#298 Guest Hosts David Rudolf & Sonya Pfeiffer with Michael Peterson

Wrongful Conviction

Lava for Good Podcasts

True Crime

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2022

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On December 9, 2001, Michael Peterson, an acclaimed novelist and one-time mayoral candidate, found his wife Kathleen dead at the bottom of their staircase in Raleigh-Durham, NC. Primarily due to the junk science of blood splatter analysis, Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

David and Sonya are a criminal defense duo who fight for victims of injustice, misconduct and faults of the system. Their podcast, Abuse of Power, dissects how law enforcement and the justice system have failed those they are meant to protect.

David was Michael's first lawyer on the case involving the death of his wife, and he still is to this day. David notably appeared in the documentary, The Staircase, as Michael's lawyer. Sonya covered the case as a television reporter in Raleigh-Durham, and has been following the story since the beginning. David and Sonya have supported and advocated for Michael throughout his entire wrongful conviction experience. This episode is one of Michael’s very few recent press appearances, and Wrongful Conviction is the first ever podcast to have Michael Peterson as a guest.

To learn more about the junk science of blood splatter analysis:

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/147-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bloodstain-pattern-evidence/

To listen to the Abuse of Power podcast, visit:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Abuse-of-Power-with-David-Rudolf-and-Sonya-Pfeiffer-Podcast/B09MJLWHKS

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. Through this podcast, I aim to highlight how frequently our criminal legal
0:35.2	system shatters the lives of innocent people. Whether junk science is introduced at trial,
0:40.4	police or prosecutorial misconduct, or simply a misidentification, each story is devastating
0:46.1	on its own. But when we zoom out and take in the sheer breadth of the issue, we can see a
0:51.1	pattern forming across our entire system. Who better to take us on that journey than
0:56.7	the brilliant journalists and writers who regularly cover these stories?
1:05.8	Kathleen Peterson was found by her husband, Michael Peterson, bleeding and struggling to breathe
1:12.2	at the bottom of a staircase. It was the middle of the night on December 9, 2001.
1:17.3	Michael called 911 and held her as she lay dine. When emergency services arrived, there was
1:24.9	blood all over the walls, the floor, and on Michael's clothing, which led Durham Police Detective
1:32.4	Art Holland to quickly assume this was a murder. Michael became a suspect in Kathleen's death,
1:39.9	and Durham Police pursued this theory to the exclusion of all other evidence.
	...

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