247: #247 Jason Flom with Ken Wyniemko

When 43 year old bowling alley manager Ken Wyniemko ejected an off duty cop from his establishment for drunk and disorderly conduct, he didn't think it would lead to a wrongful conviction. On April 30th, 1994, a woman was blindfolded and raped by a masked man in her home in Clinton Township, Michigan. The  composite sketch was deemed only 60% accurate, but nonetheless, was made available to the media. When Ken's disgruntled ex girlfriend reported that the sketch resembled him, investigators used this opportunity to exact revenge for the bowling alley manager's slight against their brother in blue. They manipulated the line up to produce an identification from the victim who had never clearly seen her attacker's face. With the help of incentivized jailhouse snitch testimony, the jury ignored the biological evidence that excluded Ken, sending him to serve 40-60 years. DNA evidence eventually led to his exoneration in 2003, and now, Ken devotes his time to lobbying for criminal justice reform legislation - some of which led to finding the actual rapist in his case.  To learn more and get involved, visit: http://www.deliberateinjusticethebook.com/ https://lavaforgood.com/with-jason-flom/ Wrongful Conviction s a production of Lava fo Good Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.