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 is a podcast about failures of justice. The hosts of the show are Jason Flom and Maggie Freleng. Flom is an executive in the music industry and sits on the board of the Innocence Project, a criminal justice nonprofit. Its mission is to exonerate people imprisoned under wrongful convictions and to keep innocent people out of prison. Freleng is a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist. She has published work in major news outlets like The Atlantic, Democracy Now!, and the LA Times.
Studies suggest that between two and a half and five percent of people in prison are innocent. In raw numbers, that means that there are between 50,000 and 100,000 innocent people behind bars in the US. In Wrongful Conviction, the cohosts bring attention to some of these cases. Flom has a conversation with Keith Lamar. He is on death row for leading an eleven-day prison riot in Lucasville, OH that resulted in the death of ten people. The problem is that he was not there. His attorney believes that the prosecution targeted him. Why? Because he refused to cooperate with their investigation.
Many wrongful convictions are the result of false confessions. Investigators use coercive interrogations to extract admissions of guilt. These confessions come with promises that never materialize. Wrongful Conviction tells the story of four sailors in the Navy who confessed to murder. All four later recanted their confessions, but it was too late.
Some episodes of Wrongful Conviction are about shoddy detective work. Police raided Louie Garcia's home and found large amounts of meth. They received a tip from a confidential informant. During the investigation, they ignored Garcia's claim that he was innocent. Evidence suggests the raid was a setup. The orchestrator was the same person who tipped off the police.
Wrongful Conviction might appeal to lovers of the true crime genre. In addition to providing gripping accounts, the podcast plays an important role. When the wrong people are in prison, the real perpetrators walk free. New episodes debut several times each week.
Episodes