On April 7, 1991, Joe Travis was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head in an apartment complex in Cleveland, OH. Witnesses indicated the murder resulted from a drug transaction that had gone awry. Two weeks later, Ronald Lacey was arrested on drug charges and told police that he witnessed the Travis murder and described what he believed to be the shooter’s car: a late 70s Monte Carlo. Cleveland Police recalled stopping a car that fit this description, as they suspected the driver was carrying drugs. The driver, 27 year old Charles Jackson, had no drugs, but was arrested anyway. Officers found the arrest record and charged Charles for the murder. Despite the witness identifying someone else, and despite Charles’s solid alibi, he was convicted and sent to prison. Maggie speaks to Charles Jackson, Charles’s nephew, Houston Foster, and Charles’s attorney, Donald Caster.
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The Wrongful Conviction podcast, hosted by Jason Flom and Khaliah Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali), has featured over 500 cases of men and women who spent years — sometimes decades — in prison for crimes they did not commit. The podcast has been downloaded over 70 million times and has directly influenced exonerations, clemencies, and criminal justice reform legislation across the country.