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Speaker 1: A warning for listeners, this episode contains discussion of suicide.

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Speaker 1: Please listen with caution and care. In January of two

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Speaker 1: thousand and six, Janetta car was over at her best

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Speaker 1: friend's house when there was a knock at the door.

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Speaker 1: Police were investigating a violent murder that occurred in the

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Speaker 1: area a few months earlier. Sixteen year old Janetta was handcuffed,

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Speaker 1: taken down to the precinct, and questioned for nearly twelve hours.

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Speaker 2: When I asked for my mom, he told me that

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Speaker 2: it was not a girl Scouts meeting, that my mom

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Speaker 2: was not a way to come down there.

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Speaker 1: It was a nightmare she couldn't wake up from. Janetta

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Speaker 1: soon found herself locked up in juvenile detention, charged with

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Speaker 1: the murder of the man who had been her boyfriend.

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Speaker 1: Janetta had a solid alibi, but as the investigation closed

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Speaker 1: in around her, she felt more and more hopeless, until

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Speaker 1: finally she saw only one way out.

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Speaker 2: I took all these pills one night that I had

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Speaker 2: been saving that I wasn't taken, and like two o'clock

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Speaker 2: in the morning, I get a tap on my arm

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Speaker 2: and it's this lady stand in front of me. She

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Speaker 2: got an all white nurse's outfit. She just kept touching me,

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Speaker 2: saying everything's gonna be okay, It's okay, sweenye. And I

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Speaker 2: thought she was an angel. I feel like she honestly

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Speaker 2: saved my life. My name is Johanetta Carr and I'm

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Speaker 2: thirty four years old. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky.

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Speaker 1: From LoVa for Good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie

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Speaker 1: Freeling today. Janetta Carr. Janetta Carr was born on me

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Speaker 1: twenty fifth, nineteen eighty eight, in Louisville, Kentucky. She's the

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Speaker 1: youngest of six kids and often spent time with her

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Speaker 1: extended family.

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Speaker 2: You know, the youngest child, I always were in things

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Speaker 2: so like I'm kind of it was cool, you know,

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Speaker 2: I was. I'm very, very spoiled by my siblings. I

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Speaker 2: really didn't get in trouble as much by my great grandmother,

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Speaker 2: my mom's mom's mom. When stuff would happen, we would

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Speaker 2: all be at her house and my great grandmother was like,

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Speaker 2: she's a baby. She didn't do that.

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Speaker 3: You know, you had the baby privilege.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the baby privilege. Definitely the baby privilege.

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Speaker 1: Until Janetta's stepdad, Edward came into the picture. Janetta's mom, Lorinda,

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Speaker 1: raised all six kids on her own.

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Speaker 2: She worked hard her whole life to take care of us.

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Speaker 2: But you know, we had a lot of family support.

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Speaker 2: So like my family's always been close.

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Speaker 4: We would have.

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Speaker 2: Dinners, you know, at my grandmother's house, who's my mom's mom,

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Speaker 2: very very close to my biolage dad's mom, and my

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Speaker 2: aunties and uncles on that side of the family, seven

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Speaker 2: of us total, you know. So I was always with

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Speaker 2: my brothers and sisters, my cousins. You know. When I

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Speaker 2: became a teenager, I would hang with my friends in

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Speaker 2: the neighborhood. We'd be at my mom's house. We wasn't

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Speaker 2: at my mom's house, we'd be at one of my

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Speaker 2: other two friends house. We'd be in the porch, you know.

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Speaker 1: Lorenda kept a religious household, and Janetta and her siblings

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Speaker 1: went to church every Sunday. Janetta also kept busy performing

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Speaker 1: in plays at her church and taking acting classes at

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Speaker 1: the local theater camp.

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Speaker 2: And we actually did the The Midsummer's Night Dream was

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Speaker 2: one of the plays that we did, and I wanted

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Speaker 2: to be the witch, but I didn't get the witch part.

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Speaker 2: I ended up being the unicorn. And I actually love

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Speaker 2: unicorns today, so I got to be a unicorn and

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Speaker 2: a point.

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Speaker 4: She was just a typical teenager.

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Speaker 1: You know, this is Janetta's mom, Loreinda Baker, doing.

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Speaker 4: What typical teenage just do.

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Speaker 5: Own the phone with her friends, withjama parties, movies, skating,

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Speaker 5: hanging out into some on the front, forge ice cream,

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Speaker 5: you know that type of thing.

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Speaker 1: Was she ever in any kind of trouble.

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Speaker 4: No. Joannette is a lovely person.

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Speaker 5: She's got a lovely personality on a wonderful spirit.

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Speaker 1: And everyone around her felt that spirit. She loved to

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Speaker 1: spend time with her friends and pamper them.

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Speaker 2: Like when we would go, you know, do stuff to

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Speaker 2: the mom me and my friends. I would always be

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Speaker 2: the last one to get ready because I was doing

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Speaker 2: everybody else's her make up.

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Speaker 4: This stuff they used to rush me.

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Speaker 1: Janetta was super smart and a driven young woman. She

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Speaker 1: graduated high school early at just sixteen years old. Right

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Speaker 1: after graduation, Janetta started school at Sullivan University, studying to

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Speaker 1: be a paralegal. She had planned to work for the

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Speaker 1: Prosecutor's office. Around this time, she met Michael.

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Speaker 2: I met him just in the neighborhood, like my best friend.

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Speaker 2: Her and her mom had lived in these apartments, and

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Speaker 2: he lived in the apartments next to where they lived

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Speaker 2: at Planis.

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Speaker 1: Michael Adolphe, who went by Michael, was from Haiti. He

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Speaker 1: worked as a cab driver.

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Speaker 4: He was nice.

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Speaker 2: I mean, he was cool. You know.

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Speaker 1: Michael and Janetta started dating even though he was twenty

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Speaker 1: years older than she was.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I had already graduated high school. I really

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Speaker 2: went into dudes my age, and I know, I don't

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Speaker 2: care about y'all judging me America, because let me tell

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Speaker 2: y'all something, right now, Okay, let's get this straight. Okay, yes,

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Speaker 2: that is part of my story. I don't care what

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Speaker 2: y'all think, how y'all feel about it, because every single

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Speaker 2: teenager has something that they do to rebel against their parents. Okay,

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Speaker 2: some teenagers still stuff, maybe some still cars do whatever. Okay,

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Speaker 2: I just liked oda dudes.

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Speaker 1: Despite their age difference, Janetta and Michael had a great relationship.

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Speaker 1: They had fun together, and Janetta says that he was

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Speaker 1: a kind and generous man.

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Speaker 2: We was two individuals that connected and liked each other.

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Speaker 1: On the night of October twenty second, two thousand and five,

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Speaker 1: about two months into their relationship, Michael had friends over

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Speaker 1: at his apartment to play dominoes. Janetta was spending the

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Speaker 1: night at a friend's house for a sleepover party. What

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Speaker 1: do you remember about that night?

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Speaker 2: I just remember me and my friends. We was doing

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Speaker 2: her We was doing you know, makeup. We was watching videos,

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Speaker 2: you know, slapping, eating snacks. At just a normal night, yep.

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Speaker 1: But the next morning would be anything but normal. Around

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Speaker 1: nine am, a neighbor called the police to report that

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Speaker 1: someone was collapsed in front of their apartment building.

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Speaker 2: It was Michael.

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Speaker 1: He had been strangled, apparently with an electrical cord from

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Speaker 1: a fan that was wrapped around his neck. His feet

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Speaker 1: were bound with duct tape. Michael's wallet and cell phone

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Speaker 1: were missing, and in his pocket was a Growl restore

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Speaker 1: receipt timestamped ten forty seven pm the night before. His

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Speaker 1: cab was later found a few miles away, ransacked and abandoned,

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Speaker 1: with the stereo missing. Sometime after Michael left the grocery

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Speaker 1: store that night, he had been robbed and violently murdered.

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Speaker 1: When did you find out that Michael was killed?

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Speaker 2: I've seen it on the news. It was crazy and

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Speaker 2: scary and horrible and like unbelievable about who could have

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Speaker 2: done it because he didn't have, you know, no like

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Speaker 2: enemies that I knew of, because he was such a

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Speaker 2: sweet person. So I was like, why would somebody do this?

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Speaker 3: Like?

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Speaker 2: Who would do this?

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Speaker 1: Janetta was heartbroken and things were about to get worse.

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Speaker 1: Two and a half months later, Janetta was at her

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Speaker 1: friend's house when investigators came looking for her.

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Speaker 2: They showed up in my best friend's house, who I

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Speaker 2: was sleep next to the night that the crime happened.

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Speaker 2: They showed up at her house and a detective Tony

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Speaker 2: Finch knocked on the door. Her mom was like, Janetta,

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Speaker 2: detective for a play you.

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Speaker 1: Detective Tony Finch was the lead investigator on the case,

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Speaker 1: and when Janetta came to the door, he took out

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Speaker 1: his handcuffs and arrested her for the murder of plunt

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Speaker 1: As Michael Adolphe. Then he brought her down to the precinct.

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Speaker 2: I was really confused. I didn't know why I was there,

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Speaker 2: what was going on. I just thought that I was

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Speaker 2: going to get to go home because I didn't do nothing,

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Speaker 2: So I was scared. I was everything any emotion you

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Speaker 2: can think of. I was angry, you know, was it

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Speaker 2: like registering?

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Speaker 1: Like were you processing like, oh, they think I did this. No,

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Speaker 1: even though Kentucky laws his police must notify my nurse

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Speaker 1: parents before questioning them. Janetta was interrogated alone by Sergeant

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Speaker 1: James Hellinger and lead Detective Tony Finch. She says Detective

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Speaker 1: Finch was extremely harsh with her.

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Speaker 2: When I asked for my mom, he told me that

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Speaker 2: it was not a girl Scouts meeting, that my mom

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Speaker 2: was not allowed to come down there.

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Speaker 1: Janetta says he threatened her, calling her a murderer, a bitch,

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Speaker 1: and a whore.

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Speaker 2: He asked me if I was in a gang. He

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Speaker 2: tell me he had people that placed me at the

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Speaker 2: scene and that he knew that I was guilty. He

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Speaker 2: told me that I was a danger and threat to

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Speaker 2: society and that he didn't want me on his f

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Speaker 2: and streets and that I was going to prison for

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Speaker 2: f and live.

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Speaker 1: The interrogation went on for over eleven hours. Janetta maintained

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Speaker 1: her innocence the entire time. She was sure she would

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Speaker 1: soon be released to go home, but that didn't happen.

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Speaker 1: This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company.

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Speaker 1: AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and to making

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Speaker 1: a positive difference in the lives of its employees and

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Speaker 1: in the communities where they work and live. In light

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Speaker 1: of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and

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Speaker 1: in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform,

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Speaker 1: the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal services and

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Speaker 1: other support to underrepresented communities and individuals.

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Speaker 2: I went straight from the interrogation room. They took me

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Speaker 2: in his highway. They started taking pictures of me and

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Speaker 2: had me held up its number, and then they yet

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Speaker 2: they sent me shirt to j c Wise. The same

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Speaker 2: night I got boked into j CYS.

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Speaker 1: J c Yse is the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center.

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Speaker 1: Janetta's mother, Larinda, had no idea what had happened. How

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Speaker 1: did you find out?

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Speaker 5: My neighbor, Miss Pete, let me use her phone for

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Speaker 5: any type of situation that I may have, and she

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Speaker 5: came and knocked on my door and told me that

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Speaker 5: Jace Wyse wanted me on the phone. I had ma Pajamazone.

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Speaker 5: It was about seven forty five, eight o'clock in the morning.

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Speaker 5: I ran out the back door. As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 5: I left the back door open when I went to

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Speaker 5: her house and got on the phone. The lady from

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Speaker 5: j C Wysse told me that they were holding Johanetta

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Speaker 5: on some conspiracy to murder and manslaughter and that she

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Speaker 5: had to be in court that morning at eight thirty.

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Speaker 5: I just couldn't believe it, you know, because the Johanetta

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Speaker 5: that I know is not capable of that type of thing.

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Speaker 5: And I knew that she didn't do it. I knew

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Speaker 5: she was innocent.

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Speaker 1: Janetta had a rock solid alibi. Over half a dozen

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Speaker 1: people had been at that sleepover, but detectives had their

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Speaker 1: sights set on her.

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Speaker 4: For the first time.

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Speaker 5: I couldn't tell her this is it's gonna be okay,

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Speaker 5: It's going to be all right. You know, You're gonna

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Speaker 5: be fine. We're going to get through this, because I

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Speaker 5: didn't know if we were going to get through this.

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Speaker 5: I didn't know what was going to happen, you know.

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Speaker 5: And I could see her she was trying to be strong,

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Speaker 5: because I guess she was trying to be strong for me,

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Speaker 5: and I was trying to be strong for her. And

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Speaker 5: I didn't want her to see me cry because I

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Speaker 5: knew if she had saw me cry, she would have

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Speaker 5: been more upset than she already was, and I didn't

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Speaker 5: want to inflict any more pain on her.

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Speaker 1: What Janetta didn't know was that while she was left

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Speaker 1: confused and alone in juvenile jail, detectives were building an

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Speaker 1: entire case against her. A few weeks before Janetta was arrested,

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Speaker 1: detectives had interrogated a friend who was also at the sleepover.

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Speaker 1: To protect the identities of these individuals, we'll call this friend, Carrie,

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Speaker 1: Detective Finch had arrested nineteen year old Carrie on a

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Speaker 1: bench warrant for shoplifting. While in custody, he interrogated her

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Speaker 1: about Michael Adolphe's murder. Carrie said there was no way

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Speaker 1: Janetta was involved. They were together all night. Carrie said

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Speaker 1: that she and a few other friends, including one we'll

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Speaker 1: call Kyle, drove around that night. They stopped at White

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Speaker 1: Castle for some food before going back to Kyle's house

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Speaker 1: for a sleepover with a bigger group of people. Janetta

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Speaker 1: never left the house by herself that night, but Finch

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Speaker 1: ran with that and started implicating both Carrie and Kyle

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Speaker 1: in the murder as well. Finch told Carrie he'd help

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Speaker 1: her with her shoplifting charges if she would repeat the

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Speaker 1: story he wanted to hear. After about ten hours of interrogation,

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Speaker 1: Carrie broke down and repeated Finch's false narrative that she, Kyle,

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Speaker 1: and Janetta killed Michael quickly, though Carrie recanted and again

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Speaker 1: maintained that she knew nothing about the murder, but it

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Speaker 1: didn't matter. Finch arrested her anyway. Kyle was also interrogated

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Speaker 1: by detectives about the murder, and he too was eventually arrested.

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Speaker 1: Carrie and Kyle were nineteen years old, technically adults, but

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Speaker 1: Janetta was only sixteen. She was initially charged as a juvenile,

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Speaker 1: but she was later indicted as an adult. Among Janetta's

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Speaker 1: charges first degree murder. The weight of everything that was

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00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,680
Speaker 1: happening was too much for Janetta to process, and while

250
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Speaker 1: she was in the juvenile detention center.

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Speaker 2: I'll try to kill myself.

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Speaker 1: After her suicide attempt, Janetta was transferred to Our Lady

253
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Speaker 1: of Peace Hospital. She was diagnosed with clinical depression and

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Speaker 1: put on medication.

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Speaker 2: So they started give me these pills I was supposed

256
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,440
Speaker 2: to take, and I would have the pels in my

257
00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,480
Speaker 2: cheek because I still wanted to to kill myself because

258
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Speaker 2: I was that hopeless from being incarcerated for a crime

259
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Speaker 2: I didn't commit, having nothing to do with. So I

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Speaker 2: took all these pills one night that I had been

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Speaker 2: saving that I wasn't taken, and like two o'clock in

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Speaker 2: the morning, I get a tap on my arm and

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Speaker 2: it's this lady stand in front of me. She got

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Speaker 2: on an all white nurses outfit. She had like caramel

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Speaker 2: skin short her. She just kept touching me, saying, everything's

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Speaker 2: gonna be okay, It's okay, sweetie. The next day I

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Speaker 2: started asking the staff members, you know who she was, like,

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Speaker 2: because I wanted to thank her, you know, because I

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Speaker 2: feel like she honestly saved my life. And they was like,

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Speaker 2: we don't know her. Nobody works here. The person you're

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Speaker 2: describing doesn't work, And I thought she was an angel.

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Speaker 1: Soon after that experience, Janetta reached out to her mom

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Speaker 1: and told her about taking the pills.

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Speaker 5: And to the hospital and set with her and just

275
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Speaker 5: held her hand, you know, and told her, you know,

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Speaker 5: I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. I'm

277
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,320
Speaker 5: so sorry that you're going through this, you know. I mean,

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Speaker 5: you sitting in his jael Syal day after day, minute

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00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,120
Speaker 5: at the minute, you know, and you see people going

280
00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,040
Speaker 5: home and you're still sitting here for something that you

281
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,200
Speaker 5: didn't do. I probably would have took my life to

282
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Speaker 5: you know, but I know that God has a purpose

283
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Speaker 5: for everybody's life, and I just felt like God had

284
00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:28,720
Speaker 5: a lot for her to do down here, and he

285
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:30,120
Speaker 5: wasn't ready for her to go yet.

286
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Speaker 1: Meanwhile, instead of probing other angles, like analyzing the evidence

287
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,120
Speaker 1: at the murder scene or pursuing other potential suspects, Detective

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Speaker 1: Finch was hell bent on closing the case.

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Speaker 3: He would do whatever he needed to do to get

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Speaker 3: a conviction.

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Speaker 1: This is Suzanne Hopp, directing attorney of the Kentucky in

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00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:04,320
Speaker 1: a Since project. They represented Janetta in her post conviction efforts.

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Speaker 3: The final sort of nail in the coffin there is

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Speaker 3: that there was a jailhouse informant that was used against Janetta.

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00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,399
Speaker 1: After Janetta turned eighteen, she was transferred from juvenile detention

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Speaker 1: to an adult jail, and an informant who lived in

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00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,280
Speaker 1: the cell next door, Laurie Deckard, said that Janetta confessed

298
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Speaker 1: to her. According to Laurie, Janetta told her she was

299
00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:30,920
Speaker 1: mad at Michael, and so she, Carrie and Kyle went

300
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,520
Speaker 1: to his apartment and robbed and murdered him. Detectives got

301
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:40,359
Speaker 1: statements from other jailhouse informants implicating Kyle and Carrie as well,

302
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,040
Speaker 1: but they still had a problem the other people at

303
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,520
Speaker 1: the sleepover, Janetta had a solid alibi, So detective Jim

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00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:52,320
Speaker 1: Lawson interrogated Janetta's best friend, whom we'll call Britney. Brittany

305
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,000
Speaker 1: said she was with Janetta all night. They slept on

306
00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,960
Speaker 1: the couch together and fell asleep under the same blanket.

307
00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,879
Speaker 2: She told him that Johnetta did not do this, she

308
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:02,720
Speaker 2: was snaxting me.

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Speaker 1: Sleep that night, but laws In dismissed her account. Instead,

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Speaker 1: he fabricated a report saying Brittany told him she was

311
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,640
Speaker 1: a heavy sleeper and couldn't say whether or not Janetta

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00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,119
Speaker 1: had left the house. Even with all their alleged evidence

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00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:21,360
Speaker 1: against Janetta, Carrie, and Kyle, detectives were still hell bent

314
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Speaker 1: on getting one of the three to flip on the others.

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Speaker 3: They were relentless. They just kept going after all three

316
00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:34,080
Speaker 3: co defendants and repeatedly questioning them. What the police were

317
00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:36,960
Speaker 3: doing was they were telling all three co defendants that

318
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Speaker 3: if all of you don't admit to this crime and

319
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,960
Speaker 3: enter into guilty please, and we're going to try one

320
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,440
Speaker 3: of the adults under the death penalty.

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Speaker 1: Remember Kyle and Carrie were both nineteen.

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Speaker 3: That was sort of like the ultimate, the end point

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00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,520
Speaker 3: where these three individuals were thinking about their friends and

324
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Speaker 3: somebody facing the death penalty.

325
00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,840
Speaker 1: With this life or death situation looming over the trio,

326
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,359
Speaker 1: the state offered them a plea bargain called an Alfred plea,

327
00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:10,320
Speaker 1: and Alfred plea is a deal with the state or

328
00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,919
Speaker 1: defendants plead guilty for a lesser sentence, but are allowed

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00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,840
Speaker 1: to maintain their innocence. Prosecutors told them they would only

330
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,760
Speaker 1: accept the plea deal if all three pled guilty, so

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Speaker 1: they did. On April fourteenth, two thousand and eight. Janetta

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00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,200
Speaker 1: took the deal and pled guilty to evidence tampering, two

333
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,919
Speaker 1: conspiracy charges, and second degree manslaughter. She was sentenced to

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00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:38,119
Speaker 1: twenty years in prison. So how did it feel to

335
00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,520
Speaker 1: take a plea saying, you know, I'm innocent, but I

336
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,560
Speaker 1: recognize all of this evidence because you know it's not

337
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:46,280
Speaker 1: real evidence.

338
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:47,399
Speaker 3: What did that feel like?

339
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,480
Speaker 2: I literally felt like I had no other choice because

340
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:59,399
Speaker 2: at that point I was just helpless. Just know that

341
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,080
Speaker 2: I was not the Johnetta then that I am now,

342
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,439
Speaker 2: you know, I went educated about the law and thinking

343
00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:08,679
Speaker 2: they could arrest people for crimes they didn't committed.

344
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Speaker 1: While in prison, Janetta tried to stay as productive as possible.

345
00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,120
Speaker 2: I took computer classes, and I went to church a lot,

346
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 2: you know, swung in the choir, a lot, wrote letters,

347
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,920
Speaker 2: a lot ate a lot too many noodles. I do

348
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,359
Speaker 2: not eat noodles. No more, y'all cany, No, we're not.

349
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Speaker 3: Than.

350
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Speaker 1: What was that like to be around adults as a

351
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:46,000
Speaker 1: as a kid.

352
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Speaker 2: Well, at first, it was kind of scary because I

353
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,400
Speaker 2: was thinking, oh, my guinness, these people are criminals, Like

354
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,919
Speaker 2: what am I gonna do? But actually I met a

355
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,840
Speaker 2: bunch of beautiful women from all different walks of life,

356
00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,679
Speaker 2: and they was really lights to me. You know. We

357
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:02,960
Speaker 2: gave each other hope because there was nothing else we

358
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:08,960
Speaker 2: could do. I think I went through every emotion that

359
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,439
Speaker 2: a parent could go through. I got frustrated, I got angry,

360
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,480
Speaker 2: I got upset, I cried because you know, there were.

361
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,640
Speaker 4: No resources available, and it.

362
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:21,360
Speaker 5: Was just a horrible, horrible, horrible thing to go through

363
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,560
Speaker 5: for anybody. I think one of the hardest parts for

364
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,520
Speaker 5: me was having to explain to Johanetta's nieces and nephews

365
00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:29,800
Speaker 5: that we didn't know when she was going to come

366
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,040
Speaker 5: home because Johnette is very close to them and they

367
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,960
Speaker 5: love her, you know. And then they're crying and I'm crying,

368
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,000
Speaker 5: and we're all trying to make some sense out of this,

369
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,320
Speaker 5: and we still can't make any sense out of it

370
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:51,479
Speaker 5: as it stands today.

371
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,960
Speaker 1: About a year or so after her conviction, and Janetta

372
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:02,479
Speaker 1: was called into the prison office.

373
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Speaker 2: Surprised me because I didn't know why I was getting

374
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:08,520
Speaker 2: called in her because I didn't get in any trouble

375
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,680
Speaker 2: while I was, you know, incarcerated, so I didn't know

376
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 2: why I was getting called in there.

377
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,040
Speaker 1: When she walked in, Laurie Deckard, the jail house snitch,

378
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,919
Speaker 1: was there, and she admitted that during the investigation the

379
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,520
Speaker 1: police told her to lie about Janetta and say she confessed.

380
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,119
Speaker 2: Because I'm like, okay, you're saying this now, why didn't

381
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,080
Speaker 2: you say that, you know a long time ago? Like

382
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,240
Speaker 2: I'm basically, you're a part of this. You're a part

383
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,600
Speaker 2: of the fabricated evidence and part of the reason why

384
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,240
Speaker 2: I'm here. It is her fault because she didn't have

385
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 2: to lie. But when you really think about the jail

386
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 2: house snitches. The system actually puts them in situations, you

387
00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. So really the detectives on my

388
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 2: case is responsible for that.

389
00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,240
Speaker 1: In two thousand and nine, after serving four years of

390
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 1: a twenty year sentence, Janetta was eligible for parole. She

391
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,840
Speaker 1: was granted time served for the time she spent in

392
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: the juvenile detention facility and was released from prison.

393
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Speaker 5: It was a joy and of blessing to see her

394
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,320
Speaker 5: after not being able to see her for so many years,

395
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:18,840
Speaker 5: and being able to see her was you know, I

396
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,119
Speaker 5: was in at mowhere. I didn't want to let it go.

397
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 5: She used to tell me all the time, when my

398
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 5: mama go, miss Peties. I'd be like, no, I want

399
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:25,200
Speaker 5: you to stay in the house.

400
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:26,880
Speaker 4: I don't want you to go nowhere.

401
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:29,840
Speaker 5: You know, I think I kind of wented to a

402
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,960
Speaker 5: mother overload, but I think I kind of had a

403
00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 5: rite to at everything that she had been through. I

404
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 5: just wanted to keep her as close to me as

405
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 5: I possibly could.

406
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,760
Speaker 1: Although she was home, Janetta's journey wasn't over. She was

407
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 1: physically free, but people on parole are still under scrutinous

408
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 1: state control. Janetta had to do random check ins and

409
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: drug tests and even had to pay a monthly twenty

410
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 1: five dollars fee. She also had to maintain a job,

411
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,960
Speaker 1: which wasn't eat because of her record of incarceration.

412
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,919
Speaker 2: So I would go in jobs, you know, and they

413
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:06,920
Speaker 2: would be like, you know, you seem like a great

414
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 2: person everything, but your background, you know. And I went

415
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,960
Speaker 2: in like ten jobs a day sometimes, and I was

416
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 2: living with my mom at the time, and I would

417
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 2: just go home and I would just bother to her.

418
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:21,879
Speaker 2: Then I started doing research and found fault that it's

419
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 2: estimated in America with ten thousand people get falsely convict

420
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,679
Speaker 2: her of crimes they didn't committe each year. And my

421
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 2: heart was just like, uh, they doing this to other

422
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,120
Speaker 2: people too. I know how this feels. And I had

423
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,200
Speaker 2: not heard nobody talking about it.

424
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,600
Speaker 5: And you know, I asked her one day, I said,

425
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 5: you know, I'm so angry. And I asked, I said,

426
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,240
Speaker 5: how come you're not mad? She said, my mom, don't

427
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,160
Speaker 5: I'm not gonna be angry. I'm not gonna be mad.

428
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,200
Speaker 5: She said, what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna fight. I'm

429
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 5: gonna fight, she said, because I didn't do this and

430
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:54,440
Speaker 5: I'm innocent.

431
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 2: I started to go to the Plasma center and donate plasma.

432
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 2: And it was a foun dollar right next to the

433
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,719
Speaker 2: plasma center, and I would take the money from plasma,

434
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 2: go to family Dollar, get posts to border markers, and

435
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 2: I would make signs trying to write his awareness for

436
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,879
Speaker 2: wrongful convictions, and I would just started walking around, you know,

437
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 2: my city.

438
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:16,159
Speaker 1: Holding At the same time, Janetta was also trying to

439
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 1: get off parole and still working to prove her innocence.

440
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,160
Speaker 2: I would look up numbers, you know, for like innocent projects,

441
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 2: people who helped innocent I would just google it, and

442
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,680
Speaker 2: I would you know, call and lead messages on different

443
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 2: people's voicemails and stuff, still trying to find help.

444
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: Finally, almost a decade after her release, the Kentucky Innocence

445
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: Project agreed to help Janetta fight for her exoneration.

446
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,560
Speaker 3: So when we inherited the case in twenty eighteen, we

447
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 3: started doing the record review and attempting to find individuals

448
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:54,600
Speaker 3: to interview. And then shortly after getting the case, we

449
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,760
Speaker 3: received news that we were getting a DNA testing grant

450
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 3: from the Department of Justice.

451
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,800
Speaker 1: Janetta would finally get a chance to test the evidence,

452
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,960
Speaker 1: specifically the duct tape and the electrical cord that were

453
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 1: found on Michael Adolphe's body to see if there was

454
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,880
Speaker 1: a DNA match with the actual perpetrator.

455
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,480
Speaker 3: If we could get a hit on something in the

456
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 3: national database and CODIS, it would then build a stronger

457
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,800
Speaker 3: case for Janetta. Obviously we would have been able to

458
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,880
Speaker 3: locate who had actually killed the victim.

459
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: And during its investigation, the Kentucky Innocence Project discovered bombshell

460
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,520
Speaker 1: information that had never been disclosed to Janetta or her

461
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,400
Speaker 1: attorneys all those years ago. First off, it turns out

462
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,760
Speaker 1: that DNA testing had been conducted on the case back

463
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,399
Speaker 1: in two thousand and six. While it didn't point to

464
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,120
Speaker 1: someone else as the perpetrator, it did indicate that neither

465
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: Janetta nor her co defendants could have committed the murder.

466
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 1: Not only that, the Kentucky Innocence Project discovered that there

467
00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:04,120
Speaker 1: were viable alternative suspects who were ever properly investigated. Who

468
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 1: is Steve Lewis.

469
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 3: He should have been a person of interest. I think

470
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:13,160
Speaker 3: the police should have pursued a very deep investigation into

471
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:18,560
Speaker 3: mister Lewis.

472
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,520
Speaker 1: Steve Lewis was an acquaintance of Michaels and in the

473
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,760
Speaker 1: early days of the investigation officers got a tip from

474
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,119
Speaker 1: a friend of Michael's who said he had seen Steve

475
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,399
Speaker 1: Lewis and Michael in a heated argument over a girl,

476
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 1: and that during the fight, Steve threatened to kill Michael.

477
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,320
Speaker 1: When he was questioned by police, Steve denied involvement, but

478
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,080
Speaker 1: he was unable to provide an alibi for his whereabounds

479
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 1: around the time of the murder. Yet, for whatever reason,

480
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 1: the investigation into Steve ended. Finally, phone records showed that

481
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 1: someone was using Michael's phone after his death. There were

482
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,720
Speaker 1: calls made to Los Angeles and to Florida, and again

483
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,879
Speaker 1: the police never followed up. Instead, they went after sixteen

484
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:06,640
Speaker 1: year old Janetta and her friends.

485
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 3: Oh. I think the state offered her an offered plea

486
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 3: because they knew she would go to trial and they

487
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 3: had questions about the strength of their case. I think

488
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,200
Speaker 3: the case had been pending long enough that the prosecutor

489
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,679
Speaker 3: wanted to get some closure on it. They knew that

490
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 3: they had some problems with their case, that if they

491
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:30,400
Speaker 3: went to trial they might not get a conviction.

492
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:36,439
Speaker 1: Do you think if you went to trial you might

493
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: have won?

494
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 2: Probably? So I can't think about it and the reason

495
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 2: why I can't think about it because it brings back

496
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 2: so much pain. I'm trying to be a light in

497
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 2: the world, so I can't think about these things. I

498
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,760
Speaker 2: just had to move with purpose and take the pain

499
00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,320
Speaker 2: that I've been through and make it. My purpose is

500
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 2: to make legislation for the next generations so that people

501
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 2: don't get wrongly convicted and so that my children don't

502
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 2: have to go through what I went through. Johnetta doesn't

503
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,960
Speaker 2: want to be angry, you know what I'm saying. Johnetta

504
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 2: doesn't want to be better. Johnetta doesn't want to be bad.

505
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,760
Speaker 2: And Johnetta is not going to be the Commonwealth of

506
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 2: Kentucky's victim because they already took too many years of

507
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,680
Speaker 2: my life. So I don't think about these things. I can't.

508
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,800
Speaker 1: The Kentucky Innocence Project also applied for a pardon for Janetta,

509
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,400
Speaker 1: and on December ninth, twenty nineteen, Kentucky Governor Matthew Bevin

510
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 1: pardoned her based on her actual innocence.

511
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,160
Speaker 2: The Governor called me and he actually apologized. He said,

512
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 2: I want to apologize to you for what the Commonwealth

513
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 2: did to you, and we actually cried.

514
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,280
Speaker 1: However, the pardon left Janetta in a strange situation. The

515
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,040
Speaker 1: Kentucky state statuted for DNA testing says that a person

516
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,920
Speaker 1: must be under state supervision to qualify for testing.

517
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 3: So it's very unfortunate because we think that there is

518
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 3: biological material on the evidence that was collected, the evidence

519
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 3: still exists, we would like to test it.

520
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:20,600
Speaker 1: If that DNA isn't tested, Michael's true killer may never

521
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:21,400
Speaker 1: be known.

522
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 3: If indeed there is a person out there that killed

523
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,360
Speaker 3: the victim and that they're still out there, they may

524
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,080
Speaker 3: still be doing the same thing to other people. The

525
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 3: public is certainly at greater risk to not have that

526
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 3: DNA testing get done.

527
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:43,000
Speaker 1: Janetta is also not eligible for any kind of wrongful

528
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:47,160
Speaker 1: conviction compensation because Kentucky is one of the twelve states

529
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 1: that do not have compensation laws for xoneries.

530
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,040
Speaker 2: But somebody needs has to start being held accountable when

531
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 2: wrongful convictions happen. I'm so discussed it and appalled at

532
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,640
Speaker 2: the justice system in Kentucky and what they are using

533
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,520
Speaker 2: and spending our tax dollars on. And when you think

534
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:09,720
Speaker 2: about it, you know, it's like a slap in the

535
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,400
Speaker 2: face that money and those resources could be used for

536
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 2: so many other things, like we have a homelessness problem

537
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,200
Speaker 2: in Louil of Like, there's literally veterans at her who's

538
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 2: happened to choose right now in between groceries and medicine.

539
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 2: And they went to war and fought for this country.

540
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 2: And we're spending tax money to pay for civil litigation

541
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:32,480
Speaker 2: calls and defenses to defend publice officers and detectives who

542
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 2: normally breach a duty to wrongfully convict people by falsifying evidence,

543
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:42,200
Speaker 2: coherts and testimony and how DNA. That's a big issue.

544
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 1: Janetta is now represented by the Exoneration Project and the

545
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:51,320
Speaker 1: national civil rights firm Lov and Lov. She's also a

546
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 1: mother to two children, one year old Royalty and six

547
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 1: year old Jakari, and she's again pursuing one of her

548
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 1: early dreams. She's back in paralegal school, but this time

549
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 1: she doesn't want to work in the prosecutor's office. She

550
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:07,560
Speaker 1: wants to help prevent and write wrongful convictions.

551
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,640
Speaker 2: I'm on a journey. I'm healing me. Being wrongfully convicted

552
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:14,800
Speaker 2: something I will live with and it's going to impact

553
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 2: my life for the rest of my life. However, I

554
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:21,640
Speaker 2: choose not to make that my entire life. I'm just

555
00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 2: really really focused on my purpose right now. You know

556
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 2: what I need to do on life as far as

557
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,239
Speaker 2: bring and change, you know, and raising my kids, you know,

558
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:32,400
Speaker 2: just trying to heal and become a better me every

559
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 2: day is all vall.

560
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,240
Speaker 1: If you'd like to help others who have been wrongfully convicted,

561
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 1: Janetta recommends supporting the organizations I Am Resilience and the

562
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:51,320
Speaker 1: Chandler Project in Kentucky House Bill six ninety one. Janetta

563
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,240
Speaker 1: also has a GoFundMe to help raise travel expenses for

564
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:58,280
Speaker 1: exoneries attending the Innocence Conference. There will be links to

565
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:07,200
Speaker 1: all of this in our bio. Next time, on Wrongful

566
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,760
Speaker 1: Conviction with Maggie Freeling, Hope White, do you think there

567
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,080
Speaker 1: was police corruption in your case?

568
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 2: Absolutely, there was a loss of police corruption.

569
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 3: In that case.

570
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:28,640
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling. Please

571
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,680
Speaker 1: support your local innocence organizations and go to the links

572
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,040
Speaker 1: in our bio to see how you can help. I'd

573
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,520
Speaker 1: like to thank our executive producers Jason Flamm and Kevin Wurtis,

574
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:41,600
Speaker 1: as well as our senior producer Annie Chelsea, producer Lyla Robinson,

575
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,920
Speaker 1: and story editor Sonia Paul. The show is edited and

576
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 1: mixed by Annie Chelsea, with additional production by Jeff Cliburn

577
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,800
Speaker 1: and Connor Hall. The music in this production is by

578
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,440
Speaker 1: three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to

579
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,880
Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at

580
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,960
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as

581
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 1: well as at Lava for Good. On all three platforms,

582
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,840
Speaker 1: you can also follow me on both Instagram and Twitter

583
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,440
Speaker 1: at Maggie Freeling. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling is a

584
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,080
Speaker 1: production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal

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00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 1: Company Number one