For the Innocent: A Podcast About Wrongful Convictions, Legal Failures, Prison, True Crime, Forensic Science, and Criminal Justice
Episodes
Survivors Guide to Prison: Examining a Broken System with Matthew Cooke
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The failure rate of our prison systems is staggering, with recidivism exceeding 70% in nearly every state. What should this tell us about the success—...
From Prison to the Oscars: The True Story Behind Sing Sing and Rehabilitation Through the Arts
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A maximum-security prison may not seem like the natural setting for a homegrown theater program. But at Sing Sing Prison in New York, just such a proj...
A Murdered Cop and a Mishandled Mugshot – JJ Velazquez’s Wrongful Conviction
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1998, a retired NYPD officer was shot and killed inside an illegal gambling parlor. Angry cops wanted speedy justice for one of their own, and an o...
The Collapse of a Conviction: How an LAPD Cop and Two Journalists Unraveled the Case Against Bruce Lisker
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At just 17 years old, Bruce Lisker was branded a murderer after being accused and convicted of the violent killing of his mother. He would go on to sp...
A Deceitful Detective & Manipulated Evidence – The Wrongful Conviction of Bruce Lisker
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1983, Bruce Lisker’s mother was violently attacked in their family home. After responding to his frantic 911 call, police quickly drew assumption...
Breaking Down the Amanda Knox Case: Facts vs. Frenzy
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To this day, some still believe Amanda Knox is guilty of the horrific murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007. However, this belief appears to stem entirel...
The Amanda Knox Story: Her Fight for Justice on the Global Stage
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Suffering is part of the human experience, but most of us are granted the dignity of processing our pain and healing in private. For Amanda Knox, that...
Amanda Knox, JJ Velasquez, and More | For The Innocent Season 3 Trailer
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hosted by Michael Semanchik, For the Innocent exposes the shocking reality of wrongful convictions through raw, first-person stories from the exoner...
Evidence Preservation: Who’s Responsible and What Happens When It’s Lost or Destroyed
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At the moment of conviction, the incentive to safeguard evidence diminishes in the eyes of the Criminal Justice System. That’s why it is critically ...
The Luis Vargas Story: Misidentified as the “Teardrop Rapist”
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Luis Vargas was wrongfully convicted after three separate witnesses misidentified him as the “Teardrop Rapist.” Sixteen years later, DNA linked to...
Eyewitness Misidentifications
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the first 325 DNA exonerations, false identification accounted for 72% of the wrongful convictions. But how is that possible? The simplest explanat...
The Guy Miles Story: How Flawed Eyewitness Identification Led to 18 Years in Prison
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Guy Miles was wrongfully convicted after being misidentified by an eyewitness during a robbery investigation in Orange County, California. Although he...
Dark Pleas: Trading Innocence for Freedom in Post Conviction Deals
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine being in prison for decades. You’ve been fighting your appeal for many years. Your lawyer believes you’ll get a new trial but there is no ...
Angela’s Story: A Dark Plea in Exchange for Freedom
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On November 20th 1999, Angela Garcia’s home caught on fire. Surprised and crawling in the dark, she was not able to find her children before the bla...
Plea Deals: Why Innocent People Give Up and Go to Prison
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Believe it or not, there are many reasons to plead guilty when you’re not. ----- Plea deals are necessary to fight crime. Without them, our criminal...
Marilyn’s Story: A Plea Deal Turned Deadly
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Marilyn Mulero was wrongfully suspected of a Chicago gang murder in 1992. Naive to the criminal justice system, she was frightened into signing a sta...
Junk Science - Undoing the Damage
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When forensic evidence gets it wrong, how do we free the innocent? ----- In our history of criminal prosecutions, some types of evidence ended up bein...
Junk Science - Shaken Baby Syndrome
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1980s and 1990s, Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) was a popular medical theory used to arrest and convict innocent parents of fatally abusing their c...
Junk Science - Bloodstains & Bite Marks
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when forensic science is later found to be false? ----- Forensic science is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system. Unfortunately, ...
Zavion’s Story
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A Minor Accident Turns Fatal ----- Zavion Johnson was bathing his four month old daughter when she slipped from his grasp and hit her head on the tub....
Season 2 Begins
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Lives and Stories of the Wrongfully Convicted ----- Welcome back listeners. There is so much left to cover. In upcoming episodes, we will explore ...
False Confessions (Part 2)
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Despite best intentions, parents can be their child’s worst enemy during an investigation. And innocent people can know the same facts that only gui...
False Confessions (Part 1)
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the most intriguing question about our criminal justice system. Why do innocent people confess to crimes they didn’t commit? As strange as it...
Marty’s Story (Part 2)
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marty Tankleff was wrongfully convicted of murdering his parents in 1990. Innocent and very young, he would learn the legal system well enough to win ...
Marty’s Story (Part 1)
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marty Tankleff was only 17 when his parents were murdered in their Belle Terre home in Long Island, New York. When he needed help from adults the most...
More Episodes Dropping Soon!
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So far, we’ve heard from Brian Banks and Uriah Courtney about false accusations and DNA evidence. Coming up in mid-May, we’re going to talk with M...
False Accusations
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People are falsely accused of crimes all the time. It’s bad enough when it happens by accident, but it’s even worse when the accuser has something...
Brian Banks' Story - Part 3
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the final episode of our three-part series on the remarkable story of Brian Banks. In this episode, we will delve deeper into the challenge...
Brian Banks' Story - Part 2
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we hear more of Brian’s story, a high school football player who had his life turned upside down when he was wrongfully convicted o...
Brian Banks' Story - Part 1
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2002, Brian Banks was a 17-year-old high school football star with a promising future ahead of him. He was getting the attention of Division 1 team...
DNA Evidence (Part 2)
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
DNA testing is the most powerful tool for freeing the innocent. But without evidence to test, it’s useless... leaving many wrongfully convicted peop...
DNA Evidence (Part 1)
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since its origins, DNA evidence has both convicted the guilty and exonerated the innocent. Despite its amazing abilities, this forensic science has no...
Uriah’s Story
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Uriah Courtney was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life for kidnapping and rape. Despite having a solid alibi, a series of coincidences and past...
Welcome to For the Innocent
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Despite best intentions, our criminal justice system is not perfect. Innocent people are frequently accused, convicted, and sent to prison for crimes ...