#296 Guest Host Chris Fabricant with Gilbert Poole

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2022

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On June 7, 1988, joggers discovered the body of 35 year old Robert Mejia on a running trail in the woods behind his apartment complex in Pontiac, MI. Mejia had been stabbed to death. Primarily due to the junk science of bite mark evidence, Gilbert Poole was convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

With 20 years of expertise in criminal justice, Chris Fabricant leads the Innocence Project’s Strategic Litigation Department as the Joseph Flom Special Counsel and Director of Strategic Litigation. His knowledge of forensic sciences drives his work’s focus on the intersection of science, law reform and social justice.

Chris learned about Gilbert's case when he and Marla Mitchell-Cichon, Gilbert's attorney, discussed the bite mark junk science that sent him to prison. Then, at the 2022 Innocence Network Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Chris listened to Gilbert speak about his case and experience.

To learn more about the junk science of bite mark evidence: https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/145-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidence/

http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/junk-science/

To get involved, visit:

https://www.cooley.edu/alumni/help-our-students?hsCtaTracking=4ff403ba-26dd-4fdf-80fe-1990814d3858%7C959d4c89-aa90-400a-a2a7-6c2bc608119f

This episode is part of a special series in our Wrongful Conviction podcast feed of 15 episodes focused on individual cases of wrongful incarceration, guest hosted by formerly incarcerated returning citizens and leading criminal justice advocates, award-winning journalists and progressive influencers.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Yellowstone, television's number one show is back on Paramount Network.
0:03.6	I John Dutton, who solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution of the State of Montana,
0:08.4	against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
0:10.8	Featuring an all-star cast led by Academy Award winner Kevin Costner,
0:13.9	the invasion is over. They will fight you dirty.
0:16.0	Is there any other way?
0:17.2	As the Dutton family fights to protect their legacy, they'll learn power has a price.
0:21.1	Signed as a declaration of war.
0:23.2	We're already at war.
0:24.2	Yellowstone, new episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern, exclusively on Paramount Network.
0:30.3	I'm Jason Flom, host of Rompal Conviction, but this week, instead of hearing me,
0:35.0	I've invited a true genius from the legal world to bring their knowledge and expertise
0:40.0	to the conversation as guest host.
0:42.4	Here at Rompal Conviction, we believe that sharing the stories of the incarcerated innocent can
0:46.8	create real change in the world, even beyond what these real-life legal superheroes do every day.
0:57.1	On June 7, 1988, joggers were out on a wooded trail in Pontiac, Michigan when they discovered
1:03.3	the body of 35-year-old Robert Mejia. He had been stabbed to death.
1:08.9	Mejia was last seen at a bar a couple of nights before, and he left with a stranger.
1:12.9	Witnesses described that person to police, who created a composite sketch and published it
1:18.6	in the local newspaper. There were no other leads.
1:22.8	Connie Cook lived in Pontiac back then, and when she saw the suspect sketch and heard about
1:27.8	the reward money, she decided to turn in her ex-boyfriend, Gilbert Poole.
	...

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