Speaker 1: On wrongful conviction. Many of our guests have served in
Speaker 1: the US military. We at lava for good honor America's veterans,
Speaker 1: but let this episode serve as a reminder that even
Speaker 1: that revered status has historically not been enough to save
Speaker 1: innocent Americans from our criminal legal system and those who operated.
Speaker 2: Keith Washington was an Army lieutenant colonel, police officer, and
Speaker 2: Homeland security official in Prince George's County, Maryland, when on
Speaker 2: January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven, he was at
Speaker 2: home having dinner with his wife and daughter while waiting
Speaker 2: for a furniture delivery. When the delivery men, Brandon Clark
Speaker 2: and Robert White, arrived, Keith invited them into his home. However,
Speaker 2: when he found White snooping around his daughter's bedroom, he
Speaker 2: asked them to leave, but they wouldn't. Overpowered by the
Speaker 2: two much larger men being kicked and stomped on, he
Speaker 2: feared for his wife and daughter's lives as well as
Speaker 2: his own, so the assailants both were taken to the hospital,
Speaker 2: but only Robert White survived. White, a twelve time convicted felon,
Speaker 2: fabricated a story that excused him from what was just
Speaker 2: one in a string of other home invasions. It's clear
Speaker 2: which way this should have gone. With the official corruption
Speaker 2: and misconduct the Prince George's county is well documented with
Speaker 2: the media frenzy that ensued. The prosecution team all jockeyed
Speaker 2: for ways to turn this justifiable shooting into an opportunity
Speaker 2: for their own career advancement, with the appearance of upholding
Speaker 2: equal standards of justice for those in law enforcement. While
Speaker 2: the physical evidence from the investigation supported Keith's story of
Speaker 2: self defense, they used the inconsistent story of a career
Speaker 2: criminal to send an upstanding citizen away for forty five
Speaker 2: years in prison. With the work of his legal team
Speaker 2: along with Georgetown Universities making an axanner reprogram, Keith is
Speaker 2: finally home after thirteen years, while he continues to fight
Speaker 2: to clear his name. This is Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flamm.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction. I'm your host, Jason Flamp
Speaker 2: and today's episode, well, let me just say this before
Speaker 2: I even introduce our two incredible guests today. Our producer
Speaker 2: Connor Hall is an excellent researcher. But when he sent
Speaker 2: me the research on this case, and I was already
Speaker 2: familiar with the case, but I read it twice and
Speaker 2: I went, now, there's gotta be mistakes here. This can't
Speaker 2: be the way it is. But it's all true, and
Speaker 2: you're gonna hear the story straight from the mouth of
Speaker 2: the person who lived it. And I'm referring to Keith Washington. Keith,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry you're here because of the reason that you're here,
Speaker 2: but I'm very, very honored to have you on this
Speaker 2: 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, Marty, that's the reason I'm here
Speaker 3: right now.
Speaker 2: And speaking of Marty, Marty Tanklft, my great friend and
Speaker 2: personal hero, has been on the show several times. Actually,
Speaker 2: his own story is harrowing as a story he can get.
Speaker 2: He was wrongfully convicted of the murder of his parents
Speaker 2: and served seventeen years in prison and now but practicing
Speaker 2: attorney and a co professor at Georgetown University. He teaches
Speaker 2: the Making an exuner reclass, which had everything to do
Speaker 2: with helping to get mister Washington out of prison. And
Speaker 2: Marty is now Keith Washington's attorney. It's a full circle story,
Speaker 2: but it's not over yet. But anyway, Marty, it's so
Speaker 2: 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 2: I couldn't said it better. If this happened to Keith Washington,
Speaker 2: who is the very definition of an American hero, then
Speaker 2: it can happen to anyone. And when I say that,
Speaker 2: Keith was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army,
Speaker 2: served over for twenty five years with honor, speaks five languages,
Speaker 2: attended some of the foremost military schools in the country,
Speaker 2: and everyone's lost count of how many awards and citations
Speaker 2: he's received for his service to our country. Upon returning home,
Speaker 2: Keith rose up in the ranks of the police department,
Speaker 2: served as a police officer for seventeen years with distinction.
Speaker 2: Never fired your weapon. I know that you were serving
Speaker 2: as a Homeland security official as well. And by the way,
Speaker 2: when this happened, the father of a six year old
Speaker 2: girl happily married I mean, like, what am I missing here?
Speaker 2: You almost sound too good to be true? What are
Speaker 2: 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'm just an
Speaker 3: average guy that worked hard all his life and tried
Speaker 3: to do the right thing.
Speaker 2: So Keith, tell us about your upgringing. You came from
Speaker 2: a single mother, right, but give us a little bit
Speaker 2: of 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.
Speaker 5: And so I had a paper.
Speaker 3: Route every morning from five am on my bicycle with
Speaker 3: my mother and I sometimes in the rain, the snow,
Speaker 3: whatever the conditions were. And so about seven thirty eight
Speaker 3: o'clock in the morning, we'd finished and then I'd head
Speaker 3: off the school. At some point in time, my mother
Speaker 3: suffered a serious illness. My three sisters had to go
Speaker 3: live with relatives. My mother spent five years in a
Speaker 3: mill institution, and so as a sixteen year old kid,
Speaker 3: I was homeless and just sleep in the car, still
Speaker 3: going to school though every morning. At the end of
Speaker 3: my senior year, I saw a couple of friends of mine.
Speaker 3: I asked where they're going, and they said, hey, we're
Speaker 3: going to join the Army. Just that quickly, I said,
Speaker 3: I'm going with you. And so I want to say
Speaker 3: that everything I've ever done or acquired in my life,
Speaker 3: I owe it to the Army, to the values they taught.
Speaker 5: It was the best thing that could have happened to me.
Speaker 3: Ever, from that, I grew into a man stationed over
Speaker 3: in Korea for a year and a half as a teenager.
Speaker 3: When I came back, I decided I want to go
Speaker 3: to college. I went to college at Northwestern State University.
Speaker 3: I joined an RTC program. I got commissioned as a
Speaker 3: second lieutenant. After three and a half years in the Army,
Speaker 3: I graduated and I was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia,
Speaker 3: home with the Infantry.
Speaker 5: Completed a few.
Speaker 3: Schools there Airborne School, Infantry Officer Basic Course, a Giant F.
Speaker 3: Kennedy School of Special Warfare, few terrorism schools, and assigned
Speaker 3: in Special Operations Command. I couldn't believe my life how
Speaker 3: within a short almost ten year period had really changed.
Speaker 3: Based on the opportunities that the military had provided me.
Speaker 3: Around nineteen ninety eleven years later, I joined the police department.
Speaker 3: I'm Prince Georgia's and ultimately, after nine to eleven, based
Speaker 3: on my background, I was selected to be Deputy Director
Speaker 3: of Homeman Security for Pristig's County, and I was just
Speaker 3: willing to do what it took to accomplass whatever was
Speaker 3: before me.
Speaker 2: It's an amazing story. I mean, you transcended and triumphed
Speaker 2: over tough circumstances. I'm not a strong enough way of
Speaker 2: saying it. I mean, and you ended up giving back
Speaker 2: as well, volunteering at the Cane River Children's Home. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's really inspiring and it should have played out in
Speaker 2: the way that you deserve, which was to go on
Speaker 2: and have a happy, productive life and ultimately, you know,
Speaker 2: retire and have a bunch of grandchildren maybe and then
Speaker 2: you know, play some golf whatever. And then, of course,
Speaker 2: as we know, and as Marty knows intimately as well,
Speaker 2: everything can change in a second. And so it did
Speaker 2: on January twenty fourth, two thousand and seven. Marty, can
Speaker 2: you take us through what happened that awful night?
Speaker 4: Sure? Absolutely so. To put it simply, he defended himself,
Speaker 4: his wife and daughter, and tragically instead of being labeled
Speaker 4: a hero like a criminal. To walk you through what
Speaker 4: happened that day, Keith had taken the day off from
Speaker 4: work to accept a furniture delivery from marlow Furniture, and
Speaker 4: he was home with his wife, Stacy and his very
Speaker 4: young daughter, Kayla. The day passed, still no furniture. He
Speaker 4: called Marlowe. They assured him that the delivery would arrive
Speaker 4: that night. Finally, during dinner, the 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 Marlo Furniture at all. Instead, he was Brandon
Speaker 4: Clark's cousin. But the appearance was at that time he
Speaker 4: worked for Marlo 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 door his bedroom, because I know the sound of
Speaker 3: my house. And I asked the guy, I said, where's
Speaker 3: your friend? And he wouldn't answer, you know, he just
Speaker 3: kept giving me a frivolous answer and tried to brush
Speaker 3: me off. And so I look and I see him
Speaker 3: poke his head out of my daughter's bedroom, and I said,
Speaker 3: what are you doing in there? Come out of there.
Speaker 3: He halfway 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.
Speaker 5: You know. We were on the ground, on the.
Speaker 3: Floor, I should say, and the guy, Clark was kicking
Speaker 3: me while I was on the floor. Clark's six foot eight,
Speaker 3: three hundred and thirty pounds and Robert White six foot two,
Speaker 3: two hundred and eighty pounds, and I'm five nine five,
Speaker 3: So he's attacking me like kicking me. I pulled my
Speaker 3: service revolver, I fired, and I struck both of them.
Speaker 3: The assault ceased later Clark died and Robert White lived.
Speaker 2: And as I think about this story, and as a
Speaker 2: father myself, I mean, and I think everybody can relate
Speaker 2: to this. You would do anything to protect your kids.
Speaker 2: We all would, And I'm trying to put myself in
Speaker 2: your shoes. At that moment. You're being brutally viciously attacked
Speaker 2: right there in your own home, and your wife and
Speaker 2: young daughter are right downstairs. These two men are beating
Speaker 2: you like and they're winning because you had no shots. Combined,
Speaker 2: they weighed four times as much as you did, and
Speaker 2: they kicked you so hard that your watch broke, it
Speaker 2: flew off of your wrist. I mean, this is a
Speaker 2: life and death situation, and you had a grim choice
Speaker 2: to make. Am I getting this right?
Speaker 5: No, you're right. Listen.
Speaker 3: My wife and my six year old daughter were home,
Speaker 3: and I knew that if I didn't survive, who knows
Speaker 3: what would have happened it. In five minutes earlier, we
Speaker 3: were having dinner and just sitting around laughing and joking.
Speaker 3: And five minutes later, I'm wrestling two strangers fighting two
Speaker 3: strangers on the floor in my own home.
Speaker 5: That's how quickly this thing unfolded.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's a heroin thought, but you're a drilling
Speaker 3: kicks in and you do what you gotta do.
Speaker 2: This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company,
Speaker 2: and by Accentsure, a global professional services company with leading
Speaker 2: capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Working to reform the
Speaker 2: criminal justice system is a key pillar of the AIG
Speaker 2: pro Bono program, which provides free legal services and other
Speaker 2: support to many nonprofit organizations and individuals most in need
Speaker 2: as part of Excensure's commitment to racial and civil justice.
Speaker 2: Accenture's Legal Access Program provides pro bono legal services in
Speaker 2: partnership with more than forty organizations, bringing meaningful change to
Speaker 2: people and communities worldwide. So the attack finally ceases. Both
Speaker 2: men have been shot, your wife has called nine one one,
Speaker 2: and police and paramedics arrived. Eventually everyone's taken to the hospital.
Speaker 2: What happened next?
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 a homicide division, and they were
Speaker 3: trying to.
Speaker 5: 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
Speaker 3: houses for the best I can tell, other people have
Speaker 3: said that they were casing houses. White has several burglary
Speaker 3: convictions and several convictions for fencing stolen property. So anyway,
Speaker 3: the state's attorney was aware of all that information also
Speaker 3: mister White, as I said, the fifth and the state's
Speaker 3: attorney in charge of the case, Glenn Ivy, informing 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 until the police not to arrest a career criminal,
Speaker 3: a suspect in a shooting and an assault, and they
Speaker 3: could leave, which they did after he informed them that
Speaker 3: they were not to interview mister White or even talk
Speaker 3: to him.
Speaker 2: It's so so bizarre, I mean, because obviously Robert White
Speaker 2: had a lot to gain. First by his silence and
Speaker 2: then by lying, because if Keith was not guilty, then
Speaker 2: he and Brandon Clarke were, which wouldn't be hard to
Speaker 2: believe with White's twelve that's twelve previous convictions, including assault
Speaker 2: and battery, unlawful entry, larceny, grand largely receiving stolen goods,
Speaker 2: attempted third degree burglary, first degree burglary pointing a firearm,
Speaker 2: domestic violence, and first degreef sexual assault, for which he
Speaker 2: had served ten years. He also had over twenty additional
Speaker 2: arrests for crimes ranging from peeping tom to attempted murder,
Speaker 2: but the state's attorney, Glenn Ivy, who eventually ran for Congress,
Speaker 2: purposefully turned a blind eye to all of that and
Speaker 2: instead focused on Keith.
Speaker 4: They 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 cole, 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 he'd never
Speaker 4: should have been charged.
Speaker 2: And then, despite the clear nature of this incident, twelve
Speaker 2: time convicted felon Robert White's flow of inconsistent statements. Let
Speaker 2: me repraise that Robert White's flow of total bullshit went
Speaker 2: totally unchecked. So they're just ignoring this career criminal who's
Speaker 2: a real menace to society. And then here comes the kicker.
Speaker 2: Robert White filed a civil action against you, Keith and
Speaker 2: Prince George's county, seeking ready four hundred million dollars in
Speaker 2: damages arising out of the shooting. Wow, it was dismissed, surprise, surprise,
Speaker 2: but not before garnering a serious amount of media coverage.
Speaker 2: It also comes out later that someone else had filed
Speaker 2: that hand fisted civil action on White's behalf, perhaps someone
Speaker 2: who maybe wanted to draw a ton of media coverage,
Speaker 2: like a person who wanted to show what a bulwark
Speaker 2: of justice they were by holding a decorated veteran law
Speaker 2: enforcement officer and Homeland security official to account for what
Speaker 2: was alleged to be an unjustified shooting. And by the way,
Speaker 2: if it were the case that this was some trigger
Speaker 2: happy cop, I'd be the first one to say justice
Speaker 2: should be applied equally. But that's just not what this was.
Speaker 2: And they fucking knew it. So this media attention ramps
Speaker 2: up to public pressure, and the prosecution is aiming to
Speaker 2: score big political points and advance their careers if they
Speaker 2: bring home the win. And that's not me editorializing. Both
Speaker 2: prosecutors were overheard saying things to that effect. And I'm
Speaker 2: talking about prosecutors Joseph Wright and William Mumu who had
Speaker 2: all the information and evidence proving Keith's use of self defense,
Speaker 2: and yet they still argued that the shootings were unprovoked
Speaker 2: and unjustified. The state allowed Robert White to create his
Speaker 2: own version of events where Keith was unattacked, unprovoked, where
Speaker 2: you hadn't been stomped on and kicked, where you hadn't
Speaker 2: exhausted all other options before pulling out your service revolver.
Speaker 2: They used this testimony that changed every time White recounted
Speaker 2: the incident, every time Keith, Can you take us through
Speaker 2: some of the evidence that should have ended this prosecution
Speaker 2: 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
Speaker 3: evidence to trace fiber evidence from the clothing. They said
Speaker 3: they never touched me well, I said he was kicking me.
Speaker 3: I was on the ground. He was kicking when I
Speaker 3: shot him. The clothing fiber evidence showed the fibers from
Speaker 3: my shirt invest on his pants lit. So they had
Speaker 3: that evidence that contradicted his statement. They had the gunshot residue.
Speaker 3: He said that they were shot from across the room.
Speaker 3: The gunshot residue test done by the ATF show that
Speaker 3: he was shot from three inches away three to twelve inches.
Speaker 3: He said he shot from across the room. They resisted
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 Marlo's Furniture. Marlow's Furniture had given
Speaker 3: them a statement the human resources director, miss A Kila
Speaker 3: Ross that not only does he not work for them,
Speaker 3: that they've never heard of him or never seen him,
Speaker 3: and that Martels would never hire sex offenders to work
Speaker 3: in their delivery trucks because their insurance wouldn't cover. They
Speaker 3: had the toxicology report that showed that he was on
Speaker 3: cocaine the two States attorney denied that the toxicology test was.
Speaker 5: Ever even given on Robert White.
Speaker 3: They proffered to the court, to the jury, and to
Speaker 3: the general public that he was in a ploy Mordels furniture,
Speaker 3: that he was not a restrosex offender. All of these
Speaker 3: things in Moore happened in my trial by these two prosecutors.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is a litany of hers. Right. We
Speaker 2: have a prosecution team that is hell bent on convicting
Speaker 2: an innocent man while protecting a guilty one, and they
Speaker 2: had all of the evidence pointing to Keith's version of
Speaker 2: the events, clearly contradicting what Robert White testified to. White
Speaker 2: maintained that neither he nor Clark were close enough to
Speaker 2: Keith to assault him when he shot them. Now we've
Speaker 2: mentioned the gunshot residue and what that meant, but also
Speaker 2: White's DNA was found on Keith's gun, Clark's pidfibers were
Speaker 2: found on Keith's vest from when he was kicking him.
Speaker 2: 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 upstairs hallway
Speaker 4: and whole bathroom, where Keith and Stace had maintained that
Speaker 4: the altercation had taken place.
Speaker 2: But the prosecution doubled down on the lie. Listen to this.
Speaker 2: The prosecutors made thirty one false and misleading statements throughout
Speaker 2: the trial that were objected to and sustained. These were
Speaker 2: obviously meant to intentionally mislead throw off the jurors. There
Speaker 2: were nine objections to statements made by prosecutor Joseph Wright
Speaker 2: during his closing argument alone, including that Robert White had
Speaker 2: only one conviction and that there was no cocaine test
Speaker 2: given to Robert White. These were just straight up lies.
Speaker 2: His criminal record and toxicology report were absolutely available, yet
Speaker 2: the jury was not made aware of them. This is
Speaker 2: just so nuts. It's so wrong. White had denied under
Speaker 2: oath to the grand jury about being a sex offender,
Speaker 2: which the prosecutors allowed him to do. The state's attorney
Speaker 2: in charge of the case knew all of this. The prosecutor,
Speaker 2: William Mumau, later said, he said, we put Robert White
Speaker 2: on the stand he was a witness of ours. But
Speaker 2: you'll never see me standing in front of a jury
Speaker 2: saying that this witness says the truth. Wow. Are you
Speaker 2: fucking getting me with this shit? Wow? And certainly if
Speaker 2: the jury would have learned those things, it would have
Speaker 2: had a real impact on the outcome of the trial.
Speaker 2: But they didn't get to know these things. They weren't presented,
Speaker 2: and these jurors were not mind readers. So for all
Speaker 2: the jury knew Robert White and Brandon Clark, which is
Speaker 2: too humble furniture delivery man who had the misfortune of
Speaker 2: came to the home of a trigger happy cop, a
Speaker 2: trigger happy cop who had never used his gun before,
Speaker 2: by the way, so let's not leave that out. And
Speaker 2: on February thirteenth, two thousand and eight, clearly the prosecution's
Speaker 2: lies and manipulations worked. The jury found you guilty, Keith.
Speaker 2: And what was that very moment, like I mean, when
Speaker 2: you when you heard the word guilty and then when
Speaker 2: they sentence you to over two times the maximum sentence.
Speaker 5: As it relates to the moment the jury came back
Speaker 5: with the conviction. I watched my.
Speaker 3: Wife cry, I watched my daughter cry, the guy put
Speaker 3: handcuffs on me. I watched my sister cry. I watched
Speaker 3: a lot of friends and relatives, you know, I felt
Speaker 3: bad for them. The pre sence investigation came back with
Speaker 3: a minimum of five years in a maximum of twenty years,
Speaker 3: and the judge gave me a forty five year sentence.
Speaker 5: He went over one.
Speaker 3: Hundred percent past the maximum sentence that was recommended, and
Speaker 3: he went over nine hundred percent passed the minimum sentence
Speaker 3: that was recommended, which was five years. And I don't
Speaker 3: think anyone's ever receive the forty five year sentence for
Speaker 3: involuntary man's form. In prison, you're either World 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: going to go through the fire with me, because when
Speaker 3: a family member goes to prison, you know, in actuality,
Speaker 3: the whole.
Speaker 5: Family goes to prison. Their life stops too. It was
Speaker 5: my family that suffered. Listen.
Speaker 3: It was the worst feeling I'd ever had, and I
Speaker 3: knew that I was going to fight like hell and
Speaker 3: get it out of prison. Every minute, every second, every eye,
Speaker 3: every day that I was just gonna fight.
Speaker 5: I didn't know anything else to do. I was gonna
Speaker 5: work on my case.
Speaker 3: I had twelve volumes of transcripts, and so I talked
Speaker 3: to my wife on the phone every day for about
Speaker 3: two years. I would dictate Robert White's testimony to her
Speaker 3: over the phone and she would type it. I would
Speaker 3: sit up at night and go over his testimony, get
Speaker 3: all the contradicting statements and put them together out of
Speaker 3: those twelve volumes, which was about almost twenty five hundred pages.
Speaker 5: And then we.
Speaker 3: Put 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 evidence that their own witnesses, their own state experts,
Speaker 3: had collected and given to them. Numerous people, including states
Speaker 3: attorneys other prosecutors in that office, came forward with statements
Speaker 3: that they had told their boss, Hey, they falsified the
Speaker 3: evidence in mister Washington's case, they willingly manipulated light, falsify
Speaker 3: the evidence, and that mister White is not telling the
Speaker 3: truth on any of the issues according to the physical, forensic,
Speaker 3: and scientific evidence.
Speaker 5: Mister Ivy, he.
Speaker 3: Told my wife that I got a raw deal, but
Speaker 3: he told her privately that there was nothing he would
Speaker 3: do because it would affect his wife's political career with
Speaker 3: the time was a state.
Speaker 2: Delegate, Jesus Christ. And to add another insult to injury,
Speaker 2: after you were wrongfully convicted, Robert White was arrested on
Speaker 2: two more occasions for breaking into the homes of two
Speaker 2: different women and physically assaulting both of them, which should
Speaker 2: outrage all of us. These other incidents didn't have to happen,
Speaker 2: and they wouldn't have happened. They had a guy who
Speaker 2: you think that anyone in their position right should want
Speaker 2: off the street, anyone would want him off the street,
Speaker 2: But instead they chose you. I mean, why was doing
Speaker 2: what they were supposed to do? Just not a cooler
Speaker 2: enough story. I mean, do you have any theories at
Speaker 2: 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 State's
Speaker 3: Attorney that we have several officers of the court who
Speaker 3: called my family and spoke with my family, and they've
Speaker 3: illuminated the motive for this case where mister Wright allegedly
Speaker 3: bragged to several other attorneys what 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
Speaker 3: h This is according to their colleagues in their very
Speaker 3: own office, that mister Wright was bragging it he was
Speaker 3: going to be the next States Attorney and he had
Speaker 3: to deliver the Keith.
Speaker 5: Washington conviction to do that.
Speaker 3: That his boss, mister Ivy, used the case to run
Speaker 3: for Congress in twenty ten, and that he was using
Speaker 3: this case as he was tough on police corruption and
Speaker 3: he ran for Congress on an issue using my case specifically.
Speaker 3: And he even went to the police academy and spoke to
Speaker 3: numerous people, including the cadets in the police academy, about
Speaker 3: my case in police corruption and used me as a
Speaker 3: whipping Boy while I was in prison, and so he
Speaker 3: ran in twenty ten for Congress.
Speaker 5: He didn't win.
Speaker 3: He lost the primary. Joseph Wright ran for a sex
Speaker 3: attorney twenty ten he also lost, and William Mumou put
Speaker 3: in for his judge ship and didn't get it. Now,
Speaker 3: a new administration came into office in twenty ten, and
Speaker 3: so mister Ivy had to fulfill his promises to those
Speaker 3: two guys, and he subsequently got Mumau a job as
Speaker 3: an assistant US attorney. He didn't get him his judge ship,
Speaker 3: but he got him a job as assistant US attorney
Speaker 3: from what I'm told, and that mister Mumau's raise a
Speaker 3: state's attorney in Prince Rode's County made about fifty five
Speaker 3: thousand dollars a year. I'm assuming assistant US attorney makes
Speaker 3: about one ten or one twenty somewhere around there as
Speaker 3: a GS twelve or so as a significant raise. And
Speaker 3: mister Wright was given a judge ship in twenty ten,
Speaker 3: so his salary went from fifty five thousand to about
Speaker 3: one point.
Speaker 2: Forty Holy actual fuck. I mean you're hearing this from
Speaker 2: the people immediately around them who were directly involved in
Speaker 2: the case. What about the investigators, I mean, they obviously
Speaker 2: knew that 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.
Speaker 5: 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 investigator.
Speaker 3: And it 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.
Speaker 5: Fired him from the case.
Speaker 3: Wall says that he put in his paperwork to retire
Speaker 3: from the police department and came back and worked for
Speaker 3: the State Attorney's office as an investigator, obviously with a
Speaker 3: significant raise, and enjoy your own conclusions. But I would
Speaker 3: say it appears to be hush money, and Walo said it.
Speaker 3: He'll tell anybody what actually happened if he's subpoena and
Speaker 3: asked those questions. Another bit of good news is that
Speaker 3: mister Wright is no longer a judge, that he was
Speaker 3: convicted in twenty eighteen of perjury and falsifying government documents
Speaker 3: by the Maryland Judicial Disability Board that was clearly people
Speaker 3: with blind ambition winning to lie, cheater steal involved in
Speaker 3: my case, Marty.
Speaker 2: In twenty twenty, your amazing students in the Making Xannery
Speaker 2: program there at Georgetown investigated Keith's case and made a
Speaker 2: brilliant short documentary about it, and we're going to make
Speaker 2: sure to include a link for that in the bio.
Speaker 2: And their hard work has made such a phenomenal impact
Speaker 2: on this case and so many others. So, Marty, if
Speaker 2: you could just summarize for us how it is that
Speaker 2: 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 5: Hour and a half ago?
Speaker 3: I was in a department correction space height to three
Speaker 3: and now a home.
Speaker 4: For my family And how's the field stakes? And Caylen
Speaker 4: to have your husband and your dad home, it feels great.
Speaker 5: It feels like I've been waiting on this for thirteen years.
Speaker 2: And that right there is the sound of Keith freed
Speaker 2: from prison, finally back with his family at his home.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful sound.
Speaker 4: We sat around in his backyard and we had pizza
Speaker 4: and lemonade and enjoying the fresh air, 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 that. And I think
Speaker 4: that is something that just demonstrates Ethan Stacy are. They
Speaker 4: are just truly genuine people. Their love is probably stronger
Speaker 4: than ever. But even though Keith is free, the intentional,
Speaker 4: wrongful conviction is still hanging over Keith's head, whichard shouldn't.
Speaker 2: Be absolutely and Keith, There's been news both a really
Speaker 2: long time ago as well as more recently that should
Speaker 2: have a positive effect I'm bringing about justice in your case.
Speaker 2: We already mentioned that Robert White, just weeks after your
Speaker 2: trial was arrested not once, but twice for breaking into
Speaker 2: homes and physically assaulting two women. And then there's been
Speaker 2: 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: you know, So hopefully this will facilitate the case being overturned.
Speaker 3: And so now honest and reasonable and ethical people who
Speaker 3: are reviewing the case and looking at it can see
Speaker 3: that because there's no good expert nation legally or otherwise
Speaker 3: as to how this happened. The current ST's attorney, Miss
Speaker 3: Brave Boy, she reviewed the evidence and she saw that, hey,
Speaker 3: this is an excessive sentence to say the least, notwithstanding
Speaker 3: that there are other issues as it relates to an
Speaker 3: integrity of mister Washington's conviction. And so we believe they're
Speaker 3: going to do the right thing shortly, you know, will
Speaker 3: turn it. Due to the fact that mister White now
Speaker 3: has been charged with perjury in my case, we can
Speaker 3: only be hopeful that justice will prevail in an expeditious
Speaker 3: manner because it's been thirteen years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think justice is coming in your case. I'm
Speaker 2: glad we're able to get the word out about it
Speaker 2: through this podcast. We're going to be shouting it from
Speaker 2: the rooftops. You've got an incredible team now, so I'm
Speaker 2: sure many of our listeners are feeling the same way.
Speaker 2: I'm feeling that this is outrageous even by the standards
Speaker 2: of what we're used to hearing on the show, and
Speaker 2: that they want to help if they can. Is there
Speaker 2: a way that people can get involved? What can people do?
Speaker 2: And we'll link whatever it is in the bio so
Speaker 2: people can easily find it.
Speaker 4: A few things the listeners can do is demand that
Speaker 4: I U should Brave Boy meet with us and vindicate
Speaker 4: Keith and dismiss his conviction. I think people can support
Speaker 4: them making an exonery program and anything Keith needs, because
Speaker 4: one thing that I think we as a society fail
Speaker 4: to really address and understand is that each year, innocent
Speaker 4: men and women get released from prison by exoneration and
Speaker 4: they connect with nothing. In many cases, there is literally
Speaker 4: no programs available that help individuals reacclimate. If not for
Speaker 4: the grace of God that some of those people that
Speaker 4: get out have family and friends, I don't know what
Speaker 4: those men and women would do. Imagine being locked up
Speaker 4: for fifteen twenty years, coming out and having nothing, no underwear,
Speaker 4: no soap, no shampoo, no toothbrushes, no toothpaste. Anything. We
Speaker 4: as a society can do more. I think the corporations
Speaker 4: of America can do more. Thankfully, Keith does have an
Speaker 4: amazing wife and daughter, but not everyone is lucky and
Speaker 4: fortunate to have that.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 3: I would ask people to go to the one Innocentman
Speaker 3: dot org website and familiarize himself with the case and
Speaker 3: the evidence and the facts, and as Marty said, to
Speaker 3: call missus bray Boy's office hand Upper Marlborough, Maryland and
Speaker 3: implore her to go ahead and overturn the case. The
Speaker 3: other thing, if you would, we'd like to give Georgetown
Speaker 3: all the kudos that they deserve because they're doing great work.
Speaker 3: Whatever we can do to support them, that's what we're
Speaker 3: going to do.
Speaker 4: On Keith's page one Incanman 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: were the three students that worked on your case and
Speaker 4: created the website?
Speaker 3: Because I know they are party or family, Josh, Selene
Speaker 3: and Trevor.
Speaker 2: All right, Josh, Selene and Trevor shout out from the
Speaker 2: wrongful conviction team and from the man himself or the
Speaker 2: two men themselves and me keep doing the great work.
Speaker 2: I'm really proud of all the kids in the Making
Speaker 2: Zannery program. It's been a privilege for me to work
Speaker 2: with them and lecture at the school and stuff. So
Speaker 2: with that, we will now turn to the closing of
Speaker 2: the show, which is called Closing Arguments, and this is
Speaker 2: the part of the show that I always look forward to.
Speaker 2: First of all, thank you again Keith for your courage,
Speaker 2: for your service, for being here with us to share
Speaker 2: your incredible story. And of course, Marty Tanklive. What can
Speaker 2: I say, Man, you just never cease to amaze me.
Speaker 2: And I'm so proud to call you my friend, and
Speaker 2: I really appreciate both of you being here. And now
Speaker 2: closing Arguments works like this. I turned my microphone off,
Speaker 2: kick back in my chair, close my eyes and just
Speaker 2: listen to any final thoughts that you want to share. Marty,
Speaker 2: let's start with you and save Keith for the closing
Speaker 2: of the closing arguments.
Speaker 4: So for me, it's remarkable that I think back to
Speaker 4: when I was sitting in a prison myself serving fifty
Speaker 4: 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 or system has
Speaker 4: And Jason has been a blessing for the making Exiginerary
Speaker 4: program at Georgetown, and for that we are grateful. And
Speaker 4: I would be remiss if I didn't say thank you Mark,
Speaker 4: who's my partner in doing this at Georgetown, Because with
Speaker 4: Mark and our amazing students, we are making a difference
Speaker 4: in people's lives, and I think it's the best thing
Speaker 4: that you can actually do. I'm always reminded by something
Speaker 4: that Joseph Flahm told Jason Flohm, and that's do something
Speaker 4: you love that leads a lasting impression and makes a difference.
Speaker 4: And if helping students get somebody out of prison doesn't
Speaker 4: fulfill that mantra, not really sure what does.
Speaker 2: Keith.
Speaker 3: I learned a long time ago that we all have
Speaker 3: 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've all been hurt and wounded and abandoned. But
Speaker 3: you can't give up. And I will 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.
Speaker 5: So without faith and courage, you're just an empty vessel.
Speaker 3: All I want to leave people with is to know
Speaker 3: that there are people of good will out there.
Speaker 5: There are people who are just, who are honest, There
Speaker 5: are people who have integrity.
Speaker 3: There are people who will fight for you because they
Speaker 3: believe in what's right, and I want to applaud those people.
Speaker 3: We are kindred spirits, and so wherever you find a
Speaker 3: person like that, support them.
Speaker 5: Believe that they're going to.
Speaker 3: Support you if I can help anyone, Because I've been
Speaker 3: helped in my life. This has taught me a valuable lesson.
Speaker 3: No matter what myself and my family's gone through. We
Speaker 3: want to be a light to others. I appreciate everything
Speaker 3: that people at Georgetown have done, Marty, Mark Selene, Josh Trevor.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 5: Are listening to your program with something to think about.
Speaker 3: You are what makes this country great, all of us,
Speaker 3: and so if there's a deficit somewhere, it's up to
Speaker 3: us to fix it no matter where we find it,
Speaker 3: and try to leave a better place, a better country,
Speaker 3: a better society for the next generation. My wounds will heal,
Speaker 3: and so we'll use this as a lesson to be
Speaker 3: remembered and learned, and we're going to build from there.
Speaker 3: I thank you guys for the platform. I thank you
Speaker 3: for supporting our cause and we'll see you around the
Speaker 3: water cooler.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. Please support your
Speaker 2: local innocence organizations and go to the links in our
Speaker 2: bio to see how you can help. I'd like to
Speaker 2: thank our production team Connor Hall, Justin Golden, Jeff Clyburn,
Speaker 2: and Kevin Wardis. The music on This show as always
Speaker 2: is by three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be
Speaker 2: sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on
Speaker 2: Twitter at wrong Conviction, and on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast.
Speaker 2: Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts
Speaker 2: and association with Signal Company Number one