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The Case of Daniel Tapia
📻 Episode #26
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Jul 03, 2017
About This Episode
Daniel Tapia was arrested on April 12th, 2003 for second-degree murder in the Calliope housing projects in New Orleans where he lived. He was accused of being the getaway driver and master mind in this murder. The only witness was a police officer who made conflicting statements and even was recorded stating that he was…
The Case
Daniel Tapia was arrested on April 12th, 2003 for second-degree murder in the Calliope housing projects in New Orleans where he lived. He was accused of being the getaway driver and master mind in this murder. The only witness was a police officer who made conflicting statements and even was recorded stating that he was in pursuit of three black males who committed this crime. Despite being Caucasian, Daniel was arrested less than 10 minutes after the shooting occurred, along with three black males. He was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 2005. Prior to his transfer to a state correctional facility, he barely survived Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding while he was locked up in Orleans Parish Prison. His conviction was overturned by a judge, reinstated by the higher court, and eventually overturned for good. Daniel Tapia was released in 2017 after serving 12 years and is now the Lead Mentor at Rising Foundation—an organization which provides pathways to self-sufficiency for formerly incarcerated people with an aim to stop the cycle of incarceration in low income communities in Louisiana—where he is able to pursue his passion of guiding other men and women in changing themselves, their communities, and the circumstances around them.
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:06:19“Speaker 1: at and he comes back there and he opens the Speaker 1: door and he tells me he's a police officer. He Speaker 1: just saw everything that happened, and he knows I didn't Speaker 1: have anything to do with it, but he needs to Speaker 1: know what's going on because it's the second murder in”
00:24:02“Speaker 1: I punished this guy. I punished this guy. You know, Speaker 1: we found it, we solved it, and there's no in Speaker 1: my opinion, real thought to you know, it's like they Speaker 1: do that. They'll give a guy a life sentence and Speaker 1: go home in eat spaghetti like it was nothing, you know,”
00:40:03“Speaker 1: thought he about it. I fought with it. I said, Speaker 1: all right, I take the plea. The plea bargain they Speaker 1: offered me was I plead guilty to manslaughter. Right. They Speaker 1: put a cap on it at fifteen years, and leave Speaker 1: it up to my judge to sentence me to say,”
Listen to the Episode
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Also on the podcast: #104 Daniel Holtzclaw · #121 False Confessions - Daniel Villegas · #122 False Confessions - Bonus Interview with Daniel Villegas