#076 Jason Flom with Doug DiLosa and Chris Pourciau on Amendment 2

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.4 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2018

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In forty-eight other states and in federal courts across the country, a conviction requires a unanimous vote – all jurors must agree on whether a prosecutor has met the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Louisiana is the only state where someone can be sentenced to life without parole without a unanimous decision of a jury. Non-unanimous juries allow conviction even where two citizens have reasonable doubts about the evidence. They are, as a result, unreliable. More than forty percent of all those who have been recently exonerated were (mistakenly) found guilty by non-unanimous juries. On November 6th, 2018, Louisiana voters will have a chance to change that. Amendment 2, a ballot initiative, would require unanimous agreement by jurors for all felony trials. Jason Flom is joined by Doug DiLosa of Rising Foundation and Chris Pourciau the Deputy Director of the Unanimous Jury Coalition, through the Promise of Justice Initiative. Doug DiLosa is himself a victim of non-unanimous jury. He was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole with less than a unanimous consensus of his guilt. Based on the information and evidence Doug was able to gather on his case, in 2000 the Federal Court reversed his conviction and he was released from prison in January of 2001. For more information about his case please listen to Doug DiLosa’s first interview on Wrongful Conviction in Season 1.

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

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

We have worked hard to ensure that all facts reported in this show are accurate. The views and opinions expressed by the individuals featured in this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Lava for Good.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I've never been in trouble in my life. I didn't even have a parking ticket. I was brought up like cops or the good guys.
0:09.0	I didn't know what was going to happen, but I do know that everything was stacked against me. Everything, like everything.
0:17.0	This isn't supposed to happen this way. I'm innocent. I know I'm innocent. I know I had nothing to do with this. How is this possible?
0:28.0	I grew up trusting the system. I grew up believing that every human being should do the right thing.
0:33.0	And that's why even though I knew I was dealing with corrupt people, I wasn't going to brave anyone to get me out of prison.
0:39.0	Because I wouldn't live with the fact that I brave my way out of my wife's death.
0:44.0	I'm not innocent to prove I'm guilty until I prove my innocence and that's absolutely what happened to me.
0:51.0	Our system since I've been out 10 years, it's come a little ways, but it's still broken.
0:56.0	I totally lost trust in humanity after what happened to me.
1:02.0	This is Ronful Conviction.
1:06.0	Welcome back to Ronful Conviction. Today we have a very special episode. I know I say that a lot, but this time it's really true.
1:30.0	This week's episode is a call to action because we're here to talk about the non-unanimous jury problem in Louisiana and constitutional amendment 2, which is on the ballot next month of November 6th and it needs to be eliminated.
1:46.0	Today we have one of my favorite human beings and a personal hero of mine, Doug Delosa. Doug, welcome back to Ronful Conviction.
1:53.0	Thank you Jason. Pleasure to be back.
1:55.0	Again we have a guy whose name I can't pronounce, but I'm going to try it anyway. Who is a glutton for punishment.
2:00.0	Let's just say that Chris Pusho is here for the first time. Welcome to Ronful Conviction. Chris.
2:05.0	Thank you for having me Jason.
2:06.0	And by way of introduction, both of these guys are Louisiana natives and we're here for a very specific purpose today, which is to discuss the non-unanimous jury verdict problem in Louisiana, which is a unique and really terrifying problem.
2:22.0	But with any luck at all, it's about to get fixed. And Doug, you have a very personal take on this because you are someone who was sentenced to life in prison after a non-unanimous jury declared you guilty.
2:36.0	And so I mean I can't even imagine what this looks like through your eyes, but why don't you elaborate a little on that situation.
2:43.0	I was tried and convicted a second degree murder back in 1987 and the jury verdict was 11-1. It was a non-unanimous verdict.
2:53.0	And from my understanding, after quite a bit of deliberation, numerous votes at one point in time, the most people they had for conviction was eight with four people holding out saying that I was not guilty.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lava for Good Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Lava for Good Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.