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Speaker 1: When we initially released Ken Middleton's episode in March twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two, we were hoping that Jackson County District Attorney

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Speaker 1: Jean Peters Baker would be moved to action. But it

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Speaker 1: turns out it looks like Ken's son, Cliff Middleton, has

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Speaker 1: exposed another conflict of interest for the Jackson County Prosecutor's office,

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Speaker 1: and this one comes with a constitutional violation. When the

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Speaker 1: trial prosecutor struck a bond agreement with the court for

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Speaker 1: mister Middleton, there was a stipulation that he would not

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Speaker 1: have access to his assets. This was a clear violation

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Speaker 1: of his Sixth Amendment rights, as affirmed in twenty sixteen

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Speaker 1: by the Supreme Court, who decided in Louis versus United

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Speaker 1: States that the Sixth Amendment prohibits the pre trial restraint

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Speaker 1: of assets needed to retain a defendant's council of choice

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Speaker 1: when those assets have not been used in conjunction with

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Speaker 1: criminal activity. Mister Middleton is hoping that the Court agrees

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Speaker 1: that the actions of the Jackson County Prosecutor's office to

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Speaker 1: do just that to mister Middleton pre trial represented a

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Speaker 1: conflict of interest that will disqualify that office and result

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Speaker 1: in the appointment of a special prosecutor. A prosecutor who's

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Speaker 1: free of this conflict, among others, would be able to

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Speaker 1: apply the newly enacted SB fifty three in order to

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Speaker 1: grant mister Middleton a new trial on his ineffective assistance

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Speaker 1: of counsel, constitutional violations and actual innocence claims. Canon Kathy

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Speaker 1: Middleton had properties in Blue Springs, Missouri, as well as

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Speaker 1: Ken's family land back in Arkansas, where they hoped to

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Speaker 1: one day retire. On February twelfth, nineteen ninety, when he

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Speaker 1: planned to clean a gun that he had brought back

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Speaker 1: from Arkansas, Ken felt Hill, laid the gun down and

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Speaker 1: took a nap. Meanwhile, Kathy returned early from work to

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Speaker 1: confront Ken about news of a regretful affair that had

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Speaker 1: ended three years earlier. After grabbing the gun from where

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Speaker 1: Ken had laid it down, Kathy made her way to

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Speaker 1: the phone to call the alleged mistress. When tragedy struck.

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Speaker 1: It is believed that it destroyed. Kathy mishandled the weapon

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Speaker 1: in her left hand and shot herself in the head.

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Speaker 1: Ken immediately called nine to one one when first responders

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Speaker 1: found him without a drop of blood or gunshot residue

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Speaker 1: on him. A positive gunshot residue test of Kathy's left

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Speaker 1: hand would have conclusively ruled her death as a tragic accident. However,

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Speaker 1: her left hand test results went missing and the crime

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Speaker 1: lab document was altered in what clearly appears to be

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Speaker 1: evidence tampering, where a medical examiner and blood spatter expert

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Speaker 1: willing to testify to an impossible scenario in which Ken

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Speaker 1: was magically able to shoot Kathy from less than a

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Speaker 1: foot away while remaining free of blood and GSR. Ken

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Speaker 1: was sentenced to life plus two hundred years. Despite the

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Speaker 1: mishandling of the crime scene, ballistics testing was still able

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Speaker 1: to prove Ken's innocence. His conviction was overturned in two

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Speaker 1: thousand and four, but a jurisdictional technicality has held him

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Speaker 1: in legal limbo ever since. Keneda's son, Cliff Middleton, join

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Speaker 1: us to ask, how is it that, even though a

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Speaker 1: new statute remedies that technicality, the current prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker,

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Speaker 1: refuses to act. This is wrongful conviction. Welcome back to

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Speaker 1: Ronful Conviction. I'm your host, Jason Fom. You know each

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Speaker 1: week I have a pretty good idea of how I'm

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Speaker 1: going to start the show. You know, usually there's one

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Speaker 1: main focus, one main problem that we can talk about

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Speaker 1: in any particular case. But this time, I don't even

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Speaker 1: know where to start. When our friend Larry Garrison, who's

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Speaker 1: actually known as the Newsbreaker, okay for his years of

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Speaker 1: investigative reporting and his work through Silver Creek Entertainment, when

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Speaker 1: he first told me and us here at Ronful Conviction

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Speaker 1: about the case of Ken Middleton, he had lived up

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Speaker 1: to his nickname once again, I mean the Newsbreaker. So

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Speaker 1: I'll start by saying that Ken Middleton has been in

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Speaker 1: prison for over thirty years for being present during what

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Speaker 1: they may well have known all along was just a

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Speaker 1: tragic accident. And there are so many problems in this

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Speaker 1: case that we could literally pick on any one of

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Speaker 1: them and make an entire episode of the show just

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Speaker 1: about that. I'm talking about ineffective assistance of counsel, false

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Speaker 1: expert testimony, evidence tampering, incompetent investigator's official corruption, conflicts of interest,

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Speaker 1: Ken refusing freedom through an Alfred plea right, something that

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Speaker 1: you never catch a guilty person doing, and that's something

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Speaker 1: that happened seventeen years ago, almost eighteen now, plus there's

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Speaker 1: this insane jurisdictional technicality that has kept this innocent man

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Speaker 1: in prison long past the time that I believe everyone

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Speaker 1: knows that he should have ever been in there. So

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Speaker 1: without further ado, at seventy seven years old, Ken is

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Speaker 1: calling in from inside the prison walls in Missouri. Ken,

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Speaker 1: I'm so sorry you're here because of the reason why

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Speaker 1: you're here, but I'm very honored to have you on

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Speaker 1: the show.

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Speaker 2: Thank you appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: And with Ken is his son and probably most passionate advocate,

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Speaker 1: Cliff Middleton. Thanks for joining us.

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Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me on. Jason, I

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Speaker 3: really really appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: And I know how hard this is going to be.

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Speaker 1: I mean, like any other son, you love your dad

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Speaker 1: and you just want this thing to end. Okay, let's

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Speaker 1: go back in time and I'm gonna turn to you. Ken.

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Speaker 1: This is early nineteen ninety in Blue Springs, Missouri, and

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Speaker 1: you're there with your wife Kathy. So tell us what

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Speaker 1: was happening in your life? What were things like before

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Speaker 1: all this happened.

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Speaker 2: It was great. We had a great marriage for over

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Speaker 2: sixteen years, had a farm in Arkansas, two different farms.

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Speaker 2: I had three hundred and fifty two acres of the land.

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Speaker 2: I had drove a truck for over twenty years, and

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Speaker 2: I'd injured my back and I wasn't working right then,

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Speaker 2: so I was going to the farm and doing projects,

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Speaker 2: working on the house and watching nice of the cattle

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Speaker 2: and stuff like that. Kathy worked today at and T

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Speaker 2: for twenty eight years, and two years you'd have her

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Speaker 2: time in Horse you could retire regardless of age. And

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Speaker 2: that's what was waiting on, and was moving back to

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Speaker 2: Tarkansas for good.

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Speaker 1: And let's get into how this came to pass. So

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Speaker 1: let's go back to February twelfth, nineteen ninety and just

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Speaker 1: to set the stage here, you had been at your

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Speaker 1: place in Arkansas and you brought a handgun that you

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Speaker 1: owned back to Missouri with you. But meanwhile you had

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Speaker 1: been feeling sick, but no one knew at the time,

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Speaker 1: not you or anybody, that you were really seriously ill

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Speaker 1: at this point, Is that right, right?

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Speaker 2: And I was sick for left Arkansas, and when I

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Speaker 2: got back Sunday afternoon, I didn't sleep much all night.

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Speaker 2: So the next morning, Kathy had went to work at

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Speaker 2: at and T and I unloaded the rest of my

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Speaker 2: truck and brought the gun in the house. It had

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Speaker 2: been in Arkansas since i'd went to Colorado Elcott in

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Speaker 2: the fall before, and there's a big snow and rain

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Speaker 2: and stuff in Colorado and it got wet. So I

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Speaker 2: picked it up and brought it back to Missouri. I

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Speaker 2: was aiming to clean it. And when I got it

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Speaker 2: out of the truck, I went in the house and

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Speaker 2: sat down. I called Kathy at work, and she asked

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Speaker 2: me how I was feeling. I said about the same.

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Speaker 2: I wasn't feeling good, and I sat in a recliner

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Speaker 2: and I went to sleep. And I'd never cleaned the gun.

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Speaker 2: So the next thing I knew is she was already home,

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Speaker 2: and she'd picked up the gun out of the towel

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Speaker 2: that I had had the gun laying on, and she

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Speaker 2: was upset that somebody had told her that I was

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Speaker 2: having an affair with a woman, which was true, but

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Speaker 2: it had been over for three years, and she walked

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Speaker 2: over to the phone in the dining room to call

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Speaker 2: the woman. So I got up and was dizzy, and

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Speaker 2: next thing I know, the tragedy had happened.

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Speaker 1: And the tragedy that had happened is the matter of

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Speaker 1: this dispute between the Middletons and the State. Now, Ken

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Speaker 1: maintained his innocence in the matter, that this was a

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Speaker 1: tragic accident at which Kathy visibly upset about the news

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Speaker 1: of this affair, and on her way to the phone

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Speaker 1: to confront your alleged mistress, Kathy was holding the gun

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Speaker 1: in her left hand and accidentally shot herself on the

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Speaker 1: left side of her forehead, splattering blood all over the wall.

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Speaker 1: This version of events is supported by the ballistics and

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Speaker 1: all the other physical evidence. And then there's what the

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Speaker 1: state wants everyone to believe. Right, bear with me, because

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Speaker 1: this is nuts. That Ken had somehow held Kathy up

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Speaker 1: against the wall and shot her in the face, but

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Speaker 1: somehow miraculously was able to be completely clear of blood

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Speaker 1: spatter or gunshot residue, not a trace on him. And

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Speaker 1: we'll get into all of that a bit later. So

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Speaker 1: back to this terrible tragedy. A gunshot rang out and

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Speaker 1: Kathy was on the floor in a pool of blood.

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Speaker 1: What a nightmare, Ken, What happened next?

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Speaker 2: I'd seen her on the floor and grabbed a gun

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Speaker 2: and put it on the table and call nine one

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Speaker 2: one immediately. I asked for the paramedics, and I'd called

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Speaker 2: him three times within a short period of time wanted

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Speaker 2: to know who the paramedics was. And the third time,

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Speaker 2: the operator told me to go outside, that the paramedics

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Speaker 2: were there. And I looked out, and I told her

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Speaker 2: that I'd looked out and there wasn't nobody out there,

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Speaker 2: and she convinced me to go outside that they were there.

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Speaker 2: So I went out and the first thing I've seen

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Speaker 2: was a copp hole behind the walls, screaming at me

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Speaker 2: to get my hands in the air and turn around

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Speaker 2: with my back to him at his gun pointed at me,

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Speaker 2: and I'd done as he said, and he'd come up

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Speaker 2: behind me and search me. I wanted to know where

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Speaker 2: the paramedics were, and he ordered me back in the house,

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Speaker 2: and we went back in the house and he went

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Speaker 2: in and checked on my wife, and I was just hysterical,

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Speaker 2: and I guess I was down on my knees and

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Speaker 2: he jerked me up, and when he'd done that fast,

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Speaker 2: I become dizzy, real dizzy. Oh No, I was ain't

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Speaker 2: a blackout, So I said it was amb six and

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Speaker 2: I went down the hall to the bathroom and I

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Speaker 2: went in and spliced water on my face, and then

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Speaker 2: he took me outside and I had a real bad

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Speaker 2: hurting in my left arm and chased.

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Speaker 1: Now, when the paramedics arrived, they determined Ken, that you

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Speaker 1: had been hyperventilating, complaining of chess plains and blood pressure

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Speaker 1: was going crazy, and they convinced you to go to

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Speaker 1: the hospital for an examination.

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Speaker 2: They taught me to go into the hospital, and they

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Speaker 2: took me to three medical hospitals, and then on the

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Speaker 2: third one, I was forced in a mental hospital till

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Speaker 2: the next day.

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Speaker 1: They later tried to say that you had checked into

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Speaker 1: that mental hospital to try to get away with murder

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Speaker 1: claim by claiming insanity defense. But we're getting ahead of

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Speaker 1: ourselves here, and let's not leave out the fact that

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Speaker 1: your dad was in and out of consciousness on his

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Speaker 1: way to the hospital. And they took an EKG at

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Speaker 1: the hospital and it showed that Ken, that you had

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Speaker 1: recently suffered from a heart attack. Now here's another thing

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Speaker 1: that I have trouble understanding processing. The officers didn't write

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Speaker 1: their statements until days later, and they did it by memory, right,

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Speaker 1: And these statements that were taken from a hysterical man

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Speaker 1: who had to be rushed to the hospital talking about you,

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Speaker 1: of course, Ken, who was just trying to help figure

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Speaker 1: out what happened, so the officers didn't bother to write

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Speaker 1: it down.

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Speaker 3: There were a couple police reports that were handwritten out

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Speaker 3: that day, but the official reports that I have reviewed

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Speaker 3: were written on I believe it was February twenty first,

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Speaker 3: and Kathy died on the twelve.

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Speaker 1: Now, in researching this case, I saw in the police

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Speaker 1: reports where they kept on documenting instances in which Ken

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Speaker 1: allegedly had done something with his hands, like he mentioned

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Speaker 1: splashing water on its face, right. They wrote down another

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Speaker 1: instance where they said he wiped his hands on a door,

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Speaker 1: touched dirt in a potted plant, and the implication is

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Speaker 1: that Ken was trying to somehow wash away the gunshot residue.

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Speaker 3: There's a picture the Independence News Examiner paper took of

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Speaker 3: my father out there on the front stoop, leaning over

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Speaker 3: that powder plant, sobbing, and the two paramedics are consoling him.

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Speaker 3: It's very obvious that he was in a state of

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Speaker 3: shock in hysteria. First of all, you already claimed he

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Speaker 3: was washing his hands when he splashed water on his face.

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Speaker 3: It's crazy to think that somebody's trying to wash their

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Speaker 3: hands in the dirt. Unless you've been involved in something

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Speaker 3: like this, how would you even know what a gunshot

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Speaker 3: residue test is, especially in nineteen ninety Jayson, maybe today

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Speaker 3: with crime shows and things, but he didn't know what

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Speaker 3: they were testing him for.

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Speaker 2: They took my shirt, under shirt and clothes and shoes

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Speaker 2: and all, and they did this and then come back negative.

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Speaker 2: No blood or nothing on my lone sleeve shirt. And

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Speaker 2: that picture in the front high of a house when

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Speaker 2: I was over the stuke shows the long sleeve shirt

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Speaker 2: down to my risk, there was no blood, no gunshots.

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Speaker 1: Right, and as the evidence clearly shows, she was shot

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Speaker 1: from very close range, less than a foot away, and

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Speaker 1: there's no way you can do that without being covered

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Speaker 1: in blood and gunshot residue. But you weren't because you

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Speaker 1: didn't kill her. And Kathy's gunshot residue tests would likely

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Speaker 1: have corroborated Ken's version of events and shown that this

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Speaker 1: was a tragic accident, not a homicide. Cliff, can you

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Speaker 1: explain what I mean by that.

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Speaker 3: They swabbed both of her hands, that they four gunshot residue,

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Speaker 3: and the prime document that they fill out shows that

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Speaker 3: they swabbed both hands, right and left hands, and it

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Speaker 3: shows they used two different kids to do that, one

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Speaker 3: for the right hand and one for the left hand. Well,

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Speaker 3: the next day when the corner did the autas, the

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Speaker 3: corner ruled it a homicide based on what the police

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Speaker 3: were telling him unless other information come forward to prove otherwise.

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Speaker 3: Now that gunshot residue was important information, and took them

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Speaker 3: nine days to turn the gunshot residue samples into the

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Speaker 3: crime lab. And when they turned them into the crime lab,

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Speaker 3: the document was altered to show only one kit and

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Speaker 3: the left hand was wided out to show they only

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Speaker 3: tested the right hand when she was shot from eight

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Speaker 3: to twelve inches away on the left side of her head.

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Speaker 1: You really have to see this to believe it. And

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Speaker 1: we're going to link pictures of this in our episode Child,

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Speaker 1: because I'm looking at it right now and I still

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Speaker 1: can't believe that I'm actually looking at what I'm looking at. Okay, So,

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Speaker 1: the test of Kathy's left hand, the one in which

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Speaker 1: she would have held the gun in order to shoot herself,

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Speaker 1: the test of that hand disappeared or it wasn't tested

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Speaker 1: on purpose. There's only two possibilities. The crime lab document

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Speaker 1: that should have been for both of her hands was

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Speaker 1: altered with whiteout. Okay, remember white out, it's unreal. This

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Speaker 1: is like to show that only her right hand had

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Speaker 1: been tested. And this is reinforced when you compare it

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Speaker 1: with the GSR test document for Ken in the same

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Speaker 1: handwriting okay, get ready for this, it states quote number

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Speaker 1: of articles two GSR test kits for right and left hands.

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Speaker 1: End quote. But then on Kathy's GSR test document, in

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Speaker 1: the same exact handwriting, it says, quote number of articles

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Speaker 1: and whatever was there is white it out, right, just

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Speaker 1: white it out, and the number one is in its place.

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Speaker 1: And then it reads quote gunshot residue for right and

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Speaker 1: quote followed by another gob of whiteout and the word hand.

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Speaker 1: So in all likelihood the white out is simply covering

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Speaker 1: the words and left, as it would have been in

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Speaker 1: a request for testing of both right and left hands,

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Speaker 1: where now only one test for her right hand exists

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Speaker 1: and the one that really matters the left hand is missing.

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Speaker 2: Later on, after us convicted years later, we took their

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Speaker 2: deposition and Jeff Rogers that wrote the report out he

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Speaker 2: swore that he didn't put the white out on that

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Speaker 2: because his on green paper, and he said that he

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Speaker 2: wouldn't have whited it out. He'd just filled out a

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Speaker 2: new report and we got Dave Link, the one that

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Speaker 2: took it to the lab. Nine days later, he swore

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Speaker 2: up and down that he didn't do it. And he

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Speaker 2: was asked, did he always take both hands of a

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Speaker 2: close gunshot residue test? He said yeah, My attorney asking

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Speaker 2: years later in ninety seven, always, and he said absolutely.

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Speaker 1: They whited out the left hand, and they whited out

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Speaker 1: the number of articles. I mean, somebody literally just took

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Speaker 1: white out.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the left hand. If it would have come back positive,

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Speaker 3: it would have been powerful evidence that she accidentally fired

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Speaker 3: the gun herself. Our attorney told us that if that

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Speaker 3: left hand come back positive, the coroner would have changed

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Speaker 3: his findings and they wouldn't have had a case against

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Speaker 3: my father. It all would have ended right there.

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Speaker 1: This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company.

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Speaker 1: AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and is making

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Speaker 1: a positive difference in the lives of its employees and

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Speaker 1: in the communities where we work and live. In light

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Speaker 1: of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and

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Speaker 1: in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform.

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Speaker 1: The AIG Pro Bono program provides free legal services and

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Speaker 1: other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. Now, this is

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Speaker 1: a small town police department. My understanding is there hadn't

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Speaker 1: been a homicide investigation in almost a decade. These people

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Speaker 1: were not up to the task, and they started making

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Speaker 1: mistakes more or less as soon as they walked into

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Speaker 1: the house.

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Speaker 3: Yes, yes, And like so many other cases, I believe

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Speaker 3: the police immediately focused on my father and had tunnel

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Speaker 3: vision as they began to investigate this case. I'll start

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Speaker 3: with the fact that they took photos that day of

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Speaker 3: the alleged crime scene, and the photos allegedly did not

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Speaker 3: come out, And after Kathy's body was removed, they went

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Speaker 3: back and restaged the crime scene and took new photos.

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Speaker 3: By the time they'd done this, my stepmother had already

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Speaker 3: been taken out of the house, and the fire department

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Speaker 3: had actually been called in to cut sheet rock out

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Speaker 3: of the wall with blood spatter and things, And so

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Speaker 3: the new pictures they took the sheet rock was already

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Speaker 3: cut out, and they had drawn a diagram of the

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Speaker 3: dining room where this happened, and the diagram didn't match

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Speaker 3: the pictures. They had moved the dining room table all

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Speaker 3: the way up against the wall to make it appear

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Speaker 3: that there was a bigger area there when she was shot.

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Speaker 1: Right to make room for this alleged struggle that never

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Speaker 1: even happened. When she went to use the phone.

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Speaker 3: In every picture they took of this small dining room,

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Speaker 3: they missed that phone Jason by a quarter of an inch.

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Speaker 3: Another mistake that was made that day at the crime scene.

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Speaker 3: According to the police reports, they unclothed my stepmother naked

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Speaker 3: right there on the dining room floor and folded her

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Speaker 3: clothes up and put them in bags and transported her

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Speaker 3: to the morgue naked for them to unclothe her and

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Speaker 3: alter any evidence that could have been gathered from that. Now,

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Speaker 3: that goes against every protocol of any police department anywhere.

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Speaker 2: Best I remember, the medical examiner said she'd come in

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Speaker 2: fully clothing, So what they actually done was recloser the

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Speaker 2: poor the medical examiner examiner.

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Speaker 3: That's exactly right. What the medical examiner reported didn't match

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Speaker 3: the police reports. They unclothed her and at some point

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Speaker 3: reclothed her.

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Speaker 1: So they mishandled the scene, and the evidence altered or disappeared,

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Speaker 1: the key gunshot resident test of Kathy's left hand, And

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Speaker 1: then they arrested you, and eventually you got out on bond,

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Speaker 1: and even that was kind of odd.

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Speaker 2: Right, Prosecutor Peters agreed to ten thousand and he put

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Speaker 2: a restriction on my bond that says not to dispose

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Speaker 2: of any martal or jointly held property without the permission

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Speaker 2: of the prosecute attorney in the probate court.

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Speaker 3: You got the State of Missouri coming after you with

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Speaker 3: unlimited resources, and your life and liberty is on the line.

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Speaker 3: My dad should have had access to every dime he

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Speaker 3: had to save his life.

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Speaker 1: Right, And this also gets us to a crazy part

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Speaker 1: of this whole story. So while you're facing Prosecutor Patrick

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Speaker 1: Peters in this criminal trial against you, there's also a

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Speaker 1: wrongful death civil suit filed against you by Kathy's sisters.

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Speaker 1: And get this, Prosecutor Peters's father is part of the

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Speaker 1: law firm behind that civil suit, so stands to benefit

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Speaker 1: from the outcome. And of course you didn't even know

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Speaker 1: that at the time.

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Speaker 2: They had concealed it and they had said that he

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Speaker 2: convinced them and he would convict me, and the law

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Speaker 2: firm would help keep me in prison.

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Speaker 3: I'd like to point out that the Blue Springs Police

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Speaker 3: Department city attorney for Blue Springs was also in the

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Speaker 3: same law firm as the prosecutor's father, So you had

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Speaker 3: a triangle of a conflict of interest here that was

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Speaker 3: hidden from everyone.

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Speaker 1: Every time we do an episode, I always think I've

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Speaker 1: heard it all, I could say, even after doing two

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty episodes of this show, I've never heard

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Speaker 1: of that the prosecutor refers the family of the woman

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Speaker 1: who died to his own father's law firm. Now everybody's compromised, right,

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Speaker 1: because now there's a whole nother for them to want

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Speaker 1: to convict you of this crime so that everybody can

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Speaker 1: make money.

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Speaker 3: And they ultimately got a one point three five million

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Speaker 3: dollar default wrongful debt judgment against my father.

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Speaker 1: So now there's been this litany of errors, misconduct, malfeasans

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Speaker 1: straight up insanity. I'm going to call it what it is,

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Speaker 1: it's insanity. And now finally it's time for the trial.

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Speaker 1: It's February nineteen ninety one, a year after the incident.

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Speaker 3: Basically the cross of the state's case against my dad

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Speaker 3: was that he held her up against the wall and

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Speaker 3: shot her from a foot away from her face.

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Speaker 2: The prosecutor put on his so called experts saying that

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Speaker 2: she was two inches away from the wall, and that

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Speaker 2: I had my arm across her chest and held her

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Speaker 2: up against the wall and shot her and blood to experts.

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Speaker 2: Admitted that he had a week's training, and he's self taught.

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Speaker 3: He had taken a forty hour course on blood spatter evidence.

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Speaker 3: That's all the training that their expert had.

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Speaker 1: These quote unquote experts have a forty hour training course

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Speaker 1: that doesn't actually teach you anything except how to act

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Speaker 1: like you know what you're talking about in court pretty much, right.

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Speaker 2: But he didn't tell that there was no gun shot

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Speaker 2: residue on my hands or long sleeve shirt, or blood

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Speaker 2: or nothing else on my long sleeve shirt.

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Speaker 3: And they said he put a bootprint on the wall,

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Speaker 3: which was false. It had been there weeks prior, and

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Speaker 3: in order for that bootprint to get there, his leg

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Speaker 3: would have had to have bent backwards at the knee

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Speaker 3: and hyper extended in order to put that bootprint there.

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Speaker 1: Right, you have this bootprint that was physically impossible to

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Speaker 1: have been made in this scenario. But you know what,

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Speaker 1: none of it freaking matters why it could have produced

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Speaker 1: any other made up nonsense to try to support their theory.

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Speaker 1: But without Ken being covered in blood and GSR, it's

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Speaker 1: all pure drivel. Blood in GSR has to be present

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Speaker 1: for us to even entertain these bullshit footprints. Not to

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Speaker 1: mention the analysis from Bob Tressel, the renowned forensic crime investigator,

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Speaker 1: that further clarifies just how bogus the state's theory was.

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Speaker 1: We'll get into all of that a bit later, but

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Speaker 1: unfortunately Ken didn't benefit from Bob Trestle's testimony or any

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Speaker 1: of this being pointed out at the original trial. Ken's attorney,

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Speaker 1: Bob Duncan couldn't be bothered to do an investigation, not

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Speaker 1: even a thorough examination of the gun. Cliff, what else

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Speaker 1: did the state present?

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Speaker 3: They also put on evidence that the gun would take

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Speaker 3: ten pounds of pressure I believe it was without the hammer,

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Speaker 3: pulled three and a half pounds with the hammer pooled. Well,

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Speaker 3: the gun needed to be examined in the exact state

436
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 3: it was found in, and it wasn't. They had dismantled

437
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,679
Speaker 3: it and put it back together before testing it. So

438
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 3: if there was any problems with the gun. They fixed

439
00:25:57,359 --> 00:26:00,679
Speaker 3: it when they put it back together. Bob Duncan was

440
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 3: asleep at the wheel, if you will, and had none

441
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 3: of the physical evidence examined by an expert, and hadn't

442
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,560
Speaker 3: interviewed any witnesses. He was totally unprepared for the case

443
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:12,719
Speaker 3: to even go to trial.

444
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,160
Speaker 1: Did I hear this correctly? That he didn't even make

445
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:16,440
Speaker 1: an opening statement?

446
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,919
Speaker 3: He reserved one, and he forgot to give it.

447
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,920
Speaker 2: I couldn't get him to do nothing. They didn't see

448
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,600
Speaker 2: nothing about the gun shot residue, not one word of

449
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,360
Speaker 2: them with lighting that document out. They never seen it.

450
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 3: Without a proper defense, you're out there, mercy.

451
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,080
Speaker 2: Years later, in ninety five and ninety six, he gave

452
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 2: me three affi davids of what he had failed to do.

453
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 2: This is my trial attorney, Robert Duncan. I did not

454
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,840
Speaker 2: have any physical evidence in the case examined by a

455
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,520
Speaker 2: forensic expert, other than speak to a gun expert about

456
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,679
Speaker 2: the gun. But I did not have him examine the gun.

457
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 2: And then he gave another affidavit and he said, father,

458
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,200
Speaker 2: I believe my ability to defend mister Middleton was impaired

459
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 2: because I wasn't given information of the connection between the

460
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,639
Speaker 2: police department, the prosecutor, and the civil claims against mister

461
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:17,239
Speaker 2: Middleton seeking a substantial monetary recovery. This information, if for

462
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:21,440
Speaker 2: no other purpose, would have been admissible as impeachment evidence

463
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,800
Speaker 2: showing the bias of the police and some of the witnesses.

464
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,159
Speaker 1: So Kathy's sister, Mildred Anderson gave false testimony for the

465
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,760
Speaker 1: prosecution to show motive that Ken had secret assets in

466
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,239
Speaker 1: Arkansas that no one in the family was aware of.

467
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,200
Speaker 1: And we know this is just another lie because Mildred

468
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,720
Speaker 1: Anderson later said she admitted that she and the rest

469
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,199
Speaker 1: of the family actually did know about all of the

470
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 1: assets before Kathy's death, which is a clear cut example of.

471
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 2: Perjury, which in Missouri in a murder case, that's a

472
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 2: class A felony. Intact, Peters colluded with her because Peter's

473
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,760
Speaker 2: put it in the question would be simple for her, says, quote,

474
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,040
Speaker 2: quite a bit of holdings down in arkansall that you

475
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 2: and your family, including your sister, were unaware of. She says, yes.

476
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 3: It should also be mentioned, Jason that after the sister

477
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 3: testified to that, the prosecutor instructed the police department to

478
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:24,719
Speaker 3: release eighteen seven hundred dollars worth of jewelry that was

479
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,439
Speaker 3: confiscated out of the house to the witness, So not

480
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,360
Speaker 3: only was it perjury, she was rewarded with eighteen seven

481
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:33,800
Speaker 3: hundred dollars worth of jewelry.

482
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,800
Speaker 2: And then eight years later, on March at twenty fifth

483
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,600
Speaker 2: to ninety nine, Mildred Anderson gave foreign testimony entered Arkansas

484
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 2: lawsuit against Kenneth Middleton which show she clearly perjured herself

485
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,400
Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety one and her sister collaborated it.

486
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: Wow, okay, So I got to ask about what must

487
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 1: have been the worst day all of your life, which

488
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: of course is the day that the jury went out

489
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,160
Speaker 1: for a freaking hour and came back in and sentenced

490
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,000
Speaker 1: you to life without parole plus two hundred years.

491
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,200
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know how to describe it, but I

492
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 2: was in shock and until this out and I never

493
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 2: spent a day in jail in my life, and take

494
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 2: you from being free in the country and working all

495
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,720
Speaker 2: my life to tow you in a cage. It's unbelievable.

496
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:25,920
Speaker 2: I can't explain.

497
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,959
Speaker 3: Growing up as a kid, I would have never in

498
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,840
Speaker 3: a million years dream that what happened to my dad

499
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 3: would have happened to him. He just was, you know,

500
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 3: a great father's He's been more of a father to

501
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 3: me behind bars than most kids could ask for from

502
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 3: a father on the street. And it was devastating to

503
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:52,680
Speaker 3: our whole family.

504
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,440
Speaker 1: So now we move to the post conviction and there's

505
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,760
Speaker 1: still more insanity to come. So it's nineteen ninety two

506
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,480
Speaker 1: and your appellate attorney is a man named Gerald Handley,

507
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 1: who was recommended by Bob Duncan. Well, that's not a

508
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,400
Speaker 1: good sign. And one of the first things we come

509
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,720
Speaker 1: to is that what's called the twenty nine to fifteen appeal, Cliff,

510
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: can you explain that to us and get us started here?

511
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 3: After trial, the first appeal that you have in the

512
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,240
Speaker 3: state of Missouri is your post conviction twenty nine to

513
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,080
Speaker 3: fifteen twenty nine point fifteen is an appeal that's filed

514
00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 3: back in front of the trial judge to evaluate your

515
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:46,360
Speaker 3: trial to make sure that you had a fair trial.

516
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 3: That's where you bring your ineffective assistance of council issues

517
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 3: if you have any. So you have ninety days to

518
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 3: do that in Missouri or you don't get that hearing

519
00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,160
Speaker 3: on ineffective assistance a council, and that's right back in

520
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 3: front of the very trial judge that just set on

521
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 3: your trial and convicted you. So you got a high

522
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 3: burden to meet there, right, you got to prove that

523
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 3: you had an unfair trial and your attorney didn't do

524
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,640
Speaker 3: his job. Our appella attorney at that time had a

525
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,800
Speaker 3: ninety day window to file an amended petition for Dad

526
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 3: and get all of his issues in the appeal. He

527
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 3: never met with my dad, never went over any of

528
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 3: the issues, which the law requires him to do. And

529
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 3: at the last minute, before the ninety days was up

530
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:36,040
Speaker 3: and you could get no extensions, my dad gets a

531
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 3: letter from his attorney telling him to sign this affidavit

532
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,120
Speaker 3: that all of his issues are in the amended petition,

533
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,600
Speaker 3: even though my dad had never seen the petition. And

534
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,680
Speaker 3: if you didn't sign that affidavit and have it with

535
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,520
Speaker 3: your amended petition when you filed it, you were out.

536
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,200
Speaker 3: You couldn't even get a twenty nine to fifteen hearing.

537
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,400
Speaker 3: So my dad had to sign it and at least

538
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,160
Speaker 3: hope that his attorney was gonna put all of his

539
00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 3: issues in it. Well, we had to do a lot

540
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,480
Speaker 3: of fanagulon to get that affidavit to him before Monday,

541
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,760
Speaker 3: and when we got it to him on Monday, Gerald

542
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 3: Hanley filed a three page motion on my dad's life,

543
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:21,560
Speaker 3: procedurally defaulting all of his issues on appeal. So because

544
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,800
Speaker 3: that attorney procedurally defaulted all of his issues, the facts

545
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:28,400
Speaker 3: and the merits of his case were never heard.

546
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,760
Speaker 2: And when we went to the evidentiary hearing, I had

547
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 2: nine witnesses out in the hallway. When I got to

548
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 2: the courthouse, the witnesses that knew Pat Peters through trial

549
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 2: seen Pat Peters talking to the uniform guard, and the

550
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 2: guard took a post at the door and wouldn't let

551
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 2: none of my witnesses in the courtroom. I didn't know

552
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:52,840
Speaker 2: what happened to him until I got back to the

553
00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:57,000
Speaker 2: jail and made some calls. Peters called Duncan to the stand,

554
00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:02,120
Speaker 2: and Duncan testified this base answered Peter's question, said, I

555
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 2: checked himself into the hospital. Well, I was shake him

556
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:06,880
Speaker 2: the head. It was a lie because I was forced

557
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:08,080
Speaker 2: in that mental hospital.

558
00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:10,640
Speaker 3: One of the records that Bob Duncan didn't get was

559
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 3: the medical records from the mental ward. The prosecution's theory

560
00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 3: was that it was trial strategy for Duncan to not

561
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:23,320
Speaker 3: get the medical records because the prosecution had a witness

562
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,640
Speaker 3: that would have said Dad told him, if you want

563
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 3: to get away with murder, you check yourself into a

564
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,680
Speaker 3: mental ward after you do it. So Judgement Sina agreed

565
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,000
Speaker 3: and said, yeah, that's not in effective assistance and counsel

566
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:40,240
Speaker 3: he didn't get them records because he voluntarily checked hisself

567
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:43,720
Speaker 3: into a mental ward. Well that wasn't true, but Gerald

568
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:48,280
Speaker 3: Hanley never got the records either, so the judge never knew.

569
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,200
Speaker 1: This, and so the hearing ended and no witness is recalled,

570
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,720
Speaker 1: no expert testimony was given, and no evidence was presented

571
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 1: to refute the state. Gerald Hanley ended up being, and

572
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,520
Speaker 1: this is hard to believe, but he ended up being

573
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 1: just as disinterested as Bob Duncan was before and so predictably,

574
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:11,320
Speaker 1: Judge Messina rejected your twenty nine to fifteen appeal. It's insane.

575
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:13,239
Speaker 1: It's not because the appeal wasn't valid. It's because the

576
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,040
Speaker 1: lawyers didn't do their freaking jobs. And according to the

577
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,239
Speaker 1: law at that time, the trial court's jurisdiction over your

578
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,760
Speaker 1: case ended, so Cliff, eventually you all get a new attorney.

579
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,920
Speaker 1: Jonathan Lawrence, And there's a new law that gave you

580
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 1: and your dad some hope, or maybe false hopes, but

581
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:34,839
Speaker 1: some positive things came about nonetheless, So can you tell

582
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:35,799
Speaker 1: us what happened next?

583
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,759
Speaker 3: In two thousand and one, a law come down that

584
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:44,200
Speaker 3: give courts the opportunity to reevaluate cases. If you could

585
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:48,839
Speaker 3: prove your twenty nine to fifteen attorney Gerald Hanley abandoned

586
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,280
Speaker 3: you on your twenty nine to fifteen the trial courts

587
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,279
Speaker 3: could look at your case again. So my dad had

588
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,680
Speaker 3: done all this research on this and had done everything,

589
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 3: and we get to Jonathan Lawrence, and Jonathan Lawrence at

590
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 3: first didn't think we could do it, but once he

591
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,520
Speaker 3: read the case law, he said, yeah, I believe we can.

592
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 3: So Jonathan Lawrence got involved and filed an eighty one

593
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:18,399
Speaker 3: page motion and convinced Judge Messina, who denied us back

594
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:22,480
Speaker 3: in ninety two, to reopened my father's case. And she

595
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:27,040
Speaker 3: held a two day evidentiary hearing in two thousand and four.

596
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,520
Speaker 1: And you finally have an attorney here who can do

597
00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:32,879
Speaker 1: justice in your father's case, who gathered and presented some

598
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,480
Speaker 1: powerful expert testimony, including from investigator Chuck Gay who had

599
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,600
Speaker 1: been at the courthouse for the nineteen ninety two hearing,

600
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 1: but had been prevented from entering the courtroom. Now he

601
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 1: finally had a chance to speak.

602
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:49,759
Speaker 3: Chuck Gay was a twenty five year police officer in

603
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,760
Speaker 3: Long Beach, California. He had actually talked to the FBI

604
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:59,480
Speaker 3: in different courses on crime scene investigation, and he testified

605
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:04,360
Speaker 3: to the crime scene photos not coming out. You can't

606
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:10,080
Speaker 3: restage a crime scene. That's absurd, unclothing her at the scene,

607
00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:14,160
Speaker 3: all of these things. Crime scene preservation is what Chuck

608
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 3: Gay testified to and how improper it was. The gunshot

609
00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:21,920
Speaker 3: residue was a real big one with him. We found

610
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,920
Speaker 3: out a little more about the green document. See, you

611
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 3: have to realize before trial, when they give us that

612
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,640
Speaker 3: green document, it was just a copy, so it was

613
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:35,480
Speaker 3: on white paper. We really didn't know what it said underneath.

614
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,000
Speaker 3: But we knew something was wrong because the left hand

615
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:43,680
Speaker 3: was missing. And when our investigator after the trial went

616
00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 3: to go investigate that, the crime lab said, we didn't

617
00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:53,000
Speaker 3: do that. They said, these are our documents. We use greenout.

618
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,160
Speaker 3: So they were pointing the finger at the police. They

619
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:59,759
Speaker 3: knew that that wasn't right. There was no in this

620
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 3: Jules or anything that would indicate who did it or

621
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:08,359
Speaker 3: why they did it. Myself and our attorney in twenty

622
00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:13,000
Speaker 3: sixteen went to the crime lab and got this document,

623
00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:15,239
Speaker 3: and him and I both held it up to the

624
00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:19,279
Speaker 3: light and you could see underneath the wide out on

625
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,960
Speaker 3: a number of articles, and then underneath the other wide

626
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 3: out off to the side, you could see the word left.

627
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 3: And he give us an affidavit that that was the

628
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,560
Speaker 3: worst alteration of official documents he had ever seen in

629
00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 3: thirty two years I believe of practicing law.

630
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:40,640
Speaker 1: And you also had testimony from a ballistics expert proving

631
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: that the scenario presented by the state was physically impossible.

632
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,200
Speaker 1: And this guy was no slouch. He had overseen over

633
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:53,760
Speaker 1: eight hundred investigations, and importantly he had been an expert

634
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,279
Speaker 1: for both prosecution and defense. And of course, the guy

635
00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:59,000
Speaker 1: I'm referring to is Bob Tressel.

636
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:05,000
Speaker 4: I'm Bob Tressel. I'm a forensic crime scene investigator. When

637
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,800
Speaker 4: I first looked at the case, the bullet was found

638
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:12,400
Speaker 4: across the room after it had struck the doorframe, ricocheted

639
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 4: up to the ceiling and overtoo, on the other side

640
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:17,799
Speaker 4: of the dining room. So we began looking at the

641
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:22,800
Speaker 4: angles that the bullet took in striking the doorframe exiting

642
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 4: the doorframe. Their lab came up with what we call

643
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:28,640
Speaker 4: a muzzle to target, or the barrel of the whip

644
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,840
Speaker 4: and having to be approximately eight inches from her face

645
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 4: where the bullet entered. So then we started looking at

646
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,920
Speaker 4: the gun. The gun's a three fifty seven mangnum. You

647
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 4: get the length of the barrel, chamber and the grip area,

648
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,719
Speaker 4: so although the barrel's eight inches from her face, the

649
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 4: gun is almost fourteen inches and total length away from

650
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:54,240
Speaker 4: her face. And then we started looking at the wounds themselves.

651
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:58,160
Speaker 4: Pretty well, a straight shot gunshot when with little deviation

652
00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:01,840
Speaker 4: on the upward or downward lane, and with a bullet

653
00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:05,319
Speaker 4: not deviating very much right or left, the shot had

654
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,239
Speaker 4: come from directly in front of her the upper trajectory.

655
00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,080
Speaker 4: Because we know where it strikes on the wall and

656
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,080
Speaker 4: then rick shaves off, we know it's going upward. So

657
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,160
Speaker 4: she has to have her upper body bent over or

658
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,000
Speaker 4: her head bent over towards the table in order to

659
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,880
Speaker 4: receive that gunshot one, and there's only about two feet

660
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,640
Speaker 4: distance between the table and the walls, and so you've

661
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:30,799
Speaker 4: got to get two people almost directly in front of

662
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 4: each other. But the gun's got to be held way

663
00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 4: down low, and in order to get the distances that

664
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,920
Speaker 4: we saw, the gun has got to be almost on

665
00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:42,640
Speaker 4: top of the table. So where can the shooter be

666
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:46,000
Speaker 4: at that point when we finally did all the calculations

667
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,440
Speaker 4: in order for someone to be directly in front of her,

668
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:51,640
Speaker 4: if a shooter was the one that fired this weapon,

669
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:55,600
Speaker 4: he would have to be under the table. That makes

670
00:39:55,640 --> 00:40:01,240
Speaker 4: no sense whatsoever. There's no direct for rents evidence either

671
00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:05,839
Speaker 4: by blood tissue, gunshot residue, things that they make sure

672
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:10,040
Speaker 4: that indicate that Middleton fired this gun killing his wife.

673
00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,359
Speaker 1: And so all of this powerful expert testimony has been heard,

674
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:16,480
Speaker 1: and the top it all off, there was one more

675
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:20,480
Speaker 1: witness that testified on your father's behalf, the former governor

676
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:24,600
Speaker 1: of Missouri. Yes, you heard that correctly. The former governor

677
00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:29,440
Speaker 1: of Missouri, Joseph P. Teesdale, testified on ken'sby had and

678
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:33,040
Speaker 1: he had extensive trial experience as an assistant US attorney,

679
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:37,600
Speaker 1: prosecuting attorney, and as a trial lawyer. And he testified

680
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 1: to the quote suspect conduct of the prosecutors and the

681
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:45,359
Speaker 1: quote ineffective performance of the Defense Council, and at the

682
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,000
Speaker 1: end of the testimony, former Governor Teesdale was asked what

683
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: he would have done if this case had been presented

684
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,280
Speaker 1: to him in his capacity as governor, and he replied

685
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,520
Speaker 1: that this was the worst case of constitutional violations that

686
00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:02,080
Speaker 1: he had ever witnessed in forty one years of practicing law,

687
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 1: and that he, and this is a direct quote, would

688
00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:11,520
Speaker 1: clearly have pardoned mister Middleton of all wrongdoing end quote.

689
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:14,320
Speaker 2: That's a strong statement.

690
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 3: He had gotten familiar with Dad's case a few years before,

691
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:22,799
Speaker 3: and I reached out to him when we got this

692
00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:27,080
Speaker 3: evidenciary hearing and asked him what his costs would be

693
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,600
Speaker 3: for him to come testify, and he said, I don't

694
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,400
Speaker 3: want any money. I want a steak dinner when your

695
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:36,160
Speaker 3: dad gets out of there. And it meant a lot

696
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:36,480
Speaker 3: to me.

697
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,279
Speaker 1: So, finally, this information that you've been trying to get

698
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:43,680
Speaker 1: heard for so many years, the ineffective counsel, the prosecutorial

699
00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 1: misconduct and complex of interest of botched investigation and altered reports,

700
00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,000
Speaker 1: You're finally able to get that before the judge, and

701
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:55,040
Speaker 1: even a more conservative judge, Judge Messina, could not deny

702
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:56,680
Speaker 1: the merits of Kent's case.

703
00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:00,640
Speaker 3: So this was all powerful evidence that the journey ever heard.

704
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:04,359
Speaker 3: After all this evidence was put forward, Judge Messina took

705
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:07,880
Speaker 3: it under advisement and would not rule on the case

706
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:12,600
Speaker 3: for eleven more months. Two weeks after the hearing was over,

707
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:15,879
Speaker 3: the prosecutors come to my dad with an Alford plea.

708
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:18,960
Speaker 3: If he would plead to an Alford plea and plead

709
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,320
Speaker 3: guilty to second degree, he could walk out of prison

710
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:26,640
Speaker 3: a free man. But even though all of his appeals

711
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 3: were exhausted and we were setting in front of very

712
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:35,200
Speaker 3: conservative judge, my father refused the Offord plea. For him

713
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 3: to turn that down with all appeals exhausted, that speaks

714
00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:41,640
Speaker 3: volumes to his innocence.

715
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:44,239
Speaker 1: And on May two thousand and five, Judge Massina came

716
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:47,320
Speaker 1: back and vacated Ken's nineteen ninety one conviction and granted

717
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:50,880
Speaker 1: him a new trial. So the same judge who denied

718
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:53,800
Speaker 1: him in nineteen ninety two overturned his conviction.

719
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:57,920
Speaker 3: Judge Messina found eight different points of ineffective assistance and

720
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,239
Speaker 3: counsel on Bob Duncan. The man had three other capital

721
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:06,280
Speaker 3: murder cases overturned at the same time he was handling

722
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:07,160
Speaker 3: my dad's case.

723
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:10,719
Speaker 1: But just six days after this incredible news, you get

724
00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:12,280
Speaker 1: a huge punch to the gun.

725
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:16,840
Speaker 3: What does the Jackson County Prosecutor's office do. They appeal

726
00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:20,560
Speaker 3: the decision. So if he would plead guilty after that hearing,

727
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:23,000
Speaker 3: they were willing to let him go. But when he

728
00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:26,440
Speaker 3: stood by his innocence and the trial judge agreed and

729
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:30,240
Speaker 3: overturned his conviction, they appealed it. They ruled that Judge

730
00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:34,440
Speaker 3: Messina didn't have jurisdiction to issue that new trial. They

731
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:36,920
Speaker 3: never got to the merits or the facts that she

732
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,879
Speaker 3: ruled he was wrongfully convicted in violation of his sixth

733
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:45,400
Speaker 3: Amendment right to constitutional effective representation. They never got to

734
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:48,399
Speaker 3: any of that. They just said she didn't have jurisdiction.

735
00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:53,960
Speaker 1: And this is now seventeen long years ago. It's crazy.

736
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:59,320
Speaker 1: I mean, the court heard the merits of his innocence,

737
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:02,960
Speaker 1: he should get a new trial. But outside of the

738
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:05,200
Speaker 1: twenty nine to fifteen of Pelle proceedings, it was ruled

739
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:07,879
Speaker 1: that the trial court didn't have jurisdiction. So Ken has

740
00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:11,520
Speaker 1: just been sitting there since two thousand and four, awaiting

741
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:13,640
Speaker 1: a miracle or a change in the law so that

742
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:17,960
Speaker 1: his case could be heard again, and that finally happened.

743
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:21,239
Speaker 1: In August of twenty twenty one, a new law was

744
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:24,000
Speaker 1: passed in Missouri that allows a case to go before

745
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,600
Speaker 1: the trial judge outside of a twenty nine to fifteen hearing.

746
00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:29,960
Speaker 1: So what that means is that if a prosecutor knows

747
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,480
Speaker 1: that a man is innocent, as the current prosecutor has

748
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:36,520
Speaker 1: implied in Ken's case, they're no longer jurisdictionally barred from

749
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:40,040
Speaker 1: doing something about it. Judge Messin has already ruled on this,

750
00:44:40,239 --> 00:44:42,799
Speaker 1: and she's now an advisor to the current prosecutor, Jean

751
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:45,960
Speaker 1: Peters Baker, and Baker already made use of this new

752
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:48,080
Speaker 1: law in Kevin Strickland's case in the fall of twenty

753
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:51,759
Speaker 1: twenty one, Yet strangely, she is yet to act in

754
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:56,560
Speaker 1: Ken's case. It's mystifying and maddening at the same time. So, Cliff,

755
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:58,720
Speaker 1: what's going on with all of this? Now?

756
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 3: This new Yes, it's about a prosecutor's right to file emotion,

757
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:08,239
Speaker 3: but it's also about a court's right to have jurisdiction

758
00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:11,160
Speaker 3: to consider and hear the matter. Well, now they're given

759
00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:15,480
Speaker 3: the motion courts jurisdiction, but the prosecutor has to file it.

760
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:20,000
Speaker 3: So in our case, we've already proved everything there is

761
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:24,080
Speaker 3: with this statute. This statute lays out that upon the

762
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:27,080
Speaker 3: filing of such a motion, the court shall have a

763
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:31,239
Speaker 3: hearing and issue of findings in facts and conclusions of

764
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:35,680
Speaker 3: law on all issues presented. That's exactly what Judge Messina did.

765
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:40,800
Speaker 3: So we've already been successful at securing a new trial

766
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,759
Speaker 3: from my father, but the only thing we didn't have

767
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,719
Speaker 3: was jurisdiction. Well, now this new law gives the court's jurisdiction,

768
00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:51,279
Speaker 3: but the prosecutor has been reluctant to file it. So

769
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:54,319
Speaker 3: now that this new law has passed, I believe the

770
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 3: next steps are for Jane to file emotion conceding jurisdiction.

771
00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:01,880
Speaker 3: That's it. We don't need anything else from her but

772
00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:07,080
Speaker 3: a one page motion conceding jurisdiction and allow a court

773
00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:10,840
Speaker 3: there in Jackson County to get to the merits of

774
00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 3: the trial. Judge Edith Messina's order overturning my dad's conviction.

775
00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:19,359
Speaker 1: Cliff, we are audience out there listening. Now, is there

776
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:21,440
Speaker 1: something you'd like them to do? What can they do

777
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:24,440
Speaker 1: to help to write this horrible injustice?

778
00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:30,160
Speaker 3: Yes, you'd go to our website at free Hyphenkenmiddleton dot com.

779
00:46:30,600 --> 00:46:36,440
Speaker 3: There's a wealth of very compelling documents that support everything

780
00:46:36,520 --> 00:46:40,400
Speaker 3: we spoke about today. If we said it today, rest assured.

781
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:44,000
Speaker 3: You can go to our website and find it. And

782
00:46:44,120 --> 00:46:47,760
Speaker 3: on the homepage right up front, there's a petition asking

783
00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 3: Jean Peters Baker to abide by her oath and follow

784
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:55,759
Speaker 3: the plain language of this new Missouri statute. It's as

785
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:59,839
Speaker 3: simple as a one page motion conceding jurisdiction so that

786
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:04,200
Speaker 3: my dad can once again prove his innocence and come

787
00:47:04,200 --> 00:47:06,399
Speaker 3: home to the family that waits him.

788
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:08,839
Speaker 1: Right. We'll have that linked in the bio, as well

789
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:12,719
Speaker 1: as a link to Silver Creek Entertainment. I believe there's

790
00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:15,880
Speaker 1: a film on the way about Ken's case, and it

791
00:47:15,920 --> 00:47:19,040
Speaker 1: can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned. I'm

792
00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:21,680
Speaker 1: both dreading and really looking forward to watching it. So

793
00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:24,120
Speaker 1: check that out, click on the link in the bio.

794
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:27,439
Speaker 1: And now, guys, we have a tradition here and it's

795
00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:30,000
Speaker 1: really my favorite part of the show. It's called closing arguments,

796
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,920
Speaker 1: and closing arguments is very simple. It works like this.

797
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:35,520
Speaker 1: I'm just going to turn my microphone off, kick back

798
00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:37,800
Speaker 1: in my chair, with my headphones on, you'll turn to

799
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:40,640
Speaker 1: volume up a little bit and just listen to anything

800
00:47:40,680 --> 00:47:42,880
Speaker 1: else you'd like to say, anything at all you have

801
00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:45,279
Speaker 1: to say to our audience. So Cliff, why don't you

802
00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:48,399
Speaker 1: go first? And Ken, we'll let you close us out.

803
00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:52,719
Speaker 3: I'd like to thank you for using your celebrity to

804
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:56,440
Speaker 3: bring awareness to wrong for convictions, given a voice to

805
00:47:56,480 --> 00:48:00,399
Speaker 3: the voiceless. It's an amazing thing what you're doing. It's

806
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:04,799
Speaker 3: encouraged other celebrities like Kim Kardashian and John Grisham and

807
00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:08,319
Speaker 3: Johnny Depp and you know a lot of others to

808
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,680
Speaker 3: take up the cause and stand up for justice. And

809
00:48:11,719 --> 00:48:14,239
Speaker 3: so i'd like to thank you again, Jason, and now

810
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:15,520
Speaker 3: Ken over to you.

811
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:19,400
Speaker 2: Well, what I'd like to say here that all the

812
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:23,799
Speaker 2: people that's listening, I would appreciate it more than words

813
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:29,640
Speaker 2: can explain. Anything they can do, sign petitions, sign letters

814
00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:33,120
Speaker 2: to Baker to get her to follow the statue, anything

815
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,359
Speaker 2: anybody can do to help to clear and get the

816
00:48:36,400 --> 00:48:41,000
Speaker 2: same justice as Kevin Strickland got. I would appreciate it

817
00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:42,520
Speaker 2: more than words can say.

818
00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:52,120
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Rafel Conviction. I'd like to

819
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:55,880
Speaker 1: thank our production team, Connor Hall, Justin Golden, Jeff Cliburn,

820
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:59,359
Speaker 1: and Kevin Wardis, with research by Lyla Robinson. The music

821
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:02,200
Speaker 1: in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated

822
00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:05,920
Speaker 1: composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram

823
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:10,239
Speaker 1: at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast, and

824
00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,440
Speaker 1: on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as well as at Lava

825
00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:16,680
Speaker 1: for Good. On all three platforms, you can also follow

826
00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:20,400
Speaker 1: me on both TikTok and Instagram at it's Jason Flam.

827
00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:23,400
Speaker 1: Wrongful Conviction is the production of Lava for Good Podcasts

828
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:27,680
Speaker 1: and association with Signal Company Number one