array(6) { [0]=> array(6) { ["title"]=> string(68) "S8E3: Freed after 38 years, Fred Clay is Ready For His Life to Begin" ["datetime"]=> string(17) "February 18, 2019" ["description"]=> string(1978) "

Update: Since this episode was recorded Fred Clay was awarded a $1 million settlement from the state, the highest amount allowed under Massachusetts state law.

The settlement with the Massachusetts Attorney General was finalized Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court, the same courthouse where Clay’s conviction was vacated in 2017 and his freedom granted at age 53.

In 1981, at only 16-years-old, Frederick Claywas arrested, charged as an adult and convicted of first-degree murder. In August 2017, a Suffolk Superior Court judge exonerated Clay based on new evidence that revealed he had been misidentified. The New England Center for Investigative Reporting(NECIR)and WGBH co-published a four-part seriesfor radio by Chris Burrell about Clay, who spent 38 years in prison for a crime he did not commit

The four-part series largely focuses on Clay’s life post-exoneration, which has been met with many challenges. Without any support from the state, Clay has struggled with emotional trauma and finding a good-paying job and affordable housing. As Burrell writes, Clay’s newly-won freedom has become“astruggle for basic survival.”

Read/listen to parts 1 and 2 of the series hereand parts 3 and 4 of the series here.

Research in these cases from The Brennan Center for Justice and New York University Law School and the Innocence Project.

" ["episode_id"]=> string(36) "84188d97-6163-47c7-9078-dd93efb581ca" ["show_id"]=> NULL ["episode_audio"]=> string(71) "https://rss.art19.com/episodes/84188d97-6163-47c7-9078-dd93efb581ca.mp3" } [1]=> array(6) { ["title"]=> string(83) "S8E2: John Grisham & Jason Flom Join Forces to Advocate for Criminal Justice Reform" ["datetime"]=> string(17) "February 11, 2019" ["description"]=> string(1237) "

In this special edition of Wrongful Conviction, Jason Flom is joined by John Grisham to discuss his work with the Innocence Project, his commitment to criminal justice reform, and his Netflix series, The Innocent Man, the documentary adaptation of his only nonfiction book about two murders in Ada, Oklahoma. 

----------

For ten years John Grisham practiced law in a small town in Mississippi, much like Jake Brigance in A Time To Kill. He also served two terms in the State House of Representatives. In 1990, he gave up both the law and politics to write full-time, and since then has published at least one book a year.  

He has written one collection of short stories, one work of non-fiction, three books about sports, one comic novel, seven editions of his Theodore Boone series for children, a childhood memoir, and, at last count, more than twenty legal thrillers. Nine of his books have been adapted to film. 

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Innocence Project in New York, and the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in Charlottesville, Virginia.  

John and his wife, Renee, live on a farm in rural Albemarle County, Virginia.

" ["episode_id"]=> string(36) "b96e6b1a-ab5a-42dd-b824-085877918b59" ["show_id"]=> NULL ["episode_audio"]=> string(71) "https://rss.art19.com/episodes/b96e6b1a-ab5a-42dd-b824-085877918b59.mp3" } [2]=> array(6) { ["title"]=> string(85) "S8E1: Did a Fatal Attraction Lead to a Wrongful Conviction? The Story of Jens Soering" ["datetime"]=> string(17) "February 04, 2019" ["description"]=> string(1766) "

Jens Soering is serving two consecutive life terms for a case of double homicide, the murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom in 1985–a crime he says he did not commit. On June 8, 1986, Jens Soering, the son of a former German diplomat Jens Soering falsely confessed to killing Haysoms. He also told police he cut his hand in the process. Soering "took the rap" for his girlfriend, Elizabeth Haysom, to save her from the death penalty for killing her parents.

At Soering's trial, prosecutor Jim Updike told the jury that Soering's confession was corroborated by several drops of type O blood at the crime scene. Soering had type O, none of the other people involved in the crime did, so the blood had to be his. Updike repeated this claim 26 times. A comparison of lab reports showed that DNA tests had eliminated Jens Soering as a possible source of the type O blood at the scene. The same blood that in 1990 suggested his guilt now proved his innocence. He could not have cut his hand while killing the Haysoms, as he had "confessed" in 1986, because the type O blood had a different genetic profile than his. Another (unknown) man had cut himself and bled at the scene. In 2017 two independent DNA scientists confirmed these findings: Dr. Moses Schanfield of George Washington University and Dr. Thomas McClintock of Liberty University. They also found DNA evidence showing the presence of a second unknown man with type AB blood.

The crime remains unsolved and Jens Soering has remained behind bars for over 32 years.

In this gripping interview with Jens Soering, Jason Flom is joined by novelist John Grisham and Sheriff J.E. "Chip” Harding of Albemarle County, Va, both of whom have advocated on Soering’s behalf. 

" ["episode_id"]=> string(36) "7291b7f6-4155-4c44-85d4-5ca764004f22" ["show_id"]=> NULL ["episode_audio"]=> string(71) "https://rss.art19.com/episodes/7291b7f6-4155-4c44-85d4-5ca764004f22.mp3" } [3]=> array(6) { ["title"]=> string(61) "S8E1: Trailer: Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom - Season 8" ["datetime"]=> string(17) "February 02, 2019" ["description"]=> string(261) "

Season 8 Premieres, Monday. Feb. 4 2019. Tune in for an interview with Jens Soering. Soering was only 18 years old when he went to prison for murder. He is still behind bars–32 years later–for a crime he says he didn’t commit. 

" ["episode_id"]=> string(36) "72b21012-86b6-42ee-834f-e4a1c095ef57" ["show_id"]=> NULL ["episode_audio"]=> string(71) "https://rss.art19.com/episodes/72b21012-86b6-42ee-834f-e4a1c095ef57.mp3" } [4]=> array(6) { ["title"]=> string(48) "S7E17: The Wrongful Conviction of Marty Tankleff" ["datetime"]=> string(16) "January 28, 2019" ["description"]=> string(887) "

Marty Tankleff had just turned 17 when he was arrested for murdering his parents, Seymour and Arlene Tankleff in September 1988. Based on an unsigned “confession" extracted from him following many long hours of interrogation by notorious Suffolk County detective K. James McCready, Marty was convicted and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. After serving 17 years, Marty's conviction was vacated by the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, in December of 2007. On July 22, 2008, a judge signed off on a motion by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to dismiss all charges against Marty. Marty graduated from law school and he now works to help free other people who have been wrongfully convicted. Along with students at Georgetown University, Marty recently helped exonerate Valentino Dixon, who was a guest earlier this season. 

" ["episode_id"]=> string(36) "d7b13dc7-97c2-4910-a9d8-dd60c3a3dd95" ["show_id"]=> NULL ["episode_audio"]=> string(71) "https://rss.art19.com/episodes/d7b13dc7-97c2-4910-a9d8-dd60c3a3dd95.mp3" } [5]=> array(6) { ["title"]=> string(134) "S7E16: Jeffrey Deskovic: A 10th Grade Student Forced By Detectives To Make A False Confession And Freed By DNA Evidence 16 Years Later" ["datetime"]=> string(16) "January 22, 2019" ["description"]=> string(2456) "

In 1990, Jeffrey Deskovic was wrongfully convicted of the brutal rape and murder of his 15-year-old classmate, Angela Correa. Mr. Deskovic was only 16 at the time of the crime with no prior record. Police claimed that Mr. Deskovic was overly upset at the victim’s funeral and were certain they had their man. They interrogated him for over seven and a half hours, without his mother or legal counsel present. After browbeating and intimidating him, they ultimately extracted a false confession after promising that he could go home after he confessed. He had also been told that if his DNA did not match the semen in the rape kit, he would be cleared as a suspect. In January 1991, Jeffrey Deskovic was convicted by jury of 1st degree rape and 2nd degree murder, despite DNA results showing that he was not the source of semen in the victim’s rape kit. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. In 2006, post-conviction DNA testing done by the Innocence Project both proved Mr. Deskovic's innocence and identified the real perpetrator, convicted murderer Steven Cunningham, who subsequently confessed to the crime. On November 2nd, 2006, Jeffrey Deskovic’s indictment was dismissed on grounds of actual innocence and he was released after serving 16 years in prison. Since his release, he has started The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, which investigates wrongful conviction cases and provides support for exonerees once they are released.

For additional information:

http://www.thejeffreydeskovicfoundationforjustice.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/deskovicfoundation 

Jeffrey Deskovic: https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.deskovic 

The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation: https://www.facebook.com/thejeffreydeskovicfoundation/

Twitter: https://www.youtube.com/user/deskovicfoundation 

Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/jeffreydeskovic

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