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The Case of Davontae Sanford
📻 Episode #312
🎙️ Hosted by Guest Host Laura Nirider
📅 Nov 28, 2022
About This Episode
On September 17, 2007, two men broke into a home in Detroit, MI and fatally shot four people. 14 year old Davontae Sanford, who lived nearby, went outside in his pajamas to see the commotion. Police approached Davontae and brought him back to the station where he was interrogated for two days without a parent…
The Case
On September 17, 2007, two men broke into a home in Detroit, MI and fatally shot four people. 14 year old Davontae Sanford, who lived nearby, went outside in his pajamas to see the commotion. Police approached Davontae and brought him back to the station where he was interrogated for two days without a parent or guardian present. The questioning ended when Davontae falsely confessed. Despite someone else taking responsibility for the crimes, Davontae was sentenced to 37 to 90 years in prison.
As Co-Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and co-host and writer of the award-winning Lava For Good podcast, Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions, Laura represents individuals who were wrongfully convicted when they were children or teenagers.
https://lavaforgood.com/false-confessions/
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.
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.
00:05:56“Speaker 2: What'd you do for fun? Speaker 4: I was too busy trying to like look for food Speaker 4: to eat because I probably ain't eating like two days. Speaker 4: You know, I didn't really know too much of like Speaker 4: fun or enjoying myself or honestly outside and maybe going”
00:22:48“Speaker 3: at least six times, including in one other exoneration case Speaker 3: where he helped helped essentially get an innocent man convicted Speaker 3: and sent away for life. And since then, in more Speaker 3: recent years, he has actually been disbarred for misconduct and Speaker 3: criminal conduct. And I think we'll hear a bit more”
00:40:12“Speaker 2: get involved ultimately to free DeVante Sandford. Speaker 3: Thankfully, we didn't have to wait the years that it Speaker 3: would have taken for that motion to work its way Speaker 3: through the court system again because an unusual thing happened. Speaker 3: But a Michigan State Police officer, a law enforcement body”
Listen to the Episode
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