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Speaker 1: May fourteenth, nineteen ninety two, started as a normal Thursday

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Speaker 1: for Aeron Shellman. He called up a few of his

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Speaker 1: buddies to hang Andre, Floyd and Antonio. Floyd came by

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Speaker 1: in his car and they all headed out to get haircuts,

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Speaker 1: pick up some liquor, and bounce around Detroit.

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Speaker 2: We had fun, we laughed, we joked. All of those

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Speaker 2: things happened.

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Speaker 1: Eron was driving Floyd's car with Antonio beside him in

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Speaker 1: the passenger seat and Floyd and Andre in the back.

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Speaker 1: Suddenly he heard a loud bang.

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Speaker 2: And it startled me to a degree where I almost

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Speaker 2: crashed the car. And as I was trying to stop

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Speaker 2: the car and gain that back, Antonio leaned over and

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Speaker 2: fell into my lap. I have my dearest friend laying

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Speaker 2: in my lap, bleeding out the back of his head.

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Speaker 1: Antonio was dead. The man who shot him confessed to

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Speaker 1: police and gave a full statement.

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Speaker 3: And he said, you know, I just lost it. I

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Speaker 3: didn't even think about it. I just took the gun

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Speaker 3: and I just shot him.

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Speaker 1: But Iron was arrested, charged and tried for his murder,

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Speaker 1: and in the end, Iron was the one who was convicted.

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Speaker 2: I'm Iron Shelman. I've served thirty years nine months in

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Speaker 2: prison for first degree murder that I didn't do.

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Speaker 1: From lava for good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie

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Speaker 1: Freeling today, Iron Shellman Iaron Shellman was born in Detroit

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Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I grew up on the inner city Detroit, Michigan.

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Speaker 2: Mother was a Desiree Shelman and my father was a

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Speaker 2: Theodore Right. My mother did a bunch of stuff early on.

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Speaker 2: She worked at at and T for a spell, and

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Speaker 2: she worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield for a spell.

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Speaker 2: My father was in and out of correctional facilities.

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Speaker 1: So your mom pretty much raised you by herself.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, with a handful of cousins and family members

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Speaker 2: and stuff that you know also participated in the rearing

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Speaker 2: of me. I have one sibling, she's ten years younger

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Speaker 2: than I am. I have a host of cousins. They

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Speaker 2: all think that they're my brothers and sisters.

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Speaker 1: How would you describe Aeron overall?

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Speaker 4: I would say, if I had to give it words,

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Speaker 4: gentle giant. Right.

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Speaker 1: This is Aeron's cousin Sonya Shulman. She's nine years younger

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Speaker 1: than Aaron.

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Speaker 4: Sometimes when you see people who are larger in stature,

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Speaker 4: you have a sense of intimidation. And that has never

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Speaker 4: been that with him because he's always had a very

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Speaker 4: soft voice, and so his words always came out really

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Speaker 4: soft and graceful and kind. But when it was time

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Speaker 4: to be protective, you could hear change, Right, don't do that,

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Speaker 4: put that down, You're gonna get in trouble. You know,

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Speaker 4: those sorts of things. Growing up, it was just like that.

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Speaker 4: So because we have a small yet close knit family,

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Speaker 4: everyone operated in a way that felt in a protective.

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Speaker 2: Measure sort of way.

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Speaker 4: So the older cousins or you know, of that nature

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Speaker 4: hovered over all of the younger ones such as myself,

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Speaker 4: in a way that felt very brotherly and sisterly.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, my grandfather, you know, he would give us a

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Speaker 2: few dollars every weekend and we would all pile into

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Speaker 2: city bus and catch the bus downtown and watch Kom

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Speaker 2: Foo movies when we were children.

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Speaker 1: What movies do you remember?

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Speaker 2: Oh, we watched all of all of the Komfoo movies.

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Speaker 2: It Fox, you know, we were kids, like late seventies,

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Speaker 2: early eighties. It was fans of the guys with the rings.

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Speaker 1: Firstly, that's who it was, right, Okay.

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Speaker 2: Yes, there you go.

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Speaker 1: Although his extended family was always there for him, Iron's

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Speaker 1: home life was unstable.

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Speaker 2: You know, again, I'm pretty young, but you know, all

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Speaker 2: signs showed that, you know, it was drug abuse and

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Speaker 2: those types of things that were happening in the home.

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Speaker 1: Aron spent less and less time at home, more and

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Speaker 1: more time out in the streets. Before long he was

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Speaker 1: starting to get in trouble.

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Speaker 2: You know, typical story. As the household deteriorates, and you

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Speaker 2: know it's no real real person that's making you do

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Speaker 2: this or making you do that. You know, so you

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Speaker 2: tend to start running with people that you should.

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Speaker 1: And so what was that in your neighborhood? What was

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Speaker 1: going on?

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Speaker 2: It was a lot. It just was it was, you know,

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Speaker 2: guys that did this and guys that did that, drug dealing,

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Speaker 2: you know, breaking in houses. I was away a lot,

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Speaker 2: you know, juvenile delinquency, youth homes, training schools and such.

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Speaker 1: How much of your childhood do you think you spent

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Speaker 1: in some sort of facility or incarceration.

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Speaker 2: I'm fifty one years old, and last I tried to

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Speaker 2: do the math, I think I may have spent maybe

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Speaker 2: fourteen years free.

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Speaker 1: Do you think growing up with your dad in prison,

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Speaker 1: had any effective on how you kind of chose to

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Speaker 1: live your life.

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Speaker 2: Must have right, like you know, like my grandfather, he

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Speaker 2: chipped in, He did the best he could. He worked

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Speaker 2: a lot and such, but he come by every day

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Speaker 2: and check on me and spend a few minutes with

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Speaker 2: me a day. But for a child like me, and

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Speaker 2: you know that was going through all that type of

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Speaker 2: family drama, you kind of want a strong individual. You

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Speaker 2: long for father figure right to teach you, you know,

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Speaker 2: what not to do and what to do.

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Speaker 1: So you have these friends, you're kind of living this

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Speaker 1: little bit of street life getting into some trouble. Can

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Speaker 1: you tell me about your relationship with Andre Rice and

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Speaker 1: Antonio Knight.

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Speaker 2: Both of them was real, real good friends of mine personally,

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Speaker 2: Like we grew up as like really really good friends

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Speaker 2: at those ages. At the thirteen and fourteen, I lived

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Speaker 2: on a street with Antonio from the age of twelve thirteen.

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Speaker 2: We caught the same bus to school for like many years,

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Speaker 2: I spent I spent nights over their house. I ate

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Speaker 2: at their house, you know, when my mother was kind

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Speaker 2: of going through her things, you know, and we weren't

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Speaker 2: guaranteed to have a home cooked meal there. I would

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Speaker 2: go over Antonio's house and his mother Darlene, and his

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Speaker 2: kind grandmother and them. They would feed me all the time.

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Speaker 1: What was Antonio like early on?

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Speaker 2: He was like us pretty much, you know, kid trying

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Speaker 2: to find his way right, trying to figure out which

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Speaker 2: side of the tracks he's going to fall on, you know.

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Speaker 2: And as I would come back to the neighborhood, as

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Speaker 2: I was released from this facility or I would get

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Speaker 2: a break from that foster home, I seen the change

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Speaker 2: in it that it shifts. It was never really wholesome,

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Speaker 2: but it stopped being that and more street.

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Speaker 1: And then tell me about Andre. You said you were

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Speaker 1: really close with him.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he was kind of like a kid brother. You know.

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Speaker 2: We would go out and dance and like a little

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Speaker 2: light partying and such, you know, nothing really crazy, but

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Speaker 2: you know, he went to school every day, and he

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Speaker 2: had a strong mother influence wouldn't allow him. Yeah. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: she was really you know, big with church and you know,

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Speaker 2: and that type of stuff, so she really wouldn't let

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Speaker 2: him veer off too much.

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Speaker 1: In May of nineteen ninety two, Ieron was nineteen years old.

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Speaker 1: He was still hanging out with Andre and Antonio, who

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Speaker 1: also went by the name Tone, as well as some

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Speaker 1: of the other neighborhood guys. One Thursday morning, Ieron decided

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Speaker 1: he needed a haircut, and Tone wanted to come along.

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Speaker 1: Eron called up his friend Ken, who ran a barber

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Speaker 1: shop at his house, and Ken said, sure, come on by.

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Speaker 2: So we called Floyd, which was my buddy, you know

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Speaker 2: what I'm saying, and he would drive us. So he

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Speaker 2: pulled up and picked me up, and we started to

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Speaker 2: accumulate more and more people.

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Speaker 1: Ieron, Floyd, Pennington, and Andre headed over to Antonio's to

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Speaker 1: pick him up, and Eeron went inside to get him

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Speaker 1: while he chatted with Tones's grandmother and little sister.

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Speaker 2: It was really just me being goofy with the kid's sister,

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Speaker 2: and grandmother said something or another to me, you know,

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Speaker 2: y'all be careful, y'all, you know, stay out of trouble.

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Speaker 2: You know. She was big on that.

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Speaker 1: Type of The four of them went over to Ken's

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Speaker 1: and got haircuts, then drove around in Floyd's dodge for

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Speaker 1: most of the day.

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Speaker 2: I don't recall who was sitting where first, but I

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Speaker 2: drove because I didn't drink as much as them. Throughout

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Speaker 2: the day, they were shifting in the seats. We made

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Speaker 2: a couple of stops including like liquor stores, the barbershop, something.

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Speaker 3: To eat, and they did at one point stop at

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Speaker 3: Montese Bell's house, so that's Aaron's cousin. They stopped there

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Speaker 3: and chatted for a couple of minutes.

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Speaker 1: This is Rachel Wolf, Aaron's post conviction attorney.

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Speaker 3: Montes out of this, I'm like, hey, guys, like what

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Speaker 3: are you doing? Like where are you going? And that's

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Speaker 3: when Ieron apparently said, we're you take tone out or

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Speaker 3: we're going to take tone out.

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Speaker 1: At some point that day, Andrea and Antonio may have

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Speaker 1: gotten into some kind of disagreement, but if there was

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Speaker 1: anything wrong between them, Eron was unaware of it.

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Speaker 2: I was in and out of a car, going in

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Speaker 2: and out of cousins house, talked to him back in,

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Speaker 2: so I don't know the full between those two. When

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Speaker 2: we traveled back up towards Antonio's house, it was kind

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Speaker 2: of quiet from Andre, but everyone else was still in

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Speaker 2: the mode that they were in. We laughed, we joked,

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Speaker 2: you know, all of those things happened.

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Speaker 1: Eron was driving with Antonio in the passenger seat beside him,

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Speaker 1: Floyd was sitting in the back seat behind Tone, and

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Speaker 1: Andre was sitting behind Eron. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Eron

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Speaker 1: heard a loud bang.

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Speaker 2: And and it startled me to a degree where I

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Speaker 2: almost crashed the car. And as I was trying to

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Speaker 2: stop the car and gain that back, Antonio leaned over

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Speaker 2: and fell into my lap. I looked back, I seen

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Speaker 2: the faces of Floyd and Andre, and I had my

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Speaker 2: my dearest friend laying in my lap, bleeding out the

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Speaker 2: back of his head.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember if anyone was like, what the hell

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Speaker 1: just happens?

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Speaker 4: Like?

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Speaker 1: What did you do?

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Speaker 2: I don't know if anyone really screamed out, I really don't.

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Speaker 2: I think it was what now, right? I think I

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Speaker 2: think that that's that's the emotion. What now? Like you

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Speaker 2: know what to do? What what happens? Now? Right?

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Speaker 1: So what did you do?

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Speaker 2: I drove, I stopped here, I stopped there, and before

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Speaker 2: long we were in an alley like maybe two three

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Speaker 2: blocks away. They told me to stop. The gun was

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Speaker 2: still in his hand, you know, it was pull over here.

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Speaker 2: Stopped the car.

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Speaker 3: Andre and Floyd pulled Antonio's body out of the car

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Speaker 3: and left it there in the alley, and then Eron drove.

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Speaker 2: I was just so scared, you know, I didn't want

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Speaker 2: to be the one that was labeled to snitch or

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Speaker 2: any of that.

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Speaker 3: So they found the body in the alleyway. I believe

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Speaker 3: somebody who ran a shop nearby in the area found

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Speaker 3: the body in the alley and called the police.

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Speaker 1: An autopsy showed that Tone had died of a single

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Speaker 1: gunshot wound to the back of his head. Almost immediately,

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Speaker 1: the Detroit police were out looking for the killer, and

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Speaker 1: a number of suspects were rounded up for questioning.

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Speaker 3: I do know that they arrested at least three people

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Speaker 3: who were, you know, maybe witnesses. They suspected that these

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Speaker 3: three individuals, as Montes Bell and then this other woman,

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Speaker 3: Barbara Meyer and her boyfriend William Logan, were all arrested,

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Speaker 3: charged with the homicide, and then held for many hours

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Speaker 3: before they ultimately gave statements. I don't know exactly how

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Speaker 3: Iron and Andre initially became suspects, but I can wager

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Speaker 3: I guess that they spoke to Antonio Knight's grandmother, who

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Speaker 3: ultimately did come in and testify at trial because she

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Speaker 3: had seen these four men in the car together hours

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Speaker 3: before Tone died.

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Speaker 1: A few weeks later, Andre Rice was arrested as well.

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Speaker 1: Eron was still laying low.

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Speaker 2: You know, I'm nineteen years old. I'm ducking in the

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Speaker 2: dodge and I only really came out once I found

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Speaker 2: out that they had arrested On, so I kind of

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Speaker 2: let my guard down after that. I'm like, oh, okaye,

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Speaker 2: police arrested it, like you know, it's over with.

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Speaker 1: Right, But it wasn't over. The statements from Montez, William

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Speaker 1: and Barbara, along with Tone's grandmother, had placed Iran in

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Speaker 1: the car when Tone was shot, and the investigation was

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Speaker 1: now focused on him and Andre. Before long, the police

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Speaker 1: found him at his cousin's house and took him down

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Speaker 1: to the station.

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Speaker 2: I didn't speak to him. They took me back to

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Speaker 2: the sale for hours. When I come back down, they

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Speaker 2: had a confession from Andre. So what he told me?

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Speaker 2: He showed me a paper with a signature on it

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Speaker 2: said he had everything he needed. And I said, well,

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Speaker 2: if you got everything you needed, you got a confession,

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Speaker 2: surely I can go, right. Was it the case? They

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Speaker 2: said they needed me to put some nails in the

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Speaker 2: coffin nothing and to pull Floyd into it. I said,

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Speaker 2: I don't know nothing.

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Speaker 1: On June thirteenth, nineteen ninety two, Andre Rice confessed to

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Speaker 1: shooting Antonio. He told the police that Aeron and Floyd

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Speaker 1: had no idea it was going to happen, and they

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Speaker 1: had nothing to do with it.

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Speaker 3: What Andrea says is that Tone had been threatening him

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Speaker 3: and threatening his family, and so Andre says he had

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Speaker 3: been drinking, and he said he was sitting there and thinking,

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Speaker 3: this guy's going to hurt my family. It's totally unprovoked.

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Speaker 3: You know, I just I just lost it. I didn't

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Speaker 3: even think about it. I just took the gun and

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Speaker 3: I just shot him.

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Speaker 1: So you stay quiet, he confesses, How do you think

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Speaker 1: you got involved in this?

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Speaker 2: I was tied to it either way, right, So I

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Speaker 2: just assumed that since I didn't help anybody, and I

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Speaker 2: didn't help the investigation, I would be thrown in somehow, right,

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Speaker 2: That's what I was thinking. I don't know, you know,

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Speaker 2: at the time, I didn't. I surely didn't think that

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Speaker 2: it would garner me a first degree murder conviction and

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Speaker 2: send me away for thirty plus years.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling. You can

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Speaker 1: listen to this and all the Lava for Good Podcasts

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Speaker 1: one week early and ad free by subscribing to Lava

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Speaker 1: for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. On June seventeenth, nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety two, Ivon Shellman and Andre Rice were both charged

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Speaker 1: with first degree premeditated murder. Their trial started six months later.

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Speaker 3: The trial was actually pretty short. It ran over the

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Speaker 3: course of five days December seventeenth through the twenty third

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Speaker 3: of nineteen ninety two. They were tried together, Andre and Ieron,

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Speaker 3: but they had separate juries.

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Speaker 1: The judge was Via Massey Jones and the prosecutor was

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Speaker 1: Lisa Lindsay. Ivon's defense attorney was Paul Curtis and Andre's

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Speaker 1: attorney was Jeffrey Edison.

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Speaker 3: He was partners with Paul Curtis. They were law partners.

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Speaker 3: They were operating out of the same office. There is

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Speaker 3: a potential conflict of interest there.

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Speaker 1: But the trial moved forward with very little to go on.

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Speaker 1: There was no physical evidence for the state to present.

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Speaker 3: They never found a murder weapon in the case. According

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Speaker 3: to the police, they never found the car. Floyd went

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Speaker 3: away with the car. The car was never seen again,

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Speaker 3: so they couldn't fingerprint it or do anything like that.

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Speaker 1: The prosecution's few witnesses included a medical examiner and one

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Speaker 1: of the police officers.

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Speaker 3: And then there was Antonio. Knight's grandmother came in and

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Speaker 3: testified about what had happened when they came to pick Antonio.

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Speaker 2: Up that day.

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Speaker 3: In what she saw, there were three people in the vehicle,

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Speaker 3: well for if you count Antonio himself. One of them

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Speaker 3: was never charged, never arrested, never interviewed.

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Speaker 1: That was Floyd Pennington, the owner of the car.

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Speaker 3: He was the one white man in the car, which

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Speaker 3: I also find interesting. You know, so their only evidence

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Speaker 3: that Iran was guilty was this testimony of his cousin.

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Speaker 1: Montes Bell was the state star witness. He was the

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Speaker 1: one who said Iran had told him they were going

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Speaker 1: to take Tone out.

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Speaker 3: He was the one that was going to make a difference,

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Speaker 3: and his testimony was incredible. There were lots of ways

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Speaker 3: to impeach him and discredit him, just using conflicts in

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Speaker 3: his own testimony, conflicts between what he said a trial

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Speaker 3: and at the exam, the fact that he had charges pending,

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Speaker 3: the fact that he was facing the homicide charge initially,

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Speaker 3: so he just the trial attorney really just focused on

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Speaker 3: cross examination.

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Speaker 1: Did the police convince anyone to testify against him that

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Speaker 1: maybe made something up.

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Speaker 3: I don't know. I will say that one of the

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Speaker 3: investigators on the case, her name was Barbara Simon, has

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Speaker 3: been alleged in several other cases of pressuring witnesses eliciting

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Speaker 3: fabricated testimony. So it's possible, and especially knowing what we

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Speaker 3: do about the Detroit Police Department at that time, it's possible.

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Speaker 3: Barbara Meyer said straight up that she gave them seven

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Speaker 3: different statements and they would not release her until she

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Speaker 3: gave the one that they wanted her to and she

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Speaker 3: said at that point, I would have done anything to

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Speaker 3: get out of there. It's one of the worst places

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Speaker 3: I've ever been, and I hear that a lot.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 1: To understand what happened next, it's important to know how

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Speaker 1: the trial was conducted. Ivon and Andre were co defendants,

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Speaker 1: and they were tried together before the same judge and prosecutor,

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Speaker 1: but they had two separate defense attorneys and two separate juries.

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Speaker 3: So the way they do that is, you know, they'll

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Speaker 3: do partial testimony from one witness. They'll present the things

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Speaker 3: in front of each jury while the other jury is

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Speaker 3: out of the courtroom, and anything that pertains to both cases.

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Speaker 3: They'll have both juries in the courtroom. It's something they

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Speaker 3: do a lot to save time.

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Speaker 1: This means that potentially each jury could get a very

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Speaker 1: different picture of the same set of events.

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Speaker 3: Andre didn't testify at the trial, but they had a

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Speaker 3: police officer take the stand and read his initial statement

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Speaker 3: into the record. This is the very first version of

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Speaker 3: events he told police. You know, he went in there.

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Speaker 3: They interviewed him. He said, we were all in the car.

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Speaker 3: I shot him. The other two people in the car

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Speaker 3: with me didn't know anything about it. I didn't even

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Speaker 3: think about it. I just acted right. That same evidence

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Speaker 3: was not presented to mister Shelman's jury ever.

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Speaker 2: He was convicted. First, he was charged with first degree

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Speaker 2: murder and felony firearm. They reduced his to second degree

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Speaker 2: murder with felony firearm, and they just left me at

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Speaker 2: first degree murder.

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Speaker 3: And in this case, Andre I believe got twenty five

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Speaker 3: to sixty years was his sentence.

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Speaker 1: I just I'm just still wondering how that happened, because

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Speaker 1: it isn't it true that Andre also said, like, you

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Speaker 1: were not involved, you didn't know anything.

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Speaker 2: But that information was never read in my trial. Jury

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Speaker 2: never heard that the jury only heard that I was

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Speaker 2: a bad kid and I went picked my buddy up

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Speaker 2: and something terrible happened to him. If you only hear

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Speaker 2: a certain side, it's all you can make your opinion.

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Speaker 2: And so I don't I don't blame him at all.

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Speaker 3: So, because the jury had not heard the evidence that

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Speaker 3: allowed Andre Rice's jury to say, oh, there was no

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Speaker 3: premeditation and deliberation, Ieron Shulman's jury did not have any idea.

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Speaker 3: They didn't hear Andre's statement. So if they believed that

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Speaker 3: he was involved, even in the slightest they believed they

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Speaker 3: were looking yet something that was the first degree homicide.

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Speaker 3: That's the charge that was put to them, right, and

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Speaker 3: they found him guilty of it. In Michigan, if you're

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Speaker 3: convicted of homicide, either as the principal or as an

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Speaker 3: aider and a better there is a mandatory life without

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Speaker 3: parole sentence, and you're gonna die. You're going to die

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Speaker 3: in prison. It means life in Michigan.

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Speaker 1: So Rice got a lesser sentence. I know that you

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Speaker 1: explained a little bit of that because of the testimony

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Speaker 1: that was not allowed into Eeron's trial. But that was

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Speaker 1: not a Brady violation. Correct. It was not hidden. The

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Speaker 1: defense attorney just did not.

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Speaker 3: The defense attorney knew about it, you know, and it's

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Speaker 3: I don't know, you know. We interviewed Paul Curtis, we

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Speaker 3: called him at the evidentiary hearing to explain his reasoning,

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Speaker 3: and the only reason he gave was that he assumed

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Speaker 3: Andre Rice would plead the fifth and just refuse to testify,

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Speaker 3: and so what was the point of talking to him?

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Speaker 3: And when I asked him, well, why wouldn't you use

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Speaker 3: this statement? He didn't need Andre He really didn't have

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Speaker 3: an answer.

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Speaker 1: When you're sitting at trial and they present this for

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Speaker 1: andre and then not for you, did you say to

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Speaker 1: your defense attorney, like, what is going on? Why isn't

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Speaker 1: this coming into my trial?

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Speaker 2: I didn't have a clue. I didn't have a clothe No, no,

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Speaker 2: nineteen year old No. I really believed that like someone

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Speaker 2: would see the truth, right, that's what you hope, right,

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Speaker 2: you hoped it like like, you know, you got me

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Speaker 2: down for a murder. I don't have a gun possession

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Speaker 2: to nothing. It's just a murder, right, and you have

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Speaker 2: the other guy down for the murder and the gun,

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Speaker 2: and you're assuming that like someone will say, like, because

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Speaker 2: what was his involvement then? Right? You know, so just

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Speaker 2: didn't happen for me. Prison is like a microcosm of

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Speaker 2: like the worst of the worst, That's what That's what

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Speaker 2: I think prison is. You know, you got your elements

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Speaker 2: that's really bad and terrible, and then you got maybe

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Speaker 2: a little bit of a sentil of goodness, right, And

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Speaker 2: it's up to you which side you want to you know,

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Speaker 2: attach yourself to when you go to prison. The older

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Speaker 2: guys that tell you it's sheeping, its wolves in here,

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Speaker 2: which one you want to be? Right? So you know,

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Speaker 2: twenty years I was twenty by the time I was sentenced.

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Speaker 2: I was twenty years old. I'm in prison. I have

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Speaker 2: a life sentence. So I didn't make the best decisions

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Speaker 2: early on. Right, I fought a lot. I wanted to

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Speaker 2: prove myself a lot. I found myself in those headspaces. Right.

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Speaker 1: Sonya was just ten years old when her beloved cousin Aeron,

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Speaker 1: the gentle giant who watched over her, went to prison.

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Speaker 4: It was a milestone, and not in a good way

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Speaker 4: for our family. The impact was felt through the entire

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Speaker 4: family unit and it was visceral. You could see it.

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Speaker 4: People changed, things changed. It was a loss. It was

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Speaker 4: a grief and loss experience for the family.

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Speaker 1: And you know, he mentioned we talked about how he

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Speaker 1: was in and out of some foster homes, juvenile detention.

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Speaker 1: He got in a lot of trouble when he gets

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Speaker 1: charged with murder. Was that surprising to everyone?

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Speaker 2: It was?

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Speaker 4: It was he was nineteen, we went to prison, right,

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Speaker 4: there were teenage things, you know, joy riding or you know,

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Speaker 4: running away from home, or we can't find you for

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Speaker 4: a week because you're hiding with a lady or a

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Speaker 4: girl or whatever. You know, you never heard of violence,

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Speaker 4: not from the gentle giant, right, So that was a

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Speaker 4: major shock to our family.

439
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,919
Speaker 1: Did everyone believe in his innocence at first or was

440
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:35,880
Speaker 1: there everyone did?

441
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 2: Yes?

442
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,240
Speaker 4: That was it was clear because we know him, we

443
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 4: know him. So part of that grief and loss also

444
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 4: included that charge. And persons were not able to articulate

445
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,639
Speaker 4: what that meant and how we disagreed or how we

446
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,440
Speaker 4: couldn't even imagine something like that could happen. We didn't

447
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 4: have a skill set. The adults lost their ability to

448
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:06,840
Speaker 4: rationally behave emotionally. You saw lots of crying and anger

449
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 4: and who missed court and who went to court? And

450
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:12,120
Speaker 4: who should be finding money? And what should we be doing?

451
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,359
Speaker 4: It became a different family dynamic altogether. How do you

452
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 4: pay for this?

453
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:17,439
Speaker 2: What do you do?

454
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 4: Where do we go? That shift was painful to watch.

455
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:23,520
Speaker 2: Wow.

456
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 1: After the initial shock, the family rallied together to support Eron,

457
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,240
Speaker 1: and as Sonia grew older, she took on more of

458
00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:34,040
Speaker 1: a role in his fight for innocence.

459
00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 4: Our relationship began to get very strong in my teen years,

460
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,800
Speaker 4: and so I would ask him questions and he would

461
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 4: say things like you're smart enough to handle this. And

462
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 4: so he would like tell me what he was doing

463
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,240
Speaker 4: in appeals and send me what he had and I

464
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,320
Speaker 4: would read and so I knew. I knew early on

465
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 4: about the confession.

466
00:28:53,800 --> 00:29:04,200
Speaker 5: Yeah, So at what point did things start to change

467
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 5: for you in prison?

468
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 1: Do you remember when that was my last?

469
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:10,959
Speaker 2: Like seventeen eighteen years were without incident? Right? In fact,

470
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,600
Speaker 2: my last eleven years. In three months, I was a

471
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 2: member of the TGII dog program where I helped train

472
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 2: rescue greyhounds.

473
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:21,240
Speaker 1: Wow.

474
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:25,920
Speaker 2: So I did that, but it allowed me time to

475
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 2: really get back into my case and research some other

476
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,760
Speaker 2: avenues of my case. And that's what we did, me

477
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,480
Speaker 2: and a fellow inmate. You know, we started going back

478
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 2: through it and kind of looking at it from a

479
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 2: different vantage point, and we kind of stumble up on

480
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 2: a couple of things.

481
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 3: So he filed his post conviction motion for a leaf

482
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,680
Speaker 3: from judgment in twenty seventeen. He had written it himself

483
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 3: and maybe he had the help of a legal writer

484
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,560
Speaker 3: or something. He had written it. They held his cases

485
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,560
Speaker 3: called in advance. The judge didn't decide it, referred it

486
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 3: to the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit, that's the Prosecutor's

487
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 3: office's own division to review these cases.

488
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 1: Around that time, Aaron heard about Rachel from a fellow

489
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,959
Speaker 1: prisoner and he reached out to her. She had just

490
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 1: started her own practice.

491
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:22,120
Speaker 3: So Ereon's case was one of my very first cases.

492
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 3: It was the first case that I filed in the

493
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 3: Wayne County Circuit Court under the name Wolf Law. So

494
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,480
Speaker 3: it's been a long road together for both of us.

495
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,840
Speaker 1: The first thing that Rachel did was to sit down

496
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,600
Speaker 1: and go through Airon's trial transcripts to see if she

497
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,719
Speaker 1: could uncover a basis for a new trial.

498
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 3: So when I read a trial transcript, I'm looking for

499
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 3: all of the things the jury would have been looking

500
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 3: at all the things the prosecutor argued to prove guilt.

501
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,960
Speaker 3: And in some cases there is a ton of evidence.

502
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 3: You know, there's video evidence, there's DNA evidence, there's multiple eyewitnesses.

503
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,920
Speaker 3: In this case, we have none of those. There's zero

504
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 3: physical evidence in this case. So their only evidence that

505
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:13,800
Speaker 3: Iran was guilty was this testimony of his cousin, Montes Bell,

506
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:21,040
Speaker 3: and his testimony itself was about hearsay statements. He said, Oh,

507
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 3: Iran told me that he was there. Iron said we're

508
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 3: going to take Tone out. So yes, he testified on

509
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 3: the stand. I took that to mean they were going

510
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:37,560
Speaker 3: to kill him. So the prosecutor's case was an aiding

511
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 3: and a betting theory. So they argued throughout that Andre

512
00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,640
Speaker 3: was the shooter. There was never really any question about that.

513
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,880
Speaker 3: Their argument was that Iran took part in the planning

514
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 3: of the operation.

515
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,080
Speaker 1: Is that because he said we're going to take Tone out? Yes, yes,

516
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 1: oh my god, okay.

517
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,760
Speaker 3: Which Iron later explained at the he testified at the

518
00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 3: vdentiary hearing we had later and explained He's like, no,

519
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,280
Speaker 3: I you know, we're going to take Tone out, like

520
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,720
Speaker 3: we're going to go do something. We're going to go

521
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,960
Speaker 3: to the club, you know, something like that. So the

522
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:15,920
Speaker 3: two statements they had that Aaron apparently made that montes

523
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 3: Bell said he made, were both also ambiguous.

524
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,840
Speaker 1: Rachel foiled a motion for a new trial based on

525
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:27,880
Speaker 1: actual innocence, ineffective assistance of counsel, and newly discovered evidence.

526
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,680
Speaker 1: Their investigation had uncovered several new witnesses who testified on

527
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,560
Speaker 1: Eiron's behalf. When was a woman named Jennifer Palmer.

528
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:41,280
Speaker 3: She had had several conversations with Montesbell in which he

529
00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 3: admitted that he knew Iran had not been involved, and

530
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,720
Speaker 3: he knew that Iron wasn't going to be convicted because

531
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 3: Eron never had anything to do with it. So direct

532
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,800
Speaker 3: impeachment evidence against Montesbell their main witness.

533
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 1: And there's someone else who testified on Eiron's behalf, someone

534
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:07,040
Speaker 1: who knows the truth about what happened that day, Andre Rice. Andre,

535
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,280
Speaker 1: you remember, had gotten a lesser sentence twenty five to

536
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 1: sixty years, and thanks to good behavior, he was released

537
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,480
Speaker 1: after serving less than twenty five years of that and

538
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:19,560
Speaker 1: he had already tried to help Eron.

539
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,360
Speaker 3: Andre Rice has been out for over a decade after

540
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,520
Speaker 3: he was released, he wrote up an affidavit. So when

541
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,800
Speaker 3: Eiron filed his own motion and wrote it himself, it

542
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:34,320
Speaker 3: was based on Andre's affidavit. And Andrea is also the

543
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,720
Speaker 3: one that went to the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit

544
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,360
Speaker 3: and said, hey, you know, I know this man is

545
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,080
Speaker 3: in prison. I'm the one that committed this crime. Please

546
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 3: look into this case. The challenge for Andre is that

547
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 3: in order to get a new trial, you have to

548
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,000
Speaker 3: have new evidence.

549
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,160
Speaker 1: Since Andre's confession had been presented at the time of trial,

550
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,280
Speaker 1: it was not considered new evidence when Eiron filed his appeal.

551
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:08,440
Speaker 3: If there is a new trial, Andre's testimony can and

552
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 3: will be presented at that new trial. And so when

553
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,480
Speaker 3: the judge is looking at, Okay, what's the evidence we're

554
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:17,680
Speaker 3: going to have on retrial? Is there a chance that

555
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 3: the outcome will be different? She does get to consider

556
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,040
Speaker 3: what Andre has to say, but his testimony alone was

557
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,680
Speaker 3: not going to be enough legally for us to argue

558
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,560
Speaker 3: that Airon was innocent deserved a new trial. He'd been

559
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:34,600
Speaker 3: wrongfully convicted.

560
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:39,400
Speaker 1: Fortunately, when she reviewed the new evidence, Judge Shannon Walker

561
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,800
Speaker 1: found it credible, and in January of twenty twenty three,

562
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:47,560
Speaker 1: she vacated Eiron's conviction and ordered a new trial. Two

563
00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:51,560
Speaker 1: months later, Airon was officially released from prison after nearly

564
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:58,840
Speaker 1: three decades. Eiron soon found work at a chemical plant

565
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,279
Speaker 1: and got his own apartment. He still has to wear

566
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,560
Speaker 1: a GPS monitor and stick to a curfew, but he's

567
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 1: been enjoying getting to know his three adult children and

568
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:08,799
Speaker 1: their families.

569
00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,120
Speaker 2: They were all Goobris then when I went to prison.

570
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:18,440
Speaker 2: One was barely what six months, and that was my

571
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 2: youngest son, Aaron, and his sister Alex and my oldest

572
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:29,560
Speaker 2: son Xavier. They were like almost three four when I

573
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,240
Speaker 2: went to prison. I went in when I was nineteen

574
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,759
Speaker 2: years old. I was a kid, like I'm fifty one

575
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:39,879
Speaker 2: years old now, right. It's crazy sometimes when I look

576
00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:44,000
Speaker 2: at myself in the mirror and I see my grandfather right,

577
00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:49,000
Speaker 2: Like I'm gray now and I'm more laid back. It's

578
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:53,320
Speaker 2: just a different experience, you know, I'm looking at life

579
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:54,680
Speaker 2: through different lenses.

580
00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:01,200
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, Ieron's journey isn't over yet. In August of twenty

581
00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:05,520
Speaker 1: twenty three, Wayne County prosecutors appeal to the court's decision

582
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:07,080
Speaker 1: to grant him a new trial.

583
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 3: What happens in these cases that are thirty years old.

584
00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,840
Speaker 3: Is that when a new trial is granted, you know,

585
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:20,400
Speaker 3: they lose witnesses. Montees Bell is deceased, Antonio Knight's grandmother

586
00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:24,319
Speaker 3: is no longer available, And what happens is the prosecutor's

587
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:28,600
Speaker 3: office is facing the possibility that they won't be able

588
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,440
Speaker 3: to retry him at all.

589
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,200
Speaker 1: But if the court order is reversed and the conviction

590
00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:38,880
Speaker 1: is reinstated, there's still the possibility that Ireon could be

591
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:39,760
Speaker 1: sent back.

592
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:45,839
Speaker 3: And it's terrifying. We're terrified. It is extremely likely that

593
00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:50,200
Speaker 3: they will order mister Shellman to report to the Michigan

594
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:54,799
Speaker 3: Department of Corrections and go back to incarceration. While we

595
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:59,000
Speaker 3: then would need to file another motion for a leaf

596
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,600
Speaker 3: from judgment or ask the court to reconsider the issues

597
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 3: that she didn't address in her first ruling.

598
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 1: Are you worried about potentially going back?

599
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,640
Speaker 2: I'm of the mindset now that if this all turns

600
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,560
Speaker 2: out to be like a great vacation from what I

601
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:23,280
Speaker 2: had been living for almost thirty one years, I'm okay

602
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:27,120
Speaker 2: with that too. The sent God's chants to me, so

603
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 2: I don't stress anymore about it as much as I

604
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:34,560
Speaker 2: did early on and again I'm thankful for the opportunity

605
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 2: to come out and rejoin society at this later stage

606
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,319
Speaker 2: and get to know my kids and my grandkids in

607
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:45,959
Speaker 2: a way that I couldn't from behind those bars. Right.

608
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:52,560
Speaker 4: The blessing of having him out alone is just his

609
00:37:52,760 --> 00:38:00,400
Speaker 4: presence is absolutely breathtaking. It's almost like a butterfly, you know,

610
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:01,799
Speaker 4: coming from a caterpillar.

611
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:03,400
Speaker 2: Yeah.

612
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:07,839
Speaker 4: I enjoy watching him pay bills. I enjoy watching him

613
00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:11,879
Speaker 4: ask about budgets. He enjoys it. He was like, this

614
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 4: is a grown up bill. Look how I got my budget.

615
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 4: I just want him to enjoy these things. I don't

616
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:19,719
Speaker 4: know anybody. I don't know any other humans who enjoy

617
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:20,680
Speaker 4: paying paying bills.

618
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 2: I'm a big proponent of you know, I look for

619
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,160
Speaker 2: the little blessings as much as I look for the

620
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 2: big ones. Right, You're more likely to stumble across the

621
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 2: little ones than the big ones. You sit around and

622
00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:36,880
Speaker 2: wait for that big one you know may not never come.

623
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:42,279
Speaker 1: But I'm okay, you are very graceful. I'm always so

624
00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 1: shocked that, after spending thirty years in a horrible place

625
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,960
Speaker 1: that you guys are all just so so graceful and

626
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 1: have such humility, and you're kind of breaking my heart

627
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:55,479
Speaker 1: right now.

628
00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:59,520
Speaker 2: No, listen, once you meet me, you kind of can

629
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:06,080
Speaker 2: see that. You know, I'm much more than just my case, right,

630
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:09,920
Speaker 2: It's just the truth of the matter. My case happened

631
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,040
Speaker 2: a very long time ago. I'm sure for that family

632
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:18,000
Speaker 2: that you know, every year is a reminder of that, right,

633
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:25,760
Speaker 2: you know, it was traumatic. I'm a victim of something, right,

634
00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:30,000
Speaker 2: but I'm not the victim. I'm just not the victim.

635
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:35,239
Speaker 2: Isn't here anymore, Maggie, And so I tell people all

636
00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:38,000
Speaker 2: the time, like, pray for them, pray for that family.

637
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:07,600
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling.

638
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,040
Speaker 1: Please support your local innocence organizations and go to the

639
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:13,799
Speaker 1: links in the episode description to see how you can help.

640
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,840
Speaker 1: I'd like to thank our executive producers Jason Flam, Jeff Kempler,

641
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,120
Speaker 1: and Kevin Wortis, as well as senior producer Annie Chelsea,

642
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:26,800
Speaker 1: producer Kathleen Fink, story editor Hannah Beal, and researcher Shelby Sorels.

643
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 1: Mixing and sound design are by Jackie Pauley, with additional

644
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:34,360
Speaker 1: production by Jeff Cleiburn and Connor Hall. The music in

645
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:38,520
Speaker 1: this production is by three Time Oscar nominated composer Jay Ralph.

646
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:42,000
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow us on all social media platforms

647
00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 1: at Lava for Good and at Wrongful Conviction. You can

648
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 1: also follow me on all platforms at Maggie Freeling. Wrongful

649
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:51,920
Speaker 1: Conviction with Maggie Freeling is a production of Lava for

650
00:40:51,960 --> 00:41:02,160
Speaker 1: Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company Number one so