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The Case of Jon-Adrian Velazquez
📻 Episode #14
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Mar 06, 2017
About This Episode
Jon-Adrian “J.J.” Velazquez was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life for the 1998 shooting death of Albert Ward, a retired police officer who owned and operated an illegal gambling spot in Harlem. Ward was shot and killed in the course of a robbery. Following the robbery, witnesses provided a description…
The Case
Jon-Adrian “J.J.” Velazquez was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life for the 1998 shooting death of Albert Ward, a retired police officer who owned and operated an illegal gambling spot in Harlem. Ward was shot and killed in the course of a robbery. Following the robbery, witnesses provided a description of the gunman as “a light-skinned black male with dreadlocks,” which prompted the search for “Mustafa,” a known drug dealer who fit the description. After learning that he was being sought by the police, J.J. attempted to vindicate himself of the allegations by voluntarily subjecting himself to a lineup. Out of nine eyewitnesses present at the scene of the crime, three identified him at the lineup. Despite being a light-skinned Latino who had never had dreadlocks and despite providing phone records which corroborated his alibi and showed that he was talking to his mother during the time of the crime, J.J. Velazquez was sentenced to 25 years to life even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. Since then, two of the witnesses have recanted, and the other eyewitness has expressed serious doubts. J.J. and his alibi witness have both taken lie detector tests and have passed them. He is currently in his 21st year, and Jason Flom interviews him from inside the walls of Sing Sing Correctional Facility for this special edition of Wrongful Conviction.
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.
00:08:17“Speaker 2: a system, for them to take your fingerprints. That's what Speaker 2: starts everything. That's what started for me. Somebody was able Speaker 2: to look at my picture in a database and say Speaker 2: that I was somewhere where I definitely wasn't. Speaker 3: And I want to talk about that for a second, JJ,”
00:30:39“Speaker 2: he had already abscounded from probation right this, which is Speaker 2: why he fled before any police would arrive. When he Speaker 2: gets picked up, because he didn't come to the priestint voluntarily, Speaker 2: they he was sent multiple messages to come to the precinct.”
00:55:31“Speaker 2: and affect change. So it's teaching children, and we're working Speaker 2: with the children of incarcerated parents because they're the closest Speaker 2: ones to us, but we're trying to work with all children, Speaker 2: and we're trying to reach out through organizations to help Speaker 2: children choose better options in life and utilize the experiences”
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Also on the podcast: #38 Jon-Adrian Velazquez