WEBVTT - #315 Jason Flom with Michael VonAllmen 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.200 In the early morning hours of October tenth, nineteen eighty one, 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:08.520 a young woman noticed a man checking her out at 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.640 a bar in Louisville, Kentucky. When she left, he followed 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:16.119 her outside, abducted her at gunpoint, and brought her to 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:20.000 nearby Iroquois Park, where he beat, robbed, and raped her. 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.480 The victim described him as a white man driving a 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.280 green car, about five eleven over two hundred pounds, with curly, 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.760 dark brown hair and blue eyes. After a rape kit 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.559 was performed, she helped create a composite sketch, which was 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:38.479 circulated among the local bars. The following day, a man 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:42.200 who closely resembled that sketch, Michael van Alman, walked into 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.160 the very same bar from which the victim had been abducted. 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.520 When Michael left, the bar, patrons followed him home, tipped 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.960 off the police, and his picture was shown to the 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:56.200 victim in a photo array. One would think that an 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.000 uncanny resemblance to the composite sketch and a positive idea 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.680 from the victim would mean that the authority's got the 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:21.560 right guy. But this is wrongful conviction. Welcome back to 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.080 wrongful conviction. Today, we have a case that at the 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.839 heart of it is a mesmerizing web of unfortunate coincidence 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.560 that then kind of loops back around to become fortunate, 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.640 and hearing it might make you question or might reaffirm 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.720 your belief system. Sometimes our guests are victims of a 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:44.520 direct evil actor or systemic injustice, but this time in Louisville, Kentucky. 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.760 Not to say there wasn't plenty of blame to go around, 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.280 but well, you'll see what I mean in a bit, 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:53.560 And of course we're talking about what happened to Michael 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.120 Van Allman. So Mike, welcome to Wrongful Conviction. 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:59.680 Thank you for inviting me and. 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.720 With my I guess Ted Shause, a Louisville defense attorney, 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.920 the former director by the way of the Kentucky Innisis Project, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.160 who Kentucky voters had the opportunity to elected the bench 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.640 as a Circuit court judge in November twenty two, but 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.880 they missed. I'm going to say they blew that opportunity, 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:17.919 and I'm going to say it right now. They would 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:20.280 have been lucky to have him. So Ted, welcome to 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:20.680 the show. 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:21.680 Thanks for having me. 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.480 Now before we talk about this horrible crime and the 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:28.960 odd and really unfortunate coincidence that led to your wrongful conviction. Mike, 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:33.280 you had served in the military, which just feels to 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.640 me like it makes it all seem worse somehow. But 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:39.360 before we get into any of that, what was your 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:41.760 life like growing up? Did you grow up in the 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:42.760 city of Louisville. 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:48.880 Absolutely, Yeah, Louisville grew up close to Churchill Downs, so 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:53.320 that was certainly bred into me as well. So very Louisville. 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:58.120 My father was a firefighter for the Louisville Fire Department. 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:02.000 Working class, middle class. We lived in a neighborhood where 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.160 the whole street was full of kids and you know, 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:09.280 went to school, clam trees, played bow and what I 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.520 thought was quite normal life. 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.280 I mean, your story sounds so quintessentially American that I 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.960 can actually smell apple pie while you're talking. And then, 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.720 of course you went into the Navy, And how was 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:22.520 that experience. 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:29.520 Well, the structure of the military wasn't quite conducive to 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:31.359 my personality, so. 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:32.160 Yeah, I was. 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:38.960 I was in rebellion the whole time and was glad 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:39.960 to get out of there. 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.520 And so you came home, as I understand it, you 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.560 celebrated your sort of emancipation ever you want to call 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:52.320 it from the military with sort of living it up right, 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.520 A lot of girlfriends and we're smoking we eat. No 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.520 judgment here. I smoked enough of it when I was 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.320 a kid to sink a ship and drinking it's at her. 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.280 But you were young and no judgment here. But then 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:09.280 you were blindsided by this crazy situation. I mean, this 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:13.320 crime was an awful crime, make no mistake about it. 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.600 This is something that happened on October tenth of nineteen 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:18.680 eighty one, when a twenty two year old woman was 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:22.840 abduct at gunpoint outside of a tavern in Louisville, Kentucky. 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:27.000 She was taken to a nearby park called Iroquois Park, 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.760 where she was beaten, raped, and robbed, and the victim 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:34.200 described her assailant as a guy about five foot eleven 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:37.760 inches tall, weighing over two hundred pounds, with blue eyes 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.839 and curly, dark brown hair. First of all, Mike, did 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:42.920 you fit the description of the perpetrator. 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:49.840 They had a composite drawing that looked identical to me except. 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:53.880 For one very important feature. Mike has brown eyes, not blue. 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:56.120 And this is not the first time we've heard of 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:57.960 a situation where our guests looked very similar to the 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:03.120 actual assailant. We've also heard of the actual assailant varying 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:09.120 wildly from the victim's initial description and ultimate misidentification, and 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.480 we've heard everything in between. But remember, our minds are 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.000 not cameras. Some people like to think that they can 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:17.359 remember things exactly, it's not the way the mine works, 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.600 especially not with visual images. Then, Jennifer Thompson does the 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.760 best job of anyone I know talking about this. Remember 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:27.400 she was called the perfect witness in a case where 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:31.560 she herself was raped, and for the entire horrible ordeal, 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:35.160 which lasted almost a half hour, she studied her assailant 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:39.240 because she was determined that if she lived, she was 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.920 going to make sure that she identified the person and 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.800 that this would never happen to anyone else. But ultimately 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.800 she identified the wrong guy, Ronald Cotton, who looked almost 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.800 identical to the actual assailant. As it turns out, DNA 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.120 ultimately proved Ronald's actual innocence, but that wasn't the case here, 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.640 and we'll get to that in a bit. However, a 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.320 rape it was performed, and then a few hours later 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.320 they worked with the victim. On the composite sketch. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:12.080 She noticed this guy checking her out the whole night, 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.599 so she really had a good picture of who this 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:21.400 guy was, so she brought together this composite drawing that 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:27.280 was almost identical to the guy and unfortunately, almost identical 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:31.960 to me. The police had circulated that picture to. 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:33.880 All the local bars. 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:39.200 That Saturday evening, and as it turned out, it was 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:44.520 the Sunday evening the day after they got this composite drawing. 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.279 I went into the very same bar that had happened, 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.159 not having a clue. As I'm sitting here ordering a 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:58.520 cold beer, They're looking at this composite drawing and said, wow, crazy. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:03.520 Sob done returned to the scene of the crime that 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.400 mobilized everybody in that bar, and they followed me home 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:09.640 in my blue Volkswagon. 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:13.560 But the initial description and composite sketch said that the 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:17.800 assailant was driving a green car. So again we have 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.440 something here that should have been a big red flag 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.000 and should have ended this before it began, because not 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.160 only does myke have brown eyes, not blue, but he 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:28.920 has a blue car, not a green car. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:33.760 But I lived in this apartment complex, and as I 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:37.320 pulled in the park. It was right next to my 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:42.320 neighbor's green sixty eight Chevrolet, and they just added the 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:46.320 two together, saying, there's the green car, there's the guy. 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:51.560 They called the police with an anonymous tip of two 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.040 license plates that it could be. 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.040 So, first of all, what a terrible string of coincidences, 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.600 with you going to this particular bar at exactly the 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:05.600 time that they had seen this composite sketch of an 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:09.160 assailant that closely resembled you except for the eye color, 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:10.360 of course, But I don't think you can see that 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.640 in a composite sketch, obviously, right. But what happens was 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:18.200 this posse followed you home and in another crazy twisted fate, 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.679 you happened to pull in next to your neighbor's green car. 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.360 Now there was a partial plate number from the actual 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:25.760 assailants green car. 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.560 The license plates were close enough similar enough that it 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:32.320 might have been well, it clearly was persuasive to a jury, 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.960 But it really was the composite sketch that did it. 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.840 As you can see even today, Michael Scott frizzy hair. 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.960 At the time he had a full head of curly hair, 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.280 and so did the actual perpetrator and it really was 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.600 the composite sketch that that was the driving force behind 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:49.160 this conviction. 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:53.400 Again, what an awful coincidence, and it's about as remarkable 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:57.640 as the coincidental alternative fate that proved your innocence. So 0:08:57.960 --> 0:08:59.320 did the victim identify you? 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:03.560 When they had followed me home and they got these 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:08.160 two license numbers from that information, they got my name, 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:11.680 and they took a photo of an old arrest I'd 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:15.240 had for some misdemeanor and probably drunk in the public place. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.920 Threw this photo into a photo pack. I think there 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.840 was five, maybe six pictures, but there was only one 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:28.880 big curly headed guy in that photo pack. So the 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:33.040 victim was shown the photo pack and when she got 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:35.719 to the big curly headed guy, she said, well, kind 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:39.480 of looks like him, but not for certain you know, 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:44.160 certainly there wasn't any blue eyes that she could identify 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.000 and say, yeah, that's him. But about a week week 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:51.120 and a half later, showed her the very same photo 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:56.360 pack and she made a positive identification. They had three 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.959 filmy warrants on me for rape, robbery. 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:04.280 And right and the lead up to your arrest, since 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.600 you worked a lot, the police often missed you during 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:11.800 the day right there would show me your house daylight hours, 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.080 and you started hearing about this from your neighbors. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.360 I had come home from work one day and the 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.160 owner of that green car, I met him at the 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.720 mailbox and he asked me, said, hey, what are the 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.240 police looking for you for? I said, police, what do 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.080 you mean? He said, well, they've been by here a 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:36.040 couple times this week knocking on your door. I said, well, 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.679 I don't know, but thanks, I'll find out what's going on. 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.520 I can't believe that the guy who owned the green 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.560 car that was mistaken for the assailants car, that that 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.200 was the guy who told you about the cops coming by. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.839 But soon you did find out what was going on, 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:56.360 and you learned that these were some really serious charges. 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.120 So they had the partial plate number that composed the 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:03.559 sketch and the VIC them's misidentification. Now, from what I understand, 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.880 you spoke to an attorney and tried to arrange for 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:06.960 bond with your parents. 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.920 As I'm on the phone with my mother, the police 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:14.720 officers pulled up in front of my house. Told my mother, Mama, 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.400 I'll talk to you later. I ran outside to try 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.440 to talk to him to give me another hour to 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:25.320 find get this bond situated, and we'd get I'd be in, 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:29.560 we'd get this straightened out. And they looked at me like, yeah, 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.320 give you an hour getting this car. 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.560 So you were arrested. Did you end up bonding out 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.640 or did you end up awaiting trial from jail as 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:39.640 we so often here. 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.640 That was another miracle part of my story. One of 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:49.800 the people that worked in the bond preparing system knew me, 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.960 went to high school with me, and knew this was 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:57.640 way out of character. So I don't know what maneuvers 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:01.800 she had available, but she got this really low two 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:06.560 thousand dollars bond set for me, and it was posted 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:11.080 right away. So I was out on bond for about 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.880 sixteen months before I finally went to trial. 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:16.440 All right, so you were available to fight the case 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.439 from the outside. This left you in a better position 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.120 than most ted did his lawyer take advantage of that 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:22.800 to the. 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:26.920 Extent that there's blame in this case, There's plenty to 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.319 go around. First of all, the police were second of 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:33.800 all the prosecution, but the defense council also needs to 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:37.200 own some blame here. DNA was not available at the time. 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.719 But what's important to remember is that this was an 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.440 old fashioned case that relied on old fashioned work ethic. 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.880 Mike had in alibi. He was at a barbecue an 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.000 outdoor party on the night that this occurred. 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:55.440 I had four witnesses testifan where I was, and I 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:58.520 think the owner of the green car testa fed that 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:00.120 I never used this car. 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.480 Those witnesses should have been adequately prepared to present a 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:07.160 cogent defense for Mike, and they weren't. I've tried many 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:10.800 many cases in Kentucky, and simply calling witnesses and putting 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.199 around the witness stand that may seem like an appropriate way. Well, 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.320 the witnesses were called, but if they're not properly prepared, 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.760 and if a cogent and complete defense is not prepared 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.400 before the trial begins, you're not really putting out of defense. 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.920 You're just throwing witnesses up there at that point, and 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:27.319 that's not putting out a defense. 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:27.960 Right. 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.360 Unless there's this solid narrative created between the alibi witnesses 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.720 and the corroborating physical evidence, a prosecutor can easily shred 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.560 the credibility of that alibi simply by pointing out that 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.000 these are Mike's friends or relatives who might be willing 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:44.319 to lie. The jury, though, did hear that her assailant's 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:48.240 eyes were blue while Mike's were brown, which I think 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.320 should have meant more to everyone, including the judge, the prosecutor, 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:52.840 and I hate to say it, but the victim too. 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:58.440 That physical evidence clearly corroborated the alibi. But the misidentification 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.800 and the composite sketchet, just like Mike, let's face it, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:03.280 they just outweigh everything. 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:03.760 To be fair. 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:10.079 In those days, the notion of misidentification was in its infancy. 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.760 The notion that trauma and stress lead to misidentification was 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:19.080 almost unheard of, and so the power of the composite 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.400 sketch cannot be overstated. 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.600 At this point, were you confident that people would see 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:25.120 the truth. 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:32.360 Certainly I had a blind belief that the American justice 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:36.680 system would sort out the truth in this, especially with 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:41.160 everyone testifying to where I was and myself included. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.600 Take us to that moment, that which must have been 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.680 the worst moment of your life when they came in 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:49.960 and got it exactly wrong. 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:56.560 Total disbelief. My family in behind me, my head, a 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:01.200 sister who was eight and a half months pregnant in 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:02.320 behind me, and she. 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:03.560 Just began. 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:16.880 When she started wailing, I just couldn't look back, and 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.640 they just carried me off and took me away, and yeah, 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:22.240 I couldn't look back at my family. 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:34.960 We're going to take a quick break and we'll be 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:35.480 right back. 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:40.920 This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.760 AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and is making 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.560 a positive difference in the lives of its employees and 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.280 in the communities where we work and live. In light 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.120 of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:57.200 in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:01.240 the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal services and 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.640 other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.520 I had been arrested plenty of times, but I never 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:17.760 made it outside of the holding cell for the little 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:23.000 misdemeanors that I had, so I never actually went beyond that. 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:28.080 And so this was certainly a fearful time as far 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:33.320 as my normal self going into where the mean boys 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:37.720 are held up at and trying to adjust to what 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:44.920 the jail house environment was like, you know, very fearful, 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:49.640 I guess, very confusing and difficult time and it led 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:58.160 to a pretty quick transformation into Christianity, which was my 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:04.680 mother's reason for all of this happening. So it got 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.679 me through about the first year of adjustment of jail 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:13.200 and prison. But eventually I've got to the point where 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:18.560 I didn't believe God was really doing this and got 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:23.320 back to my old character and adjusting to prison life. 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.240 You found religion and lost religion through this experience. 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:31.359 It sounds like redefined it for sure. Yes. 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.240 Yeah, we hear stories of you know, men and women 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.120 have gone through similar experience to yours, and they've gone, 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:40.840 you know, one way or the other. I haven't actually 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:44.480 heard the full circle version of that, but it's interesting 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.840 to hear you tell it, and I'm gonna have to 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:49.960 say it's understandable. I mean, who knows how anyone would 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:54.000 react going through this most incredibly traumatic experience that you 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:59.040 were subjected to. So since to thirty years you're at 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.320 that point, How old were you? I was twenty five, right, 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.960 So they're sending you to spend more time in prison 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.919 by a significant margin than you had actually been alive 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:09.880 on this planet. 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:14.520 Yes, so I get the prison and of course right away, 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:19.640 trying to prove my innocence and start demanding some kind 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:24.200 of lie detection, whatever method that they could come up with. 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:29.520 My course, my lawyer is doing the direct appeal, and 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:35.000 the direct appeal was affirmed fairly quickly. So the next 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.800 move was back to our trial court with the eleven 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:43.280 forty two motion, and in an effort to arm myself 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:47.440 as best as I could, I demanded from my new attorney, 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:52.119 get me these polygraph tests, and let's get something in 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.919 front of this judge before we go with this eleven 0:18:56.000 --> 0:19:01.960 forty two. So he finally hires a polygraph operator on 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.879 his own, a police officer. As I passed this test, 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:11.240 it wasn't long afterwards that that same officer was indicted 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:16.840 for an arsen charge over his restaurant. So that kind 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:20.600 of nullified anything this guy had to say about anything. 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:24.199 It's like you were on a downward spiral in a 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:30.360 sea of legal quicksand driven by a string of unfortunate coincidences. 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:33.840 So that blew up that effort and the timing of 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:36.960 that appeal. So back to getting another polygraph test. 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:41.560 So as we're working to get this done, up jumps 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:46.639 another possible suspect, not a big curly headed guy, but 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.840 a big, wavy headed guy, and he had a string 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:54.239 of sexual assaults that wasn't identical, didn't match up to 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:58.880 the MO but he was from the neighborhood, and everybody 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:03.840 focused on him as the possible actual perpetrator, and I 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.439 was hopeful that he was going to confess to the 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.800 crime I was accused of. And then my attorney was 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:14.239 finally able to get a polygraph set up with the 0:20:14.280 --> 0:20:19.639 Louisville Police Department working with the Commonwealth Attorney's office, and 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:24.600 when I passed that polygraph test, the police reopened my 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:28.800 case with that other suspect that I just mentioned with 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:29.520 him in. 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:34.040 Mad But unfortunately, even though this serial rapist did confess 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.600 to other crimes, he never actually confessed the crime for 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:40.520 which Mike served eleven years. Now, after losing in court 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:45.320 twice and this reinvestigation running dry, you pivoted to petitioning 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:49.680 the parole board for early consideration. And maybe that reopening 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:52.760 of your case and a fresh look had something to 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.000 do with your being considered for early parole. 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:58.919 The consideration of early parole is almost unheard of in Kentucky, 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:03.640 and when Michael was granted early consideration, you know, three 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:07.679 times before he eventually got parolled. That's that's almost unheard 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:08.400 of in Kentucky. 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.200 Yeah, it sounds like there were probably some whispers in 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:12.600 the halls of power there. 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:15.680 There were some recognition that this was a miscarriage. 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.959 But even with that potential recognition, Michael was denied and 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.679 deferred three times, which is how he did eleven long years. 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:26.040 And it seemed like every time he was up for parole, 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.320 some other parole would be in the news for having 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:32.080 committed some sort of other heinous crime. Even though we 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:34.440 know it's a tiny fraction of the people who come home, 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.320 those are the ones that make news. But this meant 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:39.760 that any willingness of the parole board to give Michael 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:42.680 the benefit of the doubt would just shrivel up. They'd 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:44.760 give you some bs about you needing to take some 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:48.320 courses AA, sex offender rehab, etc. Even though there was 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:50.919 so much doubt in your case, and you did pursue 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.640 those avenues as well. Now before you were eventually paroled, 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:56.720 there were two other avenues or storylines that were building 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.520 steam as DNA testing evolved. He began to seek out 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:02.400 the buyolife magical materials in your case, and then there 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:04.680 was a girl from your neighborhood who ended up being 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:06.080 instrumental in your freedom. 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:09.919 Yeah, in the neighborhood that I grew up in was 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:12.400 a girl who lived down the street. As we got 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:15.600 to high school, she just kind of disappeared, and we 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:19.200 had heard that she was off with some crazy crowds. 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:23.160 So I get convicted and my mother comes down there 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:27.480 to visit me. When she is coming down there to 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:31.560 visit somebody else in prison as well, but she knows 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:34.359 my mother really well, and she says, she looks up 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:37.000 and sees her and says, Wow, what are you doing here? 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:40.160 And my mother says, well, I'm seeing Mike. Mike's here 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:43.680 for a rape charge. What are you doing here? She said, Well, 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:47.240 I'm here seeing an old friend. Ten years goes by 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:53.280 and the guy that she had come to visit that time, 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:56.880 he's now getting ready to get out on parole. And 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:00.120 during this ten years I have become really good friends 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:04.040 with this guy. He sends a letter out to this girl. 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:07.240 You know, he's looking for somebody to hook up with 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:10.200 it when he gets out. So he writes this letter 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:13.520 and she writes him back, so, oh, yeah, you can 0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:16.280 call me when you get out. And oh, by the way, 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:18.800 any chance you know a guy named Mike van Almond. 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:23.959 I believe my exes the one committed his crime. Well, 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:26.600 like I say, we had been to good friends. This 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:29.360 guy had been listening to me whining about my innocence 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:32.800 for ten years now. When he got this letter, it 0:23:32.920 --> 0:23:35.479 all made sense to him, and he brought it straight 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:39.000 to me and said, here, read this. And as I'm 0:23:39.040 --> 0:23:41.680 reading and I get to that point Mike von Omon. 0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:44.800 I says what the guy look like? 0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:47.680 And the guy says, big curly had a guy. 0:23:48.680 --> 0:23:50.000 And then I go to reading back. 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:53.560 I said, well, where's he at? He says he's dead, 0:23:54.080 --> 0:23:55.120 killed in a car wreck. 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:59.719 So your big break still came with a big uphill battle. 0:24:00.480 --> 0:24:03.320 There you were, you must have felt like you'd been 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:07.000 hit by lightning. But this evidence still needed to be developed. 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:10.240 So for now your best bet was still the parole board, 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:13.439 and you had been taking classes, building up a positive 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:16.320 appearance on paper for these people who usually demanded a 0:24:16.359 --> 0:24:20.520 mission of guilt which you were not fitting to give them. 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:23.560