0:02

On March fourteenth, nineteen ninety eight, the body

0:05

of nineteen year old Anthony Golotti was

0:07

found alongside a desolate stretch of

0:09

road outside of Sacramento, California.

0:12

The case remained cold for over a year

0:15

until a young man named Israel Sept

0:17

went to prison on a gun charge and offered

0:19

authorities information about

0:21

the murder. According

0:24

to Sept, he was at an apartment when two

0:26

others, Angela Devorski and Jeremy

0:28

Pucket, assaulted, robbed, and abducted

0:31

Anthony Golotti. Then, according

0:33

to Sept, he got into Anthony's car with them

0:35

to keep him safe from further violence, but

0:38

failed when they arrived at that stretch of road

0:40

where Golotti was fatally shot. In

0:43

the weeks following the murder, Angelo Devorski

0:45

also turned up dead, leaving only Jeremy

0:48

Pucket to stay. A trial where Sept

0:50

made good on his plea deal and sent

0:52

Jeremy away for life. But

0:55

this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful

1:04

conviction has always given voice to innocent

1:07

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1:09

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1:11

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1:13

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1:15

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1:18

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1:20

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1:23

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1:28

us A three three two oh seven,

1:30

four six sixty six. Welcome

1:40

back to Rafel Conviction. Today, we have a

1:42

story out of Northern California in

1:44

the years following legislation that had

1:47

been passed to stop ironically

1:49

prosecutions just like this one that use

1:51

snitch testimony that is not corroborated

1:53

by independent evidence. Nevertheless,

1:56

a path was made with the help of other

1:58

incentivized witnesses, to let that happened.

2:00

And here to help tell this story as an attorney

2:03

with the Northern California Inisons Project, Karen

2:05

Sanu, New Tower, Karen, Welcome

2:08

to the show.

2:09

Thank you, and our.

2:10

Guest of honor today, the man who lived

2:12

and somehow survived this night, mayre Jeremy

2:14

Pucket. Jeremy welcome, thank

2:16

you. And this crime took place

2:19

in a place called Rancho Cordova

2:21

kind of outside of Sacramento anyway.

2:23

Is that where you grew up and what was your

2:26

family life like?

2:27

Well, I grew up in Sacramento,

2:29

California, pretty much all over the place,

2:31

mainly ranch Cordova's self, and

2:33

we moved around a lot, you know, and didn't

2:36

have the most money or anything.

2:38

But you know, my parents they did the best

2:40

they could and gave me, my brother and my sister

2:43

the best life that we could have. So

2:45

I had a great childhood. It was good. It

2:47

was really good.

2:48

In the late eighties and early nineties, the crack

2:50

epidemic affected many of Jeremy's friends,

2:53

but not him. Instead, Jeremy became

2:55

a father who's clear head served him

2:57

well. One night, when his young family faced

2:59

a situation.

3:01

The house call on fire while

3:03

me and my son's mother, Carl were sleeping,

3:06

and as I woke up, I opened up the

3:08

door and there was just smoke coming

3:10

up the stairs. So I went

3:12

across the hall grabbed my son, and

3:15

because of all the smoke and everything's coming

3:17

from downstairs, I knew we had to jump out

3:19

the window. When we jumped out the window,

3:22

at that time, I knew that her sister would

3:24

sleep downstairs, and so I kicked

3:26

in the door to get her out.

3:28

However, when her sister was coming out the

3:30

door, that's when she told

3:33

me that one of my good friends was

3:35

sleeping. My son's Auntie's room

3:37

basically, and by that time the

3:40

house was up in flames and there's nothing we

3:42

can do to save them.

3:43

Oh man, what was his name?

3:44

Benny Campbell? And I think the worst part

3:46

of it was is I heard her scream as he

3:49

was trying to get out, and like, this is like

3:51

not just a friend, Like he was like one of my best friends.

3:53

So just to not be able to save him,

3:55

you know, And it still affects me, I guess you

3:57

could say, and it's just and still miss him to this day.

4:00

Jeremy displayed true heroism

4:02

that night, but unbeknownst to him, his

4:04

friend Israel Scept harbored some

4:06

resentments over Benny's death.

4:08

I believe I met him through Benny.

4:11

I thought we had a good relationship. I thought

4:14

we were good friends. You know, he came

4:16

to my house, I would go to his house. But yeah,

4:19

I guess we were as good as friends as I thought thought

4:21

we were.

4:22

Israel Scept became integral to

4:24

Jeremy's wrongful conviction for a murder that

4:26

in part began at the apartment of

4:28

a young man named William van Hill.

4:31

This was a small, one bedroom

4:33

apartment in the heart of Rancho

4:35

Cordova, and William

4:37

van Hill would let people come

4:40

to the house and deal drugs

4:42

and he would get some drugs

4:44

through that, and he also was

4:46

letting a guy named Larry

4:49

Biddlebrooks crash there every

4:52

once in a while, and so on

4:54

the particular night in March

4:57

nineteen ninety eight, Larry

4:59

middle brook Brooks was there. Van

5:01

Hill was pretty much in his bedroom.

5:04

A woman named Patty Scott Bostik

5:06

was there. She and Larry Middlebrooks

5:09

were heavily using crack cocaine

5:12

that night and drinking a lot. And

5:14

then Israel Sep was there.

5:16

Jeremy planned to hang out with Israel step that

5:19

night after a family gathering.

5:21

Had a little get together. It was no part or nothing, and we had

5:23

a little barbecue. It was me, my sister's

5:25

friend, Chante, my son's mother, Akara,

5:28

my mom was there, my dad was there. There was a

5:31

few people there that could all testify

5:33

to my whereabouts this night. Prior

5:35

to my leaving and coming back, I remember

5:38

talking to Israel. He told me what was going to be at.

5:40

I showed up and as

5:42

I seen how things were progressing at

5:44

the apartment where he was at, I pulled

5:46

myself out of that and went back home.

5:48

The victim of the murder, Anthony Glotti,

5:51

showed up wanting to buy some

5:53

drugs to celebrate his nineteenth

5:55

birthday. He was by himself.

5:57

The Goliath didn't looked like the usual crack

6:00

I guess she would say, so he showed

6:02

up. I was like, this guy looks

6:05

like he might be the police. And

6:07

I told Scept this, and Set was still

6:09

intent on selling this guy drugs. And

6:11

that's when I decided to pull myself out of that

6:13

situation and leave because I was not gonna

6:15

be involved in something that got myself

6:17

in trouble.

6:18

With and Galotti was a young, young god

6:20

yeah guy that everyone called the

6:22

preppy because he didn't

6:24

look like anyone else in the apartment.

6:27

It's not to judge anybody, but just look

6:29

out of place.

6:30

But he saw this young attractive

6:33

woman, Angela Devorski, and

6:35

he left the apartment, but then told his

6:37

friends he wanted to go back and meet

6:40

up with the girl.

6:41

I didn't know Andrew Devorski. The only people, I

6:43

guess you really knew it was Israel and

6:45

Larry. That's about it.

6:47

According to all accounts, Angela Davorski

6:50

was there with her boyfriend James Reeves, also

6:52

referred to as Jamo, but the accounts

6:54

diverge on what happened between the

6:56

time Jeremy left the apartment that night and when

6:59

Anthony glotti body was found on March

7:01

fourteenth, nineteen ninety eight, on White Rock

7:03

Road.

7:04

Just a driver going down the

7:06

road spotted him and called

7:08

it in to police. He was at

7:10

the side of the road in an unincorporated

7:13

area of Sacramento County. It

7:16

appeared that he had been shot out there.

7:18

His hands were tied behind his back.

7:20

Really an assassination type murder.

7:23

Originally they thought he had one bullet

7:26

wound to the head, but after autopsy,

7:28

they realized he had been shot twice

7:30

in the head.

7:31

The medical examiner later testified that the

7:34

time of death was likely between five and seven

7:36

am on Saturday, March fourteenth. Two

7:38

days later, anth Think Alotti's Pontiac

7:41

fireberg was found set ablaze in a parking

7:43

lot, and then, as police continued to

7:45

question non associates, Angela Devoorski's

7:47

body washed up in the American River on May

7:50

first of ninety eight. She had been

7:52

stabbed twelve times. Her

7:54

case remains cold to this day, but Galotti's

7:57

investigation was reinvigorated when Israel's

7:59

SEPT was victed an unlawful discharge

8:01

of a firearm in October of ninety nine.

8:04

As soon as you are taken to prison,

8:06

your DNA is taken. In California,

8:09

Israel believed that his

8:12

DNA was going to implicate him

8:15

in the murder of Anthony Gollotti,

8:18

so he contacted the

8:20

Sheriff's office to

8:22

tell a story that would take the

8:24

focus away from him and onto

8:27

someone else. He then was

8:29

interviewed by the Sacramento Sheriff's

8:31

office three or four times, and

8:34

each story was inconsistent.

8:36

Jeremy's jury never heard about Sept's

8:38

motivation. Nevertheless, it appears

8:41

that SEPT bounced inconsistent stories off

8:43

the Sacramento Sheriff's department until they

8:45

landed on a narrative which Anthony Gollotti

8:47

came to William Van Hill's apartment to buy some drugs,

8:50

and Scept alleged that Jeremy Pistol whipped

8:52

and tied up Anthony with the help

8:54

of Angela Devorski. Scept said

8:56

that he followed them out to Anthony's car, where

8:59

he allegedly told Anthony that he would come along

9:01

and keep him safe. Then

9:04

Jeremy allegedly drove them all out to White

9:06

Rock Road, took Anthony out of the car, shot

9:08

him, and drove off, dropping sept

9:10

at a motel. Shortly after this account,

9:13

Jeremy was brought in for questioning.

9:15

They were just asking me questions about a murder

9:18

that happened, Like I have to know something

9:20

about this, because you know, I'm from the neighborhood

9:23

or whatever, and I don't have no idea

9:25

what they're talking about. I believe they mentioned Israel,

9:27

and that's when I started trying like peaceful things

9:30

agein. I was like, oh, this is

9:32

what's going on, But I still had no idea of

9:35

what happened after I had left the apartment

9:37

where he was at this night.

9:39

Curiously, only Scept was charged

9:41

in June of two thousand and taken to trial

9:44

in March two thousand and.

9:45

One, because all they

9:47

have is this so called

9:49

confession by Israel,

9:52

and so they have to try them

9:54

separately because Israel

9:57

will have the opportunity

9:59

to take the Fifth Amendment and then

10:01

there'd be no case. And they

10:03

can't just use this statement because Jeremy

10:06

wouldn't have had a chance to

10:08

cross exam Israel, so they had

10:10

to try them separately, and so they

10:12

started with Israel and

10:14

then of course he folded

10:16

after opening statement. But he

10:19

cut a deal. I mean, he went from

10:21

life without the possibility of parole

10:24

to what eleven years

10:26

eight months. But when he was actually

10:28

sentenced, he even got a better deal.

10:31

Shortly after steps leaning a plea deal

10:33

for robbery and accessory to murder, they arrested

10:35

Jeremy.

10:36

All our members being at work and I was

10:38

called to the office and I had a feeling

10:40

that something might goals, like something just wasn't right.

10:43

I walked into the office. That's when I was basically

10:45

surrounded by officers placed in

10:47

handcuffs, placed in the car,

10:49

and I was like, you gotta have the

10:52

wrong person, because I ain't hurt nobody.

10:54

I didn't kill nobody, Like I don't know what you guys

10:56

are talking about, Like you got to have the wrong

10:58

person, And they're like, no, got you

11:00

with this and now whatever. I'm trying to convince them, you

11:02

know, but they didn't want to hear nothing. I had

11:04

to say.

11:17

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11:19

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11:26

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11:32

I pretty much preached together that something was being

11:34

pinned on me from Israel. I

11:36

believe. During the initial interview with my

11:38

investigator, he was still sticking to his

11:41

story that it was all me, And

11:43

then during the second one that's when he

11:45

recanted his story.

11:47

Prior to trial, Israel set recanted

11:49

in an interview with Jeremy's private investigator

11:52

and gave some version of the truth, saying

11:54

something about Middlebrooks having set up

11:56

Anthony Allotti for a robbery and quote,

11:59

Jeremy not involved. Jeremy

12:01

knew nothing about robbing anyone. That's

12:04

the God's truth end quote.

12:07

Wow. Sept never said who was

12:09

responsible, though, but with this recantation

12:11

in the bag, it appears that Jeremy's attorney didn't

12:14

feel the need to develop an alibi defense

12:16

or look into any of the state's evidence, including

12:19

Israel SEP's motel receipt that was alleged

12:21

to a line with the morning of March fourteenth.

12:23

The motel receipt shows that

12:26

Sepp registered at this motel

12:28

at four to twenty am and there

12:30

was a number on the receipt six seven

12:33

one eight. The receipt was messy,

12:35

but if you look at the next receipt

12:37

six seven nine with a

12:40

totally independent party registering at

12:42

six ten am, you realize it

12:44

was on the morning of the thirteenth.

12:46

And there was one part to as well.

12:48

Yeah, and the one prior to it. That's correct.

12:50

So there's no doubt that this hotel

12:53

entry was on the thirteenth. But

12:55

however, the Sacramento DA

12:57

just said it's on the fourteenth. She

13:00

talked about it as though he

13:02

registered the mourning of the fourteenth.

13:05

This could mean one of a few things. Perhaps

13:08

the medical examiner was mistaken about the

13:10

time of death between five and seven am

13:12

on the fourteenth, or perhaps the state glossed

13:15

over the discrepancy in order to align

13:17

the findings of the autopsy with the morning

13:19

after Jeremy had actually made an appearance

13:22

at Van Hill's apartment March twelfth and to

13:24

the thirteenth. This could have been uncovered

13:26

by Jeremy's attorney had he just bothered

13:28

to look into his alibi. In addition,

13:30

it's important to note that, according to nineteen ninety

13:32

one California legislation, jail house

13:34

inform and testimony has to be corroborated

13:37

by independent evidence. Perhaps the

13:39

prosecutor, Marjorie Kohler, used this motel

13:42

receipt from the thirteenth to check that box

13:44

for a crime that occurred on the fourteenth.

13:46

None of the witnesses or anybody testified

13:50

to the thirteenth. They were told

13:53

from the prosecution of what

13:55

day this happened.

13:56

Jeremy's right. The prosecution would

13:58

just say, let me draw your attention to

14:01

the night of the thirteenth or the morning of the

14:03

fourteenth, So witnesses just went along

14:05

with that. No one said, oh, wait

14:07

a minute, this happened on a Thursday night.

14:10

And this wasn't the only dirty trick. In

14:12

her opening statement, Kohler raised the

14:14

specter of the fire that killed Benny Campbell

14:17

as well as the murderer of Angela divorce

14:19

key.

14:19

They tried to implicate Jeremy in

14:22

that murder.

14:23

She already knew she had a week case, so she's trying to

14:25

throw everything in to make me look bad from the get go.

14:27

Anyway, Jeremy's attorney asked

14:29

the judge to Clara misstrial, and when the judge

14:31

asked Kohler if she had the evidence to corroborate

14:34

her implications. She said that

14:36

there was evidence linking Jeremy, but

14:38

just not enough to charge him.

14:40

But that wasn't true, and she

14:42

was admonished by the judge that

14:44

this wasn't proper.

14:46

She was actually told to tell the jerry that I had

14:48

nothing to do with that, and she said no, yeah,

14:50

so the judge hself had to do it.

14:52

The judge instructed the jury that the prosecutor

14:55

could not corroborate her implications, and

14:57

then the trial proceeded.

15:00

The state presents middle Brooks.

15:02

Middlebrooks said he was in the

15:04

bathroom doing cocaine with Patty

15:07

Scott Bostick and that he didn't

15:09

think that Jeremy was there, and

15:12

Patty Scott Bostick always

15:14

said that she never looked out the door.

15:16

And then she got on the stand and

15:19

then she said she heard Jeremy

15:21

yelling. She had never testified to

15:23

that before, but we found

15:25

out later that she wanted

15:28

to testify favorably because

15:30

she was on probation at the time she

15:32

testified, and the jury was never

15:34

told this again. The jury has

15:36

to hear if a witness has a motive

15:39

to make an entirely new statement

15:41

that had never been made before, so that's

15:43

what Patty said. And then van

15:46

Hill said he saw Anthony

15:48

Glotti being removed by

15:50

two black men and based

15:53

on their height difference, he thought

15:55

it might be Israel and Jeremy.

15:57

Again, that was a new statement made it.

16:00

In his earlier statements, van Hill said that the

16:03

two black men were about the same height. Then

16:05

at trial, he said that his memory had improved since

16:07

his first interview just after the crime. In

16:10

addition, he described Israel Scept as

16:12

being five to four, much shorter than

16:14

his actual height five to ten, which

16:16

notably is not much shorter than Jeremy

16:18

at six foot one.

16:20

His stores all over the place.

16:22

We learned during our investigation,

16:25

unfortunately, that mister van

16:27

Hill had many psychological

16:29

problems, but of course

16:31

the jury never heard that.

16:33

But of course none of the supporting testimony

16:35

mattered as much as Israel Scept. And

16:37

we don't know what happened between his recantation

16:40

and trial, but perhaps the

16:42

prosecutor reminded him about the deal they

16:44

had made.

16:45

Either testify against me and say it was all

16:48

me, or there's going to

16:50

take his deal back, and he was face to life without

16:52

the possibility to role. He just went

16:54

back to the script he was given when he took

16:56

the deal. What was crazy about that is

16:58

that prior to being into the

17:00

courtroom, we were in separate

17:02

sales, like basically across from each other. And

17:04

now I ask them personally, like what are you doing?

17:07

Like why you doing this to me? I still

17:09

remember him saying like, I know, I'm sorry,

17:11

And when I get back in there, I'm gonna go

17:13

in there and tell them the truth that you have nothing to do with

17:15

it. Right. But well, soon

17:18

we get back into the courtroom, it was like

17:20

everything that was just said he completely

17:22

forgot, and he's got the back to pointing the finger

17:25

right back at me.

17:26

Jeremy's attorney was able to cross Examinecept

17:28

with not only inconsistencies with his

17:30

prior statements, but also his recantation.

17:33

A course Scept denied it. And

17:36

that's why I was shot that my trial attorney

17:38

didn't call their investigator to

17:40

rebut his role.

17:41

Wait wait wait, wait, so he didn't even bother to

17:44

call the investigator to present the recantation.

17:46

It's unbelievable. It's absolutely

17:49

I tell people this story that

17:51

the attorney had a recantation he didn't

17:53

put on it, and they can't believe it, let alone

17:55

the data. The murder is even wrong.

17:58

It's just unbelievable.

18:00

The jury had not heard the motivations of

18:02

those testifying, as well as the

18:04

full recantation by this state star

18:06

witness, so they predictably returned

18:08

a guilty verdict for first degree murder robbery,

18:11

but curiously not guilty for

18:13

unlawful use of a firearmy.

18:15

All I remember is hearing is I was guilty of murder

18:18

and everything else I didn't hear. I

18:20

blacked out. It wasn't until

18:22

my mother came and visited me that she's the

18:24

one who told me that I was found not guilty

18:26

of the gun, and that kind

18:29

of shot me. So I thought once I heard guilty murder,

18:31

I felt I was guilty of everything. Everything just blacked

18:33

out. I heard nothing else, and I just especially

18:35

see my life just washed away like it was nothing.

18:51

You walked into the yard and all

18:53

you see is these big brick walls and

18:56

you just realize like you're really imprisoned,

18:59

like they're going to rest your life here for

19:01

something you didn't do. It was heartbreaking.

19:04

I couldn't sleep for the first couple of nights because I

19:06

couldn't even believe I was in the situation. I was even in

19:08

It's a doggie doll world in there. You know, it's a battle

19:11

of the fitness. It's a survival instinct

19:13

that you must have in prison to make it through.

19:15

I've seen people come in prison and not make it at

19:17

all, and I've seen people comit suicide before.

19:20

I've seen people get killed in prison. I've

19:22

seen all type of things happen. I've seen people overdose.

19:25

I've seen basically just about everything in there. And

19:27

thank God that I was able to put

19:29

my faith in God and keep fighting.

19:31

And I guess it is always frustrating

19:33

to know that you're doing everything you can,

19:36

but knowing it is not enough.

19:38

After his initial appeal, Jeremy fought his case

19:40

pro sae, meaning on his own without

19:42

an attorney, from inside of his prison

19:44

cell.

19:45

And of course it was so hard for Jeremy

19:47

because he doesn't have anyone to

19:49

find that the evidence has been suppressed.

19:52

He's banging up against a brick wall because

19:55

he can't get into the DA file,

19:57

into his own file, into the file

20:00

of Angela divorce. KI out

20:02

on the street to interview people.

20:04

I was almost ready to give up because I was

20:06

tired of getting all the denials on my

20:08

own and to thank god, I had my

20:10

sister and my mom, my cousins and everybody,

20:14

a strong core in my family that still

20:16

believed in me no matter what. And I look back

20:18

on it and I think it was my daughter, and my daughter saved my

20:20

life. I'll never forget that day she came

20:22

to saw me and I think my sister's gonna

20:24

get something to eat for us, and my son

20:26

and my niece. They went to a

20:28

player and I was telling my daughter, like, oh, I want

20:31

you go play with your brother and your cousin, and

20:33

she's like, no, I want to stay here with you. And

20:35

I remember her looking at me and she was like, when

20:37

you wait. Excuse me, She

20:40

said, when you come home, when you're gonna

20:42

come home, because I want you home. And

20:44

that's what I knew right there. I had to keep

20:46

fighting, not for myself,

20:49

for my kids. I couldn't give up.

20:51

After about fourteen long years

20:53

of denials and appellate Cord Karen and the

20:56

Northern California Indists Project took on Jeremy's

20:58

case and were able to un what Jeremy

21:01

never could have from the inside.

21:03

Sepp told the detectives

21:06

that a man with the nickname Jamo

21:09

brought Angela Devorski to the

21:11

apartment, and that was

21:13

a very important sentence

21:16

that he said that. I don't

21:18

think Jeremy's trial attorney

21:20

appreciated the importance of it at the

21:22

time. Because the Sheriff's

21:25

detectives had suppressed the

21:27

evidence related to Angela Devorski.

21:30

Much of the discovery that should have come to Jeremy's

21:32

defense attorney remained hidden in the Angela

21:35

Davorski murder file. I'm talking

21:37

about seven hundred pages worth.

21:40

Pages and pages of evidence,

21:42

witness after witness saying

21:45

Jamo had control over

21:48

Angela Devorski, and Angela's

21:50

diary talked about the

21:52

control that Jamo had over

21:54

her and that Jamo and Angela

21:57

Devorski did set up robberies.

21:59

They would use her as a

22:01

lure for young men who

22:03

wanted to spend some time

22:05

with her, to put it nicely,

22:08

and instead they would rob

22:10

the young man. In the suppressed

22:13

evidence, we learned that

22:15

there were two witnesses that actually saw

22:18

the set up robberies going on. And

22:20

once you know that and know that

22:22

Jamo is controlling her, then

22:24

the story starts to make sense. The

22:27

story Step told didn't make any

22:29

sense. But this is a robbery

22:31

gone bad and they've set up Anthony

22:33

Golotti. We learned that Jamo

22:36

went to an apartment where

22:38

a gun was later found, and we believe

22:41

that is the gun used to pistol whip

22:43

Anthony Golotti. And the investigating

22:47

detective had said

22:49

that this gun was connected to the

22:51

Glotti murder, and yet

22:53

that information was never turned

22:56

over to Jeremy's attorney.

22:59

So they hid not

23:01

only the motives of all of the

23:04

trial witnesses who testified falsely,

23:06

but now it was also discovered

23:08

that they'd hidden a way more compelling

23:10

suspect, James Reeves or

23:12

Jamo, Who's estranged wife, Connie

23:15

Goins, gave a statement sworn

23:17

statement in twenty fifteen in

23:19

which she said that Jamo had always

23:22

said that Jeremy had nothing to do with

23:24

Anthony Glotti's robbery and murder,

23:26

and he knew that because he was there at

23:29

the time of the crime. Moreover,

23:31

this is supported by the fact that Angela

23:34

Dvorski's diary contained the

23:36

names of one hundred and twenty one men,

23:38

and get this, not

23:41

one of them is Jeremy there's.

23:43

No evidence that they knew one another,

23:45

and during the investigation of

23:48

the Divorski murder, many

23:50

witnesses were shown Jeremy's

23:52

picture friends of hers. No

23:54

one could identify Jeremy. They

23:57

ran in completely separate

23:59

and disc circles.

24:01

The choice to pursue Jeremy over Jamo

24:03

made me wonder if perhaps investigators were

24:06

protecting Jamo. Maybe he was

24:08

cooperating in other cases, but that

24:10

doesn't seem to fit here.

24:12

The sheriff never interviewed

24:15

Jamo. This is investigation

24:17

one oh one. You interview everyone who

24:19

was there that night. They never

24:22

interviewed him. My theory is

24:24

that the police were negligent.

24:26

I think Sepp was

24:29

protecting Jamo. That's my theory

24:31

of the case. What do you think, Jeremy.

24:33

I think they were so solely focused

24:35

on me that they didn't care

24:38

about anybody else.

24:39

That was an easy prosecution. We

24:41

don't have to do any more work. If you accuse

24:44

Jeremy, how can he defend himself other

24:47

than just say I had nothing to do with it.

24:49

By the time he's interviewed, he can hardly remember

24:51

that night. You know, it's a year and a half later.

24:54

The Northern California, and this is projects along

24:56

with attorneys from Simpson, Thatcher and Bartlett

24:58

filed a state which

25:00

they had to fight all the way up to the state

25:03

Supreme Court to finally get a hearing where

25:05

they presented there's absolute mountain of Brady

25:07

material, the recantation evidence, the

25:09

statement from Connie Goins as well as

25:11

an expert to point out the discrepancy between

25:14

dates in the state's narrative and the time of

25:16

death.

25:17

Doctor Melanik was incredible.

25:19

There was no question by the time she

25:21

was done testifying that they had

25:23

the date of the murder wrong, and they actually

25:26

conceded that finally, finally

25:28

correct. At the very end of the hearing, they

25:30

conceded that the gun evidence

25:33

came in that they had suppressed. Jamo

25:36

had made this statement by the time of

25:38

the hearing to one of our investigators,

25:41

and so he said, no, Jeremy had nothing

25:43

to do with the murder. I was there.

25:46

So everything went right in

25:48

the hearing. I think we were feeling

25:50

positive.

25:51

I mean I felt good, but of course,

25:54

you just never know where it's going to

25:56

go. And then the day that I

25:58

found out was one of the most happiest

26:01

and craziest days ever, I finally

26:03

got my case overturned.

26:04

It was pretty emotional, and

26:08

of course it was the day that California

26:11

is shut down like.

26:13

A few days.

26:13

So the good news is you're

26:16

gonna get out. The good news is it's

26:19

a shutdown.

26:20

Yeah, Friday thirteenth. At that well,

26:23

it was crazy. Everybody else is losing their

26:25

minds and I'm like, oh, y'all think you this is

26:27

nothing.

26:29

When we're all home crying

26:31

in our soup that we can't go out. Jeremy

26:34

gets a driver's license, a passport,

26:36

a job, a car, housing,

26:39

He lived life and

26:43

it was just amazing. And

26:45

you know, we needed to get his record

26:48

cleared and all that and everything now

26:50

was slowed down because of COVID the hearing

26:52

for factual innocence that

26:55

didn't come till the following January.

26:57

It's kind of shocking when we had the factual innocence

27:00

because she told me it's going to be like two or three days

27:02

and he's only there for like fifteen twenty minutes.

27:04

And when he finally said what he said, I had to turn

27:06

through us. I didn't know what happened. I was like, what just

27:08

happened? And she's like, you won you're actually

27:11

insignt now and it was just a shock

27:13

for everybody.

27:15

Jeremy was awarded statutory compensation

27:17

from California just under a million dollars,

27:19

and as of February twenty twenty two, he's

27:21

been pursuing civil litigation.

27:24

I'm playing a small role again,

27:26

Simpson Thatcher. The law firm is

27:29

working on it and Jeremy

27:31

has just inspired everyone

27:33

in that firm to get behind

27:36

him, and we're very hopeful

27:38

that will be successful. But again

27:41

Sacramento, they continued to fight

27:43

us, even though Jeremy was wrongfully

27:45

convicted, served nineteen years

27:47

for a crime he didn't commit, and has been found

27:50

factionally innocent.

27:51

In the meantime, life goes on and

27:53

Jeremy has been doing his best to adjust to life

27:56

on the outside.

27:57

I have a job, I've officially bought

27:59

me a house seven months ago.

28:01

I had my grandkids. Building my relationship

28:03

with my kids who were just My kids

28:05

were two and one when I initially

28:08

got locked up and I came out, they were grown. So

28:10

trying to rebuild that relationship has

28:12

been ongoing. It's a little bumpy sometimes,

28:15

but you know where the loved you can see the love is there

28:17

or really see in a relationship now.

28:20

So that's going good. So life's

28:22

been pretty good so far, and I'm just looking forward

28:24

to continue to grow every day and make life even

28:26

better.

28:27

Jeremy's freedom would not have been possible

28:29

without the dedication of Karen's new new

28:31

tower and the other great folks at the Northern

28:33

California Innocence Project, which we will

28:35

link in the episode of description. Please

28:38

support them and follow their work, as there

28:40

are countless people like Jeremy who still

28:42

need their help. And with that, I

28:44

want to turn into closing arguments, where, of

28:47

course, you know, I get the

28:49

privilege of thanking each

28:52

of you first of all, Karen and Jeremy,

28:54

and then turning off my microphone,

28:57

kicking back in my chair with my eyes

28:59

closed and my headphones on, and just listening

29:01

to anything else you want to share with me and with

29:04

our fantastic audience. So Karen,

29:06

it's traditional you go first and then just

29:09

sort of hand the mic off to Jeremy

29:11

and he'll take us off into the sunset.

29:13

Well, I feel very honored

29:15

to have been on the journey to justice

29:18

with Jeremy Puckett. I've

29:20

gained a friend and learned

29:22

a lot through his ordeal,

29:25

and he's let me enter his

29:27

life, He's shared his most intimate

29:30

details, and I believe

29:32

we've built a friendship out of

29:34

this crazy situation. How the

29:36

two of us came together is

29:39

the stuff stories

29:41

are made of. But it's been my

29:44

honor to work with Jeremy, and I

29:46

look forward to wrapping up the civil

29:48

suit and still maintaining that friendship.

29:52

And I just want to thank you for having

29:54

me here and being able to tell my story.

29:57

And I also want to just think people like

29:59

like Karen, the whole NCIP

30:02

organization and the whole project organization

30:04

in itself, as well as Buzz and

30:06

everybody from the team, from the Cents and Thatsher,

30:09

from Don, everybody who helped me with my case.

30:11

And then I think most importantly I think I would

30:13

like to say is that if there is somebody

30:16

listening to this who is innocent, locked

30:18

up, to keep fighting, to keep

30:21

going. I don't care who says

30:23

what If you know you're innocent,

30:25

keep going because your day

30:28

will come. I don't know when. I can't tell

30:30

you how, but your day will come. The

30:32

truth always fulvails.

30:40

Thank you for listening to Ron for conviction you

30:43

can listen to this and all the Lava for Good

30:45

podcasts one week early by subscribing

30:47

to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

30:50

I want to thank our production team Connor Hall

30:52

and Kathleen Fink, as well as my fellow

30:54

executive producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin

30:57

Wartis, and Jeff Clyburn. The music

30:59

in this production was three time OSCAR

31:01

nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be

31:03

sure to follow us across all social media

31:05

platforms at Lava for Good and at

31:07

Wrongful Conviction. You can also follow

31:09

me on Instagram at It's Jason Flamm.

31:12

Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for

31:14

Good Podcasts and association with Signal

31:16

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