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The Case of Leslie Vass
📻 Episode #475
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Sep 12, 2024
About This Episode
One morning in February of 1975, 17-year-old high school basketball star Leslie Vass was running an errand for his mother at the local pharmacy in Baltimore, MD when he was approached by a police officer. This was Vass’s first encounter with the police, and he was confused and frightened when they placed him under arrest…
Case status as carried in this site's original 2026 profiles. Independent record verification is rolling out episode by episode — statuses are being re-checked against court and registry sources and date-stamped as verified.
The Case
One morning in February of 1975, 17-year-old high school basketball star Leslie Vass was running an errand for his mother at the local pharmacy in Baltimore, MD when he was approached by a police officer. This was Vass’s first encounter with the police, and he was confused and frightened when they placed him under arrest at gunpoint. Four months prior, three men robbed a delivery man at this same pharmacy. The victim of this robbery happened to be there that day, and reported that Vass was one of the armed robbers. Vass was sentenced to 20 years in prison solely on the questionable testimony of this one witness.
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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.
00:04:03“Speaker 1: Joseph Chester, did deliveries on the weekends when Leslie was Speaker 1: usually at his grandfather's house in another neighborhood, and on Speaker 1: one particular Saturday, November two, nineteen seventy four, Joseph Chester Speaker 1: claimed to have been robbed. Speaker 2: I think it was supposed been around seven or something”
00:15:32“Speaker 2: a dear friend to me for years, and I do Speaker 2: not believe for you he's an honorary member of this Speaker 2: Bark mission. I'm saying, well, if that's the case, then Speaker 2: you need to outside. This is somebody else to investigate, Speaker 2: because this ethical issue here for you. How can you”
00:26:33“Speaker 2: mister Vasq, And I said no, could I haven't the Speaker 2: wrong for Robbie conviction, but not show up. I got Speaker 2: paperwork from the attorney general from the state of Mond Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety eight, said that he got ex funded Speaker 2: all right, which was the fourth ex monthment order. Turned”
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