For their final live broadcast in 2013, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts interview attorney Jamie Fellner, Senior Advisor for the U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. Attorney Fellner is author of HRW’s recently released report on coercive plea bargaining titled “An Offer You Can’t Refuse -- How US Federal Prosecutors Force Drug Defendants to Plead Guilty”
For their December 5th, 2013 broadcast, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts considered “The Mindset of Criminal Defendants Who Won't Plea”. Assisting with the effort is Florida-based Psychotherapist and Behavioral Analyst Rebecca Potter. COC co-hosts, Potter, and other audience members explore the mindset of criminal defendants who insist on going to trial including the actually innocent; the overcharged; guilty people when the government has a weak case; people with children; young people; old people, etc.
Thanks to veteran jury consultant Zachary Klein, the November 21, 2013 “Crimes of the Century” broadcast makes clear that selecting and winning over juries is tricky to say the least. But it seems that to have almost any chance of jury acquittal, innocent and over-charged criminal defendants need relatively commanding defense lawyers and reasonably neutral trial judges. Good luck with getting that.
To what extent does the U.S. Constitution entitle criminal defendants to a reasonable chance of jury acquittal which apparently hinges on keeping jurors "properly" focused? Let your COC co-hosts and their guest, Zach Klein, help you answer that question.
November 14, 2013 marks the second in our “Crimes of the Century” series on flawed forensics. Spotlighted was the high profile murder and attempted murder conviction of Diane Downs, portrayed by the late Farrah Fawcett in the movie “Small Sacrifices”.
Diane Downs was convicted in 1984 of killing her 6 year old daughter and attempting to kill her 3 year old son and 8 year old daughter to woo a lover who reportedly did not want children. However, life appears to have imitated art for Diane in that the prosecutor’s case against her seems almost as fictionalized as the corresponding book and referenced Farrah Fawcett movie.
Tracking COC listeners through the Diane Downs case facts and circumstances is Diane’s brother, Mr. James Frederickson,and COC’s own Dr. Andrew D. Jackson. Does their presentation leave you with reasonable doubt that Diane killed one and attempted to kill two of her children?
For their November 7, 2013 broadcast, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts considered the antics of former Texas state judge Elizabeth E. Coker who was forced to resign after being caught texting instructions from the bench to an Assistant District Attorney who was assisting in the prosecution of a case in Coker's court.
Joined by Kenneth Kendrick, Drum Major’s for Truth Program Director, and former deputy sheriff Mark Lipton, the COC team addressed multiple topics from the importance of protecting judicial whistleblowers; the need for U.S. judges to bring more industry diversity to the bench; and the hypocrisy of pressuring Coker off the bench when pro-prosecution bias is all too common among criminal court judges and clearly favored among private prison industry fat cats as well as their politician supporters.
For their October 24, 2013 broadcast, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts talk with Dr. Paul Leighton from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminology at Eastern Michigan University as he describes the dynamics of private prisons in America. The for-profit business model of this industry threatens to turn the U.S. into a predator nation, steadily feeding inmates to wealthy corporate interests and everyone looking to these private prison fat cats for income and/or profit.
And who is the prey for the predator known as America’s private prison industrial complex? Answer: the poor; the poorly educated; minorities; any and everyone caught up by America’s criminal justice system without enough money or clout to wiggle free.
Do those most likely to be unfairly snared by America’s prison industrial complex have much of a chance to avoid or loosen its grip? Unless they find the resolve within themselves to help resist the corresponding forces of injustice, their prospects look grim according to Dr. Leighton and your COC co-hosts.
For their October 10, 2013 broadcast, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts considered “Crackdowns on Inmate Organizing -- The Line Between Suppressing Disturbances and Suppressing Constitutional Rights”.
Certified correctional officer, former federal inmate discipline committeeman, and human rights activist Kenneth Kendrick kept us attuned to the volatility of prison environments and the risks of coordinated inmate conduct. But he was dismayed, as we all were, by the tendency of U.S. Courts to condemn outrageous and direct physical abuse of prisoners, but condone other de-humanizing treatment that can subject U.S. inmates to harsh if not tortuous conditions for so-called insubordination.
The idea of locking up prisoners and throwing away the key may be a better response to the monsters that U.S. prisons create than those they receive!
Herman Wallace -- Another Man In The Mirror: In one of their most important broadcasts, your “Crimes of the Century” co-hosts consider the circumstances of Herman Wallace of the “Angola 3”. Wallace, along with two other men, was convicted in 1972 for the brutal stabbing death of an Angola, Louisiana prison guard.
Wallace’s conviction was recently overturned, but only after he spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement. Wallace has reportedly died from liver cancer, just days following his release from prison.
According to Amnesty International, “(n)o physical evidence linked Wallace to the crime” and “a key prosecution witness received favors, including a pardon, in return for his testimony in the case.” Wallace maintained his innocence and attributed his conviction and harsh treatment to his key role in forming the first Black Panthers, Angola prison chapter which advocated against violence and rape.
For this September 26, 2013 broadcast, your Crimes of the Century co-hosts conduct an online Open House for "The Plea for Justice Program" (P4J), a grassroots initiative to reform America's plea bargaining system. Reports indicate as of mid-Summer 2012 that 97% of federal and 94% of state criminal cases are resolved by plea bargains. Learn why lawyers, legal scholars, and criminal defendants regularly denounce the whole process as unconstitutional coercion and extortion and why coming together through P4J can help turn the situation around.
Our jaws are dropped and it’s only the first broadcast in our ongoing series, “FLAWED FORENSICS: The Science of Wrongful Convictions”. On September 19, 2013, your Crimes of the Century co-hosts began what will be a periodic examination of questionable uses and exclusions of forensic evidence in criminal prosecutions. Our initial guest in the series, former Deputy Sheriff Mark Lipton, leaves us struggling to make sense of his conviction for a violent assault when it seems that all available forensic evidence backs his repeated claims of innocence.
"Crimes of the Century" co-hosts consider whether federal equal protection provisions allow judges to lawfully ignore the indisputable, discriminatory impact of facially neutral laws in America. This vitally important episode is based on the controversial May 2013 decision by a panel of Sixth Circuit judges on the retroactivity of Congress' 2010 Fair Sentencing Act intended to eliminate decades of bias against African Americans in the enforcement of federal crack cocaine laws.
Anyone concerned about any form of unlawful government bias in the U.S. should consider what Crimes of the Century co-hosts have to say on the subject and follow the underlying case of U.S. -vs- Blewett.
For this broadcast, Crimes of the Century radio co-hosts had the pleasure of speaking with Jesse Lava, Campaign Director for Beyond Bars, a nonprofit advocate working to end mass incarceration in America. Beyond Bars recently released "Our Turn to Dream", described as "a film in honor of the 50th Anniversary of MLK, Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech".
Joined by Estefan Garcia, co-founder of "American Inner-City Builders" which employs ex-offenders, Crimes of the Century radio co-hosts explore the perils of parole in America. Their discussion reveals that parole in America is a "vicious cycle" that does not reduce crime or recidivism and is primarily a system of government oppression. Orange is truly the new Black!
Crimes of the Century radio co-hosts explore the state of medical care in U.S. prisons during this broadcast titled "Department of Corrections, Unless You Need Serious Medical Treatment?!?!" Joined by a licensed correctional officer, COC co-hosts, including noted prisoner abolitionist Dr. Roxanne Greschner, consider the extent to which prison medical staff and/or prison facilities themselves can be liable for grossly inadequate medical treatment of prisoners.
In this broadcast, Crimes of the Century co-hosts examine the good, bad, and ugly of Lafler v. Cooper, the U.S. Supreme Court case confirming criminal defendants' right to effective legal assistance during plea bargaining. Most shabby lawyers are safe from ridicule despite the decision. But Justice Scalia seems to think it turns America's criminal justice system into a loose slot machine, spewing "get out of jail free" passes to criminal hustlers!
In this debut episode, Crimes of the Century co-hosts look at well-meaning juries getting it wrong in self-defense cases. Plus in the 2nd half of this dual episode, they challenge us to begin reform OUTSIDE prisons instead of relying on hunger strikes and similar efforts by vulnerable prisoners!
