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The Case of False Confessions - Hamid Hayat
📻 Episode #123
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Apr 08, 2020
About This Episode
How could anyone believe a confession about 1,000 pole-vaulting terrorists all dressed like Ninja Turtles?
The Case
How could anyone believe a confession about 1,000 pole-vaulting terrorists all dressed like Ninja Turtles?
This week, Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin tell us a story with some of the most outlandish false confessions ever heard. And yet, California native, Hamid Hayat, was wrongfully convicted of terrorism in the years following the horrific 9/11 attacks. Investigators thought Hamid was part of a terrorist sleeper cell, though eventually they learned no such terrorist cell ever existed.
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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.
00:03:54“Speaker 1: The FBI, to its credit, didn't believe Nassem. They figured Speaker 1: out soon enough that he had a reputation for lying. Speaker 1: Even his own mother later called Nassim a bag full Speaker 1: of lies, air and deceit. But this was a month Speaker 1: after nine to eleven, and the government was desperate to”
00:14:30“Speaker 1: to Umer, those pole vaulters are dressed up like Ninja turtles. Speaker 1: Umer later explained that he lifted this story from the Speaker 1: movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles he'd recently seen it on TV. Speaker 1: All this goes on and on. Both men keep spinning”
00:24:34“Speaker 2: Turns out he was right to take that bet. Speaker 6: You just see before you click on it, there's an Speaker 6: order of the District Court, and you know you're talking Speaker 6: about ten seconds of absolute terror. And then I clicked Speaker 6: on it and the conviction is overturned. I'll admit it.”
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← #122 False Confessions - Bonus Interview with Daniel Villegas #124 Damien Echols in Times of COVID →
Also on the podcast: #115 False Confessions - Origin Story · #116 False Confessions - Robert Davis · #117 False Confessions - Dixmoor 5