Coming of age in Honduras, Clemente “Shorty” Aguirre was faced with a choice: join MS13 or die. He moved to Nicaragua with his grandmother instead, but with no economic prospects, he chose to come to the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Life was calm for a while, as he worked as a cook and lived in a trailer park, where he had found a place in a nice community of friends. Then, on June 17th, 2004, after a long night out, Shorty dropped by a neighboring trailer shared by his friends Cheryl Williams, part-time by her daughter Samantha, and her mother Carol Bareis. They were known for always having a stockpile of beer, and Shorty was going to ask them for an early morning nightcap, when he discovered Cheryl and Carol had been stabbed and were lying in pools of their own blood. Realizing that they were gone and that making a call to the police would certainly get him deported to a country where MS13 awaited his return, he went to his own trailer to lay low. Later that day, he came forward to investigators with his discovery and became the prime suspect. With the combination of an ineffective public defender, the prosecution’s tunnel vision, and plenty of circumstantial evidence, Clemente would be tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.

If you feel compelled to support Clemente, please go to: https://www.mightycause.com/story/Clementeaguirree2019

https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com/with-jason-flom

Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 21, 1997, Gene Artis and his sister Yvonne Giles were shot and killed at their apartment in Suffolk, VA. Six-year-old Travone Artis was the only witness who saw his mother and uncle get murdered, and he unequivocally told authorities that a relative of his was the shooter. Despite this, 18 year old Lerico Kearney became a suspect when police found out he and Gene gambled together.There was no physical evidence linking Lerico to this crime, but with the help of multiple jailhouse snitches, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

To learn more and get involved, visit:

https://www.change.org/p/governor-glen-youngkin-governor-youngkin-lerico-kearney-does-not-deserve-to-die-in-prison

Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this updated special edition of Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom & Maggie Freleng, we revisit the case of Andre Brown, whose conviction was vacated in 2022 after newly presented evidence and witness testimony demonstrated he could not have committed the crime.

Despite this, the Bronx District Attorney has shockingly overturned the vacated ruling—and Andre is now being sent back to prison this Friday, April 25, 2025, to serve an additional 17 years, after already spending 23 years behind bars for a crime he has always maintained he did not commit.

Recorded live at the UJC Summit 2023, Jason and Maggie sat down with Andre to hear his firsthand account of the nightmare that began in 1999, when he was wrongfully convicted of attempted murder in the Bronx. Although Andre suffered from a medical condition that made running nearly impossible—and multiple witnesses pointed to another suspect—he was sentenced to two 20-year terms.

This episode is a Call to Action. Andre Brown’s life is once again on the line. We need your help!

Listen, share, and speak out. Justice must be upheld.

Take Action Below:

1. Contact the Bronx DA , Darcel Clark, and respectfully ask her to consent to resentencing: 718-590-2000 and email (email script is here)

2. Contact New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and respectfully ask her to grant Andre Brown clemency: 518-474-8390 and complete contact form (script for form is here)

3. Sign the Petition: https://www.change.org/p/nyc-government-the-people-free-andre-brown

To learn more, please visit:
https://www.unjustandunsolved.com/post/episode-19-andre-brown

https://www.jiarizvi.com/andrebrown

https://www.deskovicfoundation.org/cases/the-case-of-andre-brown

Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.