Sunday, May 8, 2022

Podcasts and innocence: Patty Prewitt: Missouri: Timed for Mother's Day: (Today May 8, 2022): First episode of new Jason From podcast launched May 2, 2022 - hosted by criminal justice journalist Maggie Freeland - abut "a trial riddled with questionable forensics" - the story of Patty Prewitt, "a now-72-year-old mother of five, grandmother of thirteen, and great-grandmother who was given a life sentence 35 years ago after being convicted for the murder of her husband, Bill. Prewitt, who is incarcerated in a women’s prison in Vandalia, Missouri and has always maintained her innocence, will not be eligible for parole until 2036, when she will be 86 years old. Link provided.


FIRST EPISODE: 


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STORY: "There Are Too Many Wrongfully Convicted Prisoners for Just One Podcast," by Reporter James Ledbetter, published by Observer, on May 1, 2022.  (James Ledbetter is Observer's executive editor, and the editor and publisher of FIN, a newsletter about the fintech revolution.)


PHOTO CAPTION:  "Journalist and podcast host Maggie Freleng."

GIST: "When Jason Flom launched his Wrongful Conviction podcast in 2016, his mission seemed straightforward: to shine a light on people put behind bars or even sentenced to death row despite overwhelming evidence that they were innocent. What the media executive and justice activist didn’t anticipate was just how widespread the problem is; five years later, Flom found himself with a backlog of hundreds of cases, more than he could handle with a weekly show.

The solution? Create a new podcast. May 2, just before Mothers Day, marks the debut of Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng, hosted by a seasoned criminal justice journalist with a background in radio production.

The first episode, timed for Mothers Day, tells the story of Patty Prewitt, a now-72-year-old mother of five, grandmother of thirteen, and great-grandmother who was given a life sentence 35 years ago after being convicted for the murder of her husband, Bill. Prewitt, who is incarcerated in a women’s prison in Vandalia, Missouri and has always maintained her innocence, will not be eligible for parole until 2036, when she will be 86 years old.

Freleng told the Observer: “For much of my career, I’ve covered the uphill battle that women faced in our society and our legal system. Patty’s case really highlights this issue.”

Even with two podcasts, Flom’s Lava For Good will be challenged to keep up with supply. The Innocence Project estimates that of the roughly 2 million people currently incarcerated in the United States, as many as 120,000 may have been wrongfully convicted."

The entire story can be read at:


https://observer.com/2022/05/there-are-too-many-wrongfully-convicted-prisoners-for-just-one-podcast/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;



SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:




FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;