Beth Shelburne

Last time on Ear Witness.

She was a very credible witness.

We believed her.

Obviously, we believed her because we convicted him, and it was on her testimony.

Last time on Ear Witness.

We knew the reward was offered because it was all over the papers.

But we didn't know who got it or if Violet Ellison got it.

We got an email that said we found these documents.

They'd been misfiled.

And here they are.

Does that sound strange to you?

Or do you have any idea how that could have happened?

Do you think that your impression of her would have been different had you known she was being paid $5,000?

I'm sitting on the couch in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in Birmingham.

It's warm outside.

The door is open to let in a breeze.

I'm talking with Marika Wilson, who's telling me and my producer Mara about a defining experience of her life, being charged with attempted murder in 1997 when she was 20 years old, a crime she did not commit.

The crime happened late at night when one woman and two men tried to rob a man in Birmingham.

They broke into his house and shot him.

He almost died.