#282 Jason Flom with Bobbie Jean Johnson - RE-RELEASE

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2022

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

In 1977, Arthur Samson was shot in the stomach and stabbed approximately 100 times inside his New Orleans, LA antique store. The store was ransacked, and the safe was missing about $2,000. A month later police stopped 2 men and Bobbie Jean Johnson for a traffic violation in a stolen car. At the time Johnson was not a suspect, but police were on the lookout for a .32 caliber revolver. They found one in Bobbie Jean’s purse. She endured a violent interrogation that resulted in a tape recorded confession riddled with inconsistencies. One of the men that had been in the car with Bobbie Jean told police that he had slipped the gun into her purse while they were being pulled over, but his statement was both ignored by the prosecution and hidden from the defense. Nevertheless, Bobbie Jean Johnson was convicted of 1st degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Jason was joined by Bobbie Jean Johnson and Cat Forrester of the Innocence Project New Orleans at the 2019 Innocence Network Conference in Atlanta, GA. To learn more and get involved, visit: https://ip-no.org/support/donate/ https://lavaforgood.com/with-jason-flom/ Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Through our social channels, we asked our listeners to name some of their favorite episodes,
0:04.0	and Bobby Jean Johnson's story rose to the top. Here is her heartbreaking story recorded in
0:09.9	Atlanta at the Innocence Network Conference in 2019, shortly before her untimely passing away
0:16.5	later that year. Bobby Jean Johnson was given up for adoption at birth and later molested
0:24.5	while she was in foster care. She ran away from that horrible situation and tried to survive as
0:29.3	a sex worker on the streets of New Orleans. In 1977, an antiquities dealer named Arthur
0:35.2	Samson was found dead at his St. Charles Avenue shop. He had been shot once in the stomach with
0:41.0	a 32-calibre bullet and stabbed over 100 times. The store was ransacked and safe was missing about
0:46.9	$2,000. A month after the murder, Bobby Jean was writing and what she did not know at the time
0:52.4	was a stolen car with two men. When they were pulled over by the police for a traffic violation,
0:57.2	one of the men stashed a knife and a 32-calibre revolver in Bobby Jean's purse. At 18 years old,
1:04.0	Bobby Jean Johnson was brought in for a violent interrogation that would change the course of her
1:08.8	already tragic and vulnerable life. This is wrongful conviction.
1:13.9	Welcome back to wrongful conviction. Today, I have a guest who is one of the most extraordinary
1:30.4	people with one of the most insane stories that I've ever heard and she's also just a beautiful,
1:37.9	beautiful person. Bobby Jean Johnson, welcome to wrongful conviction. As I always say, I'm sorry
1:46.4	you're here, but I'm glad you're here. Everyone will find out why. With her is Cat Forrester,
1:52.4	who is the communications director for the Innocence Project of New Orleans, also known as Ip-no,
1:56.9	and Cat, welcome to wrongful conviction. Thanks so much. Happy to be here. Bobby Jean was freed
2:03.8	from prison in 2018 after serving 41 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit.
2:10.9	And this case has so many of the hallmarks of the causes of wrongful convictions that
2:19.6	it's almost a clean sweep, so to speak. I mean, there was misconduct, there was a false confession
	...

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