Podcasts about pennsylvania innocence project

Coming up on this week's edition of The Spark Weekly. A study for the advocacy group PennEnvironment found microplastics present in waterways throughout Pennsylvania, making it a major concern in the fight against pollution. Also, on the program. The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is a non-profit organization working to exonerate those convicted of crimes they did not commit, prevent innocent people from being prosecuted and convicted, and to help those wrongfully convicted transition to freedom.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is a non-profit organization working to exonerate those convicted of crimes they did not commit, prevent innocent people from being prosecuted and convicted, and to help those wrongfully convicted transition to freedom. Nilam Sanghvi is the Legal Director and oversees all of the casework from the PA Innocence Project. “I worked for private law firms for a long time. And when the opportunity to come do this work arose, it's almost how can you say no? It's, you know, that people just should not be in prison if they're innocent. The law is incredibly complex and technical. So, we felt, you know, this is really a place where you need a strong legal team and it's intellectually stimulating. But most important, you know, we really hope that we're giving folks a diligent look at their case that they may never have gotten in the ten, 20, 30 years that they've been dealing with the criminal legal system, “said Sanghvi. Pennsylvania is one of 13 states that provides no compensation or services to those who have been wrongfully convicted. Blanca Castro is a reentry social worker at the non-profit. She provides reintegration services to clients after they are legally represented. “When transitioning home for their release, they really just have the clothes on their back. And this is why reentry services is so important for our clients. And, you know, without those services, it really makes it difficult for them to have a smooth transition home. And so, we see a lot of, you know, the system failing our clients that way as well without providing any sort of compensation or services, “said Castro. The organization has received almost 8,000 letters asking for help in the 15 years since opening in 2008. Technology plays a huge role in investigations that the Pennsylvania Innocence Project cases. “When you think of innocence work, you think a lot of DNA testing, you hear a lot about DNA testing was done and showed this person didn't do it. And that's also something that didn't exist right in the 70s and 80s, but now can be brought to bear to try to determine whether somebody was involved in a crime or not. So, keeping up with advancing technology and using it to look back at old cases is a really important part of our work, “said Sanghvi. Yahya Moore is currently a paralegal at the Pa Innocence Project who served 27 years for a wrongful conviction. While he was in prison, he studied law and worked as a legal aid. Once he returned home, he wanted to assist others wrongfully convicted. “When you're studying the law and you're finding your case and you know that you're right by law, you know that the law is on your side. But you put in a petition, and you put in one after another after another. You still get denied. Right. And so, when you finally come up with an opportunity and I call it an opportunity because for so long in the city of Philadelphia, so many people weren't getting any relief. And so, it was it was so far from few in between that it was almost you could actually say it was nonexistent. And so, after piling in a petition after petition after petition and you're getting no relief, were you when someone comes up against an opportunity to say, okay, well, I take a deal. To get out or do I continue down this long journey? Appellant In these petitions, right. When? I may not get any relief. And so many people who are innocent were apt to go in and just take the deal to get it over with and so they could go home and start their lives, “said Moore.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Littler Shareholder Rachel Fendell Satinsky speaks with Pro Bono Committee Member Dave Haase regarding her work with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project over the years. As part of the annual National Celebration of Pro Bono hosted by the American Bar Association, Littler is highlighting various pro bono efforts from around the firm. Our attorneys and professional staff demonstrate their commitment to pro bono by providing significant efforts to organizations in their communities.

1:00 - Dom at a Philadelphia library promoting Mark Levin's Father's book? One can dream… 1:05 - Chief Patrick Molloy joins us to discuss policing in the Montgomery County and Philadelphia area. There has been an uptick of carjackings as a result of repeat offenders who get out on low bail. We don't need to lock up people for petty, non-violent crimes, but we need reform for any robberies or gun charges that you can get out in less than 24 hours. We need reforms for the mental well-being of not only civilians, but officers who deal with crisis situations as well. 1:25 - Doc Rivers is supporting the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, why wouldn't he support the police? What would happen if a Philadelphia coach brought cops to the facilities?  1:30 - Dom continues with your calls. 1:40 - More callers with their thoughts and journeys. 1:55 - Thought provoking callers to finish the hour.

12:00 - Dom starts off by discussing a Catholic Conservative group and their efforts right now. Then he moves to the border crisis and the sustainment of Title 42, but Biden and company are skewing the numbers in their favor.  12:05 - Tulsi Gabbard, the contrarian, grills Congressman-elect Santos for blatantly lying about everything he campaigned on, including his life story 12:10 - Catholics of the Year: Heroes and Zeroes 12:15 - Dom takes your calls regarding the topics in this segment. 12:25 - The side question today is “What is the most famous journey?” Plenty of callers are interested in this one. 12:40 - What would the media coverage of the Santos scandal be if he was a Democrat? Can you trust ANYTHING he says? 12:50 - Last week at the Sixers game, a Sixers dancer was proposed to by her boyfriend at the game to which she said yes. People are clowning him for her being so far out of his league. Dom continues with your calls. 1:00 - Dom at a Philadelphia library promoting Mark Levin's Father's book? One can dream… 1:05 - Chief Patrick Molloy joins us to discuss policing in the Montgomery County and Philadelphia area. There has been an uptick of carjackings as a result of repeat offenders who get out on low bail. We don't need to lock up people for petty, non-violent crimes, but we need reform for any robberies or gun charges that you can get out in less than 24 hours. We need reforms for the mental well-being of not only civilians, but officers who deal with crisis situations as well. 1:25 - Doc Rivers is supporting the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, why wouldn't he support the police? What would happen if a Philadelphia coach brought cops to the facilities?  1:30 - Dom continues with your calls. 1:40 - More callers with their thoughts and journeys. 1:55 - Thought provoking callers to finish the hour. 2:00 - What is the plural of Cheez-its? You might be surprised. 2:05 - Megan Brock of ParentsHaveARightToKnow.com and an advocate for children in schools in this age of gender dysphoria, joins us to discuss an inappropriate film in the Bucks County library that she is working to remove. She details her fights for state records and the withholding of records that she is fighting in court to obtain. 2:20 - A new statue controversy? A Korean ‘comfort women' statue is to be erected but others argue that it will incite anti-Japanese hate. This has been a long standing conflict for over three quarters of a century. What does this have to do with Philadelphia? 2:25 - More calls regarding the best journey. 2:35 - More calls regarding great journeys. 2:40 - What is the plural form of Cheez-it?  2:45 - Going to the gym for the wrong reasons is fatphobic? 2:50 - The Lightning Round!

Attorney with Pennsylvania Innocence Project

Attorney with Pennsylvania Innocence ProjectAttorney with Pennsylvania Innocence Project

Before COVID-19, the criminal justice system was cracking under its own weight. Now, those cracks have started to spread. Police are changing how they perform their duties based on the virus, limiting pro-active policing and placing N95 masks next to Kevlar vests as safety equipment. Courts are shutting down based, suspending trials and releasing those awaiting trial. Prisons are facing a potential major crisis with outbreaks looming and emerging behind the walls. What we are seeing happen today is not surprising given that we incarcerate more people by far than any other industrialized country in the world. But just because it is not surprising does not mean it should be acceptable. Attorney Marissa Bluestine comes by the Experience by Design studios to talk about her work in the criminal justice system, and what can be done to design a better system. While today’s episode was recorded before the COVID-19 outbreak, we do examine the issues around the criminal justice system. From her founding of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, to her current work with as an Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania, we explore what a just criminal justice system would look like. 

On this episode of Court Radio, Dean Weitzman of MyPhillyLawyer speaks to Jim Figorski and Shaurn Thomas about Shaurn’s exoneration after spending 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. They also talk about Jim’s partnership with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project in working towards Shaurn’s exoneration.

One of the five men wrongfully convicted in the Central Park jogger case was the keynote speaker this week at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project 10th anniversary Celebration. KYW Newsradio community affairs reporter and Flashpoint host Cherri Gregg speaks to Dr. Yusef Salaam in a one on one interview. 

The Pennsylvania Innocence Project will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year at the National Constitution Center. KYW Newsradio community affairs reporter and Flashpoint host Cherri Gregg explains the non-profit has helped 17 wronfdully convicted people find freedom. Howard Scher and Nan Feyler are guests.

New York Times best-selling author and Philadelphia attorney William Myers Jr, host of Writing Wrongs, welcomes Mark M. Bello. Bill's first book A Criminal Defense came out in 2017 and went on to become the Number 6 best-selling book on Amazon Kindle in 2017. His second book An Engineered Injustice came out in January 2018 and was based loosely off of an actual Amtrak train crash that took place in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia in 2015. These are the first two novels in the Philadelphia Legal Series. The third book in the series, A Killer’s Alibi, came out in January of 2019.He also volunteers his time and his staff to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project which helps to exonerate prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted based on solid scientific evidence. Bill's guest today is author and attorney Mark M. Bello. Mark is an attorney and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series. Mark received his B.A. English Literature from Oakland University and his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After working extremely high profile legal cases, Mark wanted to give the public a front row glimpse of what victims face when standing up for justice. Combining his legal experience and passion for justice with a creative writing style, Mark not only brings high-quality legal services to his clients, but captivating novels to his readers. When Mark’s not writing legal and political novels, he writes and posts about fairness and justice in the civil justice system on his website, Legal Examiner and Injury Board. He is currently working on his fourth is due out in 2019. Listen to this broadcast on your favorite podcast app or at www.soundcloud.com/authorsontheair

William Myers Jr, New York Times best-selling author and Philadelphia attorney and host of Writing Wrongs welcomes author and attorney Mark M. Bello. ABOUT THE GUEST: Mark is an attorney and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series. Mark received his B.A. English Literature from Oakland University and his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After working extremely high profile legal cases, Mark wanted to give the public a front row glimpse of what victims face when standing up for justice. Combining his legal experience and passion for justice with a creative writing style, Mark not only brings high-quality legal services to his clients, but captivating novels to his readers. When Mark’s not writing legal and political novels, he writes and posts about fairness and justice in the civil justice system on his website, Legal Examiner and Injury Board. He is currently working on his fourth is due out in 2019. ABOUT THE HOST: Bill Myers's first book A Criminal Defense came out in 2017 and went on to become the Number 6 best-selling book on Amazon Kindle in 2017. His second book An Engineered Injustice came out in January 2018 and was based loosely off of an actual Amtrak train crash that took place in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia in 2015. These are the first two novels in the Philadelphia Legal Series. The third book in the series, A Killer’s Alibi, came out in January of 2019.He also volunteers his time and his staff to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project which helps to exonerate prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted based on solid scientific evidence. Listen to this broadcast on your favorite podcast app or at www.soundcloud.com/authorsontheair

KYW Newsradio community affairs reporter Cherri Gregg asks the burning questions about wrongful conviction before a live studio audience as part of the Philly Podcast Festival.  In recent days, John Miller was set free after more than 21 years behind bars.  His entire case was based on the testimony of one witness- that that testimony turned out to be a lie.  Chester Holman, Terrance Lewis, and six others have also been exonerated since Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner took office. Before that- names like Shaurn Thomas and Anthony Wright dominated headlines in recent years as others were set free after decades of wrongful conviction. So- is wrongful conviction an anomaly? Or is it an epidemic in Philadelphia?  Patricia Cummings, Conviction Integrity and Special Investigations Unit Supervisor for the Philadelphia DA's Office joins Marissa Bluestine, former Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project who now is a Assistant Director of the Quattrone Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania and Bradley Bridge an Assistant Defender at the Philadelphia Defender Association with more than 20 years helping individuals get post conviction relief. In addition, the audience hears a one-on-one interview with exoneree Anthony Wright.  He spent 25 years behind bars for a rape and murder that he did not commit.  Cleared by DNA evidence, Wright endured a second trial and was eventually found not guilty by a jury.  He sued the city of Philadelphia and won. Flashpoint airs every Saturday at 9:30pm and Sunday at 8:30am on KYW Newsradio. Subscribe to the Flashpoint Podcast on the Apple Podcast, Radio.com or others apps where you get your podcast by searching "Flashpoint KYW."  

Authors on the Air host Pam Stack welcomes guest host for today's show, New York Times best-selling author and Philadelphia attorney William Myers Jr. His first book A Criminal Defense came out in 2017 and went on to become the Number 6 best-selling book on Amazon Kindle in 2017. His second book An Engineered Injustice came out in January 2018 and was based loosely off of an actual Amtrak train crash that took place in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia in 2015. These are the first two novels in the Philadelphia Legal Series. The third book in the series, A Killer’s Alibi, came out in January of 2019.He also volunteers his time and his staff to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project which helps to exonerate prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted based on solid scientific evidence. Bill's guest today is author and attorney Mark M. Bello. Mark is an attorney and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series. Mark received his B.A. English Literature from Oakland University and his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After working extremely high profile legal cases, Mark wanted to give the public a front row glimpse of what victims face when standing up for justice. Combining his legal experience and passion for justice with a creative writing style, Mark not only brings high-quality legal services to his clients, but captivating novels to his readers. When Mark’s not writing legal and political novels, he writes and posts about fairness and justice in the civil justice system on his website, Legal Examiner and Injury Board. He is currently working on his fourth is due out in 2019. Listen to this broadcast on your favorite podcast app or at www.soundcloud.com/authorsontheair

Authors on the Aur host Pam Stack welcomes guest host for today's show, New York Times best-selling author and Philadephia attorney William Myers Jr.   His first book A Criminal Defense came out in 2017 and went on to become the Number 6 best-selling book on Amazon Kindle in 2017. His second book An Engineered Injustice came out in January 2018 and was based loosely off of an actual Amtrak train crash that took place in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia in 2015. These are the first two novels in the Philadelphia Legal Series. The third book in the series, A Killer’s Alibi, came out in January of 2019.He also volunteers his time and his staff to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project which helps to exonerate prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted based on solid scientific evidence. Bill's guest today is author and attorney Mark M. Bello.    Mark is an attorney and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series.  Mark received his B.A. English Literature from Oakland University and his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After working extremely high profile legal cases, Mark wanted to give the public a front row glimpse of what victims face when standing up for justice.  Combining his legal experience and passion for justice with a creative writing style, Mark not only brings high-quality legal services to his clients, but captivating novels to his readers.  When Mark’s not writing legal and political novels, he writes and posts about fairness and justice in the civil justice system on his website, Legal Examiner and Injury Board. He is currently working on his fourth  is due out in 2019. Listen to this broadcast on your favorite podcast app or at www.soundcloud.com/authorsontheair

Authors on the Air host Pam Stack welcomes guest host for today's show, New York Times best-selling author and Philadelphia attorney William Myers Jr. His first book A Criminal Defense came out in 2017 and went on to become the Number 6 best-selling book on Amazon Kindle in 2017. His second book An Engineered Injustice came out in January 2018 and was based loosely off of an actual Amtrak train crash that took place in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia in 2015. These are the first two novels in the Philadelphia Legal Series. The third book in the series, A Killer’s Alibi, came out in January of 2019.He also volunteers his time and his staff to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project which helps to exonerate prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted based on solid scientific evidence. Bill's guest today is author and attorney Mark M. Bello. Mark is an attorney and award-winning author of the Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Series. Mark received his B.A. English Literature from Oakland University and his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. After working extremely high profile legal cases, Mark wanted to give the public a front row glimpse of what victims face when standing up for justice. Combining his legal experience and passion for justice with a creative writing style, Mark not only brings high-quality legal services to his clients, but captivating novels to his readers. When Mark’s not writing legal and political novels, he writes and posts about fairness and justice in the civil justice system on his website, Legal Examiner and Injury Board. He is currently working on his fourth is due out in 2019. Listen to this broadcast on your favorite podcast app or at www.soundcloud.com/authorsontheair

S7E13: How Crystal Weimer Won an 11 Year Fight for Freedom Curtis Haith was beaten to death and shot outside of his home in western Pennsylvania. Police determined that the evening before Haith had attended a party in Uniontown, PA. Crystal Weimer, whose sisters hosted the party, and her cousin had driven Haith home and returned directly to the party. Crystal became the focus of the investigation after an ex-boyfriend told authorities she confessed. The charges were dropped when he recanted, but police re-filed the charges in 2004 with the use of statements given by Joseph Stenger, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy of homicide of Haith while he was serving time for unrelated robbery charges. Stenger testified that Crystal had an earlier physical altercation with Haith, and she enlisted Stenger and two unidentified black men to return to Haith’s house after where she lured him outside, and they beat him to death and shot him in the face. At her trial in 2006, the only physical evidence that directly tied Crystal to the crime scene was an alleged bite mark on the victim’s arm. Expert odontologist Dr. Constantine Karazulas told the jury that a mark on the victim’s hand was a bite mark made minutes before he died, and that Crystal is the one who bit him. During closing argument, the prosecution told the jury that the jailhouse informants who testified against her at the trial had not asked for any leniency on their own cases in return for their testimony. Crystal Weimer was convicted of third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit homicide and sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison. She continued to fight for her innocence, acting as her own lawyer and filing motions for post-conviction relief, but all were denied until a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus was filed on her behalf. In December 2014, Joseph Stenger ultimately recanted all of his statements and admitted that prosecutors dropped more serious charges against him in exchange for his testimony against Crystal. In early 2015, Dr. Constantine Karazulas, that same expert declared his own trial testimony "junk science" and "invalid." In February 2015, Crystal, represented pro bono by the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and the firm of Jones Day, filed a motion for a new trial based on the discredited bite mark evidence and the recantations of key witnesses. Her lawyers had also discovered that the prosecution had failed to disclose to Crystal’s trial counsel that the jailhouse informants had written letters to the prosecution requesting favorable treatment, which showed that the informants had testified falsely at trial when they denied they sought deals for their testimony. A new trial was ordered on October 1st, 2015, and Crystal Weimer was released the same day on bond after serving 11 years in prison. She was forced to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for another nine months until the judge dismissed the charges with prejudice, and she was finally exonerated in June 2016. Crystal is joined by one of her attorneys from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Nilaam Sanghvi, in this episode. wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava For Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1 and PRX.

Host and KYW community affairs reporter Cherri Gregg asks the burning questions about the US Supreme Court's decision to allow Travel Ban 3.0 to move forward. She sits down with advocates from all side to get reaction and more. Also, the Pennsylvania Innocence Project has had a banner couple of years exonerating several individuals wrongfully convicted and Impact 100 South Jersey is seeking women investors. Flashpoint airs every Saturday at 9:30pm and Sunday at 8:30am on KYW Newsradio. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A good talk about the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and how the system sometimes fails us.

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast series Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Marissa Bluestine, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.   The name of the show is Good Law | Bad Law because we not only talk about the good in the law, how the law helps people, but also, the bad in the law, such as the criminal justice system failing people. The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is an organization that helps those who have been affected by a legal system that failed them; people that have been wrongfully convicted of a crime they didn’t commit.   Marissa Bluestine and Aaron Freiwald have an amazing conversation about not only what the PA Innocence Project does, but about many aspects of our criminal justice system, how people end up wrongfully convicted, the impact wrongful convictions have on society, and what we can do to make an impact.   If you want to learn more about the PA Innocence Project visit their website at: http://innocenceprojectpa.org/   Remember to tune in every Friday for new episodes of Good Law | Bad Law!   Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest:  Marissa Bluestine   Follow Freiwald Law: Twitter: @FreiwaldLaw Facebook: @FreiwaldLaw Youtube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @goodlawbadlaw Website: http://www.freiwaldlaw.com

Hello and welcome to The Rob Burgess Show. I am, of course, your host, Rob Burgess. On this, our 76th episode, our returning guest is Robert Dunham. You first heard Robert Dunham on Episode 59 of the podcast. Robert Dunham is an attorney and a nationally recognized expert on the death penalty. Before becoming the Death Penalty Information Center's Executive Director, he was one of the leading capital appellate lawyers in Pennsylvania, arguing on behalf of the Commonwealth's death-row inmates in its state and federal courts and in the United States Supreme Court. He served as Executive Director of the former Pennsylvania Capital Case Resource Center from 1994 to 1999; Director of Training of the Capital Habeas Unit of the Philadelphia federal defender's office from 1999 to 2009; and as an assistant federal defender in the Harrisburg federal defender's capital habeas unit from 2009 until March 2015. He started his legal career as a litigation associate at Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis in Philadelphia, where he handled his first pro bono capital case. He previously served five years as a legislative assistant to State Representative Robert W. O'Donnell, later the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He has taught in death penalty training programs offered by national, state and local courts, bar associations, and professional organizations for more than 20 years. He was an adjunct professor of law at Villanova Law School for 11 years, teaching death penalty law, and he has also taught death penalty at Temple Law School and as a visiting scholar at Oklahoma State University. He is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has served on the Steering Committee of the American Bar Association's Death Penalty Representation Project and on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Philadelphia crime-victim assistance program, Northwest Victim Services, for whom he also served as Board President. A native of Philadelphia, he received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a University Scholar in philosophy. He received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where he served as managing editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. At Georgetown, he received the Milton A. Kaufman Prize for outstanding contribution to the journal and the Jeffrey Crandall Award for commitment to public interest law. If you enjoy this podcast, there are several ways to support it. I have a Patreon account, which can be found at www.patreon.com/robburgessshowpatreon. I hope you'll consider supporting in any amount. Also please make sure to comment, follow, like, subscribe, share, rate and review everywhere the podcast is available, including iTunes, YouTube, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Facebook, Twitter, Internet Archive, TuneIn and RSS. The official website for the podcast is www.therobburgessshow.com. You can find more about me by visiting my website, www.thisburgess.com. Until next time.

S3E10: How Crystal Weimer Won an 11 Year Fight for Freedom Curtis Haith was beaten to death and shot outside of his home in western Pennsylvania. Police determined that the evening before Haith had attended a party in Uniontown, PA. Crystal Weimer, whose sisters hosted the party, and her cousin had driven Haith home and returned directly to the party. Crystal became the focus of the investigation after an ex-boyfriend told authorities she confessed. The charges were dropped when he recanted, but police re-filed the charges in 2004 with the use of statements given by Joseph Stenger, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy of homicide of Haith while he was serving time for unrelated robbery charges. Stenger testified that Crystal had an earlier physical altercation with Haith, and she enlisted Stenger and two unidentified black men to return to Haith’s house after where she lured him outside, and they beat him to death and shot him in the face. At her trial in 2006, the only physical evidence that directly tied Crystal to the crime scene was an alleged bite mark on the victim’s arm. Expert odontologist Dr. Constantine Karazulas told the jury that a mark on the victim’s hand was a bite mark made minutes before he died, and that Crystal is the one who bit him. During closing argument, the prosecution told the jury that the jailhouse informants who testified against her at the trial had not asked for any leniency on their own cases in return for their testimony. Crystal Weimer was convicted of third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit homicide and sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison. She continued to fight for her innocence, acting as her own lawyer and filing motions for post-conviction relief, but all were denied until a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus was filed on her behalf. In December 2014, Joseph Stenger ultimately recanted all of his statements and admitted that prosecutors dropped more serious charges against him in exchange for his testimony against Crystal. In early 2015, Dr. Constantine Karazulas, that same expert declared his own trial testimony "junk science" and "invalid." In February 2015, Crystal, represented pro bono by the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and the firm of Jones Day, filed a motion for a new trial based on the discredited bite mark evidence and the recantations of key witnesses. Her lawyers had also discovered that the prosecution had failed to disclose to Crystal’s trial counsel that the jailhouse informants had written letters to the prosecution requesting favorable treatment, which showed that the informants had testified falsely at trial when they denied they sought deals for their testimony. A new trial was ordered on October 1st, 2015, and Crystal Weimer was released the same day on bond after serving 11 years in prison. She was forced to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for another nine months until the judge dismissed the charges with prejudice, and she was finally exonerated in June 2016. Crystal is joined by one of her attorneys from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, Nilaam Sanghvi, in this episode. www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava For Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1 and PRX.

Hello and welcome to The Rob Burgess Show. I am, of course, your host, Rob Burgess. On this, our 59th episode, our guest is Robert Dunham. Robert Dunham is an attorney and a nationally recognized expert on the death penalty. Before becoming the Death Penalty Information Center's Executive Director, he was one of the leading capital appellate lawyers in Pennsylvania, arguing on behalf of the Commonwealth's death-row inmates in its state and federal courts and in the United States Supreme Court. He served as Executive Director of the former Pennsylvania Capital Case Resource Center from 1994 to 1999; Director of Training of the Capital Habeas Unit of the Philadelphia federal defender's office from 1999 to 2009; and as an assistant federal defender in the Harrisburg federal defender's capital habeas unit from 2009 until March 2015. He started his legal career as a litigation associate at Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis in Philadelphia, where he handled his first pro bono capital case. He previously served five years as a legislative assistant to State Representative Robert W. O'Donnell, later the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He has taught in death penalty training programs offered by national, state and local courts, bar associations, and professional organizations for more than 20 years. He was an adjunct professor of law at Villanova Law School for 11 years, teaching death penalty law, and he has also taught death penalty at Temple Law School and as a visiting scholar at Oklahoma State University. He is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has served on the Steering Committee of the American Bar Association's Death Penalty Representation Project and on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Philadelphia crime-victim assistance program, Northwest Victim Services, for whom he also served as Board President. A native of Philadelphia, he received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a University Scholar in philosophy. He received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where he served as managing editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. At Georgetown, he received the Milton A. Kaufman Prize for outstanding contribution to the journal and the Jeffrey Crandall Award for commitment to public interest law. If you enjoy this podcast, there are several ways to support it. I have a Patreon account, which can be found at www.patreon.com/robburgessshowpatreon. I hope you'll consider supporting in any amount. Also please make sure to comment, follow, like, subscribe, share, rate and review everywhere the podcast is available, including iTunes, YouTube, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Facebook, Twitter, Internet Archive, TuneIn and RSS. The official website for the podcast is www.therobburgessshow.com. You can find more about me by visiting my website, www.thisburgess.com. Until next time.

Because of a special project on Wednesday, enjoy this episode of #actualinnocence a day early! The Pennsylvania Innocence Project does great work and this is our last episode with them before we travel to another Innocence Network Agency. Thanks to our sponsors Simplisafe and Blue Arpon: @SimpliSafe http://simplisafe.com/innocence @blueapron www.blueapron.com/actual @sharisberries www.berries.com use code "AI" (without the "") Contact Information: Host: Brooke Gittings Website: www.actualinpod.com Email: actualinnocencepod@gmail.com Twitter: @actualinpod and @brookegittings Executive Producer in charge of advertising: Dennis Robinson dennis.e.robinson@gmail.com Music Released under a Creative Commons Attribution International License” Theme - “Through The Lens” by Andy G. Cohen https://andyg.co/hen/songs/lens All Other Music by By Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au

Meet the staff of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and see how all of their positions fit together! You can visit the PA Innocence Project's website at: innocenceprojectpa.org (and you know maybe help them out) Thanks to our sponsors Bloom That and Shari's Berries: @bloomthat www.bloomthat.com/actual @sharisberries www.berries.com use code "AI" (without the "") Special Thanks to: The AMAZING Actual Innocence Volunteer Team; Cacey Sanders, Sarah Nelson, and Megan Delaney. Contact Information: Host: Brooke Gittings Website: www.actualinpod.com Email: actualinnocencepod@gmail.com Twitter: @actualinpod and @brookegittings Executive Producer in charge of advertising: Dennis Robinson dennis.e.robinson@gmail.com Music Released under a Creative Commons Attribution International License” Theme - “Through The Lens” by Andy G. Cohen https://andyg.co/hen/songs/lens All Other Music by By Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au

Join Brooke in her journey to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and learn how the organization was formed and some of the challenges that it faces. You can visit the PA Innocence Project's website at: innocenceprojectpa.org Thanks to our sponsors Spring, Simplisafe, and Blue Apron: www.shopspring.com code: actual www.simplisafe.com/innocence www.blueapron.com/actual Don't forget to vote in the #podcookoff at www.actualinpod.com/blue Special Thanks to: The AMAZING Actual Innocence Volunteer Team; Sarah Nelson, Megan Delaney, and Cacey Sanders Contact Information: Host: Brooke Gittings Website: www.actualinpod.com Email: actualinnocencepod@gmail.com Twitter: @actualinpod and @brookegittings Executive Producer in charge of advertising: Dennis Robinson dennis.e.robinson@gmail.com Music Released under a Creative Commons Attribution International License” Theme - “Through The Lens” by Andy G. Cohen https://andyg.co/hen/songs/lens All Other Music by By Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au