← All Cases / Episode #63
The Case of Jason Flom and Ron Kuby with Shabaka Shakur
📻 Episode #63
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Jul 16, 2018
About This Episode
On January 11, 1988, Fitzgerald Clarke and Steven Hewitt were fatally shot in Brooklyn, NY outside of a building where they sold drugs. Shabaka Shakur, a friend of both victims, was brought in for questioning after a witness told officers that Shabaka harbored a dispute over money he owned Hewitt. Another witness told police that…
The Case
On January 11, 1988, Fitzgerald Clarke and Steven Hewitt were fatally shot in Brooklyn, NY outside of a building where they sold drugs. Shabaka Shakur, a friend of both victims, was brought in for questioning after a witness told officers that Shabaka harbored a dispute over money he owned Hewitt. Another witness told police that Shabaka admitted to committing the crime before he was arrested, but this witness never testified and recanted in 2014. In Detective Phillip Mahony’s initial interview with Shabaka, he denied any involvement in the crime. But after Mahony, Shabaka was interviewed by the now disgraced Detective Louis Scarcella, who claimed that he confessed to shooting the victims. Shabaka Shakur was convicted on two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life. After 27 years–and in large part to his determination–Shabaka Shakur was exonerated. He is joined by his defense attorney, Ron Kuby, in this episode. Ron Kuby is the star of a new series *Wrong Man *on STARZ. The series follows a team of esteemed experts as they re-investigate the cases of three inmates who have been locked up for decades and claim they're innocent.
https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom
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.
00:07:33“Speaker 5: drug policy. And the only distinction I want to make Speaker 5: there is that crack didn't make people violent. The money Speaker 5: made people violence, right. They people who were committing the Speaker 5: violence weren't high, they were they were they were ones Speaker 5: who weren't high. They were ones who wanted to get”
00:29:55“Speaker 2: for them. Like, the connections are all there. Speaker 6: So there was a lot of stuff there that could Speaker 6: have been investigated that should have been investigated, but Scarcella, Speaker 6: like so many of his colleagues, decided to short circuit Speaker 6: this entire process because he was convinced Shebaca was guilty.”
00:50:08“Speaker 5: desire to better yourself and in the process find a Speaker 5: way to get yourself out, which you did the same Speaker 5: for a number of other guys that are still in there. Speaker 5: And that's you know, and that's so inspiring to people Speaker 5: like me who are in this movement. Realize that we”
Listen to the Episode
🎧 Listen on Omny / the podcast's platforms
Resources & links from the episode:
Share this case, follow the organisations working on it, and support the podcast's fight for the innocent at lavaforgood.com.
← #62 Guy Miles #64 Calvin Johnson →
Also on the podcast: #1 Jason Flom and Barry Scheck with Barry Gibbs · #10 Jason Flom on Christmas Behind Bars: A Special Episode with Amanda Knox, Jarrett Adams, and Jeffrey Deskovic · #17 Jason Flom and Barry Scheck with Jason Baldwin