In the early morning hours of July 14, 2004, 19 year-old Adrian Payan and 18 year-old Emerson Bojorquez were ambushed at a nightclub in Houston, TX. A man named Jason Wooley fired the first shot of the shootout, and a man waited outside in a Cadillac, wearing a blue shirt and firing shots from an assault rifle. Bojorquez was killed, but Payan survived. Witnesses noted the Cadillac’s license plate number and police traced it to Pablo Velez, Jr. Velez had a solid alibi, but an eyewitness apparently identified him in a photo lineup. As a result, Velez was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.facebook.com/JusticeforPabloVelezJr/
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
P. O. Box 13401
Austin, Texas 78711-3401
E-mail: bpp_pio@tdcj.texas.gov
https://www.lw.com/

To get involved in helping exonerees like Pablo Velez rebuild their lives after release:

www.after-innocence.org

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco 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.

On July 9, 2006, at Club Crystal in Waterloo, IA, an individual later identified as Tonye Jackson was shot multiple times and killed on the property. The shooting occurred during active nightclub hours, with multiple patrons present at the scene. Three gunshots along with Jeff Smith’s nickname were audible on a recorded Black Hawk County Jail phone call contemporaneous with the incident. After a trial lacking physical evidence tying Jeff to the crime and marked by timeline manipulation, unreliable witness statements, and significant nondisclosure of exculpatory evidence, a Black Hawk County jury found Jeff Smith guilty of First-Degree Murder and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

To learn more and get involved:

https://www.instagram.com/thereal_atprichie/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGVQsUTD9IQF1POBPkLgXTA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV4qNY9U5g4

To get involved in helping exonerees like Jeff Smith rebuild their lives after release:

www.after-innocence.org

Wrongful Conviction with Lauren Bright Pacheco 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.

On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death & Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish?

New episodes of The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance are every Tuesday and Friday wherever you get your podcasts. To binge the entire season, ad-free, subscribe to True Crime Clubhouse on Apple podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.