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The Case of Sullivan Walter
📻 Episode #395
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 Oct 05, 2023
About This Episode
On the night of May 10, 1985, a 35-year-old woman was attacked and sexually assaulted in her home in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans, LA. The victim worked with police to create a composite sketch of her rapist and a month later, 17-year-old Sullivan Walter was arrested for an unrelated burglary charge. A…
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The Case
On the night of May 10, 1985, a 35-year-old woman was attacked and sexually assaulted in her home in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans, LA. The victim worked with police to create a composite sketch of her rapist and a month later, 17-year-old Sullivan Walter was arrested for an unrelated burglary charge. A police officer believed that Sullivan resembled the rapist’s composite sketch and the victim later identified him as her rapist in a photo lineup. Sullivan’s trial lasted just one day, but due to to junk science, inadequate legal defense, and a mistaken eyewitness identification, he was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Jason Flom talks to Sullivan Walter and Richard Davis, Legal Director of Innocence Project New Orleans.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/sullivan-walters-freedom-fund
https://ip-no.org/
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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.
00:04:33“Speaker 2: nineteen eighty six, a woman was cleaning her home. The Speaker 2: only other person in her home was her young zan, Speaker 2: who was sleep. She was showering after doing some cleaning Speaker 2: and was disturbed by someone breaking in, and that person Speaker 2: attacked and raped her. At all times during the rape,”
00:17:40“Speaker 2: use it. The court tends it back with an instruction, Speaker 2: but you need we need to figure out this guy's Speaker 2: blood type and figure out if he was prejudiced by Speaker 2: the late disclosure of the perpetrator's blood typing information, because obviously, Speaker 2: if it was a match, puss out, it's kind of”
00:30:36“Speaker 2: get this case to me. He understood that this is Speaker 2: something he wanted to sign off on too, I. Speaker 3: Mean a judge, and he seemed to be very disturbed matters, Speaker 3: and he made some statements quote unquote, he stated, there, Speaker 3: you know, to say that this was uncashionable would be”
Listen to the Episode
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← #394 Junk Science - Hair Microscopy Evidence #396 Junk Science - Footwear Comparison Evidence →
Also on the podcast: #171 False Confessions - Walter Ogrod · #278 Walter Goudy · #382 False Confessions - Walter Ogrod