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Speaker 1: Hey, it's Laura and I writer. This week on False Confessions,

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Speaker 1: we have some great news to share with you. Back

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, we brought you the story of Eric

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Speaker 1: Weekly and Michael Hash, childhood friends from Culpepper, Virginia who

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Speaker 1: were dragged into a decades long fight for their innocence. Now,

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Speaker 1: when we last checked in with Eric, he was out

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Speaker 1: of prison, but he still had a felony on his record.

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Speaker 1: It was something he'd have to disclose to every hiring manager,

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Speaker 1: every landlord, even though he never committed this murder. We

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Speaker 1: asked you to sign a petition to convince the Governor

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Speaker 1: of Virginia to pardon Eric, and guess what, with your support,

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Speaker 1: it worked. In twenty twenty two, Governor Ralph Northam hardened

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Speaker 1: Eric Weekly on the basis of actual innocence. Now he

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Speaker 1: too is exonerated. Eric and Michael, we are overjoyed that

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Speaker 1: at last justice has been served. Welcome to Wrongful Conviction,

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Speaker 1: False Confessions. I'm Laura and I Writer, and I'm Steve Drissing.

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Speaker 1: Today we'll bring you to Culpepper County, Virginia to tell

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Speaker 1: you the story of teenage buddies Eric Weekly and Michael Hash.

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Speaker 1: Local police solved a murder case by coercing Eric into

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Speaker 1: falsely confessing and into falsely implicating his friend Michael as

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Speaker 1: an accomplice. For years, lawyers couldn't get justice for either

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Speaker 1: of them until Michael's mom found evidence that blew this

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Speaker 1: case wide open. Michael Hash and Eric Weekly were childhood friends,

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Speaker 1: longtime friends, and to see the way the systems split

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Speaker 1: them apart in this case, it's terrible.

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Speaker 2: It's not uncommon for one co defendant to turn on

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Speaker 2: another co defense, especially in a state where the death

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Speaker 2: penalty is on the table, and it's.

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Speaker 1: Really understandable how that could have destroyed Eric's relationship with

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Speaker 1: Mike and Mike's whole family. But that's not what happened.

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Speaker 1: One of the most incredible things about wrongful convictions work

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Speaker 1: is that you encounter these pockets of grace in the

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Speaker 1: most unexpected places. Some of the most unbelievable humans you'll

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Speaker 1: ever meet are people like Pam Hash, whose son Mike

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Speaker 1: was falsely implicated by his one time childhood friend. You know,

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Speaker 1: that's a situation that could have led to a lot

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Speaker 1: of rage and a lot of anger and a lot

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Speaker 1: of blame.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean vengeance, anger, hatred they can keep somebody stuck.

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Speaker 2: But Pam realized very early on that that was wasted

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Speaker 2: energy and that she needed to spend all her time

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Speaker 2: learning about the case, finding the right lawyers, doing your

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Speaker 2: own digging, and pushing the authorities to to the right solution.

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Speaker 1: She turned all of that into forgiveness. That's pretty incredible.

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Speaker 1: Today's story starts in Culpeper County, Virginia, about ninety minutes

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Speaker 1: west of the Washington d C Beltway. Culpeper is a

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Speaker 1: popular weekend getaway spot for the d C crowd. It's

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Speaker 1: got bed and breakfasts, art boutiques, and plenty of fancy cafes.

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Speaker 1: Architectural Digest even named Culpeper the prettiest area in Virginia.

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Speaker 1: But for all its beauty, Culpeper is also home to

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Speaker 1: an unremedied injustice, one that stains the county to this day.

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Speaker 1: That injustice began back in nineteen ninety six in Lignum,

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Speaker 1: an unincorporated part of Culpeper that hadn't quite caught up

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Speaker 1: to the rest of the county's growing prosperity. Lignam was

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Speaker 1: where seventy four year old Thelma Scroggins had lived her

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Speaker 1: whole life in the same two story frame house where

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Speaker 1: she'd been born. Thelma was a petite, curly haired lady

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Speaker 1: who had retired from her work as a mail carrier.

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Speaker 1: She'd been widowed years earlier, and since then she lived alone.

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Speaker 1: But Thelma's life was still full and active. She had

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Speaker 1: plenty of friends and liked to spend time playing the

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Speaker 1: organ at the Baptist church across the street. It was

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Speaker 1: the evening of Saturday, July thirteenth, and Thelma was on

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Speaker 1: the phone with one of her girlfriends. At about nine pm.

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Speaker 1: Thelma told her friend that she had to go. Someone

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Speaker 1: was knocking at the door. The friend called back fifteen

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Speaker 1: minutes later, but got no answer. She tried again the

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Speaker 1: next morning, still no answer. When Thelma didn't show up

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Speaker 1: at church that Sunday morning, her friends really started worrying.

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Speaker 1: One of them, Richard Hicks, went over to Thelma's house.

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Speaker 1: As he pulled up outside, he could hear Thelma's TV

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Speaker 1: blasting at top volume. Richard let himself inside. The front

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Speaker 1: door wasn't locked, and found pink hair curlers scattered across

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Speaker 1: the living room floor. He went in further and saw

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Speaker 1: Thelma slump over in front of her bedroom door. She'd

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Speaker 1: been shot in the head four times. It seemed the

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Speaker 1: TV had been turned up to mask the sound of

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Speaker 1: the gunshots. Police arrived and quickly canvassed the scene. They

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Speaker 1: found that Thelma's jewelry was still sitting on her dresser,

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Speaker 1: but her purse was missing, along with her green Ford

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Speaker 1: pickup truck. A month later, a deer hunter found the

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Speaker 1: truck abandoned in a wooded area about a mile and

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Speaker 1: a half away from Thelma's home. Her purse was there too,

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Speaker 1: with its contents scattered on the ground nearby. But despite

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Speaker 1: this discovery, police couldn't develop any viable suspects or leads.

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Speaker 1: A few months later, the case went cold. Three years later,

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Speaker 1: in November nineteen ninety nine, a new DA was elected

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Speaker 1: in Culpeper on a promise to solve cold cases. Shortly

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Speaker 1: after he took office, new detectives were assigned to investigate

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Speaker 1: Thelma Scroggin's murder. They started off by visiting a local

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Speaker 1: prison to interview a young woman named Alicia Shelton. Alicia

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Speaker 1: had just been convicted of shooting a man in the

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Speaker 1: head six times. The cops figured her crime was similar

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Speaker 1: enough to what happened to Thelma to make Alisha worth questioning.

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Speaker 1: On audiotape, Alicia told the investigators that she didn't know

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Speaker 1: anything about Thelma's murder. But then one detective offered what

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Speaker 1: he called a little foundation. He suggested that Alicia might

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Speaker 1: get a reduced sentence if she provided information about her

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Speaker 1: teenage cousin, Michael Hash Then silence. The tape was shut off,

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Speaker 1: supposedly for a cigarette break. When the recorder got turned

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Speaker 1: back on, Alicia was suddenly full of ideas. She said

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Speaker 1: she'd overheard her cousin Michael, discussing his involvement in Thelma's murder.

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Speaker 1: She said Michael did it along with his buddies Eric

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Speaker 1: Weekley and Jason Chlobe.

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Speaker 2: Alicia Shelton was looking at a lot of time and

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Speaker 2: desperate for a way to get out from underneath the

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Speaker 2: weight of a heavy sentence. So what happened when the

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Speaker 2: camera was off? But there had to be some powerful

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Speaker 2: inducement to get her to change her story from I

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Speaker 2: don't know what you're talking about two fingering her own

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Speaker 2: cousin and his friends for this crime.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety six, when Thelma was killed, Michael was fifteen,

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Speaker 1: Eric was sixteen and Jason was eighteen. They'd grown up together,

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Speaker 1: writing go karts as kids and crushing on girls as teenagers.

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Speaker 1: Michael and his parents, Jeff and Pam Hash lived within

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Speaker 1: a mile of Thelma's house. In fact, Thelma had been

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Speaker 1: the Hash family's mail carrier, delivering birthday cards and letters

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Speaker 1: to the home with her typical friendly wave. Michael was

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Speaker 1: a good kid. There was no reason whatsoever to suspect

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Speaker 1: him and his friends of killing Thelma Scroggins. It's true

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Speaker 1: that Michael used to frequent a campsite near the wooded

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Speaker 1: area where Thelma's truck had been found, but that was

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Speaker 1: a pretty thin connection. Somehow, though, Michael Hash, Jason Chlobe,

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Speaker 1: and Eric Weekley found themselves at the center of a

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Speaker 1: cold case murder investigation in April two thousand. Police decide

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Speaker 1: to interrogate, but they don't start with Michael Hash or

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Speaker 1: Jason Chlobe. They start with Eric Weekly. By this time,

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Speaker 1: Eric was nineteen years old with a reputation as a follower,

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Speaker 1: someone who could be easily intimidated.

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Speaker 2: Eric Weekly was a weak link. He had a little

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Speaker 2: daughter that he cared very much about. He had a

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Speaker 2: prior record which gave interrogators leverage. They started with him

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Speaker 2: because they felt that he was the most likely to

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Speaker 2: break and it worked.

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Speaker 1: Eric's at his factory job when two detectives approach him

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Speaker 1: and start asking about Thelma's murder. Eric is shocked he

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Speaker 1: had nothing to do with it. He tells the detectives

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Speaker 1: they're crazy and says he has to get back to work.

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Speaker 1: The cops leave, but not for long. They follow Eric everywhere,

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Speaker 1: the gas station, the grocery store. They show up at

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Speaker 1: Eric's job over and over.

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Speaker 2: These detectives would not leave him alone. They hounded him,

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Speaker 2: they stalked him, They kept coming to his workplace trying

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Speaker 2: to question him. It got to the point where his

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Speaker 2: employer just was fed up and he fired Eric. And

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Speaker 2: Eric got worried that he would never be able to

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Speaker 2: get another job because everywhere he would go, these cops

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Speaker 2: would just show up at his work again. So he

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Speaker 2: gave up and he agreed finally to go to the

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Speaker 2: police station and answer their questions.

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Speaker 1: Over the next several weeks, Eric and Door is not one,

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Speaker 1: not two, but a whole chain of interrogations as the

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Speaker 1: police keep insisting he come back again and again. Some

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Speaker 1: of these interrogations last longer than twelve hours. Only a

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Speaker 1: few are recorded, but what did get caught on tape

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Speaker 1: is enough to make anyone skeptical. During the first few interrogations,

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Speaker 1: Eric protests his innocence over and over. He doesn't have

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Speaker 1: the mind or the heart to kill somebody, he tells police.

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Speaker 3: And I'm sitting here telling me no, and you're still

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Speaker 3: not believe I'm sitting here telling you.

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Speaker 2: No, I did not shoot this one.

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Speaker 1: The police won't listen to Eric. They insist he's guilty,

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Speaker 1: and they chip away at him slowly and steadily over

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Speaker 1: the course of weeks.

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Speaker 4: You saw that woman too, too, You saw the blood.

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Speaker 4: Why do you sit here and try to lie to

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Speaker 4: me about that today?

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Speaker 1: Then the police tell Eric that if he cooperates, he

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Speaker 1: can go home. If he just repeats the details they

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Speaker 1: feed him, the police can work with him, even help him.

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Speaker 2: But if you saw blood come from behavior, that helps Eric.

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Speaker 1: But if Eric holds back, if he refuses to say

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Speaker 1: he was involved, they say that'll hurt him. If he

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Speaker 1: doesn't confess, he might not get to see his daughter anymore.

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Speaker 1: These interrogations continue off and on for weeks, but Eric

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Speaker 1: still won't confess. So the cops pull out a tried

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Speaker 1: and true tactic.

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Speaker 2: Finally they say, okay, Eric, if you have nothing to

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Speaker 2: do with this, would you at least come down and

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Speaker 2: take a polygraph exam? And Eric did. He took that

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Speaker 2: exam to get these police officers off his back, and

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Speaker 2: then they told him he failed the exam, which got

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Speaker 2: him talking.

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Speaker 1: The polygraph finally does it. Eric weekly realizes he'll never

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Speaker 1: be able to get the police to believe him, and

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Speaker 1: he breaks. He agrees to tell the cops a story.

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Speaker 1: Eric says that he, Michael, and Jason chopped Thelma's body

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Speaker 1: up with an axe. Their motive, he said, was robbery.

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Speaker 1: They stole diamond rings, vases, and necklaces from her home,

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Speaker 1: a king's ransom in treasure. This was a confessional, right,

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Speaker 1: but none of it came close to what actually happened.

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Speaker 1: Thelma wasn't attacked with an axe, and what little jewelry

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Speaker 1: she owned was found sitting on her dresser. So police

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Speaker 1: accused Eric of lying.

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Speaker 2: Again.

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Speaker 1: Eric's response, I'm just telling you what you want to hear,

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Speaker 1: so I can go the hell home. The police don't

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Speaker 1: let him go the hell home. They've got to clean

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Speaker 1: up Eric's story and it takes hours. They cut him

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Speaker 1: short when he begins to describe the jewelry because none

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Speaker 1: of it had actually been taken. They show him photos

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Speaker 1: of the crime scene so that he can see Thelma's

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Speaker 1: body wasn't mutilated with an axe. In fact, they end

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Speaker 1: up straight out telling Eric that Thelma had been shot,

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Speaker 1: and all these details provided by the police are what

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Speaker 1: end up in Eric's confession. Eric's story becomes final on

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Speaker 1: May sixteenth, two thousand. He's arrested. Immediately that same night,

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Speaker 1: police come for Jason Chlobe and Michael Hash.

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Speaker 3: The night that he was arrested, it was it was

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Speaker 3: a total shock.

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Speaker 1: That's Pam Hash, she's Michael Hash's mom.

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Speaker 3: It was about one o'clock in the morning. Everybody had

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Speaker 3: gone to bed, and all of a sudden, there's barking dogs,

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Speaker 3: people hanging on the door yelling. My husband got up,

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Speaker 3: went to the door, and they pretty much just barged

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Speaker 3: into the home. They were wanting Michael. She had, of course,

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Speaker 3: his boxers on nothing else, and I begged them to

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Speaker 3: let him have at least a shirt and shoes. They

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Speaker 3: let him take it with him, and in a matter

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Speaker 3: of minutes he was loaded into the car, and all

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Speaker 3: these cars left, and we got dressed and followed them.

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Speaker 3: It was all so quick, it felt like it was

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Speaker 3: in a movie. It was just a nightmare.

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Speaker 1: Pam's nightmare had just begun. She would soon find out

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Speaker 1: her son, Michael, along with his buddies Eric and Jason,

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Speaker 1: had been charged with capital murder. Culpeper County Commonwealth Attorney

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Speaker 1: Gary Close prosecuted each of the three boys, starting with

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Speaker 1: Jason Chlobe, but the prosecution had a problem. There was

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Speaker 1: no evidence against Jason except for Eric's statement, and prosecutors

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Speaker 1: could only use Eric's statement against Jason if Eric agreed

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Speaker 1: to testify in person against him.

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Speaker 2: It's not enough to simply play Eric's confession during the

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Speaker 2: trial of Michael and Jason, because lawyers can't cross examine

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Speaker 2: a confession. They need to be able to cross examine

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Speaker 2: Eric about what he says on that tape. It's part

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Speaker 2: of a constitutional right of criminal defendants to confront witnesses,

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Speaker 2: the right of cross examination.

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Speaker 1: The prosecution needed Eric Weekly to get up on the

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Speaker 1: witness stand and testify. To get him there, they offered

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Speaker 1: him a deal if Eric agreed to testify against both

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Speaker 1: Jason and Michael the state would reduce Eric's charges to

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Speaker 1: second degree murder. That charge carried at most twenty years

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Speaker 1: behind bars, sometimes much less. If Eric didn't take the deal.

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Speaker 1: On the other hand, he was facing life in prison

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Speaker 1: if convicted. Eric was in despair. He felt cornered by

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Speaker 1: the confession that detectives had wrung out of him. Like

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Speaker 1: so many people before him, Eric felt that he had

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Speaker 1: no real choice. He took the deal and agreed to

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Speaker 1: testify against his friends.

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Speaker 2: Once you confess, the pressure to plead guilty on these

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Speaker 2: suspects is even greater. Of all the exonerations in the

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Speaker 2: DNA database, twelve percent involve people who pledged guilty to

253
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Speaker 2: crimes they didn't commit, and each one of those pleas

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Speaker 2: involved someone who was represented by counsel and who weighed

255
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Speaker 2: the options and decided it was in their best interests

256
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:50,920
Speaker 2: to give up all of their rights, to give up

257
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Speaker 2: their right to testify, their right to appeal, their right

258
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Speaker 2: to prove their innocence, in order to plead guilty.

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Speaker 1: Eric was now a lock for the prosecution. In November

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Speaker 1: two thousand, it was time to try Jason Klobe, as

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00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,000
Speaker 1: he'd agreed to do. Eric took the stand and testified

262
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,480
Speaker 1: that Jason had participated in the murder, but Jason's defense

263
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,920
Speaker 1: lawyers had an ace in the hole, an alibi. They

264
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,800
Speaker 1: brought in several witnesses who testified that Jason had been

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Speaker 1: visiting his dad in Pennsylvania at the time of Thelma's murder.

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Speaker 1: It took the jury less than two hours to find

267
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,000
Speaker 1: Jason Klobe not guilty.

268
00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:33,880
Speaker 2: If Jason wasn't present during this crime, then that undermines

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Speaker 2: Eric's entire confession because he has Jason right there being

270
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Speaker 2: a major actor along with Michael in the murder of

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Speaker 2: Thelmas Kroggins. Once these detectives learned that Jason had an alibi,

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Speaker 2: they should have walked away from this case.

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Speaker 1: But detectives didn't walk away. Instead, they plowed ahead with

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Speaker 1: the trial of Michael.

275
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Speaker 3: Hash after Chlobe was a that I kept telling Mike,

276
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Speaker 3: You're next. They know the truth from Chloe's cage. You're next,

277
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Speaker 3: You'll be next. You're coming home now.

278
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Speaker 1: Michael didn't have a strong alibi like Jason did. When

279
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Speaker 1: Thelma died. Michael had been right there in Culpeper County

280
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Speaker 1: hanging out with some buddies. But even though Michael's defense

281
00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:21,280
Speaker 1: was weaker. The prosecutors decided to leave nothing to chance.

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Speaker 2: They knew that Eric Weekly's testimony alone wasn't going to

283
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,919
Speaker 2: be enough to get a conviction against Michael, So what

284
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,879
Speaker 2: did they do? They manufactured more evidence. They went to

285
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:39,159
Speaker 2: a seasoned serial snitch, a jailhouse informant who had worked

286
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,480
Speaker 2: with them in the past and testified in other cases,

287
00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:43,919
Speaker 2: Paul Carter.

288
00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,080
Speaker 1: About a week after Michael had been arrested, he met

289
00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,199
Speaker 1: Paul Carter in jail. At the time, it seemed like

290
00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,080
Speaker 1: a random encounter. Later, at Michael's trial, Carter testified that

291
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,320
Speaker 1: when they met, Michael had admitted to killing Thelma. During

292
00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,080
Speaker 1: cross examination, Eric's defense attorney suggested Carter was getting some

293
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,920
Speaker 1: benefit in exchange for fabricating testimony against Michael, but Carter

294
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,600
Speaker 1: denied it. He said he wasn't receiving anything for his cooperation.

295
00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,240
Speaker 3: He was a pretty career criminal and he knew what

296
00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,240
Speaker 3: he was doing, even though he's up there telling the

297
00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,240
Speaker 3: jury that he is only there because this was somebody's

298
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,520
Speaker 3: mother or grandmother. You know, he's looking for something and

299
00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:25,240
Speaker 3: I thought the jury would see right through that.

300
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,320
Speaker 1: The prosecutor backed up his witnesses claim, telling the jury that,

301
00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,000
Speaker 1: of course, the state hadn't made any deal with Carter.

302
00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,119
Speaker 1: After testimony concluded, the jury deliberated for six and a

303
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,080
Speaker 1: half hours. As the clocks neared midnight on February ninth,

304
00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:43,720
Speaker 1: two thousand and one, they returned a verdict guilty.

305
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,399
Speaker 3: It's a sound that I think I'll hear for the

306
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,399
Speaker 3: rest of my life. When they came back and said

307
00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:57,880
Speaker 3: that they found him guilty, it's almost like you hear guilty, guilty, guilty,

308
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:03,320
Speaker 3: just echoing. Quite frankly, I don't remember a whole lot

309
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,240
Speaker 3: after that. I know that I broke down and they

310
00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:10,720
Speaker 3: took Mike immediately out of the courtroom. I remember my

311
00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,399
Speaker 3: husband putting me in the backseat of the car, and

312
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,879
Speaker 3: don't really remember a whole lot after that Until the

313
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:17,600
Speaker 3: next morning.

314
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Speaker 1: At sentencing, Michael told the judge, you've convicted an innocent person,

315
00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:26,119
Speaker 1: but it was too late. Michael Hash was sentenced to

316
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,160
Speaker 1: life without the possibility of parole.

317
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:33,320
Speaker 2: A lot of defendants in Michael's situation might have pled.

318
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Speaker 1: Guilty and accepted a much shorter sentence.

319
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Speaker 2: But Michael didn't confess. That's important. It's never wrong to

320
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:41,720
Speaker 2: assert your innocence.

321
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,320
Speaker 1: For his part, Eric Weekly had finally satisfied the state

322
00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:47,959
Speaker 1: he'd lived up to his end of the bargain and

323
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,080
Speaker 1: testified against his friends. In exchange, the state reduced Eric's

324
00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,600
Speaker 1: charges to second degree murder, to which Eric formerly pled

325
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,680
Speaker 1: guilty on June thirteenth, two thousand and one. He would

326
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,159
Speaker 1: go on to serve six years and eight months in prison.

327
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:08,040
Speaker 3: Eric implicating Michael and Jason and even himself. It angered me,

328
00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,200
Speaker 3: but I would always go back to I know he's

329
00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:17,880
Speaker 3: not doing this, and just knowing Eric, somebody is making

330
00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:22,119
Speaker 3: him say these things. They're threatening him. He had a

331
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,960
Speaker 3: child by then, a young child, and I knew that

332
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,480
Speaker 3: that was probably his main focus was I've got to

333
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,080
Speaker 3: do whatever to get back to my child. And I

334
00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,520
Speaker 3: can't be mad at that because I'm a mom.

335
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:37,879
Speaker 1: Eric weekly served his time and was freed in two

336
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,560
Speaker 1: thousand and six, but Michael remained behind bars, serving a

337
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 1: life sentence, even as he pursued his appeals.

338
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Speaker 3: You know, each year at Christmas time, I'd have that

339
00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,480
Speaker 3: faith he's going to be home this year, and I'd

340
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,640
Speaker 3: buy him Christmas presents just like I did every year.

341
00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,000
Speaker 3: Before i'd wrap them, i'd have them under the tree.

342
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,760
Speaker 3: I'd always after Christmas take them up and pack them

343
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,040
Speaker 3: away in a box and add to it each Christmas.

344
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:06,280
Speaker 3: City didn't come home.

345
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:14,000
Speaker 1: When Michael's last appeal ended fruitlessly, Pam Hash drove to

346
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:17,240
Speaker 1: the office of her son's lawyers and took his paperwork.

347
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,800
Speaker 3: I didn't know anything about the legal system or law.

348
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,199
Speaker 3: I worked as a floral designer.

349
00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,200
Speaker 1: But she was a mother and she was going to

350
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:26,920
Speaker 1: help her son.

351
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 3: I went to the office and picked up what must

352
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,800
Speaker 3: have been a dozen legal boxes, tens of thousands of papers,

353
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,520
Speaker 3: just thrown in a box in no particular order. And

354
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,239
Speaker 3: that's pretty much when I started searching the internet on

355
00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 3: false confessions, asking questions, looking up people that I could call,

356
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,600
Speaker 3: that I could beg for help. Steve Grison was one

357
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,840
Speaker 3: of the first people that I contacted. I knew that

358
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,800
Speaker 3: Eric had given a false confession, and I thought maybe

359
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,600
Speaker 3: Steve could help me. I sent letters to him, I

360
00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,119
Speaker 3: made phone calls, and bless his heart, I think he

361
00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 3: took my call just so that maybe I would shut up.

362
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 2: Pam Hash would call me, would send me information. She

363
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:19,040
Speaker 2: sent me a VHS of Eric's interrogation. I reviewed those

364
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:23,639
Speaker 2: transcripts and talked about the case with her. Pam was

365
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:29,679
Speaker 2: a very forceful advocate for her son. She believed that

366
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:35,040
Speaker 2: he was absolutely innocent and was willing to go to

367
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:36,919
Speaker 2: the ends of the earth to prove it.

368
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,480
Speaker 1: Steve put Pam in touch with several people in Virginia,

369
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 1: everyone from lawyers to exoneries like Beverly Monroe, who we

370
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,919
Speaker 1: talked about in Emerson Stephens story. In fact, it was

371
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 1: Beverly who told Pam hash to go to the federal

372
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:55,400
Speaker 1: courthouse and pull the file on Paul Carter that jailhouse

373
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,800
Speaker 1: snitch prosecutors had denied making a deal with.

374
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,679
Speaker 3: I went to the federal court and I asked the

375
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,000
Speaker 3: clerk of the court to look through his files. Her

376
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 3: exact remark to me was, and this is the clerk

377
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 3: of the federal court Paul Carter. She said, Oh, he

378
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:12,360
Speaker 3: got the deal of the century.

379
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 1: Turns out Paul Carter had been serving a fifteen year

380
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,800
Speaker 1: sentence on federal drug charges after he testified against Michael.

381
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:24,959
Speaker 1: Though Carter was immediately released time served, he sure did

382
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,000
Speaker 1: get the deal of the century, a get out of

383
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 1: jail free card. It also turned out that Michael had

384
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,720
Speaker 1: been moved to a different jail for two nights for

385
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:36,520
Speaker 1: no other reason than to put him together with Paul Carter.

386
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,200
Speaker 1: None of this had been disclosed to Michael's defense or

387
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 1: to Eric Weakley's defense. Pam may have started out as

388
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,400
Speaker 1: a floral designer, but her legal work was pretty kick ass.

389
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,159
Speaker 1: She had single handedly demolished Carter's value as a witness

390
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,720
Speaker 1: against her son. She had proven that the prosecutor lied

391
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,160
Speaker 1: when he told the jury there was no deal with Carter.

392
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,439
Speaker 1: The only evidence against Michael that remained was Eric Weekly.

393
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:16,480
Speaker 1: A few years after Eric's release from prison, two lawyers

394
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,760
Speaker 1: from the University of Virginia Innocence Project knocked on his door.

395
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,960
Speaker 1: Eric was rebuilding his life as best he could, but

396
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,520
Speaker 1: his friend, Michael Hash was still behind bars. Did Eric

397
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 1: want to tell them anything about his testimony against Michael?

398
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,120
Speaker 1: Eric nearly broke down. His false testimony against Michael had

399
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,920
Speaker 1: sat for years on his shoulders like a lead weight.

400
00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 1: He had been coerced into confessing by police and into

401
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: pleading guilty by prosecutors. But fairly or unfairly, he blamed himself.

402
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 1: Could he really take it all back, try at last

403
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 1: to do right by his friend?

404
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,120
Speaker 2: Eric was at risk of being charged with perjury if

405
00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,399
Speaker 2: he came forward and said that every I think he

406
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,719
Speaker 2: had testified to was a lie. The sad part is

407
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 2: that even when witnesses recant their statement, prosecutors and judges

408
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 2: most of the time don't believe them. They think that

409
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,520
Speaker 2: the initial statement is the true statement and that the

410
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 2: recantation is a lie. So Eric risked doing it all

411
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:27,119
Speaker 2: for nothing, because if the courts didn't believe him and

412
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:28,959
Speaker 2: Michael stays in prison.

413
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 1: Eric decided the risk was worth it. On March twenty first,

414
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:38,240
Speaker 1: twenty eleven, he signed an affidavit recanting everything. I had

415
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,200
Speaker 1: nothing to do with Thelma s Groggin's murder, and neither

416
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 1: did Michael hash He wrote, we are innocent of this crime. Instead,

417
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,120
Speaker 1: he explained that police had fed him information about Thelma's

418
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,479
Speaker 1: murder and coerced him into repeating it.

419
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:56,760
Speaker 2: This was courageous, and I think that Pam and Michael

420
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,400
Speaker 2: recognized it as such.

421
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:03,639
Speaker 3: I was so happy when Eric came forward because I

422
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:07,119
Speaker 3: knew how much he stood to lose, yet he was

423
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 3: still doing this, and it just was maybe here's some

424
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,199
Speaker 3: more hope. Maybe this will be something that'll turn the

425
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 3: case around.

426
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:15,919
Speaker 5: Now.

427
00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,679
Speaker 1: Eric couldn't benefit directly from his affidavit because, as we

428
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,919
Speaker 1: mentioned before, when you plead guilty, you give up your

429
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 1: right to prove your own innocence. But Michael Hash could benefit.

430
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: He hadn't pled guilty, he'd been convicted at trial. That

431
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,280
Speaker 1: meant that legally he was still able to challenge his

432
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,880
Speaker 1: conviction in court. Michael's lawyers at the mid Atlantic Innocence

433
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 1: Project snapped into action, with Pam Hash right alongside them.

434
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,160
Speaker 1: They filed a petition to overturn Michael's conviction, with Eric's

435
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,160
Speaker 1: affidavit and the secret deal with Paul Carter as the centerpieces.

436
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,440
Speaker 1: Pam Hash knew from day one that her son was innocent.

437
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 1: Her investigative work, together with Eric's recantation, had proved it,

438
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,480
Speaker 1: but every time she'd spoken out in the past, authorities

439
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,680
Speaker 1: had told her to shut up, sit down, stop being

440
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:03,360
Speaker 1: so dramatic.

441
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,879
Speaker 3: I knew exactly what call Pepper County was capable of.

442
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,720
Speaker 3: It's blatant that this was a setup, that he was

443
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,400
Speaker 3: put in with a snitch. And I was told, missus Hash,

444
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 3: you watch too much TV. This is real life that

445
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:18,479
Speaker 3: doesn't happen.

446
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,879
Speaker 1: Would this time be different? Would someone finally listen? On

447
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:27,160
Speaker 1: February twenty eighth, twenty twelve, Pam got her answer a

448
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 1: federal judge throughout Michael's conviction. The judge ruled that Eric's

449
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 1: recantation was more believable than his confession. As for Pam's

450
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:38,920
Speaker 1: discoveries about Paul Carter, the judge said prosecutors had out

451
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,680
Speaker 1: and out lied when they denied cutting Carter a deal.

452
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,520
Speaker 1: Real life had met real justice.

453
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 3: It was like, yes, yes, somebody finally gets it after

454
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,560
Speaker 3: so many doors being shut. This was amazing. For once

455
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 3: we won something.

456
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: Two weeks later, Michael was released from prison. He'd been

457
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: behind bars for nearly twelve years.

458
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,480
Speaker 3: It was an absolute perfect day. I hugged him and

459
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,520
Speaker 3: all I could think to tell him was no more

460
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:17,080
Speaker 3: chained Mike, no more change. After he came home, I

461
00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 3: gave him this huge box with all of his Christmas

462
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:23,520
Speaker 3: presents in it, and some of them were twelve years old,

463
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,679
Speaker 3: so the wrapping paper was faded and like a delmy.

464
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:33,520
Speaker 3: I had bought chocolate well that had melted and rehardened

465
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 3: and melted and turned white. He started opening video games

466
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,800
Speaker 3: that you couldn't even get the computer to play them

467
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 3: on anymore, but he loved it just the same. We

468
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 3: cried a lot of sad tears and a lot of

469
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:48,880
Speaker 3: happy tears.

470
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 1: A few months later, all charges against Michael Hash were

471
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 1: formally dismissed. That day, Pam wrote an email to Steve

472
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 1: just three words long.

473
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 2: We won, Steve. I almost fell out of my chair.

474
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 2: I was ecstatic.

475
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 1: As for Eric Weekly, the judge's decision took a twelve

476
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,320
Speaker 1: year burden off his shoulders. I'm glad that man's home,

477
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 1: Eric told the local news. I feel like I amended

478
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: my wrong. Since the charges were dismissed, Michael Hash has

479
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 1: been making the most of his freedom. In twenty fifteen,

480
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 1: he got married. His parents were there, his lawyers were there,

481
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 1: and you know who else was there? Eric Weekly celebrating

482
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,040
Speaker 1: with all his heart. All had been forgiven.

483
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,840
Speaker 3: It was as if nothing happened, and this was Mike's decision.

484
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 3: But why not? We were friends then, we're still friends now.

485
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:46,880
Speaker 3: Why shouldn't I invite him to my wedding?

486
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,040
Speaker 1: And the prosecutor who secured Michael and Eric's convictions he

487
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 1: resigned one day before Michael walked free. That prosecutor was

488
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 1: later reprimanded by the Virginia bar for lying to the

489
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,480
Speaker 1: jury about Paul Carter get out of jail free card.

490
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 1: As for Eric, himself. He remains convicted of second degree murder. Remember,

491
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,040
Speaker 1: he doesn't have access to post conviction relief because he

492
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 1: pled guilty. Eric Weekly brought justice to Michael Hash by

493
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,600
Speaker 1: making right and old wrong. Now it's time to bring

494
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 1: justice to Eric too. In twenty eighteen, Eric's attorneys filed

495
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 1: a pardon petition with the Governor of Virginia. While he

496
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 1: waits for an answer, Eric has to face everybody from

497
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,720
Speaker 1: employers to landlords, with a murder conviction on his record.

498
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 1: A formal pardon from the governor would change that. It

499
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 1: would exonerate Eric Weekly. And that's what Eric deserves. But

500
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 1: don't take our word for it. Here's what Michael Hash thinks.

501
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:50,800
Speaker 4: Absolutely. I think the governorship poor and Eric I think

502
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 4: he was made to do what he did and now

503
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 4: he's still a part of this ordeal just as I am.

504
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,280
Speaker 4: So he deserves just as much as anybody else does

505
00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,000
Speaker 4: in this case to have themself svindicated.

506
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,440
Speaker 1: Hello, Hey, Eric, this is Laura and Steve. How are

507
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:09,480
Speaker 1: you doing all right?

508
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:09,760
Speaker 5: Great?

509
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,600
Speaker 1: How are you are you spending your time these days?

510
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 3: Living life?

511
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,160
Speaker 6: Spend time with my wife and kids and my grand

512
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,360
Speaker 6: baby and all that good stuff.

513
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 1: Grand baby that's exciting.

514
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 2: Oh wonderful.

515
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 5: Yeah, how old?

516
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,120
Speaker 3: She's a year and a half now, Wow, that's great.

517
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,800
Speaker 2: I got a call from Pam hash about your case

518
00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 2: actually when she was fighting to get Michael freed.

519
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 6: The day that Michael got released from prison was the

520
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 6: greatest day of my life.

521
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 3: Man.

522
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,160
Speaker 6: After it was all over with, me and Michael had

523
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,920
Speaker 6: a long conversation and we made amendsum amongst each other.

524
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 5: That's how friends do.

525
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 1: Man, to see my friend come.

526
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 6: Home and just do his thing and live his life

527
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,760
Speaker 6: free from all of it now, and it's a great feeling.

528
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,720
Speaker 1: What would it mean to you to receive a pardon

529
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 1: from the Governor of Virginia.

530
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,800
Speaker 6: Within only fourteen years and I went back to president,

531
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 6: got a beautiful wife, got a fealful family, and still

532
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 6: fighting it and not still keep my head held high,

533
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:14,440
Speaker 6: but it'd be.

534
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,000
Speaker 5: A life altering pain that I can actually go out

535
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 5: and not worry about having to put down if I'm okay,

536
00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 5: Victor Sellon or not. I mean, it will mean the

537
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 5: world for me just to solidify that, you know, me,

538
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 5: Mike and Jason were.

539
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:26,760
Speaker 1: Innocent of all of it.

540
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 5: I don't know how I'm going to react until I

541
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,160
Speaker 5: have the paper in my hand.

542
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,520
Speaker 6: I mean, I might just break down and cry like

543
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 6: a little girl.

544
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 2: You know what, I never know. The fact of the

545
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 2: matter is that if you have a murder conviction on

546
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:50,400
Speaker 2: your record, that's an incredible yoke to have to carry

547
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 2: with you for the rest of your life. That's right.

548
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,440
Speaker 1: I mean, Jason Chlobe was found to be not guilty.

549
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 1: Michael hash now has been exonerated. Eric Weekly's this innocent.

550
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 2: That's the and it's time for the governor to declare

551
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,840
Speaker 2: that Eric is actually innocent.

552
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,600
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction, False Confessions is a production of Lava for

553
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:22,160
Speaker 1: Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company Number one Special

554
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 1: thanks to our executive producers Jason Flamm and Kevin Wardis.

555
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,479
Speaker 1: Our production team is headed by senior producer and Pope,

556
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 1: along with producers Joshi Hammer and Jess Shane. Our show

557
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:36,920
Speaker 1: is mixed by Genie Montalvo. John Colbert is our intrepid intern.

558
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,680
Speaker 1: Our music was composed by Jay Ralph. You can follow

559
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 1: me on Instagram or Twitter at Laura and I Wrider.

560
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 2: And you can follow me on Twitter at s Drizzen.

561
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,800
Speaker 1: For more information on the show, visit Wrongful Conviction podcast

562
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,080
Speaker 1: dot com. Be sure to follow the show on Instagram

563
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:58,880
Speaker 1: at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and

564
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,080
Speaker 1: on Twitter at wrong Conviction

565
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 4: HM