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The Case of Jason Flom on Melissa Lucio
📻 Episode #253
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Apr 13, 2022
About This Episode
Time is running out for Melissa Lucio. We must act now!
The Case
Time is running out for Melissa Lucio. We must act now!
Melissa Lucio had 12 children with twins on the way, when the family was moving to a new apartment at the behest of Child Protective Services. A set of rickety exit stairs was high on the list of reasons, and a history of inter-sibling violence was well documented. Melissa's youngest, 2 year old Mariah, fell down those rickety stairs during the move. There were no outward injuries; however, over the next 2 days, the fall caused a sequence of medical issues to unfold, including cerebral edema, brain bleed, a deficiency of blood clotting factors, and eventually the appearance of wide spread inexplicable bruising. On February 17th, 2007, paramedics were dispatched to an unresponsive Mariah who subsequently died. Injuries and bruises from her siblings, the tumble down the stairs, and her depleted ability to stave off internal bleeding led first responders, physicians, and the police to believe that Mariah had experienced horrific child abuse at the hands of her primary caregiver. Melissa Lucio was convicted of child abuse, as well as capital murder, and sentenced to death. The DA on her case is himself serving 13 years for accepting bribes in exchange for favorable outcomes in other trials. Shortly after Melissa's conviction, her defense attorney was hired by that DA at a higher than usual rate, as was his wife. Meanwhile, Melissa's execution date is set for April 27th, 2022.
Sign the petition at: https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/stop-execution-of-innocent-melissa-lucio-texas/
If you live in Texas, call Cameron County DA Saenz to ask that Melissa's execution date be withdrawn: 956-300-3881
OR Call Governor Abbott to tell him that you support clemency for Melissa Lucio: 956-446-2866
Social Media Toolkit: https://innocenceproject.org/social-media-toolkit-stop-execution-melissa-lucio-texas/
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.
00:06:22“Speaker 1: was documented while she was in foster care. But that's Speaker 1: not all that was documented in those Child Protective Services reports. Speaker 1: There was a tremendous amount of inter sibling violence while Speaker 1: in foster care and when they were living at home, Speaker 1: especially from the older sisters disciplining the younger ones who”
00:26:08“Speaker 2: Correct, yes, they did. Speaker 4: But when they qualified doctor Curry as an expert, since Speaker 4: he was a pediatric neurologist, he was not a forensic scientist, Speaker 4: and so they did not allow him to testify it Speaker 4: regarding the source of any of her other injuries anywhere”
00:43:19“Speaker 4: taken are not good and there are some additional post Speaker 4: conviction procedural maneuvers which may take place. Since I'm no Speaker 4: longer her attorney, I don't know what they're going to Speaker 1: We had a chance to speak with Melissa's current counsel, Speaker 1: Vanessa Potkin, who heads up Melissa's team from the Innocence”
Listen to the Episode
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Resources & links from the episode:
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← #252 Allan Woodhouse and Brian Anderson #254 Chris Ochoa →
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