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Lava for Good Podcasts


Hosted by celebrated criminal justice reform advocate and founding board member of the Innocence Project Jason Flom, Pulitzer prize-winning podcast host and producer Maggie Freleng, and Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and podcast host Lauren Bright Pacheco, Wrongful Conviction features intimate conversations with men and women who have spent years in prison for crimes they maintain they did not commit. Some have been fully exonerated and reunited with family and friends while others continue to languish, with some even facing execution on death row. Each episode peels back the layers behind the stories of those who have found themselves caught in a legal system gone wrong, with illuminating insights from lawyers and leading experts sharing their in-depth knowledge about each case, from prison visits and courtroom battles to reexamined crime scenes and witness interviews. This gripping series reveals the tragedy of injustice…as well as the triumph that is possible when people step up and demand change.


Wrongful Conviction

On May 12, 1990, Ron Hilgenberg and his wife were driving in South Dakota on Interstate 90 when a passing vehicle opened fire, killing the 76-year-old man. Stacy Larson and two of his friends were charged with his murder despite no physical evidence linking him to the crime, and what his attorneys called an iron-clad alibi. Stacy was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
 
If you have information on Stacy's case, please call: (612) 624 4779
 
or email us at: info@gn-ip.org
 
To learn more and get involved, visit:
 
Great North Innocence Project
 
https://www.greatnorthinnocenceproject.org/
 
Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng 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.

#500 Maggie Freleng with Stacy Larson

This is a special episode of Wrongful Conviction, featuring guests Delia D'Ambra, host of Audiochuck's CounterClock, and Frances Watson, President of the Indiana Innocence Project.
 
In Lakeville, Indiana in 1989, Reverend Bob Pelley, his wife Dawn, and Bob’s step-daughters, Janel and Jolene were found shot to death in their home. Bob’s teenage son, Jeff Pelley, was a suspect due to ongoing tensions with his father, which were exacerbated by him restricting Jeff’s ability to attend prom night activities. Jeff claimed to have left home to pick up his girlfriend, but inconsistencies in his alibi and the timeline raised suspicions. Jeff was ultimately charged with the murders in 2002, over a decade after they took place, and convicted in 2006 based on circumstantial evidence. He was sentenced to 160 years in prison. Jeff Pelley has consistently maintained his innocence, and post-conviction litigation raised alternate theories, including alleged ties between Bob Pelley and organized crime from his past life in Florida, potentially involving his friends and the Hawley family who were implicated in various financial crimes. Testimony from a woman supported the theory that Bob might have been targeted for his past illegal financial activities. However, this evidence was deemed inadmissible, and Jeff's requests for a new trial have been repeatedly denied.
 
To hear more on this case, click the link below to listen to season 3 of Delia D'Ambra's CounterClock, from Audiochuck:
 
https://counterclockpodcast.com/season-three/
 
To learn more and get involved, visit:
 
https://indianainnocenceproject.org/frances-watson-president/
 
https://www.justiceforjeff.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.

#501 Jason Flom with Delia D'Ambra on Jeff Pelley

On December 31st, 2009, in Detroit, MI, J.B. Watson was shot in a van while stopped at a red light. Witnesses identified Darrell Ewing as the shooter. Despite Ewing's corroborated alibi of attending a funeral at the Barden Hall Funeral Home at the time of the shooting, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. 
 
To learn more and get involved:
Follow Darrell - https://www.instagram.com/mrbeattheodds/?hl=en
 
Read Diane Bukowski’s reporting on Detroit and the judicial system - https://voiceofdetroit.net/author/diane-bukowski/
 
Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng 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.

#502 Maggie Freleng with Darrell Ewing

Since releasing the 500th episode of Wrongful Conviction earlier this month, we thought it appropriate to spotlight some episodes from the very first season of Wrongful Conviction.
 
On the afternoon of November 4, 1986, the body of an African-American woman was found lying under a blanket near a busy highway in Brooklyn, NY. She had been strangled to death. A witness told Detective Louis Eppolito that he had been jogging on the day of the crime and had seen a white man and a black woman sitting in a gray car parked by the highway. The man said he then watched the white man walk to the passenger side of the car and pull out a body, lay it on the ground and place a blanket over it. Eppolito learned that Barry Gibbs knew the victim and closed in. Barry was charged and convicted of second-degree murder primarily on the testimony of the jogger who later recanted. Jason Flom, Barry Scheck (Co-Founder of The Innocence Project) and Vanessa Potkin (Director of Special Litigation for The Innocence Project) sit down with Barry Gibbs as he details his unfathomable odyssey.
 
To learn more, visit:
 
https://innocenceproject.org/cases/barry-gibbs/
 
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.

#503 Jason Flom and Barry Scheck with Barry Gibbs

On Halloween night in 2012, shots rang out at a party on the campus of the University of Southern California. Four people were injured and no one died. Prosecutors went after 19-year-old Brandon Spencer for the crime. Despite the fact that Brandon had no criminal record and was known for his involvement in sports and community activities, prosecutors claimed he was seeking revenge in a gang feud and charged him with attempted first degree murder. They relied heavily on witness testimony that was later found to be flawed. Yet and still, he was convicted and sentenced to 40 years to life.
 
To learn more and get involved:
 
https://www.instagram.com/freebrandonspencer/?hl=en
 
The Innocence Center
 
https://theinnocencecenter.org/about-us/
 
Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng 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.

#504 Maggie Freleng with Brandon Spencer

On August 4, 1991, at a nightclub in New York NY, some teenagers began taunting each other and words escalated to punches. When the teenagers came out of the club prepared for a fight, a man shot and killed16-year-old Raymond Blount.
 
Police showed mug shots of several men to a group of Blount’s friends who initially identified a former classmate nicknamed “Wool Lou” as the shooter. After some deliberation, some of the witnesses identified 21-year-old Fernando Bermudez as the shooter. One of the witnesses later made a deal with the prosecution to identify Fernando Bermudez as the gunman in return for not being charged in the case. Fernando, who passed a polygraph examination and presented alibi witnesses in his defense, was charged and convicted with second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 23 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.

#505 Jason Flom with Fernando Bermudez

In the early morning hours of September 14, 1982, a man broke into a home in Newport News, Virginia and beat 30-year-old Jesse Perron to death with a crowbar. Then, over several hours, the attacker sexually assaulted Perron’s 22-year-old wife, Teresa, leaving bite marks during the assaults.
 
Teresa and Jesse Perron’s home was located near the shipyard where the U.S.S. Carl Vinson was harbored and where Perron worked as a welder. Over several months bite mark impressions were taken from hundreds of sailors on the Carl Vinson. Police had no suspects at that time.
 
Keith Harward had been among those whose teeth were examined in the immediate aftermath of the investigation, but he had been ruled out as the source of the bitemarks on Teresa by a civilian dental consultant working with the Newport News City medical examiner. When Harward came to court, Teresa was there, but could not identify him as the attacker. 
 
After police asked Harward to submit to a second procedure to perform bite mark analysis, they determined that Keith’s bite marks matched the ones found on Teresa. Harward was subsequently convicted of capital murder, rape, robbery and burglary and sentenced to life in prison.
 
To learn more, visit:
 
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/388-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidence-update/
 
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.

#506 Jason Flom with Keith Harward

On January 18, 1995, 38-year-old Denise Raymond, a Federal Express executive, was found dead in her Bronx, NY apartment from two gunshot wounds to the head. Less than 24 hours later, 43-year-old Baithe Diop, a driver for New Harlem Car Service, was fatally shot on a nearby street in what police said was an apparent robbery. Police then found two women who told police that they had heard six young men discussing the murder. Eric Glisson was one of these men; the Bronx Six as they came to be known. Eric was ultimately charged and convicted of second degree murder in the death of Baithe Diop and sentenced to 25 year to life in prison.
 
To learn more, check out Dan Slepian’s podcast Letters from Sing Sing:
 
​​https://www.nbcnews.com/letters-from-sing-sing-podcast
 
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.

#507 Jason Flom with Eric Glisson

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.
 
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.

#508 Maggie Freleng with Eron Shelman

On Saturday, June 16, 2007, Adrien Jackson and Tierra Pressley where shot multiple times outside of the Off Broadway Lounge in Camden, NJ at around 2:30am. Adrien survived but Tierra died at the hospital that same night. Initially, Adrien Jackson could not identify the assailant. But almost a year later, he speculated that Manfred “Baby J” Younger might have been shooter. Despite no physical evidence and based on primarily on tis unreliable eyewitness testimony, Manfred Younger was charged and convicted of murder and sentenced to 78 years 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.

#509 Jason Flom with Manfred Younger

On April 28th, 1989, 18-year-old Francisco Benitez was having a normal day. He picked up his paycheck, got a haircut, then went to his friend’s house to watch Beetlejuice on HBO. That same night two teenage boys were shot and killed. An eyewitness said as the shooter ran from the scene, she noticed that he had a fresh haircut. Despite no other similarities between Frank and her description of the shooter, not to mention no physical evidence, Frank was ultimately convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life without parole.
 
The prison environment was violent and dangerous, Frank says he often wondered “is this the day that I’m going to die in prison?” But his mother Betty was steadfast in her love and her belief in Frank’s innocence. She told him over and over to never give up, even after 34 years, to keep believing that a brighter day is coming.
 
To learn more and get involved, visit:
 
Francisco Benitez Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/innocent-man-exonerated-after-34-years
 
University of Chicago Law School Exoneration Project: https://www.law.uchicago.edu/clinics/exoneration
 
Loevy & Loevy Civil Rights Law Firm: https://www.loevy.com/ 
 
Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#456 Lauren Bright Pacheco with Frank Benitez

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