Over the weekend, I appeared with Emma Pietrzak on the Imagination Podcast talking about wrongful convictions.
In the podcast, we talked about some of the wrongful conviction stories have been tracking.
Randall Raar
Raar was convicted of child molestation related charges despite his victim testifying at twenty-one to events which occurred when she was five.
Since speaking to Raar, he has told me that he believes that he was targeted after he began investigating a string of unsolved murders, including some notorious serial killings in the 1970s.
Robert Ethan Miller
Miller was convicted of trying to hire a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend. Since, three people have signed affidavits attesting to his innocence. Two testified against him and said that they were pressured into their testimony. One did not testify and said he would have testified to his innocence, but he was ignored by prosecution and defense.
Miller was prosecuted by current FBI Director Chris Wray.
Kevin Tower
Kevin was convicted of killing his two uncles in the 1995.
Since, a witness has recanted- she said she was also pressured by prosecutors. He has developed an airtight alibi; he has a video store receipt from about fifty miles away at the time of the murder.
Prosecutors are also alleged to have withheld evidence in the case. He continues to lose appeals: he lost his first in 2003, after the alibi was discovered.
John Giuca
John was prosecuted by Anna Sigga Nicolazzi who now stars in the ID show “True Conviction.”
Since his conviction, it has come out that a juror withheld that he knew John during voir dire. Witnesses have written affidavits stating that the prosecutor coerced them into untrue testimony, and Nicolazzi withheld an audio recording with an informant which would have obliterated her case.
Robert Reynolds
Reynolds was convicted of drug distribution related charges on the strength of the testimony of three witnesses. All three were caught with drugs. All three received deals, and there is no evidence besides their testimony of his involvement in this crime.
Albert Drew
Albert was convicted on the strength of a lineup in which he was the only one with an afro. He told me that his lawyer should have been able to keep this lineup out of his trial but failed.