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The Case of Stephanie Spurgeon
📻 Episode #384
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Aug 17, 2023
About This Episode
Stephanie Spurgeon was a married mother of two who had been running a daycare facility from her home for 15 years. On August 21, 2008, Stephanie took care of 1 year old Maria Harris for the first time. Maria’s grandmother picked her up that day, but soon noticed Maria was unresponsive. After 8 days in…
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The Case
Stephanie Spurgeon was a married mother of two who had been running a daycare facility from her home for 15 years. On August 21, 2008, Stephanie took care of 1 year old Maria Harris for the first time. Maria’s grandmother picked her up that day, but soon noticed Maria was unresponsive. After 8 days in the hospital, Maria passed away. Because Stephanie was the last supervisor of the child, she was accused of murder and convicted of manslaughter based on the prosecution’s argument of Abusive Head Trauma. After 9 years in the Florida prison system, numerous Innocence Projects helped Stephanie assert her innocence, and in 2021, she accepted an Alford Plea and was finally freed.
In this updated episode, Jason Flom catches up with Stephanie to discuss the great advocacy work she is doing today to pay it forward to others who are wrongfully convicted.
https://gofund.me/06c1b747
Tre Clay: https://www.instagram.com/justice_for_tre_clay/?hl=en
Stephanie's podcast, Freedom Fighters: https://open.spotify.com/show/6BR03ECj2NitXptajTtkmH
https://millerforstateattorney.com/
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.
00:04:41“Speaker 1: uncontested yet totally dubious soft impact theory, the jury found Speaker 1: Stephanie guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced Speaker 1: her to fifteen years in prison. With the help of Speaker 1: multiple innocence projects and a current candidate for state's attorney, Speaker 1: Stephanie was able to present the proper expert testimon This”
00:20:02“Speaker 4: in a formula for how he would approach these cases. Speaker 4: But he simply failed to learn his own case well Speaker 4: enough to know that he could not simply employ the Speaker 4: same formula that he employed in other cases where shaken Speaker 4: baby syndrome was a theory. Because not all cases are”
00:33:51“Speaker 3: to put her toes in the ocean, and so for Speaker 3: everyone's sake, she agreed to enter this Alfred plea and Speaker 3: bring resolution to the case. Speaker 1: So look, no one could fall at you, Stephanie for Speaker 1: making the decision that you made. People make it all”
Listen to the Episode
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Resources & links from the episode:
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Also on the podcast: #240 Stephanie Spurgeon