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#426 Maggie Freleng with Jason Walton · Wrongful Conviction

0:06
Speaker 1: It was early Sunday evening in November of two thousand
0:09
Speaker 1: and five, and a pop up street fair was in
0:11
Speaker 1: full swing in south central Los Angeles. The neighborhood had
0:15
Speaker 1: turned out to enjoy the rides, carnival games, hot dogs,
0:19
Speaker 1: and cotton candy. Crowds of people were milling around the
0:23
Speaker 1: entrance at the corner of Rodeo Road and Second Avenue. Suddenly,
0:28
Speaker 1: half a dozen shots rang out and two kids fell
0:32
Speaker 1: to the ground. Fourteen year old William Cox was shot
0:35
Speaker 1: twice in the torso and died at the scene. His friend,
0:39
Speaker 1: Edward Williams, also fourteen, was shot in the heart, but
0:43
Speaker 1: somehow he survived. At the hospital. Edward gave police the
0:47
Speaker 1: names of several rival gang members who might have been
0:51
Speaker 1: the shootor.
0:53
Speaker 2: They opened up the book of all the people that
0:55
Speaker 2: they believed were members of the Mansfield This is Jason,
1:00
Speaker 2: He's from Mansfield, whatnot. And that's where things just started
1:05
Speaker 2: to snowball and I became target number one.
1:10
Speaker 1: That night, Jason Malton had been hanging out with a
1:12
Speaker 1: group of friends miles from the crime scene. His alibi
1:17
Speaker 1: was solid, but once the police had fixed their sights
1:21
Speaker 1: on him, the truth was meaningless.
1:24
Speaker 2: I don't feel like they altoly cared about the victim
1:27
Speaker 2: nor myself. It's like, okay, well, one gang members dead,
1:31
Speaker 2: one gang member shot, one gang members in jail. We
1:35
Speaker 2: got a three for one.
1:36
Speaker 3: In a way, this is global telling. You have a
1:42
Speaker 3: prepaid call.
1:43
Speaker 2: From Jason Vanners and one.
1:46
Speaker 3: An inmate at the California State Prison, Lancaster, California.
1:53
Speaker 1: From Lava for Good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie
1:56
Speaker 1: Freeling today. Jason Walton.
2:14
Speaker 2: My name is Jason Robert Walton. I'm from Los Angeles, California.
2:21
Speaker 2: I was arrested and ultimately longfully convicted November seventeenth, two
2:27
Speaker 2: thousand and five.
2:31
Speaker 4: Jason was a real fun loving kid. He loved sports.
2:35
Speaker 4: He collected basketball cards and things like that.
2:40
Speaker 1: This is Jason's mother, Francisle Johnson. Most people call her friend.
2:45
Speaker 2: She mostly raised me along that. I did sometimes go
2:49
Speaker 2: and visit my father, but living with my mother was
2:53
Speaker 2: where I was most comfortable, where I wanted to be.
2:58
Speaker 4: We always had a big dinner on at my parents' house,
3:02
Speaker 4: and either my mom would cook or my dad would barbecue.
3:06
Speaker 2: I thought I was rich. I thought the world was perfect,
3:10
Speaker 2: and I loved to play video games, collect sports cards, POGs,
3:17
Speaker 2: just anything that you collect. My hobbies consisted of building
3:22
Speaker 2: things and fixing things.
3:24
Speaker 4: If he saw a radio or portable TV that was
3:28
Speaker 4: sitting on the curb or near the alley, he would
3:32
Speaker 4: want to take it home and try to fix it,
3:35
Speaker 4: and quite often it would work.
3:38
Speaker 2: As I got older, I grew a fascination with cars,
3:42
Speaker 2: and I started with building model cars. And I realized
3:46
Speaker 2: at a young age that I was good at it
3:48
Speaker 2: because I can take a box, take the kid out,
3:52
Speaker 2: and I would never remove the instructions from the box,
3:56
Speaker 2: and I can put the whole car together.
4:00
Speaker 1: Jason was a pretty typical kid, into cars, bikes, video games,
4:05
Speaker 1: and sports.
4:08
Speaker 2: Swimming, fishing, or anything that that involved being outside. I
4:13
Speaker 2: love to push the envelope. I was somewhat of a daredevil,
4:19
Speaker 2: so whether that was trying to ride a bike on
4:22
Speaker 2: one wheel for the whole the lamp of the block,
4:26
Speaker 2: or holding onto the ice cream truck to gain speed,
4:31
Speaker 2: to try to jump over a makeshift lamp that we made.
4:36
Speaker 1: Jason describes himself as a class clown, someone who loved
4:39
Speaker 1: to make people laugh, but he also had more serious ambitions.
4:44
Speaker 2: I wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger,
4:47
Speaker 2: because I loved to debate. I loved just the art
4:50
Speaker 2: of being able to verbally wrastle, I guess you could say.
4:58
Speaker 1: But for Jason, school it just wasn't a big priority.
5:02
Speaker 1: As a teenager, Jason started cutting class, hanging out with
5:05
Speaker 1: his friends and smoking weed. Jason's older brother, Antoine, belonged
5:10
Speaker 1: to a local gang, the Mansfield Crips, and it wasn't
5:13
Speaker 1: long before Jason followed in his footsteps that.
5:16
Speaker 2: Side of town. Being in a gang or being from
5:20
Speaker 2: a gang, it really wasn't like we were gang bangings.
5:25
Speaker 2: We just hung out together. We went to school together,
5:28
Speaker 2: after school, we were just hanging out. We're just having
5:31
Speaker 2: a good time. It wasn't consumed with oh, we're young
5:35
Speaker 2: and we're selling drugs to support our family. That wasn't
5:39
Speaker 2: our story.
5:40
Speaker 1: As Jason remembers it, being in the Mansfield Crips was
5:43
Speaker 1: a way of learning the ropes and learning about life.
5:46
Speaker 1: He says, the older members of the gang were actually
5:49
Speaker 1: a good influence.
5:51
Speaker 2: They never told me anything wrong. They always encouraged me
5:55
Speaker 2: to stay in school. So they're dropping me off at school,
5:58
Speaker 2: they're picking me up from school, we're going on these trips.
6:01
Speaker 2: We're going camping, we're going to the snow, and they're
6:05
Speaker 2: encouraging me to do the right thing. When people are saying, oh,
6:08
Speaker 2: gang banging is bad and gang members are bad, I'm
6:12
Speaker 2: not saying that because these are the same people that
6:15
Speaker 2: I know are gang members. But they're telling me good things.
6:19
Speaker 1: Friend, you know, we were talking about how he wounds
6:22
Speaker 1: up in a gang. Do you remember finding out about
6:24
Speaker 1: that or what that was like.
6:26
Speaker 4: Well, when you live in certain neighborhoods, there are gangs.
6:31
Speaker 4: It's not a protection thing, but they know who you
6:35
Speaker 4: are because you live in the neighborhood and you know
6:39
Speaker 4: who they are, but you're not always necessarily participating. I'm
6:42
Speaker 4: not saying he didn't associate, but he didn't have He
6:46
Speaker 4: never had any problems or with the police or criminal
6:50
Speaker 4: activity that involved association with a gang.
6:53
Speaker 2: No, you know, we did have conflicts or verbal spats
6:59
Speaker 2: or cups with other kids and whatnot. That it wasn't
7:03
Speaker 2: so much of a violent thing. It was more of
7:07
Speaker 2: a unit family, a togetherness as when we were younger.
7:12
Speaker 1: But there was a time when Jason found himself in
7:15
Speaker 1: a confrontation with someone from another gang. It was the
7:22
Speaker 1: fall of two thousand and five, when Jason was around
7:24
Speaker 1: twenty one, Jason was driving around South Central with his girlfriend,
7:28
Speaker 1: Amber Jones, and his two young nephews. They stopped by
7:33
Speaker 1: Amber's house on Rodeo Road, which was on the turf
7:36
Speaker 1: of the Roll In Thirties, a rival.
7:38
Speaker 2: Gang, and being from the gang, I was hyper alerted.
7:45
Speaker 2: I was always aware of my surroundings. I had my
7:48
Speaker 2: two younger nephews with me, so that made me more
7:52
Speaker 2: vigilant because I couldn't afford for something to happen to
7:56
Speaker 2: these two kids. So when we pull up our and
8:00
Speaker 2: I see the kid walking on the opposite side of
8:03
Speaker 2: the street coming my direction.
8:06
Speaker 1: The kid was fourteen year old Edward Williams. Ember knew
8:09
Speaker 1: him through a friend of her uncle's.
8:13
Speaker 2: She's like, yeah, he's a little kid. He's just big
8:16
Speaker 2: for his age, so okay, no problem. When he realizes
8:20
Speaker 2: that it tempers in the car, that kind of made
8:24
Speaker 2: him escalate with his antics as far as preaching like
8:28
Speaker 2: he had a gun and posturing and throwing up gang
8:32
Speaker 2: signs or whatnot.
8:34
Speaker 1: Edward was a junior member of a gang called the
8:36
Speaker 1: Rolling Forties, and they were in Rollin thirties territory. Jason
8:41
Speaker 1: knew that all Edward's showing off could lead to.
8:44
Speaker 2: Trouble their direct rivals. This is a serious rivalry. He
8:50
Speaker 2: was asking me where was I from at that time?
8:53
Speaker 2: Even though I was young, I wasn't focused on the
8:57
Speaker 2: day to day gang banking. Wanted something different in life,
9:02
Speaker 2: so I wasn't worried about over from what color are
9:05
Speaker 2: you wearing? That nonsense. I ultimately was trying to let
9:10
Speaker 2: him know, Hey, you're on Rodeo Boulevard. This is a
9:13
Speaker 2: main street that leads to the Jungles, which is a
9:18
Speaker 2: predominantly blood neighborhood. And so while you're doing a gang sign,
9:23
Speaker 2: zat mean from across this busy street, you don't know
9:27
Speaker 2: who's driving up and down this street that might see you.
9:30
Speaker 2: That you're putting a target on yourself.
9:33
Speaker 1: But despite Jason's warning, Edward kept it up. Finally, Jason
9:38
Speaker 1: did get out of his car.
9:40
Speaker 2: When I got out of the car and I approached him,
9:42
Speaker 2: I let him know that I was from Mansfield. I
9:44
Speaker 2: didn't want no problems with him. I got back in
9:47
Speaker 2: the car. That was the end of the conversation. That
9:51
Speaker 2: was the end of the I guess you can call
9:53
Speaker 2: it an altercation, and that was the last time I
9:57
Speaker 2: had ever seen it.
10:00
Speaker 1: Two weeks later, Jason was driving down Pigo Boulevard. As
10:04
Speaker 1: he passed Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, he spotted a fellow
10:07
Speaker 1: crip who had recently gotten out of prison.
10:11
Speaker 2: So I stopped. We're talking. More people that we know
10:15
Speaker 2: are starting to pull up, and we're hanging out with smoking,
10:20
Speaker 2: and we were waiting for his sister.
10:23
Speaker 1: His friend's sister was on her way with tickets to
10:26
Speaker 1: a concert, but she kept calling to say she was delayed.
10:30
Speaker 2: It will be one excuse after the other. Oh, we
10:34
Speaker 2: stopped to get drinks and we'll be there in ten minutes. Oh,
10:39
Speaker 2: my friend left something at her house, will be there
10:42
Speaker 2: in twenty minutes. Or we stopped here, we'll be there
10:46
Speaker 2: in fifteen minutes. That stretched out for over an hour
10:51
Speaker 2: or so, to the point where they never ended up arriving.
10:56
Speaker 2: So ultimately we just hung out at Roscoe's for a
11:00
Speaker 2: a couple hours, just doing what we did on the regular,
11:03
Speaker 2: talking to people, talking to girls, smoking and just hanging out.
11:13
Speaker 1: And that was Jason's entire Sunday evening, just kicking it
11:17
Speaker 1: with friends in the parking lot at Roscoe's. Meanwhile, a
11:22
Speaker 1: few miles away, a very different drama was unfolding.
11:29
Speaker 5: And so there's carnivals in town. It's a Friday night.
11:32
Speaker 5: It's a pop up carnival in a parking lot. It's
11:34
Speaker 5: on the corner of Rodeo Road and Second Avenue in
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Speaker 5: Los Angeles. And there's a lot of people there.
11:41
Speaker 1: This is Michael Simanchic, executive director of the Innocent Center.
11:46
Speaker 5: There's cars everywhere, and there's kids, and there's there's probably
11:50
Speaker 5: I think I've heard reports there might have been thirty
11:51
Speaker 5: or forty people just outside the carnival gate. So on
11:54
Speaker 5: the evening of November thirteenth, two thousand and five, just
11:57
Speaker 5: after seven pm, and Jewel opened fire and fired six
12:01
Speaker 5: five to six rounds. A couple of rounds struck a
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Speaker 5: child named William Cox I believe was fourteen at the time,
12:09
Speaker 5: and another couple of rounds struck and injured Edward Williams.
12:14
Speaker 1: The same kid from the Rolling Forties that Jason had
12:16
Speaker 1: had a run in with a couple weeks before.
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Speaker 5: Edward Williams was transported by ambulance to the hospital shortly
12:23
Speaker 5: thereafter and was in critical condition until a few days later,
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Speaker 5: and william Cox died of the scene.
12:30
Speaker 1: And to put this incident into context, we need a
12:33
Speaker 1: little background on the gang situation in South Central at
12:37
Speaker 1: the time.
12:37
Speaker 5: So there were two gangs that were at war at
12:40
Speaker 5: the time of the crime. It's the Roland thirties and
12:44
Speaker 5: the Rollin forties. The thirties and the forties were fighting
12:48
Speaker 5: over the territory right where the carnival was taking place.
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Speaker 5: Edward Williams was part of the Baby Hustlers also known
12:55
Speaker 5: as the Baby forties, and he had recently been jumped
12:58
Speaker 5: into the forties. The thirties were comprised of this individual
13:02
Speaker 5: named Jay Rock, who Edward Williams first mentioned at the hospital,
13:06
Speaker 5: another individual named Terrell who was in a dispute with
13:10
Speaker 5: Edward Williams at a Halloween party about two weeks before
13:13
Speaker 5: this incident, and four or five other individuals that were
13:16
Speaker 5: all spotted at the scene at the carnival that night.
13:20
Speaker 5: So we had both a group of thirties and then
13:22
Speaker 5: we had Edward Williams who was a forties self admitted member.
13:27
Speaker 5: And William Cox was not claiming a gang and in
13:29
Speaker 5: fact I believe he had actually told Edward Williams not
13:32
Speaker 5: to be involved in the gangs because he thought it
13:34
Speaker 5: was dangerous.
13:35
Speaker 1: After the shooting occurred, police and ambulances were soon on
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Speaker 1: the scene and Edward was taken to the hospital.
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Speaker 5: I believe he was in critical condition when he arrives,
13:46
Speaker 5: and he's on a bunch of medication, but he's jotting
13:50
Speaker 5: down notes because he can't speak at this point, and
13:52
Speaker 5: he writes down that it's Jay Jay Rock from Roll
13:56
Speaker 5: in thirties.
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Speaker 1: But somehow, over the next few days, someone else entered
14:01
Speaker 1: into Edward's narrative, and.
14:03
Speaker 5: Two days later he then switches to saying it was
14:06
Speaker 5: Amber's friend who did it. And I don't know it's
14:12
Speaker 5: if it's entirely clear that we know how that shift happens,
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Speaker 5: where he goes from thinking it's somebody in the thirties
14:20
Speaker 5: to thinking it's Jason.
14:22
Speaker 1: Remember, Jason was in the Mansfield Crips, not the Roll
14:25
Speaker 1: in thirties. But going back to the night of the shooting,
14:28
Speaker 1: around ten or so, Jason left the gathering at Roscoe's
14:31
Speaker 1: to go pick up Amber from work.
14:35
Speaker 2: We came back to my mother's house and that was
14:38
Speaker 2: how we ended the night. The next morning, she woke
14:43
Speaker 2: up and being that her family knew the family. Her
14:48
Speaker 2: mother let her know that Hey Edwards was shot last night.
14:53
Speaker 2: I didn't he didn't put one in one together that
14:57
Speaker 2: the kid from weeks prior was Edward until later on
15:03
Speaker 2: when she had said, you know that was the kid,
15:05
Speaker 2: and it's like wow that he shot on the same
15:10
Speaker 2: very street that we had having what they were calling
15:15
Speaker 2: an altercation week's prior for what they said was doing
15:19
Speaker 2: the same thing, being out gang banging, you know, bringing
15:24
Speaker 2: that attention to herself.
15:26
Speaker 1: A few days later, Jason was out having lunch with
15:29
Speaker 1: his two nephews.
15:31
Speaker 2: I had just picked my nephews up from school. I
15:35
Speaker 2: came to Poki Dogs. I ordered them something to eat.
15:39
Speaker 2: I was standing at the table.
15:41
Speaker 1: A squad car cruise by outside, and Jason recognized one
15:45
Speaker 1: of the cops, Officer Gutierrez.
15:48
Speaker 2: So when he passed by, he threw up the peace
15:51
Speaker 2: sign or waved at me and beans rebellious. I believe
15:56
Speaker 2: I flipped him the bird, he smiled. That was the
15:59
Speaker 2: relationship between the officers in the neighborhood and the youth
16:04
Speaker 2: in the neighborhood.
16:06
Speaker 1: But this friendly exchange soon turned into something else. Jason
16:10
Speaker 1: had no idea that the police were out looking for him.
16:14
Speaker 1: To charge him in the carnival shooting. The squad car
16:19
Speaker 1: swung back around and pulled up at the restaurant. Jason
16:22
Speaker 1: was arrested and taken to the Wilshare Division police station.
16:27
Speaker 2: Once I was placed in the holding tank, and I
16:30
Speaker 2: guess you can say, actually charged with the crime, my
16:34
Speaker 2: mind raised as to where was I because just it
16:39
Speaker 2: blew my mind that I was in jail for uh homicide.
16:45
Speaker 1: But so at the hospital, Edward had named several rival
16:49
Speaker 1: gang members in the shooting. How did the police wind
16:52
Speaker 1: up getting your name?
16:54
Speaker 2: So? I don't know, because he always would shift. If
16:59
Speaker 2: you get let him talk, he will say it was
17:01
Speaker 2: the guys from the Rowland thirties. He even named the
17:05
Speaker 2: guy multiple times. He named people that lived on his
17:10
Speaker 2: street by name and begged the police go talk to them.
17:15
Speaker 2: They'll tell you who the guy was that shot me.
17:19
Speaker 2: The police never did a proper investigation. They never went
17:22
Speaker 2: to go talk to anyone that had information that made sense.
17:28
Speaker 2: And I figured out later one day when he was
17:32
Speaker 2: in the hospital, is one of his older brothers was
17:37
Speaker 2: in the hospital room when he was talking to the officers,
17:40
Speaker 2: and I guess he just heard him say, oh, Amber's boyfriend,
17:44
Speaker 2: or he was talking about multiple incidents. He talked about
17:48
Speaker 2: the day that we had seen each other in front
17:51
Speaker 2: of Amber's house. He was talking about a fight that
17:53
Speaker 2: took place at a Halloween party. I had never been
17:57
Speaker 2: to this Halloween party. But the police were jump owing
18:01
Speaker 2: everything together as if there was one situation, one day,
18:05
Speaker 2: one event. So I guess when the brother heard Amber's boyfriend,
18:10
Speaker 2: he asked Amber's uncle, who's Amber's boyfriend? He just knew
18:14
Speaker 2: that my name was Jason and that I was from Mansfield.
18:18
Speaker 1: The detectives ran Jason's name by Officer Gutierrez and the
18:22
Speaker 1: other officers at the Wilshire Division.
18:25
Speaker 2: They opened up the book of all the people that
18:28
Speaker 2: they believed were members of the Mansfields. They identified into
18:32
Speaker 2: the detectives, this is Jason, He's from Mansfield, whatnot. And
18:38
Speaker 2: that's where things just started to snowball and I became
18:43
Speaker 2: target number one.
18:56
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling.
19:00
Speaker 1: You can listen to this and all the LoVa for
19:02
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19:06
Speaker 1: to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.
19:20
Speaker 2: I didn't know what wrawful condition was I never thought
19:23
Speaker 2: that that would even happen. I knew I didn't do anything,
19:27
Speaker 2: but I didn't at the time remember where where was?
19:30
Speaker 2: I have nothing in my life. Told me that I
19:33
Speaker 2: had to remember where I am and what I'm doing
19:36
Speaker 2: every second of the day, every day, every night.
19:40
Speaker 1: After hours of questioning, Jason was transferred to Southwest Division
19:44
Speaker 1: and placed in a holding cell. That night, he called
19:47
Speaker 1: Amber to help him remember where he had been the
19:50
Speaker 1: night of November thirteenth.
19:52
Speaker 2: We're replaying events, saying, she let me know that was
19:55
Speaker 2: the night that you were supposed to go to the concert. Okay, perfect.
19:59
Speaker 2: That means I was at Rosco's.
20:02
Speaker 1: Jason and Amber were able to call Roscoe's and speak
20:05
Speaker 1: to the manager who had been on duty that night.
20:08
Speaker 2: So he said, I asked him, you know, do you
20:10
Speaker 2: have the surveillance cameras. He said, yeah, we still have tapes.
20:13
Speaker 2: So he asked, well, around what time was it? So
20:17
Speaker 2: I said a little before seven. So he fast forwarded
20:21
Speaker 2: and he's watching and I remember him saying I got you,
20:26
Speaker 2: I got you. When he recognized my car pulling in,
20:30
Speaker 2: he said, yeah, I got you. You're you're on camera
20:33
Speaker 2: and you pulled in at this time so it started
20:37
Speaker 2: with the surveillance camera as an alibi.
20:40
Speaker 1: And there was something else that placed Jason at Roscoe's
20:44
Speaker 1: that night.
20:45
Speaker 2: There was a celf On tower one block north of Roscoe's,
20:50
Speaker 2: Chicken and Waffles on the Brea and San Vincentain. So
20:55
Speaker 2: my calls are being picked up off of that celf
20:57
Speaker 2: On towers. Okay, Well, now I feel good that I'm
21:01
Speaker 2: going to end up getting out and everything's going to
21:04
Speaker 2: be okay. I got proved.
21:06
Speaker 1: But nine months later, in August of two thousand and six,
21:10
Speaker 1: Jason went to trial in front of Judge Larry Findler.
21:13
Speaker 1: The prosecutor was Deputy District Attorney Paul Kim.
21:17
Speaker 2: Yeah.
21:17
Speaker 5: The prosecution's theory at the time of trial was that
21:21
Speaker 5: Jason had had this prior interaction about a month before
21:24
Speaker 5: the crime, where he got in an argument with Edward Williams.
21:29
Speaker 5: And that's the only interaction that Jason ever had with
21:32
Speaker 5: Edward Williams. And so the prosecution alleged that this interaction
21:36
Speaker 5: proceeded Jason seeing Edward Williams and William Cox at this
21:41
Speaker 5: carnival in south central LA and when he sees these
21:45
Speaker 5: two individuals, he has a gun in his hoodie pocket,
21:49
Speaker 5: and he shoots through his hoodie and kills William Cox
21:54
Speaker 5: and wounds Edward Williams and then flees the scene.
21:59
Speaker 1: So one of the things that the prosecution said was
22:01
Speaker 1: that you would have been able to go from Roscoe's
22:04
Speaker 1: to this carnival.
22:06
Speaker 2: Is that possible? It's not possible at all, by no
22:10
Speaker 2: such of the imagination.
22:12
Speaker 1: Remember, Jason was seen on the surveillance video for nearly
22:16
Speaker 1: the entire evening.
22:18
Speaker 2: I was only off film at Roscoe's. I believe from
22:22
Speaker 2: maybe twelve to eighteen minutes. That wouldn't have been enough
22:26
Speaker 2: time to make it from Roscoe's to the carnival, change
22:30
Speaker 2: my clothes, lying in wait, find Edward.
22:35
Speaker 5: Officers took the stand and claimed that it was possible
22:38
Speaker 5: for him to make the drive, change his clothes, talk
22:41
Speaker 5: to the girls, do the shooting changes, run, change his clothes,
22:45
Speaker 5: get back and get on camera. We've done time trials ourselves.
22:48
Speaker 5: The quickest we've been able to do it is seven minutes.
22:51
Speaker 5: The average was actually nine minutes driving.
22:54
Speaker 1: The prosecution also presented an alleged witness, a carnival worker
22:58
Speaker 1: named Richard Gray. Gray had given police a statement soon
23:02
Speaker 1: after the shooting, but by the time of trial, his
23:05
Speaker 1: story had already changed several times.
23:10
Speaker 5: Richard Gray says he initially says I only saw the
23:12
Speaker 5: shooter fleeing, and I only saw him from behind, didn't
23:15
Speaker 5: get a chance to see his face, doesn't initially say
23:18
Speaker 5: he's able to make an identification, and then a week
23:20
Speaker 5: later he picked Walton out of a six pack photo lineup.
23:23
Speaker 5: At trial, he has like a soft recant, I'll call it,
23:26
Speaker 5: or says I wasn't really able to see. I'm not
23:28
Speaker 5: entirely sure. But the thing about Richard Gray, and what's
23:31
Speaker 5: so interesting is that Richard Gray, from the point where
23:34
Speaker 5: he says he was standing, could not have seen the
23:37
Speaker 5: shooting take place.
23:40
Speaker 1: The shooting happened on the corner of Rodeo Road and
23:42
Speaker 1: Second Avenue, in the street just outside the entrance to
23:46
Speaker 1: the carnival. Richard Gray was stationed at a ride inside
23:49
Speaker 1: the carnival area, a short distance back from the entrance.
23:54
Speaker 5: There was a row of poor potties that were blocking
23:57
Speaker 5: Richard Gray's view between him and where the shooting happened
24:00
Speaker 5: on just off the corner where it occurred.
24:03
Speaker 1: Edward Williams also took the stand and identified Jason, even
24:07
Speaker 1: though he admitted he hadn't seen the shooter's face and
24:10
Speaker 1: had not even seen a gun.
24:13
Speaker 5: And then they also had gang experts that identified Walton
24:16
Speaker 5: as a member of the Mansfield Crips, which at the
24:19
Speaker 5: time were allegedly allies with the Rolling Thirties gang, which
24:22
Speaker 5: was at war with the Rolling Forties. And so that's
24:24
Speaker 5: the essentially the crux of the prosecution's case.
24:28
Speaker 1: Jason's defense attorneys were Jerry Kaplan and Helene Farber.
24:33
Speaker 5: The defensive trial was that Jason Walton was in fact
24:36
Speaker 5: at the Roscoes, that there were these other individuals that
24:40
Speaker 5: could have possibly been interested in doing harm to these
24:44
Speaker 5: two individuals, and that it was an eyewitness misidentification. One
24:48
Speaker 5: of the things that Edward Williams had said was that
24:51
Speaker 5: the shooter was on the curb and Edward Williams was
24:54
Speaker 5: on the street from the curb. The shooter was still
24:59
Speaker 5: shorter than Edward Williams, so this suggested that the person
25:03
Speaker 5: that was the shooter was probably five four to five six. Now,
25:06
Speaker 5: Jason Walton at the time of the crime was six
25:08
Speaker 5: foot one.
25:09
Speaker 1: And then the witnesses who saw Jason at Roscoe's, did
25:14
Speaker 1: they testify at trial?
25:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, I believe the two that testified at trial. There
25:19
Speaker 5: was an individual named Nico who was a gang intervention
25:23
Speaker 5: specialist who recognized Jason and saw him at the seat
25:26
Speaker 5: at Roscoe's, and then I believe it was the manager
25:30
Speaker 5: of Roscoe's testified to the security camera footage and then
25:34
Speaker 5: confirmed that he saw Jason at Roscoe's from six' six
25:38
Speaker 5: something until after eight o'clock.
25:40
Speaker 1: That, night but that wasn't enough to convince the. Jury
25:45
Speaker 1: In august, fourteenth two thousand and, Six jason was convicted
25:49
Speaker 1: of the first degree murder Of William cox an attempted
25:52
Speaker 1: murder Of Edward. Williams he was sentenced to fifty years to.
25:57
Speaker 1: Life he was twenty one years.
25:59
Speaker 2: OLD i was, CONFUSED i was, HEARTBROKEN i was, lost
26:08
Speaker 2: and it just wasn't real to me THAT i was.
26:13
Speaker 2: CONVICTED i just knew in my mind that something is
26:18
Speaker 2: going to. Happen they're going to realize a mistake was
26:20
Speaker 2: made And i'm going to get. Out it took years
26:27
Speaker 2: of even being in prison to realize, that, hey this is,
26:32
Speaker 2: Real like my life doesn't mean. Anything they don't. CARE
26:54
Speaker 2: i was put In Salinas Valley Maximum Security prison on
26:58
Speaker 2: the one eighty yard been my first twenty four hours,
27:02
Speaker 2: There i've seen an officer attacked and. Beaten within the first,
27:08
Speaker 2: WEEK i witnessed the first person of many, people unfortunately
27:14
Speaker 2: stabbed and murdered in. Prison the first time That i've
27:19
Speaker 2: ever seen certain levels of, violence the first TIME i seen,
27:24
Speaker 2: death the first Time i've seen savage beatings and stabberings
27:28
Speaker 2: and people just normalized it was in, prison and this
27:33
Speaker 2: is WHERE i was dropped, off And i'm expected to
27:36
Speaker 2: walk on.
27:36
Speaker 4: Eggshells to be honest with, YOU i only went to
27:41
Speaker 4: trial maybe once or. TWICE i just couldn't do. It
27:45
Speaker 4: it was too devastating for.
27:46
Speaker 1: Me when her son went to, Prison fran was grief.
27:50
Speaker 4: STRICKEN i still have a lot of. ANXIETY i might
27:55
Speaker 4: wake up at four o'clock in the, morning unable to,
27:57
Speaker 4: sleep heart, pounding. Stressed i'm his, mom his best, friend
28:04
Speaker 4: and he knew HOW i felt because we we cried about.
28:07
Speaker 4: It he, Said, Mom i'm not Gonna he, SAID i
28:10
Speaker 4: didn't do, this And i'm not going to be able
28:13
Speaker 4: to make.
28:13
Speaker 2: IT i ultimately felt that in order to get, OUT
28:22
Speaker 2: i would have to advocate for. MYSELF i would have
28:25
Speaker 2: to have my family and friends advocate me for me
28:28
Speaker 2: to getting the attention and awareness from people that are
28:32
Speaker 2: advocates and that are fighting for, justice so people would,
28:35
Speaker 2: understand how does a young man have a surveillance camera
28:38
Speaker 2: or cell phone, records how does he have an alibi
28:42
Speaker 2: like this and ultimately still be found.
28:45
Speaker 1: Guilty jason appealed his conviction to the trial court numerous,
28:50
Speaker 1: times but it seemed no one wanted to listen to the.
28:54
Speaker 2: Truth they would deny me time after time with anything
28:59
Speaker 2: and everything that was submitted in my. Favor after maybe
29:03
Speaker 2: seven to ten, YEARS i felt like my life didn't.
29:06
Speaker 2: Matter i'm just another black kid from the streets and
29:10
Speaker 2: a gang. MEMBER i don't feel like they ultimately cared
29:13
Speaker 2: about the victim nor. Myself it's, like, okay, well one
29:18
Speaker 2: gang members, dead one gang member, shot one gang members in.
29:22
Speaker 2: Jail we got a three for.
29:23
Speaker 4: One in a, way it started during trial where all the,
29:29
Speaker 4: evidence it just seemed like everyone was against. Us no
29:31
Speaker 4: one was In jason's. Favor the original, lawyer he left
29:36
Speaker 4: a little bit to be. Desired we also had an
29:39
Speaker 4: appeals attorney he didn't follow. Through, so, yes there were
29:44
Speaker 4: so many things that did not appear to be in our.
29:47
Speaker 1: Favor just a few days After jason was, convicted his,
29:54
Speaker 1: Son tyler was.
29:55
Speaker 2: BORN i was determined to be a good. Father that
30:02
Speaker 2: meant something to, me to make sure THAT i was
30:06
Speaker 2: a part of my son's. Life and the choices THAT
30:09
Speaker 2: i had made that led me to, prison or the
30:12
Speaker 2: things THAT i had been through that put me in,
30:13
Speaker 2: prison didn't affect my son as far as, OH i
30:17
Speaker 2: don't have a, Father so his first, steps his first,
30:22
Speaker 2: words were captured on a cell phone and sent to.
30:25
Speaker 2: Me he would call me when he wanted, something and
30:30
Speaker 2: IF i had to sacrifice getting the package or going
30:33
Speaker 2: the commissary this, month SO i can use that money
30:37
Speaker 2: to buy him the things that he wanted or that he,
30:39
Speaker 2: Needed that's WHAT i.
30:41
Speaker 4: Did he's, Great he's really. Great he's on top of
30:45
Speaker 4: school and, activities things That tyler may have going on
30:50
Speaker 4: on the. Weekends he's a good.
30:52
Speaker 1: Dad how did you describe things To tyler when he,
30:55
Speaker 1: wondered you know what happened with his dad when he
30:58
Speaker 1: was a.
30:58
Speaker 4: Kid explained exactly what, happened and his mom had newspaper.
31:05
Speaker 4: Clippings he knows what took, place he knows the, accusations
31:10
Speaker 4: he knows that his dad went to. Court he knows
31:12
Speaker 4: that his dad was found guilty and there was no
31:16
Speaker 4: need to sugarcoat it or lie or make stories or.
31:19
Speaker 4: Excuses he needed to. Know he's a young.
31:22
Speaker 2: Man i'm very proud of my. SON i tell him
31:26
Speaker 2: all the. Time he's an amazing. Kid he's just turned
31:29
Speaker 2: seventeen In. August his name Is Tyler. Walton i'm nick
31:33
Speaker 2: name some King.
31:34
Speaker 6: Tyler at, FIRST i was as a kid THAT i wasn't,
31:40
Speaker 6: Nervous but WHEN i finally you, know sat down and you,
31:45
Speaker 6: know it was face to, face it was really more
31:46
Speaker 6: of a kind of like a wow, woman like.
31:48
Speaker 2: Dang you know.
31:52
Speaker 6: This is this is whom my dad is really an amazing.
31:55
Speaker 1: Person, yeah do you tell people your dad's in?
31:58
Speaker 2: Prison?
31:59
Speaker 6: Occasionally know IF, i IF i know, Them i'll be, like,
32:02
Speaker 6: yeah this is you know WHAT i go. Through this
32:05
Speaker 6: is WHAT i have to suffer. With but it's something
32:08
Speaker 6: THAT i KNOW i CAN i can handle BECAUSE i
32:10
Speaker 6: know it's you, know it's not forever.
32:11
Speaker 1: Obviously what is that that you go through.
32:14
Speaker 6: A lot of, stuff, well a lot a lot of, thoughts,
32:17
Speaker 6: memories emotions THAT i feel within, Myself BUT i have
32:23
Speaker 6: learned to kind of have an understanding of. Them and
32:27
Speaker 6: accept them and use them as a way of, motivation
32:34
Speaker 6: And i've taken more as a learning opportunity and if,
32:37
Speaker 6: anything so it's LIKE i really have to make something of,
32:40
Speaker 6: it AND i have to do something that would you,
32:44
Speaker 6: know show some light more than light has already been
32:47
Speaker 6: drown and really kind of prove to everyone that even
32:52
Speaker 6: with these circumstances you can still do. GREAT i plan
32:56
Speaker 6: on having a very bright. Future you, know.
32:59
Speaker 1: When we spoke With frann And tyler over a video,
33:01
Speaker 1: chat they were wearing IDENTICAL t. SHIRTS i couldn't read
33:05
Speaker 1: them from the, screen SO i asked them what they.
33:07
Speaker 6: Said, yeah it Says Jason walton was wrongfully convicted from
33:11
Speaker 6: rider evidence used to give some him proof that he
33:13
Speaker 6: was innoct Of.
33:19
Speaker 1: How Did jason's case come to?
33:21
Speaker 5: You jason wrote to us in the late two, thousands
33:27
Speaker 5: claiming innocence and saying that he was not involved in
33:31
Speaker 5: any way in the case and that he was At
33:33
Speaker 5: Roscoe's chicken And waffles when the shooting.
33:36
Speaker 1: Occurred so what made you really dive in and want
33:39
Speaker 1: to look at? This what was it about his?
33:41
Speaker 5: Case jason was on security camera footage at The Roscoe's
33:46
Speaker 5: chicken and. Waffles and you know what's interesting about that
33:49
Speaker 5: is that the security camera footage was available at the
33:52
Speaker 5: time of. Trial so from the start it was like
33:55
Speaker 5: he had this awesome alibi and for some reason it
33:58
Speaker 5: just didn't play to the. Jury so that's really what
34:03
Speaker 5: sold me on this. Case on top of, that as
34:06
Speaker 5: we dug into the, case we found all of these
34:09
Speaker 5: inconsistencies throughout the, investigation as well as uncovered some incredibly
34:14
Speaker 5: motivated third party suspects that more likely committed this.
34:18
Speaker 1: Crime one important key to unraveling the case was a
34:22
Speaker 1: man Named Christopher, green one of the witnesses who spoke
34:25
Speaker 1: to investigators after the. Shooting, strangely his statement was never
34:31
Speaker 1: brought up at. Trial Christopher green was a carnival ride.
34:36
Speaker 1: Operator him And Richard gray were actually coworkers at this
34:39
Speaker 1: carnival and What green told investigators this he went and
34:42
Speaker 1: left to go to a convenience store across the. Street
34:45
Speaker 1: in twenty, Sixteen michael and The Innocent center sent their
34:48
Speaker 1: own investigator to Interview. Christopher he told them everything he
34:53
Speaker 1: had told the, police and as it turns, Out Christopher
34:56
Speaker 1: green may have been the only witness who was close
34:59
Speaker 1: enough to you see what actually happened.
35:03
Speaker 5: On his walk back as he's making his way around
35:06
Speaker 5: the corner to go back into the, carnival essentially right
35:09
Speaker 5: where the porta potties are that are Blocking Richard gray's.
35:11
Speaker 5: View green's coming around the corner and he sees an
35:15
Speaker 5: arm extended essentially over his, shoulder and he sees a.
35:20
Speaker 5: Gun and it's this gun that ends up firing five
35:24
Speaker 5: to six rounds and shooting and Wounding Edward williams and
35:29
Speaker 5: striking and Killing William. Cox and he gets a look
35:33
Speaker 5: at the, shooter but says he doesn't think he'd be
35:35
Speaker 5: able to identify the shooter because the shooter had a
35:38
Speaker 5: black hoodie on and the hood was. Up Christopher green
35:41
Speaker 5: is the only witness at the scene that's told police
35:45
Speaker 5: that he saw a. Gun Edward williams said he didn't
35:48
Speaker 5: see a. Gun he thought the shooting happened from Allegedly
35:51
Speaker 5: Jason walton firing through a. Hoodie so If Christopher.
35:54
Speaker 1: Green actually saw the, shooting how Did Richard gray become
35:58
Speaker 1: the prosecution star?
36:00
Speaker 5: Witness so in our subsequent post conviction, investigation what we
36:04
Speaker 5: learned is That green went and Told gray everything that he,
36:09
Speaker 5: saw And gray then either trying to be the savior
36:13
Speaker 5: or being pressured by police because of his own criminal
36:16
Speaker 5: liability that might have existed in other. Cases agrees to
36:19
Speaker 5: cooperate and takes parts Of Christopher green's story as his.
36:24
Speaker 5: Own tells police and makes this sort of soft. Identification
36:29
Speaker 5: but if you talk To, Green green's unable to make
36:32
Speaker 5: the identification because the hoodie is pulled up over this shooter's,
36:36
Speaker 5: head and he also describes having seen the, gun totally
36:40
Speaker 5: inconsistent with What Edward williams. Says immediately After Edward williams is,
36:45
Speaker 5: Shot green runs up To williams and he gets down
36:49
Speaker 5: and he's, like, hey there's an ambulance. Coming someone's just
36:52
Speaker 5: called nine to one, One And Edward williams spontaneously, SAYS
36:57
Speaker 5: i don't know who did. THIS i don't know who
36:58
Speaker 5: would want to do. This so that's a crucial piece
37:02
Speaker 5: of information because If Edward williams knew who it, was
37:07
Speaker 5: then he would have said it in that, moment and he.
37:10
Speaker 5: Doesn't he says he didn't know who did.
37:11
Speaker 1: It, well if the police had all this information From Christopher,
37:15
Speaker 1: green why didn't they use it at? Trial?
37:20
Speaker 5: YEAH i MEAN i think the most important things were
37:21
Speaker 5: That Christopher green probably had the best vantage point for
37:25
Speaker 5: seeing the shooter and didn't play a part in the
37:27
Speaker 5: prosecution's case because it didn't fit their. Theory Richard gray
37:33
Speaker 5: wasn't able to see, anything and yet he played a
37:37
Speaker 5: major part of the prosecution's case because he had made
37:40
Speaker 5: that tentative identification prior to. Trial and so it was
37:43
Speaker 5: kind of a situation in which the prosecution was cherry
37:47
Speaker 5: picking the information they were presenting in order to make
37:50
Speaker 5: it fit their, theory AND i think that resulted In
37:52
Speaker 5: jason's wrongful.
37:53
Speaker 1: Conviction michael believes the most likely scenario is That Edward
37:58
Speaker 1: williams was being targe by a rival. Gang there was.
38:03
Speaker 5: A witness Named Drew maxwell who told police at the
38:07
Speaker 5: time That Edward williams had actually been shot at in
38:10
Speaker 5: the week's leading up to, this And Edward williams being
38:13
Speaker 5: this new jumped in member of The baby forties certainly
38:16
Speaker 5: made him a. Target and the graffiti and the fact
38:21
Speaker 5: that a number of people at the scene said they
38:24
Speaker 5: Saw Jay rock and another individual from the thirties Named
38:28
Speaker 5: terrell who had been at The halloween. Party in gang
38:31
Speaker 5: cases like, this it's often difficult to get people to
38:34
Speaker 5: talk and let us know who actually committed the. Crime
38:37
Speaker 5: i'm hopeful that we're able to develop at least a
38:40
Speaker 5: little bit more evidence that suggest it Wasn't jason and
38:42
Speaker 5: in fact it was another. Individual it was somebody that
38:45
Speaker 5: is you, know is still out there or is in
38:49
Speaker 5: prison or.
38:49
Speaker 1: Whatever, yeah so what kind of evidence are you looking?
38:52
Speaker 5: For so In jason's, case we've attempted to GET dna
38:55
Speaker 5: testing on the shell casings at the scene and. Failed
39:00
Speaker 5: rejected that Because Edward williams Knew Jason walton and said
39:05
Speaker 5: That jason was the, shooter so it wasn't an eyewitness.
39:08
Speaker 5: Misidentification in the court's, minds there was no. Confusion my
39:12
Speaker 5: position is That Edward williams was mistaken that it wasn't Actually,
39:15
Speaker 5: jason and SO dna testing the shell casings would help
39:19
Speaker 5: us to figure out who at least loaded the gun that.
39:21
Speaker 1: Night when that, Happens michael believes it will be a
39:24
Speaker 1: turning point in their efforts to Prove jason's. Innocence fran
39:33
Speaker 1: remains hopeful To she Says jason's positive attitude has helped
39:37
Speaker 1: her gain perspective on the.
39:39
Speaker 4: Situation he had told me THAT i should not feel
39:42
Speaker 4: Like i'm the only mom that has a son who's
39:46
Speaker 4: been incarcerated or is incarcerated or accused of committing a
39:51
Speaker 4: crime that they did not, commit BECAUSE i was so
39:54
Speaker 4: afraid of what would be said or how people would
39:58
Speaker 4: feel about, me how they would feel about the, family
40:02
Speaker 4: and how they would feel about my. Son and as
40:07
Speaker 4: we're finding, out wrongful convictions is everywhere all over the.
40:11
Speaker 2: World my, mother my, grandmother who's ninety two years, old
40:18
Speaker 2: tells me she misses me And harry up they come
40:20
Speaker 2: home and my son that those are my motivating factors
40:25
Speaker 2: and ultimately to clear my.
40:26
Speaker 1: Name Friend tyler And jason's grandmother are all waiting to
40:31
Speaker 1: welcome him home and to cook some of his favorite meals.
40:36
Speaker 4: Bake, salmon, bakchoi saffron, rice steamed, vegetables and fried, chicken
40:44
Speaker 4: chicken and, dumplings all that good hearty.
40:48
Speaker 1: Stuff and there's someone else who will be there For
40:51
Speaker 1: jason when he's finally.
40:53
Speaker 2: Released my wife's name Is Diamond. Walton we were friends
41:00
Speaker 2: for since maybe two thousand and. Twelve our relationship grew
41:07
Speaker 2: from friendships and to a desire to be with each,
41:12
Speaker 2: other a love for each. Other it came from her
41:16
Speaker 2: always motivating, me praying over, me praying with, me speaking
41:21
Speaker 2: life into me at times WHEN i was feeling, defeated and,
41:26
Speaker 2: see she motivates me a lot to stay, focused to
41:31
Speaker 2: believe in myself and know THAT i can achieve the
41:36
Speaker 2: things THAT i want to, achieve and ultimately that is
41:39
Speaker 2: clearing my name and being. Exonerated i've never done anything like,
41:45
Speaker 2: this AND i hope that people relate to me and
41:49
Speaker 2: understand That i'm more than a. Number i'm more than
41:54
Speaker 2: a gang, Banker i'm more than a, prisoner, innate and
42:00
Speaker 2: Ultimately i'm more than someone that was wrongfully.
42:03
Speaker 1: Convicted And jason has lots of plans to get started
42:07
Speaker 1: on when that, happens including reviving one of his childhood.
42:11
Speaker 2: DREAMS i would love to still be an. ATTORNEY i
42:16
Speaker 2: would love to be a part of an organization THAT
42:21
Speaker 2: i can give. BACK i can help bring hope to
42:24
Speaker 2: people that are in this, position that don't have, hope
42:28
Speaker 2: that don't believe that they're going to get, out that
42:30
Speaker 2: don't trust the. SYSTEM i don't want that just to
42:34
Speaker 2: be the story of my life where ALL i can say, Is,
42:38
Speaker 2: Hey i'm someone that was wrongfully. Convicted HOPEFULLY i can
42:41
Speaker 2: turn this negative into something, positive OR i can take
42:45
Speaker 2: something positive from it where people can. LEARN i want
42:50
Speaker 2: to be a part of making sure that wrongful conviction
42:53
Speaker 2: ultimately becomes something that doesn't. Exist i'm sorry IF i
42:57
Speaker 2: have to put us all out of. Business we have
43:00
Speaker 2: else to interview With. Adam be a good.
43:03
Speaker 1: Day to learn more and see any updates About jason's.
43:12
Speaker 1: Case visit The innocencenter dot. Org we'll have that link
43:16
Speaker 1: in the episode, description and please consider making a donation
43:20
Speaker 1: to support The Innocent center and the important work they're.
43:23
Speaker 1: Doing thank you for listening To Wrongful conviction With Maggie.
43:32
Speaker 1: Freelink please support your local innocence organizations and go to
43:35
Speaker 1: the links in the episode description to see how you can.
43:38
Speaker 1: Help i'd like to thank our executive Producers Jason, Flam Jeff,
43:42
Speaker 1: kempler And Kevin, wortis as well as senior Producer Annie,
43:45
Speaker 1: chelsea Producer Kathleen, fink story Editor Hannah, beal and Researcher Shelby.
43:51
Speaker 1: Sorels mixing and sound design are By Jackie, pauley with
43:55
Speaker 1: additional production By Jeff cliburn And Connor. Hall the music
43:59
Speaker 1: in this production is By Three Time oscar nominated Composer Jay.
44:03
Speaker 1: Ralph be sure to follow us on all social media
44:06
Speaker 1: platforms At lava For good and At Wrongful. Conviction you
44:10
Speaker 1: can also follow me on all platforms At Maggie. Freeling
44:13
Speaker 1: Wrongful conviction With Maggie freeling is a production Of lava
44:16
Speaker 1: For Good podcasts in association With Signal Company number one