Speaker 1: Keith Washington was an Army lieutenant colonel, police officer, and
Speaker 1: Homeland security official in Prince George's County, Maryland, when on
Speaker 1: January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, he was at
Speaker 1: home having dinner with his wife and.
Speaker 2: Daughter while waiting for a furniture delivery.
Speaker 1: When the delivery men, Brandon Clark and Robert White, arrived,
Speaker 1: Keith invited them into his home. However, when he found
Speaker 1: White snooping around his daughter's bedroom.
Speaker 2: He asked them to leave, but they wouldn't.
Speaker 1: Overpowered by the two much larger men being kicked and
Speaker 1: stomped on, he beared for his wife and daughter's lives.
Speaker 2: As well as his own, so he shot the assailants.
Speaker 1: Both were taken to the hospital, but only Robert White survived. White,
Speaker 1: a twelve time convicted felon, fabricated a story that excused
Speaker 1: him from what was just one in a string of
Speaker 1: other home invasions. It's clear which way they should have
Speaker 1: gone with The official corruption and misconduct the Prince George's
Speaker 1: County is well documented, with the media frenzy that ensued
Speaker 1: the prosecution team all jockey for ways to turn this
Speaker 1: justifiable shooting into an opportunity for their own career advancement
Speaker 1: with the appearance of upholding equal.
Speaker 2: Standards of justice for those in law enforcement.
Speaker 1: While the physical evidence from the investigation supported Keith's story
Speaker 1: of self defense, they used the inconsistent story of a
Speaker 1: career criminal to send an upstanding citizen away for forty
Speaker 1: five years in prison. With the work of his legal team,
Speaker 1: along with Georgetown University's making an ex honer reprogram, Keith
Speaker 1: is finally home after thirteen years, while he continues to fight.
Speaker 2: To clear his name.
Speaker 1: This is Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flamm. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction. I'm your host, Jason Flam in today's episode. Well,
Speaker 1: let me just say this before I even introduce our
Speaker 1: two incredible guests today. Our producer, Connor Hall is an
Speaker 1: excellent researcher. But when he sent me the research on
Speaker 1: this case, and I was already familiar with the case,
Speaker 1: but I read it twice and I went, now, there's
Speaker 1: gotta be mistakes here. This can't be the way it is.
Speaker 1: But it's all true, and you're going to hear the
Speaker 1: story straight from the mouth of the person who lived it.
Speaker 2: And I'm referring to Keith Washington.
Speaker 1: Keith. I'm sorry you're here because of the reason that
Speaker 1: you're here, but I'm very, very honored to have you
Speaker 1: on the show today.
Speaker 3: Well listen, Jason, thanks for having me. I'm more than
Speaker 3: happy to be here. And with the help of a
Speaker 3: lot of good people, including Marty, that's the reason I'm
Speaker 3: here right now.
Speaker 1: And speaking of Marty, Marty tank Left, my great friend
Speaker 1: and personal hero, has been on the show several times. Actually,
Speaker 1: his own story is harrowing as a story he can get.
Speaker 1: He was wrongfully convicted of the murder of his parents,
Speaker 1: served seventeen years in prison, and now but practicing attorney
Speaker 1: and a co professor at Georgetown University. He teaches the
Speaker 1: making an ex Houner reclass, which had everything to do
Speaker 1: with helping to get mister Washington out of prison. And
Speaker 1: Marty is now Keith Washington's attorney. It's a full circle story,
Speaker 1: but it's not over yet. But anyway, Marty, it's so
Speaker 1: fucking great to have you on the show in this role.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Jason. It's always an honor and a pleasure
Speaker 4: to come on the show as we continue the fight
Speaker 4: for justice for so many individuals out there. And when
Speaker 4: you hear Keith's story, I think people will just be floored.
Speaker 1: I couldn't said it better. If this happened to Keith Washington,
Speaker 1: who is the very definition of an American hero, then
Speaker 1: it could happen to anyone. And when I say that,
Speaker 1: Keith was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army,
Speaker 1: served over for twenty five years with honor, speaks five languages,
Speaker 1: attended some of the foremost military schools in the country,
Speaker 1: and everyone's lost count of how many awards and citations
Speaker 1: he's received for his service to our country. Upon returning home,
Speaker 1: Keith rose up in the ranks of the police department,
Speaker 1: served as a police officer for seventeen years with distinction.
Speaker 1: Never fired your weapon. I know that you were serving
Speaker 1: as a homeland security official as well. And by the way,
Speaker 1: when this happened, the father of a six year old
Speaker 1: girl happily married. I mean, like, what am I missing here?
Speaker 1: You almost sound too good to be true. What are
Speaker 1: your flaws? Hey?
Speaker 3: Listen, you know, I thank you for that introduction, and
Speaker 3: I thank you for those comments. But I've just an
Speaker 3: average guy that worked hard all his life and tried
Speaker 3: to do the right thing.
Speaker 1: So Keith tell us about your upgringing. You came from
Speaker 1: a single mother, right, but give us a little bit
Speaker 1: of the background if you don't mind.
Speaker 3: Listen. I've had a job since I was thirteen years old.
Speaker 3: My mother and father separated, and at that time I
Speaker 3: became the man of the house, so to speak, and
Speaker 3: so I had a paper route every morning from five
Speaker 3: am on my bicycle. My mother and I sometimes in
Speaker 3: the rain and the snow, whatever the conditions were, and
Speaker 3: so about seven thirty eight o'clock in the morning we
Speaker 3: finished and then I'd head off the school. At some
Speaker 3: point in time, my mother suffered a serious illness. My
Speaker 3: three sisters had to go live with relatives. My mother
Speaker 3: spent five years in a mill institution, and so as
Speaker 3: a sixteen year old kid, I was homeless and just
Speaker 3: sleep in the car, still going to school though every morning.
Speaker 3: At the end of my senior year, I saw a
Speaker 3: couple of friends of mine. I asked where they're going,
Speaker 3: and they said, hey, we're going to join the army.
Speaker 3: Just that quickly, I said, I'm going with you. And
Speaker 3: so I want to say that everything I've ever done
Speaker 3: or acquired in my life, I owe it to the
Speaker 3: army to the values they taught. It was the best
Speaker 3: thing that could have happened to me. Ever, from that,
Speaker 3: I grew into a man stationed over in Korea for
Speaker 3: a year and a half as a teenager. When I
Speaker 3: came back, I decided I wanted to go to college.
Speaker 3: I went to college at Northwestern State University. I joined
Speaker 3: an RTC program. I got commissioned as a second lieutenant.
Speaker 3: After three and a half years in the Army, I
Speaker 3: graduated and I was sit to Fort Benning, Georgia home
Speaker 3: with the Infantry. Completed a few schools there, Airborne school
Speaker 3: infratuy Offster, basic course, a giant f County School of
Speaker 3: Special Warfare, few terrorism schools, and assigned in Special Operations Command.
Speaker 3: I couldn't believe my life how within a short almost
Speaker 3: ten year period had really changed based on the opportunities
Speaker 3: that the military had provided me. Around nineteen ninety eleven
Speaker 3: years later, I joined the police Department and Prince Georgia's
Speaker 3: and ultimately after nine to eleven, based on my background,
Speaker 3: I was selected to be a deputy director of Hoopman
Speaker 3: Security for Prince George's County. And I was just willing
Speaker 3: to do what it took to accompass whatever was before me.
Speaker 1: It's an amazing story. I mean, you transcended and triumphed
Speaker 1: over it tough circumstances. I'm not a strong enough way
Speaker 1: of saying it. I mean, and you ended up giving
Speaker 1: back as well, teering at the Cane River Children's Home.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's really inspiring and it should have played
Speaker 1: out in the way that you deserve, which was to
Speaker 1: go on and have a happy, productive life and ultimately,
Speaker 1: you know, retire and have a bunch of grandchildren maybe
Speaker 1: and then you know, play some golf whatever. And then,
Speaker 1: of course, as we know, and as Marty knows intimately
Speaker 1: as well, everything can change in a second. And so
Speaker 1: it did on January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven. Marty,
Speaker 1: Can you take us through what happened that awful night?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 4: Absolutely so. To put it simply, Keith defended himself, his
Speaker 4: wife and daughter, and tragically, instead of being labeled a hero,
Speaker 4: he was treated like a criminal. To walk you through
Speaker 4: what happened that day, Keith had taken the day all
Speaker 4: from work to accept a furniture delivery from Marlow Furniture,
Speaker 4: and he was home with his wife, Stacey and his
Speaker 4: very young daughter Kayla. The day passed, still no furniture.
Speaker 4: He called Marlowe. They assured him that the delivery would
Speaker 4: arrive that night. Finally, during dinner, delivery men Brandon Clark
Speaker 4: and Robert White arrived. These are furniture movers, some really
Speaker 4: big guys. And it's a misnomer to call Robert White
Speaker 4: a furniture mover to begin with, because he wasn't even
Speaker 4: employed by Marla Fernture at all. Instead, he was Brandon
Speaker 4: Clark's cousin. But the appearance was at that time he
Speaker 4: worked for Mala. Furniture delivery was meant for the master
Speaker 4: bedroom of the first floor, and at some point Keith
Speaker 4: recognized that one of the men, Robert White, is not
Speaker 4: with him anymore. And Keith was there and he can
Speaker 4: give you more of the details.
Speaker 3: Brandon Clark was distracting me while Robert White was in
Speaker 3: my daughter's bedroom. I could hear the squeaking floorboards in
Speaker 3: my daughter's bedroom because I know the sound of my house.
Speaker 3: And I asked the guy, said where's your friend? And
Speaker 3: he wouldn't answer, you know, he just kept giving me
Speaker 3: a frivolous answer and tried to brush me off, And
Speaker 3: so I look and I see him poke his head
Speaker 3: out of my daughter's bedroom, and I said, what are
Speaker 3: you doing in there? Come out of there? That way
Speaker 3: comes out. So I walked toward him. I said, hey,
Speaker 3: leave my house. You guys, get out of my house.
Speaker 3: And as I got close enough to him, the other
Speaker 3: guy punched me in the back of the head, and
Speaker 3: then White attacked me from the side. So I'm fighting
Speaker 3: two guys in my house, complete strangers, within three minutes
Speaker 3: of entering my house. You know. We were on the ground,
Speaker 3: on the floor, I should say, and the guy, Clark
Speaker 3: was kicking me while I was on the floor. Clark
Speaker 3: six foot eight, three hundred and thirty pounds and Robert
Speaker 3: White six foot two, two hundred and eighty pounds, and
Speaker 3: I'm five nine five, So he's attacking me like kicking me.
Speaker 3: I pulled my service revolver, I fired, and I struck
Speaker 3: both of them. The assault seased. Later Clark died and
Speaker 3: Robert White lived.
Speaker 1: And as I think about this story, and as a
Speaker 1: father myself, I mean, and I think everybody can relate
Speaker 1: to this. You would do anything to protect your kids,
Speaker 1: We all would. And I'm trying to put myself in
Speaker 1: your shoes at that moment, you're being brutally viciously attacked
Speaker 1: right there in your own home, and your wife and
Speaker 1: young daughter are right downstairs. These two men are beating
Speaker 1: you like and they're winning because you had no shots. Combined,
Speaker 1: they weighed four times as much as you did, and
Speaker 1: they kicked you so hard that your watch broke, it
Speaker 1: flew off of your wrist. I mean, this is a
Speaker 1: life and death situation, and you had a grim choice
Speaker 1: to make. Am I getting this right?
Speaker 3: No, you're right. Listen, My wife and my six year
Speaker 3: old daughter were home, and I knew that if I
Speaker 3: didn't survive, who knows what would have happened it end.
Speaker 3: Five minutes earlier, we were having dinner and just sitting around,
Speaker 3: laughing and joking. And five minutes later, I'm wrestling two
Speaker 3: strangers fighting two strangers on the floor in my own home.
Speaker 3: That's how quickly this thing unfolded. I mean, it's a
Speaker 3: heroine thought, but you're a drilline kicks in and you
Speaker 3: do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1: This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company,
Speaker 1: and by Accentsure, a global professional services company with leading
Speaker 1: capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Working to reform the
Speaker 1: criminal justice system. Is a key pillar of the AIG
Speaker 1: pro Bono program, which provides free legal services and other
Speaker 1: support to many nonprofit organizations and individuals most in need
Speaker 1: as part of Eccensure's commitment to racial and civil justice.
Speaker 1: Accenture's Legal Access Program provides pro bono legal services in
Speaker 1: partnership with more than forty organizations, bringing meaningful change to
Speaker 1: people and communities worldwide. So the attack finally ceases. Both
Speaker 1: men have been shot. Your wife is called nine one one,
Speaker 1: and police and paramedics arrive. Eventually everyone's taken to the hospital.
Speaker 1: What happened nowt.
Speaker 3: So when they got to the hospital that night, I
Speaker 3: guess about fifteen to twenty cops were there, Alan, the
Speaker 3: detectives in charge of Homicide Division, and they were trying
Speaker 3: to interview Robert White, and White played at the fifth amendment.
Speaker 3: He refused to talk to the police, He refused to
Speaker 3: give a statement, He refused to say what happened. Subsequently,
Speaker 3: what we found out is that he did not work
Speaker 3: for the French and delivery company and that he was
Speaker 3: picked up on the side of the road by Clark
Speaker 3: and brought to my house. Alan. A couple of other houses.
Speaker 3: For the best I can tell, other people have said
Speaker 3: that they were casing houses. White has several burglary convictions
Speaker 3: and several convictions for fencing stolen property. So anyway, the
Speaker 3: state's attorney was aware of all that information. Also, mister White,
Speaker 3: as I said, pled the fifth and the state's attorney
Speaker 3: in charge of the case, Glenn Ivy, informed the two
Speaker 3: detectives at the hospital not to arrest Robert White under
Speaker 3: any circumstances, out of the blue. That they had never
Speaker 3: seen a sitting state's attorney, a sitting prosecutor come to
Speaker 3: the hospital and till the police not to arrest a
Speaker 3: career criminal, a suspect in a shooting, in an assault,
Speaker 3: and they could leave, which they did after he informed
Speaker 3: them that they were not to interview mister White or
Speaker 3: even talk to him.
Speaker 1: It's so so bizarre, I mean, because obviously Robert White
Speaker 1: had a lot to gain, first by his silence and
Speaker 1: then by lying, because if Keith was not guilty, then
Speaker 1: he and Brandon Clarke were, which wouldn't be hard to
Speaker 1: believe with White's twelve that's twelve previous convictions including assault
Speaker 1: and battery, unlawful entry, larceny, grand largity, receiving stolen goods,
Speaker 1: attempted third degree burglary, first degree burglary, pointing a firearm,
Speaker 1: domestic violence, and first degree sexual assault, for which he
Speaker 1: had served ten years. He also had over twenty additional
Speaker 1: arrests for crimes ranging from peeping tom to attempted murder,
Speaker 1: but the state's attorney, Glen Ivy, who eventually ran for Congress,
Speaker 1: purposefully turned a blind eye to all of that and
Speaker 1: instead focused on Keith.
Speaker 4: They've trying to dig something up that they could use
Speaker 4: against Keith, analyzing DNA fiber transfer, gunshot residue, spenshell, casing's
Speaker 4: telephone records, nine one one, coal, and so much more.
Speaker 4: All of the evidents, of course, didn't show them what
Speaker 4: they were looking for, But what it did show was
Speaker 4: that Keith had acted in self defense and Heath never
Speaker 4: should have been charged.
Speaker 1: And then, despite the clear nature of this incident, twelve
Speaker 1: time convicted felon Robert White's flow of inconsistent statements, let
Speaker 1: me rephraise that Robert White's flow of total bullshit went
Speaker 1: totally unchecked. So they're just ignoring this career criminal who's
Speaker 1: a real menace to society. And then here comes the kicker.
Speaker 1: Robert White filed a civil action against you, Keith and
Speaker 1: Prince George's county, seeking ready four hundred million dollars in
Speaker 1: damages arising out of the shooting.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: It was dismissed, surprise, surprise, but not before garnering a
Speaker 1: serious amount of media coverage. It also comes out later
Speaker 1: that someone else had filed that hand fisted civil action
Speaker 1: on White's behalf, perhaps someone who maybe wanted to draw
Speaker 1: a ton of media coverage, like a person who wanted
Speaker 1: to show what a bulwark of justice they were by
Speaker 1: holding a decorated veteran law enforcement officer and Homeland security
Speaker 1: official to account for what was alleged to be an
Speaker 1: unjustified shooting. And by the way, if it were the
Speaker 1: case that this was some trigger happy cop, I'd be
Speaker 1: the first one to say justice should be applied equally.
Speaker 1: But that's just not what this was, and they fucking
Speaker 1: knew it. So this media attention ramps up to public pressure,
Speaker 1: and the prosecution is aiming to score big political points
Speaker 1: and advance their careers if they bring home the win.
Speaker 1: And that's not me editorializing. Both prosecutors were overheard saying
Speaker 1: things to that effect. And I'm talking about prosecutors Joseph
Speaker 1: Wright and William Moumu, who had all the information and
Speaker 1: evidence proving Keith's use of self defense, and yet they
Speaker 1: still argued that the shootings were unprovoked and unjustified. The
Speaker 1: state allowed Robert White to create his own version of events,
Speaker 1: where Keith was unattacked, unprovoked, where you hadn't been stomped
Speaker 1: on and kicked, where you hadn't exhausted all other options
Speaker 1: before pulling out your service revolver. They used this testimony
Speaker 1: that changed every time White recounted the incident, every time Keith,
Speaker 1: Can you take us through some of the evidence that
Speaker 1: should have ended this prosecution before it started.
Speaker 3: They had the evidence. The lead investigator, Lieutenant Charlie Walls,
Speaker 3: briefed them. He had the DNA evidence, the gunshot residue evidence,
Speaker 3: the trace fiber evidence from the clothing. They said they
Speaker 3: never touched me. Well, I said he was kicking me.
Speaker 3: I was on the ground, He's kicking me. My shot him.
Speaker 3: The clothing fiber evidence showed the fibers from my shirt
Speaker 3: invest on his pants lid. So they had that evidence
Speaker 3: that contradicted his statement. They had the gunshot residue. He
Speaker 3: said that they were shot from across the room. The
Speaker 3: gunshot residue test done by the ATF shure that he
Speaker 3: was shot from three inches away three to twelve inches.
Speaker 3: He said he shot from across the room. They reasured
Speaker 3: the room and a minimum of eight feet which wouldn't
Speaker 3: have left any gunshot resident. He said he called my house.
Speaker 3: They had the phone records. They showed he never called
Speaker 3: my house before they arrived. They said that he was
Speaker 3: a delivery man for Marl's Furniture. Marlow's Furniture had given
Speaker 3: them a statement the human resources director, Miss Kila Ross
Speaker 3: that not only does he not work for them, that
Speaker 3: they've never heard of him or never seen him, and
Speaker 3: that Marvels would never hire sex offenders to work on
Speaker 3: their delivery trucks because their insurance wouldn't cover. They had
Speaker 3: the toxicology report that showed that he was on cocaine.
Speaker 3: The two sets attorneys denied that the toxicology test was
Speaker 3: ever even given on Robert White. They proffered to the court,
Speaker 3: to the jury, and to the general public that he
Speaker 3: was an employ of Marvel's Furniture, that he was not
Speaker 3: a rest of sex offinity. All of these things in
Speaker 3: Moore happened in my trial by these two prosecutors.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a litany of hers.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: We have a prosecution team that is hell bent on
Speaker 1: convicting an innocent man while protecting a guilty one, and
Speaker 1: they had all of the evidence pointing to Keith's version
Speaker 1: of the events, clearly contradicting what Robert White testified to.
Speaker 1: White maintained that neither he nor Clark were close enough
Speaker 1: to Keith to assault him when he shot them. Now,
Speaker 1: we've mentioned the gunshot residue and what that meant, but
Speaker 1: also White's DNA was found on Keith's gun, Clark's pifibers
Speaker 1: were found on Keith's vest from when he was kicking him.
Speaker 1: Neither of these things can happen from across the freaking room.
Speaker 4: None of the spens shell casings recovered by technicians were
Speaker 4: located even near the master bedroom, where Robert White said
Speaker 4: Keith was allegedly standing when he shot them. Instead, the
Speaker 4: casings were recovered from the middle of the ulpsters hallway
Speaker 4: and whole bathroom, where Keith and States had maintained the
Speaker 4: aultcation had taken.
Speaker 1: Place, But the prosecution doubled down on the lie. Listen
Speaker 1: to this. The prosecutors made thirty one false and misleading
Speaker 1: statements throughout the trial that were objected to and sustained.
Speaker 1: These were obviously meant to intentionally mislead throw off the jurors.
Speaker 1: There were nine objections to statements made by prosecutor Joseph
Speaker 1: Wright during his closing argument alone, including that Robert White
Speaker 1: had only one conviction and that there was no cocaine
Speaker 1: test given to Robert White. These were just straight up lies.
Speaker 1: His criminal record and toxicology report were absolutely available, yet
Speaker 1: the jury was not made aware of them. This is
Speaker 1: just so nuts, it's so wrong. White had denied under
Speaker 1: oath to the grand jury about being a sex offender,
Speaker 1: which the prosecutors allowed him to do. The state's attorney
Speaker 1: in charge of the case knew all of this. The prosecutor,
Speaker 1: William Mumou later said, he said, we put Robert White
Speaker 1: on the stand. He was a witness of ours. But
Speaker 1: you'll never see me standing in front of a jury
Speaker 1: saying that this witness says the truth.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: Are you fucking getting me with this shit? Wow? And certainly,
Speaker 1: if the jury would have learned those things, it would
Speaker 1: have had a real impact on the outcome of the trial.
Speaker 1: But they didn't get to know these things. They weren't presented,
Speaker 1: and these jurors were not mind readers. So for all
Speaker 1: the jury knew Robert White and Brandon Clark, which is
Speaker 1: two humble furniture delivery men who had the misfortune of
Speaker 1: walking to the home of a trigger happy cop, a
Speaker 1: trigger happy cop who had never used his gun before,
Speaker 1: by the way, so let's not leave that out. And
Speaker 1: on February thirteenth, two thousand and eight, clearly the prosecution's
Speaker 1: lies and manipulations worked. The jury found you guilty, Keith.
Speaker 1: And what was that very moment, like, I mean when
Speaker 1: you when you heard the word guilty and then when
Speaker 1: they sentence you to over two times the maximum sentence.
Speaker 3: As it relates to the moment the jury came back
Speaker 3: with the conviction. I watched my wife cry, I watched
Speaker 3: my daughter cry. The guy put handcuffs on me. I
Speaker 3: watched my sister cry. I watched a lot of friends
Speaker 3: and relatives, you know, I felt bad for them. The
Speaker 3: pre senced investigation came back with a minimum of five
Speaker 3: years in a maximum of twenty years, and the judge
Speaker 3: gave me a forty five year sentence. He went over
Speaker 3: one hundred percent past the maximum sentence that was recommended,
Speaker 3: and he went over nine hundred percent passed the minimum
Speaker 3: sentence that was recommended, which was five years. And I
Speaker 3: don't think anyone's ever receeen the forty five year sentence
Speaker 3: for involuntary manslom. In prison, you're either a warl four sheep,
Speaker 3: especially in the maximum security state prison. And so the fights,
Speaker 3: the stabbings, the gangs, the deaths, the atrocious conditions, the
Speaker 3: mental stress, the anxiety, you name it, and you know,
Speaker 3: no matter what happens to me, I'm fine with what
Speaker 3: happens to me. But I knew that my family was
Speaker 3: gonna go through the fire with me, because when a
Speaker 3: family member goes to prison, you know, in actuality, the
Speaker 3: whole family goes to prison. Their life stops too. It
Speaker 3: was my family that suffered. Listen. It was the worst
Speaker 3: feeling I'd ever had, and I knew that I was
Speaker 3: gonna fight like hell and get it out of prison.
Speaker 3: Every minute, every second, every hour, every day that I
Speaker 3: was just gonna fight. I didn't know anything else to do.
Speaker 3: I was gonna work on my case I had twelve
Speaker 3: volumes of transcripts, and so I talk to my wife
Speaker 3: on the phone every day for about two years. I
Speaker 3: would dictate Robert White's testimony to her over the phone
Speaker 3: and she would type it. I would sit up at
Speaker 3: night and go over his testimony, all the contradicting statements
Speaker 3: and put them together out of those twelve volumes, which
Speaker 3: was about almost twenty five hundred pages. And then we
Speaker 3: put up a website after about two years of doing that,
Speaker 3: because I wanted transparency in the case, to show people
Speaker 3: that everything they said was false and that it was
Speaker 3: intentionally false. There's two attorneys in the case, William MoU
Speaker 3: Mal and Joseph Wright. We found out nine months after
Speaker 3: my conviction they had hidden just tons of evidence and
Speaker 3: lie about the evidence that their own witnesses, their own
Speaker 3: state experts, had collected and given to them. Numerous people,
Speaker 3: including states attorneys other prosecutors in that office, came forward
Speaker 3: with statements that they had told their boss, Hey, they
Speaker 3: falsified the evidence in mister Washington's case. They willingly manipulated, lied,
Speaker 3: falsified the evidence, and that mister White is not telling
Speaker 3: the truth on any of the issues. According to the physical, forensic,
Speaker 3: and the scientific evidence. Mister Ivy, he told my wife
Speaker 3: that I got a raw deal, but he told her
Speaker 3: privately that there was nothing he would do because it
Speaker 3: would affect his wife's political career with the time was
Speaker 3: a state.
Speaker 1: Delegate, Jesus Christ. And to add another insult to injury,
Speaker 1: after you were wrongfully convicted, Robert White was arrested on
Speaker 1: two more occasions for breaking into the homes of two
Speaker 1: different women and physically assaulting both of them, which should
Speaker 1: outrage all of us. These other incidents didn't have to happen,
Speaker 1: and they wouldn't have happened. They had a guy who
Speaker 1: you think that anyone in their position right should want
Speaker 1: off the street, anyone would want him off the street,
Speaker 1: but instead they chose you. I mean, why was doing
Speaker 1: what they were supposed to do? Just not a cool
Speaker 1: enough story? I mean, do you have any theories at
Speaker 1: all on this?
Speaker 3: Well, as near as we can tell, and I believe
Speaker 3: we can factually prove and provide to the current States
Speaker 3: Attorney that we have several officers of the court who
Speaker 3: called my family and spoken with my family and they've
Speaker 3: illuminated the moat for this case where mister Wright allegedly
Speaker 3: bragged to several other attorneys where he and mister Moonmou
Speaker 3: were promised for bringing back a conviction. Mister Wright was
Speaker 3: promised a political endorsement to run for State's Attorney by
Speaker 3: his boss, and that mister Mouvemou was promised to judge ship.
Speaker 3: This is according to their colleagues in their very own office,
Speaker 3: that mister Wright was bragging it he was going to
Speaker 3: be the next States Attorney and he had to deliver
Speaker 3: the Keith Washington conviction to do that. That his boss,
Speaker 3: mister Ivy, used the case to run for Congress in
Speaker 3: twenty ten, and that he was using this case as
Speaker 3: he was tough on police corruption, and he ran for
Speaker 3: Congress on that issue, using my case specifically. And he
Speaker 3: even went to the police academy and spoke to numerous people,
Speaker 3: including the cadets in the police academy about my case
Speaker 3: in police corruption and used me as a whipping boy
Speaker 3: while I was in prison. And so he ran in
Speaker 3: twenty ten for Congress, he didn't win. He lost the primary.
Speaker 3: Joseph Wright ran for State's Attorney in twenty ten, he
Speaker 3: also lost, and Williamumou put in for his judge ship
Speaker 3: and didn't get it. Now, a new administration came into
Speaker 3: office in twenty ten, and so mister Ivy had to
Speaker 3: fulfill his promises to those two guys, and he subsequently
Speaker 3: got Mumau a job as an assistant US attorney. He
Speaker 3: didn't get him his judge ship, but he got him
Speaker 3: a job as assistant US attorney from what I'm told,
Speaker 3: And they had mister Mumau's raise. An a States attorney
Speaker 3: in Prince Rose's County made about fifty five thousand dollars
Speaker 3: a year. I'm assuming assistant US attney makes about one
Speaker 3: ten or one twenty somewhere around there as a GS
Speaker 3: twelve or so there's a significant raise. And mister Wright
Speaker 3: was given a judge ship in twenty ten, so his
Speaker 3: salary went from fifty five thousand to about one point forty.
Speaker 1: Holy actual fuck. I mean you're hearing this from the
Speaker 1: people immediately around them who were directly involved in the case.
Speaker 1: What about the investigators. I mean, they obviously knew that
Speaker 1: this case was built on bullshitting lies as well, right.
Speaker 3: Well, the lead investigator, Lieutenant Walls, he put on the
Speaker 3: record that he attended at least three meetings where the
Speaker 3: whole conversation between him and mister Wright and mister mumou
Speaker 3: that all they talked about was falsifying the evidence before
Speaker 3: the trial. Mister Wall says he wouldn't go along with it.
Speaker 3: After the meeting, Joseph Wright fired him from the case
Speaker 3: and told him to turn over his case files and
Speaker 3: they have no further contact with the case. After he
Speaker 3: had collected the DNA, he had collected the gunshot residue,
Speaker 3: Walls had collected the statements of individuals and homeowners who
Speaker 3: had saw injuries on me Later, the State's Attorney's office
Speaker 3: came to him and offered him a job as an
Speaker 3: investigator and said Attorney's Office that he could retire from
Speaker 3: the police department, draw his pension, and come work for them,
Speaker 3: Come work for the very people who just fired him
Speaker 3: from the case. Wall says that he put in his
Speaker 3: paperwork to retire from the police department and came back
Speaker 3: and worked for the States Attorney's Office as an investigator,
Speaker 3: obviously with a significant raise. And can draw your own conclusions,
Speaker 3: but I would say it appears to be hush money,
Speaker 3: And walso said it he'll tell anybody what actually happened
Speaker 3: if he's subpoena and those questions. Another bit of good
Speaker 3: news is that mister Wright is no longer a judge,
Speaker 3: that he was convicted in twenty eighteen of perjury and
Speaker 3: falsifying government documents by the Maryland Judicial Disability Board that
Speaker 3: was clearly people with blind ambition winning a lie cheater
Speaker 3: steal involved in my case.
Speaker 1: Marty, in twenty twenty, your amazing students in the Making
Speaker 1: Axannery program there at Georgetown investigated Keith's case and made
Speaker 1: a brilliant short documentary about it, and we're going to
Speaker 1: make sure to include a link for that in the bio.
Speaker 1: And their hard work has made such a phenomenal impact
Speaker 1: on this case and so many others. So, Marty, if
Speaker 1: you could just summarize for us how it is that
Speaker 1: Keith is sitting here with us on the show today.
Speaker 4: After extensive litigation, a retired judge was brought on to
Speaker 4: review Keith's entire matter. On May fourteenth of twenty twenty one,
Speaker 4: everyone got together and a hearing for a modification of
Speaker 4: Keith's sentence was conducted. Based on the totality of everything
Speaker 4: at that time, and it almost broke it down to
Speaker 4: time served within a few short weeks after the judge
Speaker 4: issuing that opinion, Keith was freed. I was there when
Speaker 4: Keith walked out. Keith, where were you an hour and
Speaker 4: a half ago? And where are you right now?
Speaker 3: An hour and a half ago. I was in an
Speaker 3: apartment correction space had to free and now a home with.
Speaker 4: My family And how's the field? States and Cale, I
Speaker 4: have your husband and your dad home. It feels great.
Speaker 1: It feels like I've been waiting on this for thirteen years.
Speaker 1: And that right there is the sound of Keith freed
Speaker 1: from prison, finally back with his family at his home.
Speaker 2: It's it's a beautiful sound.
Speaker 4: We sat around in his backyard and we had pizza
Speaker 4: and lemonade and enjoying the f share and we were
Speaker 4: just sitting there talking and at one point we kind
Speaker 4: of just looked at each other like, was this real?
Speaker 4: You're trying to fathom the reality that Keith had just
Speaker 4: spent over thirteen years in prison and here we were
Speaker 4: sitting in his backyard. There wasn't a bitterness about Keith,
Speaker 4: about Stacy, you know, there was pure love and joy.
Speaker 4: Keith and Stacy have said to myself, Mark and the
Speaker 4: students who worked on Keith's case that if we're ever
Speaker 4: in the neighborhood and we don't stop by, they'll be
Speaker 4: offended because we are family to them. And I think
Speaker 4: that is something that just demonstrates who Keith and Stacy are.
Speaker 4: They are just truly genuine people. Their love is probably
Speaker 4: stronger than ever. But even though Keith is free, the intentional,
Speaker 4: wrongful conviction is still hanging over Keith's head, which it
Speaker 4: shouldn't be.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and Keith, there's been news both a really long
Speaker 1: time ago as well as more recently that should have
Speaker 1: a positive effect I'm bringing about justice in your case.
Speaker 1: We already mentioned that Robert White, just weeks after your
Speaker 1: trial was arrested not once, but twice for breaking into
Speaker 1: homes and physically assaulting two women. And then there's been
Speaker 1: some more recent news.
Speaker 3: A district court commissioner here in Maryland issued an arrest
Speaker 3: warrant for Robert White for perjury in my criminal trial. Wow,
Speaker 3: so there's a rest warrant out for him as we speak.
Speaker 3: So hopefully this will facilitate the case being overturned. And
Speaker 3: so now honest and reasonable and ethical people who are
Speaker 3: reviewing the case and looking at it can see that
Speaker 3: because there's no good explanation, legally or otherwise as to
Speaker 3: how this happened. The current ST's attorney, Miss Brave Boy,
Speaker 3: she reviewed the evidence and she saw that, hey, this
Speaker 3: is an excessive sentence, to say the least, notwithstanding that
Speaker 3: there are other issues as it relates to an integrity
Speaker 3: of mister Washington's conviction. And so we believe they're going
Speaker 3: to do the right thing. Shortly, you know, we'll turn it.
Speaker 3: Due to the fact that mister White now has been
Speaker 3: charged with perjury in my case, we can only be
Speaker 3: hopeful that justice will prevail in an expeditious manner because
Speaker 3: it's been thirteen years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think justice is coming in your case. I'm
Speaker 1: glad we're able to get the word out about it
Speaker 1: through this podcast. We're going to be shouting it from
Speaker 1: the rooftops. You've got an incredible team now, so I'm
Speaker 1: sure many of our listeners are feeling the same way.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling that this is outrageous even by the standards
Speaker 1: of what we're used to hearing on the show, and
Speaker 1: that they want to help if they can. Is there
Speaker 1: a way that people can get involved?
Speaker 2: What can people do?
Speaker 1: And we'll link whatever it is in the bio, so
Speaker 1: people can easily find it.
Speaker 4: A few things the listeners can do is demand that
Speaker 4: I use your brave Boy, meet with us and vindicate
Speaker 4: keithan dismissed his conviction. I think people can support the
Speaker 4: making an axionary program and anything Heith needs, because one
Speaker 4: thing that I think we as a society fail to
Speaker 4: really address and understand is that each year, innocent men
Speaker 4: and women get released from prison by exoneration and they
Speaker 4: connect with nothing. In many cases, there is literally no
Speaker 4: programs available that help individuals reacclimate. If not for the
Speaker 4: grace of God that some of those people that get
Speaker 4: out have family and friends, I don't know what those
Speaker 4: men and women would do. Imagine being locked up for
Speaker 4: fifteen twenty years coming out and having nothing, no underwear,
Speaker 4: no soap, no shampoo, no toothbrushes, no toothpaste. And I
Speaker 4: think we as a society can do more. I think
Speaker 4: the corporations of America can do more. Thankfully, Keith does
Speaker 4: have an amazing wife and daughter, but not everyone is
Speaker 4: lucky and fortunate to have that.
Speaker 3: Well, I would ask people to go to the one
Speaker 3: Innocentman dot org website and familiarize himself with the case
Speaker 3: and the evidence and the facts, and as Marty said,
Speaker 3: to call missus Brave Boy's office hand Upper Marlborough, Maryland
Speaker 3: and implore her to go ahead and overturn the case.
Speaker 3: The other thing, if you would, we'd like to give
Speaker 3: Georgetown all the kudos that they deserve because they're doing
Speaker 3: great work. Whatever we can do to support them, that's
Speaker 3: what we're going to do.
Speaker 4: On Keith's page one instant dot org, which was created
Speaker 4: by the three students at Georgetown, there is a donate
Speaker 4: button which links directly to Keith's go fundme page. Who
Speaker 4: are the three students that worked on your case and
Speaker 4: created the website? Because I know they are part of
Speaker 4: your family.
Speaker 3: Josh, Selene and Trevor.
Speaker 1: All Right, Josh, Selene and Trevor shout out from the
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction team and from the man himself or the
Speaker 1: two men themselves and me doing the great work. I'm
Speaker 1: really proud of all the kids in the Making Zannery program.
Speaker 1: It's been a privilege for me to work with them
Speaker 1: and lecture at the school and stuff. So with that,
Speaker 1: we will now turn to the closing of the show,
Speaker 1: which is called closing Arguments, And this is the part
Speaker 1: of the show that I always look forward to. First
Speaker 1: of all, thank you again Keith for your courage, for
Speaker 1: your service, for being here with us to share your
Speaker 1: incredible story. And of course, Marty Tank Live. What can
Speaker 1: I say, Man, you just never cease to amaze me,
Speaker 1: and I'm so proud to call you my friend, and
Speaker 1: I really appreciate both of you being here. And now
Speaker 1: closing arguments works like this. I turned my microphone off,
Speaker 1: kick back in my chair, close my eyes, and just
Speaker 1: listen to any final thoughts that you want to share. Marty,
Speaker 1: Let's start with you and save Keith for the closing
Speaker 1: of the closing arguments.
Speaker 4: So for me, it's remarkable that I think back to
Speaker 4: when I was sitting in the prison my self, serving
Speaker 4: fifty years to life, and finally in two thousand and seven,
Speaker 4: I was freed. And now it's twenty twenty one and
Speaker 4: here I am an attorney after a professor at Georgetown
Speaker 4: and to our law school, and I get to have
Speaker 4: the opportunity to pay it forward and give people back
Speaker 4: their lives. I thank Jason and I think the entire
Speaker 4: Wrongful Deviction Team because it makes people understand the criminal
Speaker 4: justice system in ways that people don't want to believe exist.
Speaker 4: We wouldn't fully grasp how many problems our system has.
Speaker 4: And Jason has been a blessing for the making an
Speaker 4: exiguary program at Georgetown, and for that we are grateful.
Speaker 4: And I would be remiss if I didn't say thank
Speaker 4: you Mark, who's my partner in doing this at Georgetown,
Speaker 4: Because with Mark and our amazing students, we are making
Speaker 4: a difference in people's lives, and I think it's the
Speaker 4: best thing that you can actually do. I'm always reminded
Speaker 4: by something that Joseph Flahm told Jason Flahm, and that's
Speaker 4: do something you love that leaves a lasting impression and
Speaker 4: makes a difference. And if helping students get somebody out
Speaker 4: of prison doesn't fulfill that mantra, not really sure what does.
Speaker 3: Keith. I learned a long time ago that we all
Speaker 3: have our crosses to bear. We all go through difficult times.
Speaker 3: We're all based on certainty in our future. We all
Speaker 3: fight for a better life for ourselves and our family,
Speaker 3: and we all been hurt and wounded and abandoned. But
Speaker 3: you can't give up. And I would tell people never
Speaker 3: give up. You're only facing a challenge in your life
Speaker 3: that other men have met, and so be of good courage,
Speaker 3: be strong of character, and of will, have faith, do
Speaker 3: what you must, love your family, love your life, beautify
Speaker 3: your life. When people take your faith, they've really taken
Speaker 3: everything that you possess. When they take your courage, they've
Speaker 3: taken everything that you possess. So without faith and courage,
Speaker 3: you're just an empty vessel. All I want to leave
Speaker 3: people with is to know that there are people of
Speaker 3: goodwill out there. There are people who are just, who
Speaker 3: are honest, There are people who have integrity. There are
Speaker 3: people who will fight for you because they believe in
Speaker 3: what's right, and I want to applaud those people. We
Speaker 3: are kindred spirits, and so wherever you find a person
Speaker 3: like that, support them. Believe that they're going to support
Speaker 3: you if I can help anyone, because I've been helped
Speaker 3: in my life, this has taught me a valuable lesson.
Speaker 3: No matter what myself and my family have gone through,
Speaker 3: we want to be a light to others. I appreciate
Speaker 3: everything that people at Georgetown have done Marty Mark Selene,
Speaker 3: Josh Trevor. I appreciate the exoneration program. Listen, I appreciate you, Jason.
Speaker 3: I appreciate your podcast. I just want to leave the
Speaker 3: people who are listening to your program with something to
Speaker 3: think about. You are what makes this country great, all
Speaker 3: of us, and so if there's a deficit somewhere, it's
Speaker 3: up to us to fix it no matter where we
Speaker 3: find it, and try to leave a better place, a
Speaker 3: better country, a better society for the next generation. My
Speaker 3: wounds will heal, and so we'll use this as a
Speaker 3: lesson to be remembered and learned, and we're going to
Speaker 3: build from there. I thank you guys for the platform.
Speaker 3: I thank you for supporting our calls, and we'll see
Speaker 3: you around the water cooler.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Ronal for Conviction. Please support
Speaker 1: your local innocence organizations and go to the links in.
Speaker 2: Our bio to see how you can help.
Speaker 1: I'd like to thank our production team Conner Hall, Justin Golden,
Speaker 1: Jeff Clyburn, and Kevin Wardis. The music on this show,
Speaker 1: as always is by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction,
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Wrong Conviction, and on Facebook at Wrongful
Speaker 1: Conviction Podcast. Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for
Speaker 1: Good podcasts and association with signal Company Number one