Wrongful Conviction

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 skateboarder Jake Silva, and Ty Lopes, the 33-year-old uncle of one of Jake's close friends were arrested for her murder. The questionable testimony of a 14-year-old boy was the key evidence used to convict them both to life in prison. Ty Lopes was killed in prison in 2011. Twenty-three years after Renee Ramos was murdered, Jake Silva remains in prison and maintains he is innocent. In season two of PROOF: Murder at the Warehouse, Susan and Jacinda travel the streets of Manteca, reinvestigating the case against Jake and Ty – and in the process uncover long-overlooked evidence about what really happened to Renee. Follow the case as Susan and Jacinda uncover long overlooked evidence about what really happened to Renee by listening to PROOF: Murder at the Warehouse wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 on the cooler’s exterior door handle. DNA tests identified the blood spatter near the cooler as Carrick’s. The blood that was on the cooler door handle was identified by DNA testing as belonging to Robert Render, another stock boy at Val’s. But a different stock boy, 19-year-old Mario Casciaro, was charged and sentenced to 26 years in prison for Carrick’s murder. To learn more, visit: https://casciarolaw.com/ We started the Wrongful Conviction podcast to provide a voice to innocent people in prison.  We want to hear your voices, too. So call us at 833-207-4666 and leave us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic and sometimes triumphant, stories make you feel.   Shocked? Inspired?   Motivated? We want to know!  We may even include your story in a future episode. And hey, the more of you that join in, the more power our collective voices will have. So tell a friend to listen and to call us too at 833-207-4666 Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 innocence was never turned over to his trial attorney.  “I guess the first time the reality of my situation hit me was the day of my sentencing, when they gave me 25 to life,” Amer remembers. “I just fell apart. I can still feel that feeling right now in my heart.” https://www.gofundme.com/f/innocent-man-released-from-prison-after-41-years https://www.deskovicfoundation.org/ Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 linking him to the crime, Jeremy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder. To learn more, visit: https://ncip.org/ We started the Wrongful Conviction podcast to provide a voice to innocent people in prison.  We want to hear your voices, too. So call us at 833-207-4666 and leave us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic and sometimes triumphant, stories make you feel.   Shocked? Inspired?   Motivated? We want to know!  We may even include your story in a future episode. And hey, the more of you that join in, the more power our collective voices will have. So tell a friend to listen and to call us too at 833-207-4666 Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 asked her lawyer repeatedly - what does the autopsy report say? But by the time she got the answer, Cassandra had been convicted of having caused her daughter’s death, and was already in prison. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cassi-black-elk-innocent-and-finally-freed https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org F5 Project Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 charged with the liquor store crime despite no physical evidence tying him to the robbery/murder. The two men were ultimately both sentenced to death for the crime.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/glynnrsimmons We started the Wrongful Conviction podcast to provide a voice to innocent people in prison.  We want to hear your voices, too. So call us at 833-207-4666 and leave us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic and sometimes triumphant, stories make you feel.   Shocked? Inspired?   Motivated? We want to know!  We may even include your story in a future episode. And hey, the more of you that join in, the more power our collective voices will have. So tell a friend to listen and to call us too at 833-207-4666   Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. “It could have been me, you know,” she reflects. “It could have been me that was dead and away from my kids.” If you are experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-safe or text “start” to 88788. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 he falsely confessed to the crime. Despite the fact that the only evidence against James was the testimony of a single incentivized witness, he was sentenced to life in prison for the fire.   To reach James, email him at:  jrkrepair@gmail.com To learn more and get involved, visit: https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/392-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-arson-evidence/ https://www.exonerationproject.org/ Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.” Despite the fact that there was no physical evidence tying Evaristo to the crime, he was convicted and sentenced to 32 years and nine months in prison. To learn more, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/v47qe2-a-new-beginning https://wainnocenceproject.org Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 later identified that man as Chris Smith. Soon after the robbery, police found the Ford Expedition, a wig and sunglasses in the vicinity of Chris’s residence. Despite DNA test results performed on the wig and sunglasses that pointed to another man, Chris was still convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 26 years in prison. To learn more and get involved, visit:https://www.instagram.com/therealolhound/?hl=en https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWVPwQ_EQ5KpY52SgneVAGw https://open.spotify.com/artist/22mtNHFVtFOzdsPPuuJCJt https://soundcloud.com/olhound https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2020/04/n20907729.html https://law.uc.edu/real-world-learning/centers/ohio-innocence-project-at-cincinnati-law.html Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 29, 2002, a 7-month-old baby enrolled in Kim Hoover's Columbus, Ohio home day care began to struggle to breathe. After being taken to the hospital, the baby was found to have a skull fracture and bleeding on her brain; tragically passing away two days later. Doctors and authorities began to suspect the child was a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome due to her brain injuries. Despite no evidence of prior abuse or accidents while under her care, Kim was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murder and child abuse.  To learn more, visit: https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/410-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-shaken-baby-syndrome/ Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 crime, Carl was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder. To learn more and get involved, please visit:https://jhenninglaw.com/contact/ Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 shooting, Eron was convicted of Antonio’s murder and sentenced to life in prison.  Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 photo out of several photographs the police shared with her. Tyrone Clark was convicted of rape and sentenced to life in prison. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tyrone-clark-released https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/050-jason-flom-with-ronald-cotton/ https://www.newenglandinnocence.org/ https://www.publiccounsel.net/pc/innocence-program/ Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“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 prior to trial and then again after her conviction, Lorinda remained incarcerated for seven years before being released on bond. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://michigan.law.umich.edu/academics/experiential-learning/clinics/michigan-innocence-clinic-0 Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 money. Despite no physical evidence supporting this theory, Greg was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder, arson, and insurance fraud. To learn more and get involved, visit:https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/392-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-arson-evidence/ https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/386-jason-flom-with-kristine-bunch-update/ https://painnocence.org/ https://www.pointpark.edu/news-communication/innocence-institute-work-leads-to-reopening-of-highprofile-case Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 admitted to family members that she regretted making the accusation, saying, “It’s time to get Gary out.” Speaking with Maggie at Fishkill Correctional Facility, Gary says that he believes his grandmother was in the early stages of dementia when she made the claim that sent him to prison - and that he forgives her. “I have to,” he says, “because I believe that something was wrong with her.” Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 stairs as Lamont claimed. The case against Lamont was centered around allegations of prior abuse against Trustin and the manner of Trustin’s injuries. Lamont  was convicted and sentenced to death for the incident.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/3k5jem-free-after-wrongful-incarceration-on-death-row https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/172-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-shaken-baby-syndrome/ https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/373-jason-flom-with-elwood-jones/ https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/379-jason-flom-with-keith-lamar-pt-1/  Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. Jason believes police never bothered investigating other leads.“I don't feel like they ultimately cared about the victim nor myself,”  says Jason, speaking by phone from California State Prison. “It's like, “Well, one gang member's dead, one gang member's shot, one gang member's in jail. We got a three for one in a way.” To learn more and get involved, visit: https://theinnocencecenter.org/jason-walton https://linktr.ee/Justice4jasonwalton https://gofund.me/0b59e571 Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, authorities relied on junk science and questionable eyewitness testimony to convict him of the murder and sentence him to life in prison without parole. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.lifeafterjustice.org/ https://www.jarrettadamslaw.com/redeeming-justice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiterrorism_and_Effective_Death_Penalty_Act_of_1996 https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/396-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-footwear-comparison-evidence/ Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.