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Speaker 1: On June twenty first, nineteen ninety four, Evan King went

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Speaker 1: to the East Cleveland apartment of a new friend, Crystal Hudson,

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Speaker 1: her daughter, welcomed to men to await Crystal's return. Soon

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Speaker 1: they were joined by Cristel's mother and a friend. Before leaving,

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Speaker 1: the elder Hudson told them about a premonition that she

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Speaker 1: had about Evan killing her daughter. Little did they all know,

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Speaker 1: Cristel's body was already decomposing in the bedroom closet. While

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Speaker 1: waiting for Crystal, Evan fell asleep, only to be awoken

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Speaker 1: by her daughter's screams. Upon discovering the body, the autopsy

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Speaker 1: showed signs of a struggle, rape and strangulation, and a

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Speaker 1: rape kit collected a great deal of decomposing sperm. The

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Speaker 1: police held Evan on a previous minor infraction while questioning

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Speaker 1: him about Crystal's murder. His body and clothing were free

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Speaker 1: from any of her blood and any sign that he

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Speaker 1: may have been in a struggle. DNA testing also cleared

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Speaker 1: him as the source of the sperm. However, in the

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Speaker 1: summer heat, the decomposition gave the prosecution an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: create uncertainty about whether the sperm had been deposited at

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Speaker 1: the time of death. The prosecution presented false testimony to

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Speaker 1: circumvent the DNA evidence, claiming that the sperm could have

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Speaker 1: been deposited hours or even days before her death, paying

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Speaker 1: no mind to the sheer number of sperm which indicated

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Speaker 1: a more recent deposit. Nearly two decades later, DNA testing

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Speaker 1: on Crystal's fingernail scrapings confirmed that her killer was also

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Speaker 1: her rapist. But somehow even that wasn't enough for authorities

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Speaker 1: to immediately release Evan King. This is wrongful conviction. Welcome

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Speaker 1: back to wrongful conviction. Today we're going to be interviewing

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Speaker 1: a man named Evan King who served almost a quarter

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Speaker 1: century in prison for a crime that I don't want

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Speaker 1: to say a third grader could have solved it, because

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Speaker 1: that's not the case. But a third grader would have

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Speaker 1: known that this was not the man that committed this crime.

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Speaker 1: All the evidence was in plain sight, and his conviction

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Speaker 1: was based on a freaking premonition at somebody. I'm sorry,

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Speaker 1: I have to laugh to keep from crying. So with

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Speaker 1: us today is the man himself. But before I introduce him,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to introduce someone who's voice you'll probably recognize

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Speaker 1: Jennifer bergeron of the Ohio Innocence Project. Jennifer, welcome back

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Speaker 1: to Wrongful Conviction.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Jason for having me back.

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Speaker 1: I feel like we could do just multiple seasons and

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Speaker 1: just interview you because there's so many terrible cases in Ohio,

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Speaker 1: but this case is really something and the man himself

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Speaker 1: a survivor not only of almost a quarter century and

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Speaker 1: some of the worst prisons in the country, but also

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Speaker 1: a cancer survivor. Just a guy that's tough to kill

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Speaker 1: and easy to love, a guy named Evan King. Evan,

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Speaker 1: welcome to the show.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.

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Speaker 1: Before we get into the insanity that Cuyahoga County dished out,

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Speaker 1: and we hear that name again and again on this show.

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about Evan King as a young man before

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Speaker 1: your life was before you were kidnapped by the state.

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Speaker 1: Let's call it what it was, right, So what was

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Speaker 1: your life like growing up? Where did you grow up?

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Speaker 3: I grew up on the East side of Cleveland, starting

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Speaker 3: and the projects on fifty fifth.

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Speaker 1: Did you have a happy childhood? Your brothers and sisters?

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Speaker 3: Yes, nine of us, five boys and four girls.

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Speaker 1: Wow, so you had a big family had a whole

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Speaker 1: baseball team. And by the time all this swept you

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Speaker 1: off your feet, what was your life like?

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Speaker 3: Well at the time, it is I had was a

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Speaker 3: vallet at the Omni Hotel, and I had ventured into drugs.

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Speaker 3: You know, I was messing with drugs and selling a

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Speaker 3: little drugs, you know, just quick money, doing the wrong thing.

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Speaker 1: You know, Listen, I believe is that all drugs should

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Speaker 1: be legal, and no one should ever go to jail

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Speaker 1: for what they put in their own bodies, unless they're

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Speaker 1: putting somebody else in harms away. Were you ever involved

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Speaker 1: in any violent crime? Nope, I mean so there was

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Speaker 1: no reason to suspect that all of a sudden one day,

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Speaker 1: you just snapped and committed this. What was really a

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Speaker 1: brutal murder which happened in June of nineteen ninety four,

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Speaker 1: involved a victim named Crystal Hudson, and Cristel was someone

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Speaker 1: who was known to you, right.

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Speaker 3: Yes, she was known to me. I had been friends

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Speaker 3: with her for about two.

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Speaker 1: Weeks, which brings us to the evening, the faithful evening

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Speaker 1: of June twenty first, nineteen ninety four. She was already

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Speaker 1: gone at this point, but no one knew that yet,

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Speaker 1: except for the actual rapist and murderer. But that very

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Speaker 1: night you went to visit Crystal at her high rise

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Speaker 1: apartment building, and her daughter met you at the apartment door.

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Speaker 1: She invited you in to wait for her mom, so,

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Speaker 1: as far as you knew, she was expected home at

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Speaker 1: some point. Soon you were joined by Cristel's mother and

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Speaker 1: her best friend Jean, and none of you, none of you,

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Speaker 1: none of you had any idea that chris So's body

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Speaker 1: had already begun decomposing in the bedroom closet down the hall.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is nuts. Can you walk us through

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Speaker 1: how this evening unfolded.

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Speaker 3: I got to the apartment and her youngest daughter was there,

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Speaker 3: and I asked her, was a mama here? She said no,

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Speaker 3: I said, well, I wait on her. You know, so

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Speaker 3: the youngest daughter when the backing played, I watched TV

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Speaker 3: on the couch.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so the body is in the apartment. It must

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Speaker 1: have been an awful stench.

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Speaker 3: I didn't notice on smell.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so you're in the apartment. And then what happens.

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Speaker 3: Chrystal's mother lived a couple of floors up, and so

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Speaker 3: they were best friend. They came down later on that evening,

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Speaker 3: best friend had a couple of forty ounces and we

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Speaker 3: sitting at the kitchen table. That's where the mother mentioned

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Speaker 3: she had a premonition that I killed her daughter. That's

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Speaker 3: exactly what she said. I had a primenive. I was

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Speaker 3: like what. And after a while, the mother decides to

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Speaker 3: go upstairs and she takes the youngest daughter and left

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Speaker 3: me and Jean in the apartment. Now, why would she

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Speaker 3: say she had a premonition yet, and still you would

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Speaker 3: leave me and Jean in the apartment, you know, I mean,

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Speaker 3: if you think I killed your daughter, why wouldn't you

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Speaker 3: put us out when you left? And even when they

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Speaker 3: was there, you know, the mother says something about was

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Speaker 3: I cooking or something, because she was talking about she

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Speaker 3: smelled something and I say, well, I don't smell nothing,

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Speaker 3: and just left it at that, and the mother went

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Speaker 3: upstairs with the youngest daughter. Me and Jean sat there

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Speaker 3: drinking the forty ouncers. So when Jean left, I sat

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Speaker 3: on back on the couch and I nodded off on

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Speaker 3: the couch and next thing I know, it's the next morning.

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Speaker 3: Both of the young daughters come in and that's when

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Speaker 3: I will up and they said they wanted to get

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Speaker 3: some closed school. They go to the closet and the

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Speaker 3: oldest daughter stars screaming, and I jumped off the couch

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Speaker 3: and run back down. Say what is She pointed to

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Speaker 3: the close and said, my mother's in the closet. I look,

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Speaker 3: I ain't even touched nothing. And I took both girls

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Speaker 3: out in the hallway, knocked on the neighbor's door. See it,

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Speaker 3: called the police.

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Speaker 1: And for our audience, this is a brutal crime. So

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Speaker 1: just be aware what you're going to hear is going

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Speaker 1: to be, you know, upsetting. And this is where I

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Speaker 1: want to bring Jennifer, and Jennifer, can you tell us

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Speaker 1: about the crime itself?

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Speaker 2: So the crime was quite brutal. Poor Crystal was found

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Speaker 2: strangled to death in her own closet, basically naked. And

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Speaker 2: this was Cleveland in June, and it was hot and

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Speaker 2: it wasn't air conditioned, and she'd been deceased for they

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Speaker 2: decided over twenty four hours before she was even discovered.

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Speaker 2: And she had been in this high apartment in Cleveland

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Speaker 2: this whole time. You know, there's lots of degradation that happens.

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Speaker 2: There was evidence from the very beginning that she had

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Speaker 2: also been raped at the time of her death. Evan

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Speaker 2: happened to be in the apartment unfortunately when she was found,

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Speaker 2: and so I think that's why he sort of became

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Speaker 2: suspect number one, because he was.

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Speaker 3: There and I waited in the hallway with the two daughters.

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Speaker 3: Why the police came.

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Speaker 1: If you were the actual killer, would you stand there

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Speaker 1: and wait for the police to arrive. I mean, you're

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Speaker 1: neither dumb nor crazy, and you'd have to be both

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Speaker 1: to do that.

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Speaker 3: And not only that. When the detectives did come, they

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Speaker 3: brought me in, set me at the table and said,

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Speaker 3: would I mind asking some questions? I said, no, I

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Speaker 3: don't mind.

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Speaker 2: The police, so far as I could tell, never did

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Speaker 2: any actual investigation. They just decided it was him, in

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Speaker 2: part because Crystal's mother told them she had a premonition

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Speaker 2: that Evan was going to harm her daughter. Now, somehow

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Speaker 2: that premonition even came into court, which still boggles my

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Speaker 2: mind as to how that was introduced evidence, But it was.

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Speaker 1: I wish this was the only time I had ever

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Speaker 1: heard of something like a premonition being committed into court,

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Speaker 1: but it's not. Maybe instead of courts, we should all

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Speaker 1: just go to psychics, you know what I mean, see

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Speaker 1: if they can figure these things out for us. I

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Speaker 1: mean it was a combination of laziness. Right, here's a

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Speaker 1: guy who was in the apartment, okay, must be him,

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Speaker 1: and then oh there's a premonition bingo, right.

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Speaker 3: And then they ran a check on me. I had

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Speaker 3: a couple of tickets on me of Bench Warren. And

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Speaker 3: after they did their little investigation up there, they took

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Speaker 3: me home downtown.

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Speaker 1: So okay, so you get arrested on these bench warrants

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Speaker 1: and then did they hold you from that time right

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Speaker 1: up until the trial? When did you find out you

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Speaker 1: were being charged with the murder?

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Speaker 3: I think it was seventy two hours later.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, clearly they did a lot of investigation if they

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Speaker 2: arrested in for murder and that short amount of time.

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Speaker 3: Once I went to jail, I never got out, and

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Speaker 3: the detectives interviewed me a couple of times over them

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Speaker 3: seventy two hours. And I'll never forget. The detective asked me,

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Speaker 3: but I take a lot of tech tests. I said, sure,

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Speaker 3: I take a lot of the text tests. He never

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Speaker 3: brought it up again. One other thing that really tripped

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Speaker 3: me out was when the guy came and took photographs

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Speaker 3: up my body. I'm standing in that neked He had

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Speaker 3: me get undressed, right, my man, Luke, he was like,

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Speaker 3: turn around, he had his camera in his hand. He

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Speaker 3: was put your hands up and you know, looking around.

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Speaker 3: He said, you the first guy I never took a

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Speaker 3: picture of. If he didn't take one picture, I didn't

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Speaker 3: have a scratch on me, no bruises, not I'm a

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Speaker 3: life scinned guy. Believe me, I bruised easy. He didn't

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Speaker 3: take one picture.

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Speaker 1: And I'm glad you brought that up, because it's important

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Speaker 1: to recognize that miss Hudson didn't leave this world willingly, right.

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Speaker 1: She fought there was fingernel scrapings, right, we find out

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Speaker 1: later if they knew that, and of course that you know.

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Speaker 3: She had scratched her attacker.

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Speaker 1: But somehow or other, you didn't have any scratches enough

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Speaker 1: to gut even take one freaking picture. So, okay, this

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Speaker 1: is how ridiculous this really is. And it's made even

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Speaker 1: more so by virtue of the fact that the biological evidence,

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Speaker 1: and there was a lot of it, right, and none

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Speaker 1: of it matched Evan. So how did they square that circle?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, not only was there no evidence that Evan actually

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Speaker 2: committed the crime unless you count the fact that he

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Speaker 2: was in the apartment and the premonition. But there was

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Speaker 2: actually evidence at the time of trial that he didn't

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Speaker 2: commit the crime. They had completed a rape kit on

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Speaker 2: crystal and did some DNA testing on it even back then,

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Speaker 2: and there was male DNA present, but it wasn't Ethan,

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Speaker 2: So you know, they kind of had to come up

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Speaker 2: with a way to explain that away because there was also,

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Speaker 2: as I said before, there was physical evidence that she

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Speaker 2: had been raped, meaning physical evidence of trauma to her,

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Speaker 2: you know, intimate areas that suggested and confirmed that she

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Speaker 2: was raped at the time, but they just kind of

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Speaker 2: ignored the physical trauma areas. They basically got around this

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Speaker 2: evidence by some testimony from some folks from the coroner's

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Speaker 2: office from Cuyahoga County that we now know well they

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Speaker 2: would have known it at the time, but no one

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Speaker 2: paid that close of attention to it. But we know

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Speaker 2: for sure now was just completely bogus. The big question

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Speaker 2: was when this semen was deposited. Was it deposited at

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Speaker 2: the time of death or was it deposited up to

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Speaker 2: a week earlier, And of course the state came in

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Speaker 2: and said, well, that could have been there for up

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Speaker 2: to a week, and so she wasn't raped and murdered.

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Speaker 2: The problem was that the folks from the Corner's office,

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Speaker 2: especially one, you know, they were focusing on the wrong

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Speaker 2: information that was scientifically invalid at the time to even

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Speaker 2: look at. They were looking at different fluid levels, but

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Speaker 2: they should have been looking at sort of the number

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Speaker 2: of sperm and the amount of semen that there was,

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Speaker 2: and that's not what they were doing. So they weren't

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Speaker 2: even following the appropriate practices at that time, and so

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Speaker 2: that allowed them to go forward with the theory that

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Speaker 2: she wasn't actually raped and murdered, that she was just murdered,

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Speaker 2: even though the evidence clearly showed that she was raped

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Speaker 2: and murdered.

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Speaker 1: So the notorious Cuyahoga County Carner's office was either unconsciously

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Speaker 1: or consciously presenting false testimony, as they've done before, they

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Speaker 1: created some wiggle room for the jury to still believe

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Speaker 1: in you as the assailant. If that sperm had been

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Speaker 1: deposited earlier than the time of death, perhaps she had

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Speaker 1: had consensual sex or even been raped, you know, hours

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Speaker 1: or even days before she was killed. Making it plausible

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Speaker 1: for the jury to believe that the DNA evidence from

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Speaker 1: the sperm didn't determine who actually killed her, which would

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Speaker 1: have left you as still some sort of potential suspect.

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Speaker 1: Then you can see how the jury got fooled.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, Unfortunately for Evan, his defense

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Speaker 2: counsel didn't effectively cross examine them on this and didn't

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Speaker 2: bring in any expert to sort of debunk it. It

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Speaker 2: wasn't that, you know, it should have been a battle

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Speaker 2: of the experts where one was saying one thing and

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Speaker 2: the other was saying the opposite. They were just flat

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Speaker 2: out wrong, and nobody called them on it.

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Speaker 1: Evan, who was your attorney? Well, were they court appointed?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll never forget that name, roc O Russo.

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Speaker 1: Wow, what a name.

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Speaker 3: He didn't present no defense from me, because even my

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Speaker 3: family when they came to court, they was like, your

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Speaker 3: lawyer ain't objecting to nothing. He wouldn't object and he

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Speaker 3: was falling asleep cup time. You know, if you fear

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Speaker 3: that lawyer is selling you out, you gotta let it

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Speaker 3: be known instead of the lawyer telling you, Because uh,

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Speaker 3: roc Russa just kept telling me I got it. Just

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Speaker 3: sit there I got this and I believed him. I

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Speaker 3: sat there and that was the mistake on my behalf.

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Speaker 3: But you don't know at the time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, even if it seemed like you could see it,

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Speaker 1: then you just didn't know it, unfortunately until it was

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Speaker 1: too late. But back then, in that moment, did you

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Speaker 1: still hold out any hope that the jury was going

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Speaker 1: to see through this false testimony and believe their own

283
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Speaker 1: eyes and ears when it came to the actual evidence in.

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Speaker 3: This case, Yeah, of course. You know. I was thinking, well,

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Speaker 3: I didn't do it, so they ain't getting refine me guilty.

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Speaker 3: I mean, that's where my mind was. But you know,

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Speaker 3: when you stand up and they come back with a

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Speaker 3: verdict of guilty, you know you gotta take it and

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Speaker 3: keep your head held up and walk out. That guy

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Speaker 3: said what I wanted to say to the judge. I

291
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Speaker 3: definitely told him I'll be back in this courtroom. I'll

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Speaker 3: never forget what I told. Judge Corgan.

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Speaker 1: What'd you say after.

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Speaker 3: He said, mister King, I'm sending you to fifteen years

295
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Speaker 3: of life And he said, do you have anything to say?

296
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Speaker 3: I say, you're sentence and an innocent man to prison.

297
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Speaker 3: While the guilty man walked the streets of Cleveland. Free

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Speaker 3: pointed to him and I said, one day I'll be

299
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Speaker 3: back in this courtroom for you to set me free.

300
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Speaker 3: I have to, I said that. I turned and I

301
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Speaker 3: walked out. My head held him. Any prison is bad

302
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Speaker 3: because basically you're on guard twenty four hours a day.

303
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Speaker 3: I mean, you don't know when somebody flip out, They

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Speaker 3: flip off for the minus things. Somebody might not be

305
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Speaker 3: able to get on the phone and bush in your

306
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Speaker 3: head or cut your head. I mean, it's it's it's

307
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Speaker 3: crazy on guard twenty four hours a day, basically, you know.

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Speaker 3: But either you can stay in prison and keep back

309
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Speaker 3: in a food in prison and be de the rest

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Speaker 3: of your life, or you got to learn some things

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Speaker 3: or get some help. I couldn't adapt good to the

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00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,880
Speaker 3: books as far as Gates lawing, so I had to

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Speaker 3: start writing letters, seeing who can give me some help.

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Speaker 3: I was lucky enough to get in touch with MS Burst,

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Speaker 3: Run Out Ohio, Innocent Project, God Bliss.

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Speaker 1: So you ended up finally in the hands of people

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Speaker 1: who cared a lot and were talented lawyers, and they

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Speaker 1: weren't going to let go. But one after another of

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Speaker 1: these courts denied you and it was not that long

320
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Speaker 1: ago that justice was finally delayed but not denied. So

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Speaker 1: Jennifer take us through these denials.

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Speaker 2: So Evan was represented by different attorneys for a while,

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Speaker 2: and back in two thousand and four I think actually

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Speaker 2: he filed a first motion for DNA testing and it

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Speaker 2: took a long time, but in two eight he asked

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Speaker 2: for DNA testing on the fingernail scrapings because, as you mentioned,

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Speaker 2: we know that Crystal Hudson fought back at the time

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Speaker 2: of her death, and so his theory was, well, if

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Speaker 2: we test these fingernail scrapings and you find male DNA

330
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Speaker 2: and it's the same as the DNA from the semen,

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Speaker 2: then that's going to confirm what Evan's been saying since

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Speaker 2: day one, which is that he was not the murderer,

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Speaker 2: and that the person who loved the Semen was actually

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Speaker 2: Racher and was the murderer. So Evan had filed for

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Speaker 2: DNA testing and the trial judge had ordered it, saying,

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Speaker 2: I think I can quote him here, DNA belonging to

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Speaker 2: an unknown party found under the fingernails of the victim,

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Speaker 2: and then went on to say would prove the identity

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Speaker 2: of the real killer if it matches the DNA from

340
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Speaker 2: the scene. Okay, So basically, the trial judge was agreed

341
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Speaker 2: that if the fingernail scrapings came back and matched the

342
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Speaker 2: rape kit, that that would prove Evans claim. Well, it

343
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Speaker 2: did exactly that.

344
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Speaker 3: When I first read what the judge said about if

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Speaker 3: the fingernails scripting math, that's said, I'm out of here.

346
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Speaker 3: And then when it come back for him to deny me,

347
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:15,840
Speaker 3: that just took me away. I'm like, isn't writing you

348
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:21,120
Speaker 3: say if this come domess that it eliminates me as

349
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Speaker 3: the killer, and then it come back to do just that,

350
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Speaker 3: then't you say, denied, even.

351
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Speaker 2: Though he'd explicitly said before that that's what he was

352
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,800
Speaker 2: looking for. But he denied it based on the expert

353
00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,720
Speaker 2: testimony from the trial. That same expert testimony that we've

354
00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,320
Speaker 2: been talking about that we know was just complete bogus nonsense.

355
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Speaker 2: And so the trial judge said, well, the jury already

356
00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:46,800
Speaker 2: knew that the DNA on the rape kit came from

357
00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,600
Speaker 2: someone else, and you know, the expert said that could

358
00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,120
Speaker 2: have come up to a week beforehand, so it really

359
00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:58,439
Speaker 2: doesn't mean anything. So then he appealed. This was in

360
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:04,800
Speaker 2: twenty twelve and the appeal was split three ways. One judge,

361
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Speaker 2: who as now an Ohio Supreme Court Justice, said he'd

362
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:10,720
Speaker 2: already showed he was actually innocent and should be released,

363
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:15,520
Speaker 2: and then there was two other opinions basically saying, well,

364
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,800
Speaker 2: we see the DNA results, but there was no expert

365
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:24,920
Speaker 2: testimony contradicting the trial expert testimony. So at this point

366
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Speaker 2: is when the Ohio Innocence Project got involved, and with

367
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Speaker 2: the help of actually one of our former lawyers, Carrie Wood,

368
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,640
Speaker 2: who worked at the Public Defender's Office, she got an

369
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,040
Speaker 2: expert involved and then she got in touch with me.

370
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Speaker 2: Long story short, we refiled several things in STA court

371
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Speaker 2: and we also filed in federal court. The Coroner's office

372
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Speaker 2: in the Prosecutor's office refused to give us all of

373
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Speaker 2: the information we were asking for, like the additional data

374
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Speaker 2: on the DNA testing, and they just flat out refused

375
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Speaker 2: to give it to us. So our expert was working

376
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Speaker 2: with what he had available, and he produced an appidavit

377
00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 2: that's said several things, one that the Corner's office experts

378
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,320
Speaker 2: who testified at the trial essentially presented false testimony, and

379
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,320
Speaker 2: also the additional information about the fact that they found

380
00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,359
Speaker 2: male DNA under her fingernails indicated it had to have

381
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,800
Speaker 2: been a struggle because most people don't walk around with

382
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,199
Speaker 2: DNA under their fingernails belonging to someone else. And the

383
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:21,920
Speaker 2: fact that they were able to get a full profile

384
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,240
Speaker 2: off the rape kit all those years later also indicated

385
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:27,680
Speaker 2: that semen must have been put there at the time

386
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Speaker 2: of death, because it wouldn't be that strong that much later.

387
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,919
Speaker 2: So we had three different motions pending in the trial

388
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,480
Speaker 2: court level, but eventually, like a year and a half later,

389
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,639
Speaker 2: the trial judge finally just denied all of those, so

390
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:42,680
Speaker 2: we had to peel it again.

391
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,040
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just insane that you were denied by

392
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,080
Speaker 1: the trial court at this point, considering that you were

393
00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:51,200
Speaker 1: remedying what they claimed was the reasoning behind the earlier denial,

394
00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:53,920
Speaker 1: involving the DNA match from the scrapings and the rape kit.

395
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,639
Speaker 1: Now you had done it. You had refuted the trial experts,

396
00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,920
Speaker 1: but the trial court went ahead and moved the gold

397
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,720
Speaker 1: hosts again, calling your refuting of the state's false expert

398
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:09,479
Speaker 1: testimony a quote battle of the experts. Of course, you

399
00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,520
Speaker 1: appeal this denial, and in January of twenty seventeen, the

400
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 1: appellate court agreed with you, reversing the trial court's denial,

401
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,840
Speaker 1: granting you access to the DNA test results, which they

402
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,440
Speaker 1: had previously been blocking. They granted an upload to codis

403
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 1: to see if you could get a match to another

404
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,800
Speaker 1: known perp, and so far there's no dice with that.

405
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: But significantly, you've got an evidentiary hearing out of this,

406
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,440
Speaker 1: so you all start prepping for what you thought was

407
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:32,760
Speaker 1: going to be.

408
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:33,520
Speaker 3: An epic battle.

409
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 1: Your expert now had access to those DNA results, so

410
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,960
Speaker 1: he could go beyond what he'd already done in the

411
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:44,119
Speaker 1: APPI David, and in twenty seventeen, something truly unexpected happened.

412
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Speaker 2: Just completely out of the blue. One day in April,

413
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 2: I was in a meeting and that got done, and

414
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,440
Speaker 2: I had like multiple voicemails and emails and things from

415
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,440
Speaker 2: one of the people from the prosecutor's office. I called

416
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,879
Speaker 2: her back and she told me that they had reviewed

417
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 2: the case and talked to the corner's office again and

418
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 2: had concluded essentially that we were right and that our

419
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,560
Speaker 2: expert was right, and that they were agreeing that they

420
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,919
Speaker 2: would release Evan. And I think I fell out of

421
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,119
Speaker 2: my chair about when that phone, when I had that

422
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,440
Speaker 2: conversation because it was so unexpected given how they had

423
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:29,640
Speaker 2: been fighting everything up until that point. But of course

424
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 2: the first thing I needed to do was to get

425
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:32,879
Speaker 2: a hold of Evan to tell him the news.

426
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:35,480
Speaker 3: Right so that.

427
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 2: Means that means I think it's not going to get

428
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,639
Speaker 2: filed till Monday. But I think that means you should

429
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:46,560
Speaker 2: hopefully be able to be going home soon.

430
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 3: That's it.

431
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:55,359
Speaker 4: Hit me.

432
00:23:56,280 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 2: The moment to process this, I wanted. I wanted you

433
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 2: to know it right away.

434
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 3: I knew.

435
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 1: I knew that the day have come one day because.

436
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:09,200
Speaker 2: I knew.

437
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 3: I cried too, because the child.

438
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,239
Speaker 1: My mother told me to no one.

439
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:22,639
Speaker 5: But you know, you.

440
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:30,879
Speaker 3: Know my thankful show. I know she's looking down at me.

441
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,879
Speaker 2: You know, I'm sure she is.

442
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 3: And like all we told you, I.

443
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:39,960
Speaker 5: Had complete faith in you.

444
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:41,840
Speaker 2: You know, thank you.

445
00:24:53,800 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 3: M After she he told me I had, I just

446
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 3: laid the phone down and my mind just tears came out.

447
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,560
Speaker 3: That's why I'm turning up now, tears just.

448
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:23,399
Speaker 4: Because that the only thing that I really think about

449
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 4: it is mom.

450
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,359
Speaker 3: My Mama and my aunt. Because my Mama always told

451
00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 3: me the Lord gonna let you out one day. He

452
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:42,399
Speaker 3: just wants you to get your life together. And I

453
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 3: held on to that.

454
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:52,679
Speaker 5: H yeah, when she told me that, there was a

455
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,880
Speaker 5: lot of tears that day, but uh, it's the day

456
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 5: age that I'll never forget.

457
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, we had the call on Friday, and then it

458
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,679
Speaker 2: was getting ready to be Easter weekend. So yeah, as

459
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 2: your listeners probably know by now, when someone is released

460
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,400
Speaker 2: from prison after they've been wrongfully convicted, it's obviously amazing,

461
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,679
Speaker 2: but it's not like they're sin home with anything to

462
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 2: help them readjust to life. So you know, we had

463
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,880
Speaker 2: to go into sort of high gear in our office

464
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,400
Speaker 2: trying to make sure Evan had somewhere to go, and

465
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,280
Speaker 2: he did with his cousin, who was fantastic. But I

466
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,359
Speaker 2: was on the phone most of the weekend trying to

467
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 2: make sure all of that was said, and then wait

468
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 2: for them to transfer back to the county jail, and

469
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:38,479
Speaker 2: then I was able to visit him there the night

470
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 2: before we went back to court, which was amazing. And

471
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:43,800
Speaker 2: then finally we went back to court, but then it

472
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 2: took hours and hours for them to process him back out,

473
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,119
Speaker 2: and then in the meantime, even after we knew he

474
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 2: was coming home, it still wasn't a relaxing experience, because

475
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,440
Speaker 2: even just simple things like he needed access to medication

476
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,200
Speaker 2: that he took daily, and they weren't letting him come

477
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 2: home with any And I spent the day trying to

478
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 2: track down the doctor who ran the jail to make

479
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 2: sure they would at least release him with a prescription

480
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 2: so that we could make sure he didn't miss any

481
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:12,679
Speaker 2: of the doses of the medication that he needed.

482
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 3: They wouldn't even give me the medication I had.

483
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 2: That they gave you and let you take it out.

484
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:18,720
Speaker 2: It's crazy.

485
00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:24,240
Speaker 1: It's crazy, which makes absolutely zero sense on any level. Right,

486
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,879
Speaker 1: It's just some bureaucratic insanity on top of all the

487
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:32,200
Speaker 1: other insanity. But luckily you had this great team behind

488
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 1: you and good family, and so you walk out into

489
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,000
Speaker 1: the fresh air. What was that moment like? And where

490
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:39,840
Speaker 1: did you go? Did you did you go straight to

491
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 1: a restaurant or a bar, or did you hug a tree?

492
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 3: Or what did you do when once we got outside?

493
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,280
Speaker 3: You know, just the air is different on this side

494
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:53,800
Speaker 3: of the fence. It's like you can breathe again, you know.

495
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,600
Speaker 3: To Media's God's gift.

496
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 1: I hear you, I mean we hear it in different

497
00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,680
Speaker 1: ways from every different person who's been through what you've

498
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:07,440
Speaker 1: been through, different variations of it. It's it's beautiful. I

499
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,640
Speaker 1: even sad, but it's beautiful. So we're just happy you're

500
00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 1: home and you're free, and we wish you, you know,

501
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,399
Speaker 1: every blessing that life has to offer going forward. You

502
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 1: certainly deserve it, and I want to before we go

503
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 1: to the closing of the show. First of all, I

504
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,520
Speaker 1: want to encourage people to support the Ohio Innocence Project,

505
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:27,119
Speaker 1: and we will put a link in the bio for

506
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 1: people who want to donate or get involved in any

507
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 1: way they can. You were the twenty fifth person exonerated

508
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 1: by the Ohio Innocence Project. It's a remarkable number, but

509
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: still it's a tiny number in terms of the overall

510
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,880
Speaker 1: innocent people that remain behind bars. But we're happy you're here.

511
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 1: And now we're going to turn to the closing of

512
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 1: our show, which we call Closing Arguments.

513
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 3: It works like this.

514
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,320
Speaker 1: I thank you both again, Jennifer. You know you inspire

515
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 1: me and so many other people by your remarkable advocacy,

516
00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 1: and it's always great to have you on the show.

517
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 1: And obviously I'm working closely with the Highly Innisance Project

518
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 1: on other cases John Jones and others, and I know

519
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 1: we're going to win those two. It just takes longer

520
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:08,440
Speaker 1: than we want it to, like it always does, but

521
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 1: closing arguments works like this. I'm going to finally stop talking.

522
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,360
Speaker 1: I'm going to turn my microphone off. Thank you again,

523
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 1: Evan King, Jennifer Bergron for being here with us closing arguments.

524
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 1: I'm going to just turn my microphone off and let

525
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 1: you say anything else that's left unsaid that you want

526
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 1: to share with our audience. Evan, we're going to save you.

527
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 1: I mean, you're the man of the hour, so you're

528
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,959
Speaker 1: going to be the last one to speak, if that's okay,

529
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,560
Speaker 1: and we'll let Jennifer share her thoughts and then hand

530
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 1: the mic off to you and then take us out

531
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 1: into the sunset.

532
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,000
Speaker 2: Albright, Well, first of all, I wanted to say thank

533
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,120
Speaker 2: you for having me back on. I'm kind of sad

534
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:45,680
Speaker 2: that I'm here because it means that there's more clients

535
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:50,440
Speaker 2: whose cases we can discuss. But I'm so grateful for

536
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:54,840
Speaker 2: the light that you're bringing to cases all over the country.

537
00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,240
Speaker 2: There are stories that deserve to be told. Also, if

538
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:00,480
Speaker 2: I may, would like to put in a plug for

539
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 2: two of my current clients, Carl Willis and Wayne Brady,

540
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:07,280
Speaker 2: are their's website setup freewayneancarl dot com or that you

541
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:10,360
Speaker 2: can go read more information and find all kinds of information.

542
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,000
Speaker 2: And then of course I wanted to say thank you

543
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,360
Speaker 2: to Evin for being here with me and you've always

544
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 2: inspired me to keep going. And anytime I'm down and

545
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:21,920
Speaker 2: need a pick me up, I like to watch the

546
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 2: video of you woo who who ing after you're coming

547
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 2: out of the court when you were released, because it's

548
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,040
Speaker 2: just a feeling of pure joy that gives me a

549
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 2: smile every time.

550
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you. Uh. First of all, the Ohio

551
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:40,160
Speaker 3: Innocent Project was the Gods and to me, they're family

552
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 3: to me. For those of you out there listening, look

553
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,560
Speaker 3: up to Ohio Innocent Project. Some of you have people

554
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:53,000
Speaker 3: in love, ones that you know are innocent, need to

555
00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:56,400
Speaker 3: be free. You don't know where to start, Just give

556
00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,760
Speaker 3: them a call and as always, stay in your try

557
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 3: to stay trouble free. But the Lord has your back.

558
00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 3: Just keep your faith and continue to do the right thing.

559
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 3: But one thing I would like to say came out

560
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 3: good out of this. I haven't messed with the drug

561
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 3: cocaine in almost thirty years now. I've been clean for

562
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 3: almost thirty years now. People who always talk about you

563
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 3: can't stop drugs overnight, Oh yes you can when the

564
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 3: right thing happened to you. You can stop anything, but

565
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:39,600
Speaker 3: that all happens in God's blessings. So with that, thank

566
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,520
Speaker 3: you for having me here on your podcast, as I

567
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 3: bid you farewell, Thank.

568
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 1: You, Thank you for listening to Rafel Conviction. I'd like

569
00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:59,360
Speaker 1: to thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Cliburn, and

570
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 1: Kevin War with research by Lyla Robinson. The music in

571
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 1: this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated composer

572
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 1: Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at

573
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:13,840
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast, and on

574
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:17,320
Speaker 1: Twitter at wrong Conviction, as well as at Lava for Good.

575
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,440
Speaker 1: On all three platforms. You can also follow me on

576
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,720
Speaker 1: both TikTok and Instagram at It's Jason Flam. Wrongful Conviction

577
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,560
Speaker 1: is the production of Lava for Good Podcasts and association

578
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,360
Speaker 1: with Signal Company Number one