Up First from NPR | Two Part Series
PART 1 | The Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction
In 1987, Ben Spencer, a young black man from Dallas, Texas was convicted in the killing of a white businessman. He was sentenced to life in prison by an all-white jury. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime and he had an alibi. Over the years, eyewitnesses recanted their testimony and a judge, after reviewing all the prior evidence, declared Spencer to be an innocent man. Nonetheless, Spencer remained in prison for more than three decades. For seven of those years, former NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty follows and followed the twists and turns of this case. Her dissection of wrongful convictions and the criminal justice system is at the heart of her new book, Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, A Conviction And The Fight to Redeem American Justice.
Today on The Sunday Story from Up First, part one of a two-part series looking at why it is so hard to get a conviction overturned even when evidence of innocence is overwhelming.
December 22, 2024 | Up First from NPR
Listen or download the episode by clicking below!
PART 2 | The Luckiest of the Unlucky
In part two of our story about Ben Spencer, a man sentenced to life in prison for a crime he said he didn't commit, former NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty begins her own investigation.
In this episode of The Sunday Story from Up First, a look at what finally happens to a man who pinned his hopes on the idea that the truth would eventually set him free.
December 22, 2024 | Up First from NPR
Listen or download the episode by clicking below!