Good morning. My name is Marty Tanklove. I am a New York State exonerary that just passed the 10-year

anniversary mark of me being free from crimes for which I was innocent of, and I was wrongfully

convicted and served almost 18 years for.

You're listening to Actual Innocence, a podcast spreading awareness of wrongful convictions and issues

with the justice system.

I'm Brooke, and I'm here with my co-host, DeMarco.

Happy New Year.

It's good to talk to you again.

Happy New Year's to you.

How's your year starting off?

My year is going pretty good. I wanted to give a huge thank you to Mellie and Jennifer.

They both have given us really generous donations and they are offsetting our costs for the

Innocence Conference. So that's really exciting. Wow, that is exciting. Thank you. Thank y'all.

Mellie, Jennifer. Thank you each.

Did you make any New Year's resolutions?

I didn't.

I made kind of a goal. My goal was just to be more organized, so that way I spend less time like playing catch up.

New Year's? I stayed at home because it was really cold outside, so I stayed at home reading. I did the same thing. Do you watch the ball drop? In New York Times, I want to be there one day. You know, I used to say that. And then I went to New York, and I was on Times Square, like, right after all the Broadway shows let out. And there were so many people I couldn't move. I was so, like, overwhelmed because I'm from a small town. Yeah, and for me to be in prison, and I've always watched the ball drop, but, you know, I just, that's a goal of mine that I want to be there. You live in Central Times. So do you watch the ball drop at 11?

Yep.

I grew up in Central Time, so I would watch the ball drop at 11.

And when I first moved to Eastern Time, I was so excited because I got to see the ball drop at midnight.

It was amazing.

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