AJCRADIO
Exposing Injustices Wherever Found
an Organization for Social Justice
Mother of Wrongly Convicted Son - Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass
Ms. Jenkins-Snodgrass is a consultant at Mothers (Fathers) for the Advancement of Social Systems Inc. (MASS) and volunteers at the Center on Wrongful Convictions/Women’s Project, Northwestern Law. She is currently advocating for her son, Kevin’s wrongful conviction.
Website: www.justice4kk.com
Former Judge/Attorney at Law - Charles Baird
A former judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the 299th Criminal District Court in Travis County, Charles (Charlie) Baird earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas and his juris doctorate from South Texas College of Law in Houston in December, 1980. He earned a Master of Law in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia in 1995. While on the Court, Baird consistently wrote more opinions each year than any other judge on the court, and pushed the majority to address specific points of law through the crafting of strong and detailed opinions - often doing so in instances where the majority would have preferred to address the cases w/o a written opinion.
Brothers of Tim Cole - Reginald Kennard & Sean Session
On September 17, 1986, a jury convicted Timothy Cole of Michele Mallin's rape and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Prior to his trial, Tim was offered probation in exchange for a guilty plea, but he refused to admit guilt to a crime he did not commit. During his time in prison, he was offered parole in exchange for admitting his guilt. Again, he refused. On December 2, 1999 Cole died in prison from a massive heart attack caused by an asthmatic condition. He was 39 years old. The Innocence Project of Texas (I.P.O.T.) began investigating Cole’s case in 2007 when we received a letter from Jerry Wayne Johnson, a Texas inmate who claimed to have committed the crime. A later DNA test revealed what we knew all along: Jerry Wayne Johnson was Michele Mallin’s attacker, not Timothy Cole.
Website: http://www.ipoftexas.org/featured-exoneration-timothy-cole
Federal Criminal Analyst - Barry S. Sussman
Barry Scott Sussman was born and raised in New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in Sociology and graduated with a JD from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law specializing in Federal Criminal Procedure and Federal Prosecutorial Misconduct. Barry is currently the Criminal Justice Editor at OPC Global and recently published an article about the wrongful convictions of the IRP6 in Colorado. Barry also worked as a legal commentator during the Clinton impeachment debacle helping to educate the public about federal prosecutors and their outrageous abuse of power.
Websites: www.onlinepublishingcompany.info ; http://open.salon.com/blog/barry60x
Writer/Reporter - Mara Leveritt
Mara Leveritt works as a newspaper and Web reporter in Arkansas, focusing mostly on the criminal justice system. She has won numerous awards for investigative reporting, and in 1994 was named Arkansas Journalist of the Year. In 2002, Simon and Schuster published DEVIL’S KNOT, Leveritt’s examination of the legal irregularities that followed the sensational murders of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Mara’s recent book Dark Spell is about West Memphis 3, Jason Baldwin who was sixteen, the youngest of the three teenagers, when he heard himself sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Websites: http://maraleveritt.com/ ; http://jacksontechnologies.net/mleveritt/biography/ ; http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/
Wrongly Convicted - Tammy Alexander(on behalf of Jamie Snow)
In 2001, Jamie Snow was wrongfully convicted for the 1991 murder of a gas station attendant during an apparent armed robbery at the Clark Super 100 Station located at 802 E. Empire St. in Bloomington, Illinois. Jamie was home with his family on the other side of town when the crime occurred. He is currently being represented by the University of Chicago’s Exoneration Project. This will be his 15th year residing in Stateville Prison in Joliet, Illinois.
Website: http://freejamiesnow.com/
Ret. Superior Court Judge - Michael Heavey
Judge Michael (Mike) Heavey is a decorated Vietnam Veteran. He served 14 years as a Washington state lawmaker and over 12 years as a Judge on the King County Superior Court. He has presided over hundreds of criminal and civil cases. But it is his work as a volunteer championing the innocence of Seattle neighbor Amanda Knox and her Italian codefendant Raffaele Sollecito that inspired Judge Heavey to get involved in the study of wrongful convictions in the U.S. and around the world. Since retiring from the bench in early 2013, Judge Heavey has become a champion for the rights of those wrongfully convicted, and in 2013 founded Judges For Justice, a non-profit organization committed to providing independent, impartial, and experienced judicial analysis of cases of alleged innocence.
Website: www.judgesforjustice.org
August 14, 2014 - Abuse Of Power By Prosecutors & Judges - Show Link
Wrongly Convicted/Exonerated - Joyce Ann Brown
Joyce Ann Brown was convicted in October 1980 of the aggravated robbery of a North Dallas, Texas, fur store during which the owner of the store was shot to death. Joyce Ann Brown was exonerated in 1990 as a result of an investigation led by Centurion Ministries, a Princeton, New Jersey, organization dedicated to rectifying wrongful convictions in murder cases.
Law Professor/Director - Justin Brooks
Professor Justin Brooks is the Director of California Innocence Project, the Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy, and California Western's LL.M. in Trial Advocacy Specializing in Federal Criminal Law. Prior to coming to California, Professor Brooks practiced as a criminal defense attorney in Washington D.C., Michigan, and Illinois. Over the course of his career he has served as counsel on several high profile criminal cases and has been successful in exonerating wrongfully convicted clients.
Websites: http://californiainnocenceproject.org/about-the-project/meet-the-staff ; https://www.cwsl.edu/faculty-staff-and-campus-directories/faculty-and-staff-directory/j/justin-p-brooks
Former Prep Football Star - Brian Banks
Brian Banks in the summer of 2002 was arrested and charged after classmate Wanetta Gibson said that he dragged her into a stairway at Polytechnic High School (Poly) and raped her. Nevertheless, with Gibson's taped admission and help from California Innocence Project attorneys, Los Angeles County prosecutors overturned Banks' conviction on May 24, 2012. He now serves as a spokesperson for the California Innocence Project and is working on a documentary about his story with well-known Director, Lee Daniels, who created the film, “The Butler”.
Websites: http://www.brianbanks.org/ ; http://californiainnocenceproject.org/read-their-stories/brian-banks
Writer/Reporter - Mara Leveritt
Mara Leveritt works as a newspaper and Web reporter in Arkansas, focusing mostly on the criminal justice system. She has won numerous awards for investigative reporting, and in 1994 was named Arkansas Journalist of the Year. Mara’s recent book Dark Spell is about West Memphis 3, Jason Baldwin who was sixteen, the youngest of the three teenagers, when he heard himself sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. Dark Spell is the account of what it was like to be taken in handcuffs and shackles into Arkansas’s adult prison system, where inmates and guards alike saw him as a Satanic child-killer.
Websites: http://maraleveritt.com/ ; http://jacksontechnologies.net/mleveritt/biography/
Writer/Producer - Todd Trotter
Todd Trotter is a graduate of Southern Methodist University’s cinema-television program and has worked in the motion picture and television business for over 20 years. He started as a writer at Stephen J. Cannell Productions and wrote for the hit USA network crime drama Silk Stalkings, as well as Street Justice, starring Carl Weathers.
Website: http://www.toddtrotter.com/
Writer/Journalist/Storyteller - Alison Flowers
Alison Flowers is a Chicago journalist who focuses on social justice. She is the author of Exoneree Diaries, a narrative non-fiction multimedia series for Chicago Public Media and NPR affiliate, WBEZ 91.5. Flowers worked as a research associate at Northwestern University’s Medill Justice Project where she contributed to the investigations of potentially wrongful convictions and explored other systemic criminal justice issues.
Website: http://alisonflowers.com/
Former Chief Judge/Attorney - U. W. Clemon
U.W. Clemon is a former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. After nearly 30 years on the federal bench, he returned to practice law in 2009 with the law firm of White Arnold & Dowd. Judge Clemon works in the white collar criminal group, defending both individuals and organizations accused of wrongdoing. His practice also includes arbitration and mediation matters (appellate advocacy), along with service as an appointed Special Master in complex civil actions.
Website: http://www.whitearnolddowd.com/attorneys/u-w-clemon/
Former Civil Trial Attorney/Author - Laura Caldwell
Laura Caldwell is a former civil trial attorney, now Scholar in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is also director of Life After Innocence and a published author of 14 novels and one nonfiction book.
Websites: http://www.lauracaldwell.com/ ; http://www.luc.edu/law/experiential/lifeafterinnocence/index.html
Wrongly Convicted - Antoine Day
Antoine Day was a budding musician when his life changed. On September 1, 1990, Thomas Peters and James Coleman were shot while shooting craps outside a liquor store. The men were taken to a hospital, where Peters died and Coleman was treated and released for a gunshot wound in the back. Day and a codefendant were arrested eight days later after Darrell Gurley, a nephew of Peters and witness to the crime, told police they were the shooters. Both were found guilty sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 60 years for murder and 25 years for attempted murder.
Website: http://lifeafterjustice.org/
Wrongly Convicted - Thomas Haynesworth
On January 3, 1984, a 20-year-old white woman was raped at knife point in a day-care center by a young black male. Over the next month, from January 3 to February 1, four more white women were the victims of rapes or attempted rapes within a one-mile radius of the first rape by a man fitting the same description. Thomas Haynesworth was an 18-year-old Richmond resident with no criminal record. He became a suspect when one of the victims spotted him walking on the street and identified him as her attacker. His photo was shown to the other four victims in photo arrays, and all four identified him as their attacker. However, in one of the crimes, the victim, who was 5’ 8”, originally described the perpetrator as “taller than me.” In another, the perpetrator was described as 5’ 10”. Thomas was only 5’ 6½”. Even after Thomas was arrested and convicted, the rapes continued. On December 19, 1984, the police arrested Leon Davis, and the rapes promptly stopped. His wrongful convictions story was recently aired on BET’s Vindicated show.
Website: http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Thomas_Haynesworth.php
TV Producer/Freelance Journalist - Megan Blarr
Megan Courtney Blarr is a producer at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, N.Y. A former associate producer for NBC Nightly News, TODAY and MSNBC in California, she left her job in 2014 to pursue a career as an investigative and humanitarian journalist.
Website: http://meganslawjournal.com/
Investigative Reporter - Jerry Mitchell
Investigative Reporter Jerry Mitchell for the Clarion-Ledger newspaper have helped to put four Klansmen behind bars and his latest work has led to an arrest in the oldest serial killer case in our nation’s history. He has over 30 years of investigative journalism experience.
Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/blog/journeytojustice/
Author/Wrongly Convicted - Howell Woltz
Howell Woltz, was born in Mt. Airy, NC (better known as, Mayberry the small town, where the Andy Griffith show was filmed). He has three children and currently lives at his farm in Advance, NC, writing and fighting for reform of the American System of Justice, which now incarcerates more of its citizens than any nation on earth or in history. In April 2006, Howell Woltz was arrested at his farm by the FBI and was falsely imprisoned for conspiring to defraud the United States government. Howell Woltz served his 87 months(7 years) sentence in a Federal prison, though never convicted by any court with jurisdiction. Howell Woltz a book about his true wrongful convictions story, titled: Justice Denied, revised and updated January 2014; it can be purchased on Amazon.com.
Websites: www.howellwoltz.com ; http://ombudsmannow.com/
FIJA Coordinator - Alex Daube
Alexander Daube, of Colorado Springs, is the area coordinator for the Fully Informed Jury Association, a group advocating the restoration of jury rights in the United States. Alex was a guest on AJCRadio back in December 2013.
Website: www.FIJA.org
Attorney - Chris Forsyth
Chris Forsyth is a Denver attorney that has stepped forward to lead an uphill battle to get a pair of judicial reform initiatives on the 2014 statewide ballot. With only a small but growing team of volunteer petition circulators to aid the cause, Forsyth’s Clean Up the Courts which is a grassroots issue committee focused on judicial reform. The campaign is focused on overcoming difficult odds and bringing two straightforward judicial reform measures before Colorado voters this fall.
Website: http://www.cleanupthecourts.org/
Attorney - Dr. Richard Cordero
Dr. Richard Cordero, Esq., is a doctor of law and researcher-writer attorney. He lives in NY City. He holds a Ph.D. in law from the University of Cambridge in England; a French law degree from La Sorbonne in Paris; and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Wrongly Convicted - Antoine Day
Antoine Day was a budding musician when his life changed. On September 1, 1990, Thomas Peters and James Coleman were shot while shooting craps outside a liquor store. The men were taken to a hospital, where Peters died and Coleman was treated and released for a gunshot wound in the back. Day and a codefendant were arrested eight days later after Darrell Gurley, a nephew of Peters and witness to the crime, told police they were the shooters. Both were found guilty sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 60 years for murder and 25 years for attempted murder.
Website: http://lifeafterjustice.org/
Radio Host - Aaron Habel
Aaron Habel is the Radio Host for The Generation Why Podcast where, he and his co-host Justin talk about unsolved murders, controversies, mysteries, conspiracies, as well as anything else that impacts our culture.
Website: http://thegenerationwhypodcast.com/
Author/Professor of Religion - Stephen Boyd
Stephen B. Boyd is the J. Allen Easley Professor of Religion at Wake Forest University. He teaches courses on the history of Christianity and Christian thought, gender studies, and religion and public life. Today, he is currently advocating for Kalvin Michael Smith, who was convicted and sentenced for robbery and attempted murder.
Websites: http://college.wfu.edu/religion/people/faculty-profiles/dr-steve-boyd/ ; http://www.kalvinmichaelsmith.com/
UK Investigative Journalist - Tracy Collins
Tracy Collins is a committed journalist dedicated to producing newsworthy and accurate copy to deadline. She previously worked as a News Reporter for The News, and as an Assistant Sub-editor with the Inside Time. In addition, Tracy is a published writer, accomplished researcher, copy writer, feature writer and court reporter.
Trial Attorney/Legal Analyst - Anne Bremner
Anne Bremner is a trial attorney, and one of the nation's most recognized legal analysts. She graduated from Stanford University receiving a B.A. with honors. Anne is a regular contributing legal analyst on TV and cable, having appeared many times on networks including CNN, Fox, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, the BBC and others. Among her successful high-profile trial work, are cases representing:
The Friends of Amanda Knox, David Copperfield, Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Des Moines Police Depart in the case against teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau.
Websites: www.annebremner.com ; http://seattlelawblog.blogspot.com/
Author/Ex-Prison Guard - Gary York
Gary York served in the United States Army from 1978 to 1987 and was honorably discharged at the rank of Staff Sergeant from the Military Police Corps. After discharge, he began a career with the Department of Corrections as a Correctional Officer. Gary was promoted to Probation Officer and later to a Senior Probation Officer. He was promoted once again to Senior Prison Inspector where for the next twelve years he conducted Criminal, Civil and Administrative investigations in many state Prisons. Gary has written a couple of books: CORRUPTION BEHIND BARS (Jul 21, 2013) and INSIDE THE INNER CIRCLE (Dec 10, 2013).
Author/Psychotherapist - George Mallinckrodt
George Mallinckrodt has been a psychotherapist for 17 years. He started in private practice and eventually gravitated to working in a psychiatric ward, called the Transitional Care Unit, located in the Florida state prison, known as Dade Correctional Institution. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Miami and did his graduate work in counseling at Barry University.
Website: http://georgemallinckrodt.com/
Tonight's show is a recap of Tracy Collins, a United Kingdom, Investigative Journalist sharing her perspective on the IRP6 wrongful convictions case in Colorado.
UK Investigative Journalist - Tracy Collins
Tracy Collins is a committed journalist dedicated to producing newsworthy and accurate copy to deadline. She previously worked as a News Reporter for The News, and as an Assistant Sub-editor with the Inside Time. In addition, Tracy is a published writer, accomplished researcher, copy writer, feature writer and court reporter. Tracy is known to challenge authority and expose cover ups and corruption. Tracy is highly recommended, as an investigative journalist in miscarriages of justice and police corruption.
Website: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/tracy-collins/33/a49/6b2
Chairman/Director - Vern L. Howard
Vern L. Howard is the Owner and CEO of The Vern’s LLC. He retired from the City of Denver after working for over Twenty-five years. During his tenure, he was responsible for managing and hosting over 350 city-sponsored functions annually. Some of these events have included visits from Heads of State; i.e., President George H. Bush, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, Vice President Al Gore, Pope and a host of other high ranking officials. Vern also served as the project manager of the building and un-veiling of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I Have A Dream monument in Denver’s City Park.
Websites: www.drmartinlkingjrchc.org
Author/Wrongly Convicted - Howell Woltz
Howell Woltz, was born in Mt. Airy, NC (better known as, Mayberry the small town, where the Andy Griffith show was filmed). He has three children and currently lives at his farm in Advance, NC, writing and fighting for reform of the American System of Justice, which now incarcerates more of its citizens than any nation on earth or in history. In April 2006, Howell Woltz was arrested at his farm by the FBI and was falsely imprisoned for conspiring to defraud the United States government. Howell Woltz served his 87 months(7 years) sentence in a Federal prison, though never convicted by any court with jurisdiction. Howell Woltz a book about his true wrongful convictions story, titled: Justice Denied, revised and updated January 2014; it can be purchased on Amazon.com.
Websites: www.howellwoltz.com ; http://ombudsmannow.com/
Wrongly Convicted/Exonerated - Jarrett Adams
Jarrett Adams was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault at age 17 and sentenced to 28 years in a maximum security prison. After ten years, Jarrett was exonerated with the assistance of the Wisconsin Innocence Project.
Website: http://law.wisc.edu/fjr/clinicals/ip/client_profiles.html
Case Analyst - Edwin Grimsley
Edwin Grimsley joined the Benjamin N. Cordoza School of Law Innocence Project in December 2006. As a Case Analyst, Edwin corresponds with defendants and reviews investigative, trial, appellate and laboratory documents to determine if post-conviction DNA testing could prove innocence.
Websites: www.innocenceproject.org ; http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/What_Wrongful_Convictions_Teach_Us_About_Racial_Inequality.php
We recap the IRP6's case and the progress that has been made since their incarceration. The IRP6 are Gary Walker, David Banks, Kendrick Barnes, Demetrius Harper, Clinton Stewart, and David Zirpolo. They are six business executives who were wrongly convicted and had their business, IRP Solutions, raided by the FBI.
Website: http://www.freetheirp6.org/
Author/Professor of Religion - Stephen Boyd
Stephen B. Boyd, M.Div., Th.D. Harvard Divinity School, is the J. Allen Easley Professor of Religion at Wake Forest University. He teaches courses on the history of Christianity and Christian thought, gender studies, and religion and public life.
Website: http://college.wfu.edu/religion/people/faculty-profiles/dr-steve-boyd/
Attorney - James Ferguson
Attorney, James E. Ferguson II, growing up in Ashville, N.C., saw racial discrimination and inequity first hand. While in high school in the 1950s, he formed a student group to desegregate public facilities in his hometown. As a lawyer, he has devoted his career to advocating for the underprivileged, wrongfully accused and injured.
Website: http://fergusonsumter.com/attorneys.php?attorneyId=3
Wrongly Convicted/Pardoned - Wayne Moore
Wayne Moore is one of The Wilmington Ten, who were convicted in 1971 in Wilmington, North Carolina of arson and conspiracy, and served nearly a decade in jail. Wayne wrote a book, titled "Triumphant Warrior", which is an incredible and compelling story of how he found strength through his struggle after finding himself in prison at the young age of 19 and sentenced to nearly 34 years for protesting the institutionalized racial discrimination, and hostilities surrounding court-ordered desegregation in Wilmington, N.C. His book can be purchased on Barnes & Noble.
Website: http://triumphantwarriors.ning.com/
Professor/Pardon Expert - P.S. Ruckman
P.S. Ruckman, Jr. is an Instructor at Northern Illinois University, and a Professor of Political Science at Rock Valley College. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert on federal executive clemency (the pardon power of the president) and serves as Editor of the "Pardon Power Blog.”
Websites: www.psruckman.com ; www.pardonpower.com
Civil Rights Leader - Dr. Benjamin Chavis
Dr. Benjamin Chavis is a Civil Rights Leader, born in Oxford, North Carolina. In 1965, while a college freshman, Dr. Chavis became a statewide youth coordinator and assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who inspired him to work in the civil rights movement. At the age of 24, Dr. Chavis rose to international prominence after being wrongly convicted and sentenced to 34 years in prison for arson, as the leader of the Wilmington Ten.
