Martin Tankleff on 17 Years Wrongfully Imprisoned, Walking 13 Innocent People Out of Prison

What happens when a 17-year-old who woke up to find his parents murdered, called 911 to save his father's life, and was coerced by police into a statement that sent him to prison for nearly 18 years — survives, gets exonerated, becomes an attorney admitted to the US Supreme Court bar, and then builds a Georgetown University program where undergraduate students have now walked 13 innocent people out of prison, accounting for over 300 combined years of wrongful imprisonment? In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Martin Tankleff about the morning of September 7, 1988, how detectives lied to a 17-year-old by claiming his dying father had named him as the attacker — a tactic the US Supreme Court explicitly permits — and why the written statement the jury saw was never written in front of him and nothing in it matched the forensic evidence. Martin explains why he refuses to call these wrongful convictions and insists they be called what they actually are — intentional convictions — because in 95% of cases the prosecutorial misconduct, police misconduct, and forensic misconduct that put innocent people away was not accidental. He also explains what his students at Georgetown, NYU, Princeton, Rice, and UC Santa Cruz are actually doing in the field: tracking down witnesses who were never interviewed, finding suppressed gunshot residue tests, consulting ballistics experts who call the original trial testimony junk science, and building documentaries that get people freed. They also discuss the detective who was paid $100,000 to point the investigation at Marty and away from his father's business partner Jerry Steuerman, why every person who opposed Marty's exoneration either died or went to prison themselves, what Valentino Dixon's daughter Valentina said to everyone who doubted her when her father walked free after 27 years, why the Right to Remain Silent Act for juveniles would have changed everything about Marty's case, and why the American criminal justice system incarcerates more innocent people than England has in its entire prison population. Martin Tankleff is a defense attorney admitted to the US Supreme Court bar, a professor at Georgetown University, and co-creator of Making an Exoneree, a program now operating at five universities that has freed 13 innocent people from prison. Connect with Martin Tankleff: Georgetown University — Making an Exoneree program LinkedIn: Martin Tankleff Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Martin Tankleff 00:55 September 7 1988 — waking up at 17 to find your parents attacked 01:21 How police lied about his dying father naming him as the attacker — and why the Supreme Court allows it 02:33 Hours of unrecorded interrogation and why law enforcement chose not to record 03:25 The immediate recantation — and why the written statement never matched the forensic evidence 04:48 Hearing the guilty verdict at 19 — and the jury misconduct that tainted the trial 05:42 6,338 days in prison and the mentality that kept him from breaking 06:23 Childhood friend Mark Howard — from the high school Purple Parrot newsletter to fighting for his freedom 07:28 The Easter dinner party where someone overheard one of the murderers confess 08:37 Joseph Creedon, Peter Kent, Glenn Harris, and Jerry Steuerman — the real story of who killed his parents 09:06 Why his father was killed — $500,000 invested with a business partner running a drug operation 09:40 Police involvement — the detective paid $100,000 to target Marty and protect Steuerman 11:01 December 21 2007 — the phone call that said pack your things you're coming home 12:45 How dozens of pro bono lawyers from New York and DC fought for 18 years without being paid 13:38 None of the real killers were ever held accountable — and what happened to those who opposed his exoneration 14:20 Over $13 million in settlements and why no amount of money can compensate for 18 years 15:59 Rapid fire — first meal out of prison, guilty pleasure TV, and one word for the American criminal justice system 17:55 What's wrong with the criminal justice system in one word 18:30 The 4,000 documented exonerations and what it means that the guilty remained free 19:11 If he could argue one case before the Supreme Court what it would involve 19:50 How he decided to become a lawyer in 1993 talking to his neighbor Eric in prison 21:08 Being sworn into the New York bar in the same appellate courthouse where his conviction was overturned 22:46 Admitted to the US Supreme Court bar — and the two justices who once worked at the firm that freed him 24:51 How Making an Exoneree at Georgetown actually works 25:49 Valentino Dixon — the first exoneration that hit hardest and the daughter who defended her father her whole life #MartinTankleff #WrongfulConviction #TrustcastShow #MakingAnExoneree #CriminalJusticeReform #Exonerated #InnocenceProject #GeorgetownLaw #FalseConfession #JusticeReform