The innocent go free on the Conviction Podcast
Conviction Season 2: American Panic, a podcast from Gimlet, a Spotify Studio. Season 2 of Conviction premiered in February 2020, and takes listeners inside one of the darkest and most bizarre chapters of American history, telling the story of Melvin Quinney, a man wrongfully convicted of indecency with a child and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In the update episode, hear reactions from Melvin and his family after they learn the news of his recent exoneration, and the next steps Melvin and his lawyer will take towards fully clearing his name. More about the season below:
When John Quinney, Melvin’s son, was ten years old, he took the stand to testify against his own father. He had come to believe that his dad was the murderous leader of a satanic cult.
It would be decades before John would learn that his family was just one of many swept up in a panic that gripped America in the 1980s—one in which hundreds of people were accused of taking part in underground satanic cults that sacrificed infants and sexually abused children.
By the time the panic had subsided, scores of
people were in prison, convicted on little to no evidence—people like
Melvin Quinney.
On
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 the Court of Criminal Appeals vacated Melvin Quinney’s conviction. The timeline of the case is outlined below:
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In July 1991, Melvin was convicted of indecency with a child and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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In 1999, Melvin was released from prison and required to register as a sex offender.
●
In 2020, Melvin’s children reached out to the
Innocence Project of Texas for help in clearing their father’s
name. A petition for a writ of habeas corpus was presented to the district court asking that Melvin’s conviction be vacated.
●
In
June 2022, an evidentiary hearing in the case was held and Melvin’s
children, John and Sarah, along with experts in psychology and the
Satanic Panic, testified of Melvin’s innocence.
○
Listen to a September 2022 update episode (HERE)
from Conviction Season 2: American Panic, where listeners are taken
inside the courtroom as John recants his testimony and tries to get his
dad exonerated. Spotify had exclusive access to the exoneration hearing,
with multiple witnesses called referencing
Conviction Season 2.
●
In September 2022, the writ was approved by the court and sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
●
On Wednesday, February 15, 2023 the Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ and vacated Melvin’s conviction.
iHeart's ear worthy podcasts of the week
Here are the latest iHeartPodcasts, seasons and episodes to keep on your radar -- “The Mantawauk Caves,” “Let’s Start a Coup!” and “The Professional Homegirl Podcast.”
The Mantawauk Caves: On the night of May 1, 2010, three boys entered a cave in Mantawauk County, Tennessee. Only one made it out alive. The boys were found days later, and they had been attacked by someone––or something. The investigation that followed revealed town secrets as old as the caves themselves. Created by filmmaker Dan Bush, iHeartPodcasts and Blumhouse’s new scripted thriller podcast weaves together the narrative threads of social drama, supernatural horror and psychological thriller. Listen to the first two episodes of “The Mantawauk Caves” streaming now.
Let’s Start a Coup!: Dive into this darkly comedic and terrifying retelling of one of the weirdest, forgotten schemes in American history. What would you do if a secret cabal of the nation’s most powerful people asked you to overthrow the President? Weirdly enough––it’s not a hypothetical. It almost happened to FDR in the 1930s, were it not for a very intense, very problematic Marine named Major General Smedley Butler. Tune in on Mondays.
The Professional Homegirl Podcast: This informative podcast anonymously interviews women who have survived obstacles like addictions, overcame generational curses, and have learned a multitude of life lessons along the way. In this show, host Eboné aims to show the range of women of color living the full lives they have worked hard to create. Tune in each Tuesday.
NPR announces layoffs
Besides COVID, one of the more infectious things is layoffs in an industry. Right now, the podcast industry is riddled with staff layoffs. No one currently knows what the vaccine is to inoculate the podcast industry against more layoffs and show cuts.
Recently, NPR announced that it would lay off ten percent of its staff and eliminate vacant positions to compensate for an estimated thirty-million-dollar shortfall in revenue. John Lansing, the CEO, blamed declining corporate sponsorships and advertising income.
NPR said the budget shortfall this year, once estimated to be $20 million, had grown to at least $30 million. NPR, a nonprofit with a work force of about 1,100 people, had already cut $14 million in expenses through eliminating open positions, restricting nonessential travel and suspending internship programs. But those moves, Lansing said, are no longer enough to prevent job cuts.
NPR joins a long line of media companies that have laid off workers in recent months amid falling advertising revenue and the threat of a possible economic recession. The Washington Post, CNN, Vox Media, BDG and Gannett have all laid off workers.
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