#344 Maggie Freleng with Tami Vance

In March 2000, Tami Vance and Leigh Stubbs completed a 60-day drug rehab program. Once discharged, their friend Kim Williams joined them and they went to Kim’s boyfriend’s house. He had been in a car accident and always had an ample supply of Oxycontin to manage his pain. Kim had stolen his pain pills in the past and did so again that night. She and Tami took them while Leigh drove to a motel. Tami woke up the next morning violently ill. Kim remained asleep until Tami and Leigh found her overdosing. While Kim survived, doctors determined that she had suffered a severe sexual assault. Tami and Leigh, who identified as lesbians, were blamed. And with the help of junk bite mark science as well as a homophobic narrative, they were sentenced to 44 years in prison. Maggie talks to Tami Vance, Sandi Rabalais, Tami’s mother, and Valena Beety, Tami’s attorney.  To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9780806541518/manifesting-justice/ https://innocenceproject.olemiss.edu/donate/  https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/145-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidence/ Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts  in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Om Podcasten

Hosted by celebrated criminal justice reform advocate and founding board member of the Innocence Project Jason Flom, Pulitzer prize-winning podcast host and producer Maggie Freleng, and Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and podcast host Lauren Bright Pacheco, Wrongful Conviction features intimate conversations with men and women who have spent years in prison for crimes they maintain they did not commit. Some have been fully exonerated and reunited with family and friends while others continue to languish, with some even facing execution on death row. Each episode peels back the layers behind the stories of those who have found themselves caught in a legal system gone wrong, with illuminating insights from lawyers and leading experts sharing their in-depth knowledge about each case, from prison visits and courtroom battles to reexamined crime scenes and witness interviews. This gripping series reveals the tragedy of injustice…as well as the triumph that is possible when people step up and demand change.