as her attacker. Thomas was eventually convicted for three of the sexual assault incidents and sentenced to a total of 74 years in prison. Eve...

Kris Brown, President of Brady United chats with Jason about the impact of gun violence, the NRA and the legacy of Jim and Sarah Brady. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.bradyunited.org/ https://lavaforgood.com/righteous-convictions Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 4. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. John Fetterman, Lt. Governor of PA, joins Jason to talk about using compassion, mercy, and second chances to reform our criminal justice system. To learn more and get involved,...

Amanda Brumfield, the estranged daughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton, was blamed for the death of her best friend’s daughter. On October 3, 2008, 1 year old Olivia Garcia had been sleeping in her playpen at Amanda’s house, when she woke up at around midnight and attempted to crawl out of her crib. Olivia fell from the rails and landed head first on the floor. She died a few hours later at the hosp...

Alex Duran joins Jason to share with us his transformation from inmate to criminal legal system reformer. He now manages a $20 million annual fund on behalf of Galaxy Gives dedicated to ending mass incarceration in the US.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.galaxygives.com/ https://www.galaxygives.com/fellowship billy@galaxygives.com https://lavaforgood.com/righteous-convictions R...

The is a re-release of Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom, Season 2, Episode 3. New episodes drop every Tuesday on the Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom feed. Please search and subscribe to be the first to hear them. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Static join Jason to talk about their work with Road Recovery, an entertainment industry-driven non-profit organization dedicated to helping young pe...