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Speaker 1: On March eight, twenty sixteen, Dante West and four friends

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Speaker 1: from California were traveling across country in two separate cars

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Speaker 1: with different final destinations. The last stop they planned to

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Speaker 1: make together was in Manhattan, Kansas, at the apartment of

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Speaker 1: a mutual friend named Jacob Gadwood. As they neared the apartment,

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Speaker 1: a police officer on High seventy spotted the pair of

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Speaker 1: out of state cars and immediately suspected them of drug trafficking.

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Speaker 1: He figured one with carrying the load, while the other

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Speaker 1: was a decoy meant to draw heat from law enforcement.

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Speaker 1: When the officer pulled Dante's car over, he was disappointed

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Speaker 1: to have chosen what he felt must have been the decoy,

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Speaker 1: but took note of the destination under GPS. The officer's

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Speaker 1: suspicions appeared to be confirmed when several pounds of cannabis

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Speaker 1: were later found in the other car. Then, Jacob Gadwood

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Speaker 1: claimed that he planned on buying one of those pounds

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Speaker 1: from Dante, just enough way to incur a nearly eight

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Speaker 1: year sentence. But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has

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Speaker 1: always given voice to innocent people in prison. Now we're

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Speaker 1: expanding that voice to you call us at eight three

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Speaker 1: three two oh seven four six sixty six and leave

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Speaker 1: us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic

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Speaker 1: stories make you feel outraged, inspired, motivated. We want to know.

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Speaker 1: We may even include your story in a future episode.

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Speaker 1: Call us A three three two oh seven four six

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Speaker 1: sixty six. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. This is the

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Speaker 1: first time we featured the story of someone who was

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Speaker 1: wrongfully convicted of a crime that I think we all

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Speaker 1: agree now should never even be a crime in the

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Speaker 1: first place, and it isn't in most of the country,

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Speaker 1: which is cannabis. And I'm talking about Dante West, my

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Speaker 1: friend who is an inspiration to me and so many

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Speaker 1: other people. So Dante, first of all, welcome to the show.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, Jason. It's incredible just to be on

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Speaker 2: this platform.

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Speaker 1: We also have an attorney named Chris Biggs who's been

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Speaker 1: practicing law for over forty years, who was a Secretary

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Speaker 1: of State of the State of Kansas. So Chris, thanks

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Speaker 1: for being here with us today.

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Speaker 3: It's a pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity to share the story.

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Speaker 1: And it is a crazy, freaking story. It involves the misguided,

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Speaker 1: disastrous social policy known as the War on drugs, it

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Speaker 1: has over policing elements to it. It's got snitches, and

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Speaker 1: it happened in Kansas, but it could have happened almost anywhere.

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Speaker 1: And in fact, it could have happened to me when

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Speaker 1: I was growing up. Different being, I wouldn't have been innocent.

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Speaker 1: Full disclosure. So Dante, let's start with you. You didn't grow

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Speaker 1: up in Kansas, right.

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Speaker 2: No, I'm from a place called Stockton, California, right between

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Speaker 2: Oakland and Sacramento.

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Speaker 1: And this happened when you were a college student, right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this happened a couple of years after my high

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Speaker 2: school graduation.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: I graduated twenty thirteen, went out there a few years later.

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Speaker 2: Like I mentioned before, just being from Stockton, California, Jason

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Speaker 2: and living with my grandmother was the sole provider of

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Speaker 2: two younger brothers that were eight nine years old at

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Speaker 2: the time. My grandmother really encouraged me just to say, hey,

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Speaker 2: you've been taking care of me, you should definitely just

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Speaker 2: go out there on a leap of faith and check out,

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Speaker 2: you know, schools. My good cod Infinita, Sean Perkins, had

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Speaker 2: a football scholarship at Tabor University and we were just

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Speaker 2: really just going on a road trip, man, and I

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Speaker 2: was hoping I can continue it out there, first time

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Speaker 2: out of the state, and it was just, you know,

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Speaker 2: a wild experience.

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Speaker 1: Dante Deshaun sat out on the road in a Hundai. Well,

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Speaker 1: three friends of theirs, Victor Lara, Enrique Hinejosa and Jose

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Speaker 1: Jimenez joined them in their Alexus.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: No, I've definitely knew the guys went to high school

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Speaker 2: with those guys friends for sure. They were going the

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Speaker 2: same direction, but different destinations.

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Speaker 1: And they had a different agenda.

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Speaker 2: I had like sebecsa CPOs, a couple pounds of marijuana.

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Speaker 2: I'm not too sure what was in there, and nothing

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Speaker 2: ever left the vehicle. Like I said, same direction, different destinations.

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Speaker 1: Well, unaware of the contents of the Alexis, Dante and

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Speaker 1: Deshaun planned on visiting a few colleges on their way

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Speaker 1: to Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, a state that hadn't

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Speaker 1: yet adopted its neighbors use on cannabis.

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Speaker 3: Kansas is surrounded by Colorado, which has recreational use, Oklahoma,

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Speaker 3: which has medicinal use. Missouri now has been medicinal use

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Speaker 3: and recreational use. And we're in between all those states,

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Speaker 3: and we still have very conservative state laws about using

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Speaker 3: or delivering marijuana. And there's also a lot of enforcement

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Speaker 3: that happens on the interstate highway. Profiling is not allowed.

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Speaker 3: The issue is whether the officers had an independent reason

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Speaker 3: to stop you. My experiences, if you who have out

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Speaker 3: of state tags and they're young people, that they probably

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Speaker 3: have a better opportunity of being stopped. The practice of

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Speaker 3: using a ruse is very common. They stop people for

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Speaker 3: things like following too closely, having a head lamp with

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Speaker 3: some dirt on it, things like that as a ruse,

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Speaker 3: which constitutionally is allowed.

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Speaker 1: On March eighth, twenty sixteen, Dante Deshaun were traveling down

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Speaker 1: Ice seventy in their Hyundai with Nimbata plates, while the

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Speaker 1: Lexus had only one California plate on the front. Officer

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Speaker 1: Nicholas Blake later testified that he believed that the two

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Speaker 1: cars were working in tandem to transport drugs, with one

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Speaker 1: car carrying the load while the other played the decoy

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Speaker 1: meant to draw law enforcement away from the drugs, but

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Speaker 1: which was which in this officer's imagination. He pulled over

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Speaker 1: to Shaun and Dante, presenting his ruse as a reason

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Speaker 1: for the.

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Speaker 2: Stop getting pulled over for having dirt on a license

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Speaker 2: plate on Ice seventy right, just actual rod grid dirt

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Speaker 2: on a license plate is pretty wild. I was a

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Speaker 2: passenger in the v the driver he got a ticket

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Speaker 2: for small amount of marijuana and a Swisher wrapper.

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Speaker 3: Simple possession of marijuana and Kansas as a misdemeanor. The

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Speaker 3: officer suspected that the particular vehicle was connected to another vehicle,

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Speaker 3: and rather than arrest them, they let him go and with.

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Speaker 2: The state alleged. Right, it was a decoy load car, right,

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Speaker 2: And when you think a decoy load car, you think

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Speaker 2: it like smoky in a bandit, Right, You kind of

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Speaker 2: think of something that's someone that's going to deviate off

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Speaker 2: to kind of let.

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Speaker 1: The drugs go.

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Speaker 2: But really, when we got put over by the officer,

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Speaker 2: you told us to exit off the next exit. We

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Speaker 2: got off, went to the Shell gas station and I

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Speaker 2: started to clean my license plate off, and then we

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Speaker 2: glanced up. We just see these troopers just kind of

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Speaker 2: staring down at us.

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Speaker 1: Right, Perhaps they were alerted to a potential drug bust,

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Speaker 1: only to be sorely disappointed. And if there was anything

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Speaker 1: to this decoy load car theory, wouldn't Dantean Deshaun's car

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Speaker 1: have had something deliberately wrong with it.

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Speaker 2: They could read the licen plate to see who the

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Speaker 2: car was registered. You think the decoy car? What were

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Speaker 2: they saying that we put dirt on the license plate

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Speaker 2: in order to get pulled over so the drugs could

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Speaker 2: get away?

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Speaker 1: Is that? I don't know. The missing rear license plate

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Speaker 1: on the Lexus seems like a way more compelling reason

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Speaker 1: to pull someone over. It would stand to reason, after all,

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Speaker 1: that the officer believed that the Lexus was the decoy.

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Speaker 1: But when the officer found no load in the alleged

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Speaker 1: load car to Shaun's Hunday, somehow he held onto the

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Speaker 1: theory and continued his pursuit. However, it did not help

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Speaker 1: matters any When both cars arrived at Jacob Gadwood's apartment,

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Speaker 1: Officer Blake had pulled the address from Deshaun and Dante's

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Speaker 1: GPS and alerted the police in Manhattan, Kansas.

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Speaker 2: Ultimately, we get near Kansas State University, going to meet

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Speaker 2: a guy that I thought was someone I knew right

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Speaker 2: and just went upstairs in the twenty minutes later, I

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Speaker 2: came down the stairs to kind of greet the guys

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Speaker 2: that I traveled with, they went upstairs. As soon as

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Speaker 2: I get down to the parking lot, this guy pops

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Speaker 2: out and playing clothes and was like, hey, you're being

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Speaker 2: I was like being detained for what We just got

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Speaker 2: put over over the freeway for having the dirt on

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Speaker 2: our license plate.

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Speaker 1: So it turned out that although Dante and Deshaun had

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Speaker 1: no idea, there was reason to suspect. Victor Lara, Enriquehnejosa

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Speaker 1: and Jose Jimenez, who was skated out of a back

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Speaker 1: window of Goadwood's apartment, left in their Lexus and later

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Speaker 1: were captured in Tapeka, Kansas, with a small amount of

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Speaker 1: methamphetamine and over six and a half pounds of cannabis. Meanwhile,

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Speaker 1: the police searched Jacob Godwood's apartment.

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Speaker 3: The owner of the apartment the allegation was had his

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Speaker 3: own drugs at the apartment. They basically got that individual

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Speaker 3: to identify Dante as being involved, even though the drugs

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Speaker 3: were found in another car that he was not in.

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Speaker 2: The person at the apartment said, Hey, I was going

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Speaker 2: to buy a pound a weed off Dante, right. It

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Speaker 2: wasn't like oh text messages there wasn't any any other evidence, right,

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Speaker 2: and we ended up going to jail and the fight began.

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Speaker 3: In Kansas for certain drug offence is there all the

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Speaker 3: way up to level one, which is the same as

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Speaker 3: first degree murder, And if you're charge of the level

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Speaker 3: through drag offens for marijuana, you can get a presumptive

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Speaker 3: sentence of up to one hundred and three months. And

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Speaker 3: if you'll also happen to be within a thousand feet

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Speaker 3: of a school, and often in the Midwest almost everything

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Speaker 3: is within the thousand feet of school property somewhere, and

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Speaker 3: they enhance that another level of the crime. But if

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Speaker 3: you kill somebody in the heat of passion at that

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Speaker 3: time it was sixty one months, we have laws that

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Speaker 3: make conspiracy to deliver a pound of marijuana or delivering

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Speaker 3: a pound in marijuana more serious than killing someone in

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Speaker 3: the heat of passion. That's just nuts. But nobody in

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Speaker 3: our conservative state wants to necessarily stand up and say

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Speaker 3: that at least not enough people that we can have

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Speaker 3: our laws changed.

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Speaker 1: Laws like these make it so that the smartest play

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Speaker 1: for the guys in the Lexus is taking a plea deal.

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Speaker 2: Victor Lauri ed up going to prison a couple of

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Speaker 2: those guys got probation. They took plea deals right because

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Speaker 2: they didn't want to go to a jury trial.

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Speaker 3: People cannot be punished by exercising the right to a

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Speaker 3: jury trial in theory, But what happens is people who

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Speaker 3: take a deal can get a bit a fit and

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Speaker 3: the person that goes to trial, even though they're theoretically

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Speaker 3: not being punished for going to trial, the end result

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Speaker 3: often is the person that goes to trial and get

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Speaker 3: convicted will get a longer sentence than the person that

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Speaker 3: inners a plea.

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Speaker 1: With these dynamics at play, taking a plea can also

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Speaker 1: be the most practical move. Brendan is a person like

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Speaker 1: the Shawn Perkins.

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Speaker 2: He ended up going to prison for three years and

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Speaker 2: he lost his scholarship and has beautiful family now. Great

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Speaker 2: dudes still stay in contact with him. In just so

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Speaker 2: fortunate man like, and I'm the only defendant that went

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Speaker 2: to a jury trial. It's not like I had any

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Speaker 2: good offers or anything like that. And quite frankly, I

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Speaker 2: didn't even want to take anything. I'd rather just take

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Speaker 2: my chances at the jury trial.

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Speaker 1: With Gadwood's word as the sole evidence against him. Dante

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Speaker 1: was charged with possession and conspiracy to distribute the small

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Speaker 1: amount of methamphetamine and one of the pounds of marijuana

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Speaker 1: that were found in the lexus, and of course, his

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Speaker 1: grandmother and younger brothers were absolutely devastated.

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Speaker 2: All I can think about is my two younger brothers

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Speaker 2: that were back home eight nine years old at the time.

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Speaker 2: Had to make an unfortunate call to my grandmother and

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Speaker 2: I literally just told her I was locked up, and

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Speaker 2: she couldn't believe it, broke down crying. She was from

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Speaker 2: Texas and she was just really worried about what could

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Speaker 2: happen because growing up she's seen so many people, including

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Speaker 2: my mother. Really didn't know. My mother never met my father,

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Speaker 2: and she just knew how the criminal justice system can

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Speaker 2: do you sometimes, right, especially if you're kind of far

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Speaker 2: away from home, and she ended up passing away.

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Speaker 1: Your grandmother died during.

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Speaker 2: The trial, Yeah, yeah, I during the trial of a

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Speaker 2: broken heart.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, of a.

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Speaker 2: Broken heart had a heart attack, and my world just crashed.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's the biggest issue, just people that

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Speaker 2: get separated for the families. I was fortunate enough to

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Speaker 2: get out on bail and get back to my younger

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Speaker 2: brothers and just to see all the things that they're

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Speaker 2: going through. It really just woke my mind up how

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Speaker 2: you'll never get time back for the people you love.

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Speaker 2: So I ended up hiring a lawyer, and I flew

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Speaker 2: out the week of jury trial February of twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 2: and I met with the council and he told me,

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Speaker 2: he was like, Dante, I didn't read your case, but

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Speaker 2: I have a motion here. I'm going to file a

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Speaker 2: continuance for jury trial. It's not because of you, It's

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Speaker 2: because I had a virus. Here's my doctor's note, and

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Speaker 2: I'm a presented to the judge and we should be

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Speaker 2: able to get some time.

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Speaker 3: Some lawyers operate on what they call flat fee. You

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Speaker 3: pay me X amount of money all representing in this case.

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Speaker 3: Other lawyers do it by the hour. Contingency fees are

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Speaker 3: not legal in a criminal case in Kansas. But the

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Speaker 3: problem with the flat fee is the lawyer's getting X

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Speaker 3: amount of money regardless of how much time's put in.

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Speaker 3: But just human nature, if I've got a case and

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Speaker 3: it might get resolved, I'm not necessarily going to want

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Speaker 3: to put a lot of time into it until I

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Speaker 3: have to write and the file. In this case clearly

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Speaker 3: indicated that a lot of the motions were filed towards

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Speaker 3: the end of the case. In other words, everybody else

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Speaker 3: is pled out, and then you see a flurry of

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Speaker 3: motions right before trial. So it looked like a lot

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Speaker 3: of preparation was happening just before trial. And the lawyer

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Speaker 3: was sick, and there was a comment made about the

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Speaker 3: doctor's note and.

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Speaker 2: End up going to that motion hearing with that attorney,

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Speaker 2: and that motion ultimately got denied and I had to

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Speaker 2: go to trial the next day when not so prepared counsel.

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Speaker 2: And it was super unfortunate on that.

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Speaker 1: I've never heard that before, either a doctor's note, Your

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Speaker 1: lawyer's got a doctor's note? What is he missing gym class?

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Speaker 1: And then the judge doesn't bother to give a continuance

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Speaker 1: and his reason.

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Speaker 2: Was that he had the case out for a year

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Speaker 2: and you didn't read any of it. It's just not

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Speaker 2: excuse and had to go to jury trial.

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Speaker 1: And so trial went forward with what appears to be

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Speaker 1: a built in violation of Dante's right to effective council. Meanwhile,

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Speaker 1: the state presented several officers that claimed packaging material from

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Speaker 1: inside Godwod's apartment match materials found inside the lexus. And

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Speaker 1: even though Godwould escaped any kind of accountability, officers and

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Speaker 1: the prosecutor claimed that Godwould had not received leniency in

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Speaker 1: exchange for testimony. And then Godwood took the stand.

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Speaker 2: The state's aformant went on standard testified that he was

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Speaker 2: going to buy a pound of marijuana from me, and

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Speaker 2: I eventually got found guilty of the pound of marijuana.

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Speaker 1: And also, do you weren't called selling it? This is

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Speaker 1: only that this character said that you were planning to

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Speaker 1: sell it to him, right, right, So it's a thought crime.

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Speaker 2: And on the way to sentencing, fifteen minutes from their airport,

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Speaker 2: just seeing my younger brothers crying in the back seat

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Speaker 2: and feel like they lost everybody. That kind of just

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Speaker 2: woke my brain up. And going out there to that

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Speaker 2: sentencing learning that ninety five percent of people across the

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Speaker 2: state of Kansas cape probation and I had a host

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Speaker 2: of people support me, you know's no criminal history, and

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Speaker 2: ultimately many just sentenced me to seven years a months

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Speaker 2: for a first time offense.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen to this

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Speaker 1: and all the Lava for Good podcasts one week early

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Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts.

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Speaker 2: As I got into the reception area of Valdeto and

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Speaker 2: other persons I went to, we would see these lifers

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Speaker 2: and they had various crimes that they allegedly committed, and

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Speaker 2: they would fight for their innocence and it was just

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Speaker 2: so inspiring to see. And I said, if I could

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Speaker 2: put that fight towards the cannabis offense and whether it

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Speaker 2: be the pill, I try to work on the pill end.

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Speaker 1: Up losing it.

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Speaker 2: But if I could put that effort in time and

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Speaker 2: those lifers, I felt like, if I fought my way

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Speaker 2: as much as I could, I would fulfill my promise. Right,

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Speaker 2: if I worked as hard as I can every day

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Speaker 2: to try to come home to my younger brothers.

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Speaker 1: They were just young kids, right, What were there nine

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Speaker 1: ten years old when this happened.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there were babies at the time that happened. You know,

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Speaker 2: I had to pick a foster family form. It happens

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Speaker 2: across America all the time.

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Speaker 1: Man.

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Speaker 2: People just get separated from their families. And I think

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Speaker 2: that gave me that motivation every day to kind of

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Speaker 2: get up five thirty breakfasts, get to the law library

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Speaker 2: early in the morning and to try to educate myself,

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Speaker 2: just like those lifer guys would do. Then, after I

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Speaker 2: lost that direct appeal, and I was thinking, like, I'm

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Speaker 2: going to get this clemency. I wrote one hundred and

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Speaker 2: twenty five state reps. I wrote forty senators. Four people

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Speaker 2: wrote me back. A state rep by the name of

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Speaker 2: Willie Debb but actually came and see me during COVID.

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Speaker 2: The Kansas City Star picked it up. It was getting

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Speaker 2: real good publicity. I'm thinking, I'm gonna get this clemency. Right,

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Speaker 2: Mayor of La stepped in former Congresswoman Karen Bass. And

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Speaker 2: it was around the time of legalization of Missouri cannabis. Right,

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Speaker 2: And first two days it sales out. And then you

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Speaker 2: got a guy like me, first time of fence, serving

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Speaker 2: nearly eight years for pound of marijuana.

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Speaker 1: Pound of marijuana that you didn't touch, didn't have, it

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Speaker 1: didn't sell.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it didn't say I mean allegedly there was

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Speaker 2: no money found. Right, someone said they're gonna buy a

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Speaker 2: pound of marijuana. But it wasn't even no money found

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Speaker 2: in the house. It was in another car. I mean,

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Speaker 2: even my code offend and admitted to later on in

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Speaker 2: Affidavid that you know I had no knowledge of it.

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Speaker 1: Victor Lara wrote in an affid David, and this is

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Speaker 1: a direct quote. Dante at no point had knowledge of

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Speaker 1: the marijuana that was in my car. Dante and I

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Speaker 1: were on separate trips in the same direction. The only

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Speaker 1: reason I stopped at Gadwood's house was to take a

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Speaker 1: shower before I went to my final destination. End quote.

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Speaker 1: And this became part of a habeas petition that Dante

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Speaker 1: wrote but had yet to file, just as Chris Biggs

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Speaker 1: was being assigned as his counsel.

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Speaker 2: Thank god, man he was appointed to me. Even asked me,

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Speaker 2: you put this together right, And he was surprised and

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Speaker 2: he was like, man, I got to put my law

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Speaker 2: degree on it and fix some errors on it as well,

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Speaker 2: but you have a chance to go home. And I

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Speaker 2: was like, man, I didn't believe you. And Chris told

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Speaker 2: me KYLEI. He said, I'm an older guy. I wouldn't

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Speaker 2: drive this far. I could have just sent you a

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Speaker 2: letter if I didn't think you had a chance.

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Speaker 1: In addition to the obvious ineffective assistants claim, Chris was

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Speaker 1: also able to uncover a Brady violation.

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Speaker 3: When I read through the transcripts, it was obvious to

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Speaker 3: me when this informant testified that it was peculiar because

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Speaker 3: he had drugs in the apartment. He testified freely, he

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Speaker 3: did not have a lawyer. There was no grant of

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Speaker 3: immunity that was presented to the defense by the state

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Speaker 3: to show what kind of immunity he got, and there

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Speaker 3: was no plea agreement to show what kind of deal

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Speaker 3: he got. And in this kind of case where the

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Speaker 3: only real evidence introduced was the testimony of one person,

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Speaker 3: if the state fails to disclose things that could affect

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Speaker 3: his credibility, that can be grounds for a new trial.

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Speaker 3: And what I did is I simply called the person

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Speaker 3: who was the informant and I asked him, I said,

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Speaker 3: you get any kind of deal? He said, well, yeah,

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Speaker 3: he worked off his cases which were never filed, and

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Speaker 3: as it turns out, he even had a confidential informant number,

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Speaker 3: and none of that was disclosed to the defense in

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Speaker 3: the case, and in fact a trial, he testified that

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Speaker 3: he didn't have a deal, and the prosecutor argued to

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Speaker 3: the jury that there was no deal, and.

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Speaker 1: Then at least one of the cops got on the

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Speaker 1: stand and swore under oath that no deal was made.

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Speaker 3: If by saying there was no deal, he got no

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Speaker 3: formal plea agreement, that may be true, because he never did.

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Speaker 1: It's more like a wink and a nod. Huh.

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Speaker 3: Well, And in my motion I said, we have a

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Speaker 3: right to know of any deal, whether it's just a

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Speaker 3: wink in or nod or a tacit understanding. But aparently

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Speaker 3: the confidential informant agreement had been destroyed, so we didn't

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Speaker 3: have the contract with the police department to see what

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Speaker 3: the specifics were, but we knew that he had a

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Speaker 3: confidential informant number, which meant that there was some kind

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Speaker 3: of agreement. And if the case was that he got

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Speaker 3: something for testifying, there's a special instruction you get in

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Speaker 3: Kansas that says view this person's testimony with caution. And

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Speaker 3: so that instruction was not requested and was not given.

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Speaker 3: I think it could have had a great impact on

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Speaker 3: the outcome of the trial. So bottom line is he

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Speaker 3: got a trial whereby admittedly his lawyer was not prepared.

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Speaker 3: He gave medical reasons for that, but was forced to

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Speaker 3: go to trial, and then we had this problem with

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Speaker 3: evidence that was not discloded about benefits given to a

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Speaker 3: critical witness.

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Speaker 1: Then Chris asked the newly elected prosecutor to look into

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Speaker 1: what kind of a deal Gad would have gotten.

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Speaker 3: I called the prosecutor's office. I didn't tell him initially,

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Speaker 3: I had already talked to the informant. But when they

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Speaker 3: did a check, they found out that he had an

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Speaker 3: informant number. They disclosed that to me, I think it

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Speaker 3: says a lot about the elected official that he was

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Speaker 3: willing to entertain my arguments. Listen to me, go back

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Speaker 3: and look at the record, and made sure that they

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Speaker 3: contacted people the police department to find out what the

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Speaker 3: story was with this particular witness, and once it was disclosed,

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Speaker 3: then agreeing to let him out of prison, and then

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Speaker 3: ultimately they just missed the charges.

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Speaker 1: I know, we don't hear these kind of things happen

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Speaker 1: often enough on the show, but occasionally the right thing

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Speaker 1: is done without years or decades of unnecessary, pig headed

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Speaker 1: and cruel pushback. So, as a result, Dante was released

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Speaker 1: on October fifteenth, twenty twenty.

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Speaker 2: I just want to command Chris Man. He really went

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Speaker 2: in there, worked hard with the DA. He didn't even

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Speaker 2: think he was going to happen, right, because he'll talk

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Speaker 2: about how rarely the step happens. My outdated was twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty five. I'm not even supposed to be on this podcast, right,

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Speaker 2: But I've just super thankful for this integrity of the

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Speaker 2: prosecution and definitely Chris just kind of working hard.

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Speaker 1: Man.

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Speaker 3: You got to have the right people in a position

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Speaker 3: of authority that can make good decisions. I was a

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Speaker 3: prosecutor for a lot of years and my motto was

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Speaker 3: kind of I'd rather lose for the right reasons than

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Speaker 3: win for the wrong ones, and I always considered a

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Speaker 3: fair trial to be the goal. This prosecutor clearly wanted

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Speaker 3: to follow the law and do the right thing, and

441
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,480
Speaker 3: they released him from prison based on our allegations in

442
00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,520
Speaker 3: our amended motion, and I think they deserve credit for that. Now,

443
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,720
Speaker 3: if we had someone else there, they could have forced

444
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:41,639
Speaker 3: a retrial, but it would have been a retrial with

445
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:43,879
Speaker 3: proper instructions.

446
00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,240
Speaker 1: Which would have meant cautioning the jury about the credibility

447
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,560
Speaker 1: of the only witness in this case. So Dante was

448
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,200
Speaker 1: finally able to be the big brother again.

449
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, just being released, it was just life changing, man,

450
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,480
Speaker 2: And just being home finally get to fly back and

451
00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 2: hug my brothers for the first time.

452
00:21:59,160 --> 00:21:59,719
Speaker 1: They cried.

453
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,600
Speaker 2: It was just a sense of relief. Man, just while

454
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 2: you're in prison, it really makes you appreciate every single

455
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,360
Speaker 2: day time accept that you can't get back. So when

456
00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:10,760
Speaker 2: I got out, my brothers were in high school. One

457
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,919
Speaker 2: as a senior now playing football, trying to get him

458
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,600
Speaker 2: a scholarship he wants to continue to play defensive back.

459
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:17,560
Speaker 2: And my other one, I was able to fortunate enough

460
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 2: to work really hard and put him through college. He's

461
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,679
Speaker 2: a freshman all as studying business right here in UMKC.

462
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:25,159
Speaker 2: And I'm just super thankful when I was able to

463
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,480
Speaker 2: come home provide get some money, and it hit my

464
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 2: goal right of just kind of putting my brothers through college.

465
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:32,679
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have been able to do that if I

466
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,600
Speaker 2: was locked up, man, And I'm just so fortunate and

467
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,800
Speaker 2: so thankful I'm able to do that. When you get

468
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,000
Speaker 2: out of prison, you don't get out with no money

469
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,879
Speaker 2: right to take care of two young boys in California

470
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,679
Speaker 2: where it's so expensive. I had the opportunity to go

471
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 2: work in Kansas City and my story got pretty big

472
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,480
Speaker 2: and met my dear friend Nate Ruby. He hired me

473
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:53,760
Speaker 2: as one of his first employees, made me an executive

474
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:55,720
Speaker 2: as well, and taught me everything I knew about the

475
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:56,640
Speaker 2: cannabis industry.

476
00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 1: Yes, the irony is real. Dante was wrong, hopefully incarcerated

477
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,680
Speaker 1: for cannabis, only to emerge and succeed in a business

478
00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,720
Speaker 1: that is now legal and completely new to him.

479
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,160
Speaker 2: I met a guy, like I said before, named Nate Ruby.

480
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,680
Speaker 2: He's the owner of Elissa Gardens from the Earth Dispensaries

481
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:16,960
Speaker 2: out here in Kansas City, Missouri. And he hit me

482
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 2: in a DM and knew the guy that told ONMI.

483
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,520
Speaker 2: And he said, man, come work for me, be one

484
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 2: of the first employees, and I would get up every

485
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 2: morning with them, bright and early. He would just tag

486
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:27,720
Speaker 2: me along these finance meetings. I didn't know what was

487
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,680
Speaker 2: going on, but he said, just sit in and listen

488
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 2: and just take notes and eventually it makes sense like

489
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,199
Speaker 2: it did for you while he was in prison. And

490
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 2: it did, and he was able to give me a

491
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,720
Speaker 2: brand that I was able to get back to prisoners

492
00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,640
Speaker 2: that are locked up in Kansas and around the Midwest

493
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 2: and the Southern States. Where a person that buys my

494
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 2: particular jar, they get a percentage of the proceeds to

495
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,280
Speaker 2: the commissary count so they could talk to their family,

496
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:54,439
Speaker 2: buy hygiene items, get food, commissary stamps the envelopes, anything

497
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:55,640
Speaker 2: they need to succeed.

498
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,080
Speaker 1: Right, And this isn't the only way Dante's getting involved.

499
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, Man, I have a key associated for the Last

500
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 2: Curvesoner project, and we really just work on passing legislation

501
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,119
Speaker 2: for cannabis, go on to state level and kind of

502
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,679
Speaker 2: work with key stakeholders on trying to get people released,

503
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 2: getting letters, a recommendation of a shorter sentence, working with

504
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,160
Speaker 2: the attorneys, whether it's presentation at the parole board, filing

505
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 2: for the executive clemency, or testifying on the state or

506
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,160
Speaker 2: federal level. Which is why legislations should be passed.

507
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,480
Speaker 1: And by the way, Dante and I were working on

508
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,560
Speaker 1: a case together in Louisiana with Kevin Allen who's was

509
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,600
Speaker 1: sentenced to life without parole for possession of the two

510
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,640
Speaker 1: grams of marijuana, which just you know, for people, that's

511
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 1: one joint, if it's a decent sized joint, that's incredible.

512
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,639
Speaker 2: Jason mentioned Kevin Allen, kind of guy in Kansas day

513
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 2: Antonio White serving nearly twelve years in prison for a

514
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,160
Speaker 2: few pounds of marijuana is traveling through the interstate.

515
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,720
Speaker 1: There's still forty thousand people plus, I believe to this

516
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,760
Speaker 1: day in a stealing concrete cage right now in America

517
00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:57,879
Speaker 1: for pot.

518
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 2: Good thing about the time. Now, we have a great

519
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 2: governor in Kansas, Laura Kelly, and she's made mentioned of

520
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 2: people shouldn't be in prison more than you and I

521
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 2: for cannabis. Right, So this is our last term and

522
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,600
Speaker 2: just looking forward to her taking a second look at

523
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 2: somebody's cases and making a time that fits the crime.

524
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 2: I feel like times are changing and we're looking forward

525
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:18,960
Speaker 2: to helping more people.

526
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 1: So we will be linking Last Prisoner Project as well

527
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,920
Speaker 1: as your line of cannabis where part of the proceeds

528
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 1: go to prisoners who are still casualties, still serving time,

529
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,880
Speaker 1: casualties of the War on drugs. And with that we're

530
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: going to go to closing arguments. Well, first, I'm going

531
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: to thank you both for joining us here today, and

532
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 1: now I'm just going to kick back in my chair

533
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 1: and listen to anything else. Do you feel as left

534
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 1: to be said? Let's start with Chris and then Dante

535
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:46,760
Speaker 1: you close it out.

536
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 3: Well, I would just point out kind of big picture

537
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,679
Speaker 3: that in society. We make choices every day about what

538
00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:57,600
Speaker 3: society is supposed to look like, and sometimes legislators and

539
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 3: the government's a little slow to respect. I mean, we

540
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 3: had prohibition, which tells me at some point in time

541
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 3: there was enough political support to control the distribution of alcohol.

542
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,840
Speaker 3: We put a lot of resources into trying to control

543
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 3: cannabis over the years in different states, and we're starting

544
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,880
Speaker 3: to see it change, and I think there just needs

545
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,440
Speaker 3: to be a recognition that issue is out there and

546
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,240
Speaker 3: it's a very big issue, and I'm hopeful that people

547
00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 3: will continue to have open and honest discussions about it

548
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,720
Speaker 3: so that decriminalization can occur in more places. If you're

549
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,200
Speaker 3: hopping down I seventy, you're going to go from one

550
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 3: state to another without necessarily knowing what the laws are.

551
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,840
Speaker 3: People like Dante get caught in the gap. This is

552
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,880
Speaker 3: where these unfortunate stories come from. So I just hope

553
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,920
Speaker 3: people will continue to have the conversation and collect the

554
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,600
Speaker 3: evidence and review it so that things that make sense

555
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,080
Speaker 3: can start happening. I mean, I don't think there's anybody

556
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,639
Speaker 3: that would think that possession of marijuana or even distribution

557
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,240
Speaker 3: of the amounts we're talking about should ever result in

558
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,360
Speaker 3: a higher sentence than someone hurting someone with a dangerous

559
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,320
Speaker 3: weapon to the point where they could lose their life

560
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 3: or actually allong somebody in the heat of passion. That

561
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 3: just makes no sense whatsoever. And I don't think people

562
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 3: really understand that until they fall into the net, so

563
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,120
Speaker 3: to speak. And I think in a lot of places we've

564
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,400
Speaker 3: been casting much too broaden net. And the other part

565
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:15,960
Speaker 3: of it is, it doesn't matter what kind of system

566
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,560
Speaker 3: you have set up. You have to have good people

567
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,879
Speaker 3: that care and want to do the right thing at

568
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,119
Speaker 3: every level, and that affects what can happen any system.

569
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 2: I just want to encourage whoever's listening to it is

570
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,440
Speaker 2: the same people that are wealthy that pay for these

571
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,080
Speaker 2: lobbyists in each state that make cannabis legal so they

572
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:39,160
Speaker 2: can own a retail and cultivation and manufacturing facilities, should

573
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:43,119
Speaker 2: be the same people lobbying to get re sentencing for

574
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,359
Speaker 2: people that are locked up for a significant amount of

575
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 2: time in marijuana. Let's put the same energy into resetting

576
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,960
Speaker 2: these folks, dig it into these cases and helping people

577
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,719
Speaker 2: that are serving a crazy amount of time for marijuana

578
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 2: right now, violent offenders. I think that's very doable, and

579
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 2: I think that's a fair ass from if you're a

580
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 2: Republican Democratic really doesn't matter. What's right is what's right,

581
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,120
Speaker 2: especially if you've got any type of form of legalization

582
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:08,919
Speaker 2: that should definitely happen.

583
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,800
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen

584
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,240
Speaker 1: to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts one

585
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 1: week early by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus on

586
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. I want to thank our production team, Connor

587
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: Hall and Kathleen Fink, as well as my fellow executive

588
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 1: producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wartis, and Jeff Cliburn. The music

589
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,840
Speaker 1: in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated

590
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,880
Speaker 1: composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us across all

591
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 1: social media platforms at Lava for Good and at Wrongful Conviction.

592
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,880
Speaker 1: You can also follow me on Instagram at It's Jason Flamm.

593
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts

594
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:51,480
Speaker 1: and association with Signal Company Number one

595
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:00,320
Speaker 3: Yeah