Wrongful Conviction

One evening in March, 2003, a fire broke out in Deborah Nicholls' Colorado Springs, CO home, killing her three children. Her husband suffered significant burns, but escaped. After a 2-year investigation, it was determined that the fire was not accidental, and that Deborah and her husband started it for the insurance money. The trial was a battle of the experts – one presenting the junk science of arson evidence, one asserting that the science was outdated. The former triumphed, and Deborah was sent to prison for the murder of her children. Maggie speaks to Deborah Nicholls, Deborah's father, Douglas Baumgardner, and Deborah's attorneys, Anne-Marie Moyes, Director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project and Kathleen Lord, Staff Attorney at the Korey Wise Innocence Project.
To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/149-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-arson-evidence/
https://www.colorado.edu/outreach/korey-wise-innocence-project/
https://giving.cu.edu/fund/korey-wise-innocence-project-fund
District Attorney John Newsome:
https://www.denverpost.com/2009/01/15/former-springs-da-cited-for-official-misconduct-for-misusing-funds
https://gazette.com/news/newsome-i-sincerely-apologize/article_4886ac0d-fb7c-5c21-b7a2-15ea6c12ef4e.html
Assistant District Attorney Amy Mullaney:
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/report-da-drove-county-vehicle-after-drinking-8-beers/73-343049675
Attorney Representing Tim Nicholls:
https://gazette.com/news/respected-colorado-springs-attorney-dennis-hartley-disbarred-over-misdeeds/article_c137be7a-c37e-11e9-aace-b7dbb10e4465.html
May 07, 2010 20/20 episode Burned, The Amanda Gutweiler story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X8Bk8oBNG8
If you'd like to write to Deborah, send mail to:
Deborah Nicholls #144097 PO BOX #392005 Denver, Co 80239
Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ronald Miller and Lori Johnson of Rockford, IL had a daughter, G.M., in 2010. In 2015, several days after an argument between Johnson and Miller in which Miller threatened to sue Johnson for full custody, Johnson reported Miller to DCFS. Shortly after, she obtained an order of protection which ended all contact between Miller and his daughter. Johnson claimed G.M. had told her that Miller touched her inappropriately and proceeded to bring her daughter to Carrie Lynn Children's Center to record a video accusing her father of sexual abuse. Before the trial, G.M. took back her accusation, telling her mother, her therapist, and the trial prosecutors that the abuse never happened. The trial proceeded anyway, and this information was not shared with the jury. The prosecutors presented the testimony of a pediatric nurse admitted as an “expert in the field of child abuse.” Trial counsel called no experts for the defense, and Miller testified in his own defense. He was convicted by the jury on all three counts and sentenced to twenty years.
To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://www.lengoodmanlawoffice.com/
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baltimore, Maryland likes to call itself Charm City. But you have to wonder: Is the nickname ironic? Consider one of the city's star cops, a sergeant so accomplished that he earned his own nickname, the Golden Boy. But Golden Boy led a double life. Said one of those who encountered him in the street. "I was robbed by the Baltimore City Police….with a gun … armed robbery." No one believed the allegation. Then a GPS tracker was discovered where it shouldn't have been; next, a wiretap went up on a cop's phone. An FBI agent couldn't believe what she was hearing. Are these guys gangsters? And then … an insider turned witness. "Like Rambo said, burn it down. And that's what I did." Welcome to Charm City, where it was sometimes difficult to tell the protectors from the predators.
A podcast from Orbit Media reported and produced by the BBC and hosted by Jessica Lussenhop.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On April 11, 1993, a riot broke out at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, OH, primarily due to tensions between the prisoners and the guards. The riot went on for 11 days resulting in 10 deaths and millions of dollars in damages. 23-year-old prisoner Keith LaMar was a witness to the riot, and although there was no physical evidence linking him to any involvement in the riot, the prosecution focused on him presumably because he refused to aid them in their investigation. Many incentivized and coerced prison informants testified that Keith was the leader behind the riot while the prosecution failed to present the exculpatory evidence in their possession that others were responsible. Thus, Keith became one of the five prisoners convicted of the murders and blamed for the riot. Keith was sentenced to death. Jason talks to Keith LaMar and Keegan Stephan, Keith's attorney.
To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://www.keithlamar.org/
https://www.instagram.com/justiceforkeithlamar
https://www.facebook.com/justiceforkeithlamar
https://twitter.com/freekeithlamar
PayPal: info@keithlamar.org
Venmo: @justiceforkeithlamar
Cash App: $justiceforkeithlamar
Petitions:
https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/justice-for-keith-lamar-ldf-1/
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/free-keith-lamar
Native Sons Literacy Program:
https://www.nativesonsliteracy.org/donate-to-native-sons
https://www.nativesonsliteracy.org/scholarship
Memoir and Music:
https://www.keithlamar.org/merchandise
https://www.albertmarques.com/video
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In October 1997, Skip Clark was killed in York, PA. Police officers decided that the death was gang related, and that two gangs were out for each other after having a dispute. Tysheem Crocker was dragged into the conversation. The State argued that he and others plotted to retaliate against their rival gang, and that Skip was caught in the middle. Despite four witnesses testifying that they knew who the killer was and that it was not Tysheem, and despite the fact that his whereabouts were accounted for at the time of the crime, Tysheem was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/036-jason-flom-with-lorenzo-johnson/
https://www.change.org/p/mayor-c-kim-bracey-and-abolitionist-law-project-we-want-the-corruption-in-tysheem-crocker-s-case-investigated-and-all-relevant-documents-turned-over-that-pertain-to-the-case
https://www.change.org/p/i-hope-this-helps-justice-for-tysheem-crocker?fbclid=IwAR05Aqx78BUzLsZeEH7Yo1GaAZvZruPvsFEdeMuUYTsTFei-xPQMnp8MfGMhttps://www.facebook.com/justuiceforTysheem/
n.com/COULD-HAPPEN-ANY-US/dp/0982814488https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B074SPJV6N/about
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
​​We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.