April 4, 2024 • 31 mins
On March 14, 1998, Anthony Galati was found murdered along the side of a road in Rancho Cordova, CA. The case went cold until October 1999, when Israel Septs, an inmate in a California prison, told police that he witnessed the crime. Septs claimed that 23-year-old Jeremy Puckett and 18-year-old Angela Dvorsky killed Galati after they robbed him. Despite having an alibi and no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Jeremy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder.
To learn more, visit:
We started the Wrongful Conviction podcast to provide a voice to innocent people in prison.
We want to hear your voices, too.
So call us at 833-207-4666 and leave us a message.
Tell us how these powerful, often tragic and sometimes triumphant, stories make you feel.
Shocked?
Inspired?
Motivated?
We want to know!
We may even include your story in a future episode.
And hey, the more of you that join in, the more power our collective voices will have.
So tell a friend to listen and to call us too at 833-207-4666
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
On March fourteenth, nineteen ninety eight, the body of nineteen
year old Anthony Golotti was found alongside a desolate stretch
of road outside of Sacramento, California. The case remained cold
for over a year until a young man named Israel
Sept went to prison on a gun charge and offered
authorities information about the murder. According to Sept, he was
(00:25):
at an apartment when two others, Angela Devorski and Jeremy Pucket, assaulted, robbed,
and abducted Anthony Golotti. Then, according to Sept, he got
into Anthony's car with them to keep him safe from
further violence, but failed when they arrived at that stretch
of road where Golotti was fatally shot. In the weeks
following the murder, Angelo Devorski also turned up dead, leaving
(00:47):
only Jeremy Pucket to stay. A trial where Sept made
good on his plea deal and sent Jeremy away for life.
But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has always given
voice to innocent people in prison. Now we're expanding that
(01:09):
voice to you. Call us at eight three three, two
oh seven, four six sixty six and leave us a message.
Tell us how these powerful, often tragic stories make you
feel outraged, inspired, motivated. We want to know. We may
even include your story in a future episode. Call us
A three three two oh seven, four six sixty six.
(01:40):
Welcome back to Rafel Conviction. Today, we have a story
out of Northern California in the years following legislation that
had been passed to stop ironically prosecutions just like this
one that use snitch testimony that is not corroborated by
independent evidence. Nevertheless, a path was made with the help
of other incentivized witnesses, to let that happened. And here
(02:01):
to help tell this story as an attorney with the
Northern California Inisons Project, Karen Sanu, New Tower, Karen, Welcome
to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Thank you, and our.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Guest of honor today, the man who lived and somehow
survived this night, mayre Jeremy Pucket. Jeremy welcome, thank you.
And this crime took place in a place called Rancho
Cordova kind of outside of Sacramento anyway. Is that where
you grew up and what was your family life like?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, I grew up in Sacramento, California, pretty much all
over the place, mainly ranch Cordova's self, and we moved
around a lot, you know, and didn't have the most
money or anything. But you know, my parents they did
the best they could and gave me, my brother and
my sister the best life that we could have. So
I had a great childhood. It was good. It was
(02:47):
really good.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
In the late eighties and early nineties, the crack epidemic
affected many of Jeremy's friends, but not him. Instead, Jeremy
became a father who's clear head served him well. One night,
when his young family faced a situation.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
The house call on fire while me and my son's mother,
Carl were sleeping, and as I woke up, I opened
up the door and there was just smoke coming up
the stairs. So I went across the hall grabbed my son,
and because of all the smoke and everything's coming from downstairs,
I knew we had to jump out the window. When
we jumped out the window, at that time, I knew
(03:23):
that her sister would sleep downstairs, and so I kicked
in the door to get her out. However, when her
sister was coming out the door, that's when she told
me that one of my good friends was sleeping. My
son's Auntie's room basically, and by that time the house
was up in flames and there's nothing we can do
to save them.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Oh man, what was his name?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Benny Campbell? And I think the worst part of it
was is I heard her scream as he was trying
to get out, and like, this is like not just
a friend, Like he was like one of my best friends.
So just to not be able to save him, you know,
And it still affects me, I guess you could say,
and it's just and still miss him to this day.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Jeremy displayed true heroism that night, but unbeknownst to him,
his friend Israel Scept harbored some resentments over Benny's death.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I believe I met him through Benny. I thought we
had a good relationship. I thought we were good friends.
You know, he came to my house, I would go
to his house. But yeah, I guess we were as
good as friends as I thought thought we were.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Israel Scept became integral to Jeremy's wrongful conviction for a
murder that in part began at the apartment of a
young man named William van Hill.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
This was a small, one bedroom apartment in the heart
of Rancho Cordova, and William van Hill would let people
come to the house and deal drugs and he would
get some drugs through that, and he also was letting
a guy named Larry Biddlebrooks crash there every once in
(04:52):
a while, and so on the particular night in March
nineteen ninety eight, Larry middle brook Brooks was there. Van
Hill was pretty much in his bedroom. A woman named
Patty Scott Bostik was there. She and Larry Middlebrooks were
heavily using crack cocaine that night and drinking a lot.
(05:14):
And then Israel Sep was there.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Jeremy planned to hang out with Israel step that night
after a family gathering.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Had a little get together. It was no part or nothing,
and we had a little barbecue. It was me, my
sister's friend, Chante, my son's mother, Akara, my mom was there,
my dad was there. There was a few people there
that could all testify to my whereabouts this night. Prior
to my leaving and coming back, I remember talking to Israel.
He told me what was going to be at. I
showed up and as I seen how things were progressing
(05:44):
at the apartment where he was at, I pulled myself
out of that and went back home.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
The victim of the murder, Anthony Glotti, showed up wanting
to buy some drugs to celebrate his nineteenth birthday. He
was by himself.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
The Goliath didn't looked like the usual crack I guess
she would say, so he showed up. I was like,
this guy looks like he might be the police. And
I told Scept this, and Set was still intent on
selling this guy drugs. And that's when I decided to
pull myself out of that situation and leave because I
was not gonna be involved in something that got myself
(06:17):
in trouble.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
With and Galotti was a young, young god yeah guy
that everyone called the preppy because he didn't look like
anyone else in the apartment.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
It's not to judge anybody, but just look out of place.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
But he saw this young attractive woman, Angela Devorski, and
he left the apartment, but then told his friends he
wanted to go back and meet up with the girl.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I didn't know Andrew Devorski. The only people, I guess
you really knew it was Israel and Larry. That's about it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
According to all accounts, Angela Davorski was there with her
boyfriend James Reeves, also referred to as Jamo, but the
accounts diverge on what happened between the time Jeremy left
the apartment that night and when Anthony glotti body was
found on March fourteenth, nineteen ninety eight, on White Rock Road.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Just a driver going down the road spotted him and
called it in to police. He was at the side
of the road in an unincorporated area of Sacramento County.
It appeared that he had been shot out there. His
hands were tied behind his back. Really an assassination type murder.
Originally they thought he had one bullet wound to the head,
(07:27):
but after autopsy, they realized he had been shot twice
in the head.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
The medical examiner later testified that the time of death
was likely between five and seven am on Saturday, March fourteenth.
Two days later, anth Think Alotti's Pontiac fireberg was found
set ablaze in a parking lot, and then, as police
continued to question non associates, Angela Devoorski's body washed up
in the American River on May first of ninety eight.
She had been stabbed twelve times. Her case remains cold
(07:55):
to this day, but Galotti's investigation was reinvigorated when Israel's
SEPT was victed an unlawful discharge of a firearm in
October of ninety nine.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
As soon as you are taken to prison, your DNA
is taken. In California, Israel believed that his DNA was
going to implicate him in the murder of Anthony Gollotti,
so he contacted the Sheriff's office to tell a story
that would take the focus away from him and onto
(08:27):
someone else. He then was interviewed by the Sacramento Sheriff's
office three or four times, and each story was inconsistent.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Jeremy's jury never heard about Sept's motivation. Nevertheless, it appears
that SEPT bounced inconsistent stories off the Sacramento Sheriff's department
until they landed on a narrative which Anthony Gollotti came
to William Van Hill's apartment to buy some drugs, and
Scept alleged that Jeremy Pistol whipped and tied up Anthony
with the help of Angela Devorski. Scept said that he
(08:57):
followed them out to Anthony's car, where he allegedly told
Anthony that he would come along and keep him safe.
Then Jeremy allegedly drove them all out to White Rock Road,
took Anthony out of the car, shot him, and drove off,
dropping sept at a motel. Shortly after this account, Jeremy
was brought in for questioning.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They were just asking me questions about a murder that happened,
Like I have to know something about this, because you know,
I'm from the neighborhood or whatever, and I don't have
no idea what they're talking about. I believe they mentioned Israel,
and that's when I started trying like peaceful things agein.
I was like, oh, this is what's going on, But
I still had no idea of what happened after I
had left the apartment where he was at this night.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Curiously, only Scept was charged in June of two thousand
and taken to trial in March two thousand and.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
One, because all they have is this so called confession
by Israel, and so they have to try them separately
because Israel will have the opportunity to take the Fifth
Amendment and then there'd be no case. And they can't
just use this statement because Jeremy wouldn't have had a
(10:07):
chance to cross exam Israel, so they had to try
them separately, and so they started with Israel and then
of course he folded after opening statement. But he cut
a deal. I mean, he went from life without the
possibility of parole to what eleven years eight months. But
(10:27):
when he was actually sentenced, he even got a better deal.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Shortly after steps leaning a plea deal for robbery and
accessory to murder, they arrested Jeremy.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
All our members being at work and I was called
to the office and I had a feeling that something
might goals, like something just wasn't right. I walked into
the office. That's when I was basically surrounded by officers
placed in handcuffs, placed in the car, and I was like,
you gotta have the wrong person, because I ain't hurt nobody.
I didn't kill nobody, Like I don't know what you
guys are talking about, Like you got to have the
(10:58):
wrong person, And they're like, no, got you with this
and now whatever. I'm trying to convince them, you know,
but they didn't want to hear nothing. I had to say.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen to this
and all the Lava for Good podcasts one week early
and ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good plus
on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I pretty much preached together that something was being pinned
on me from Israel. I believe. During the initial interview
with my investigator, he was still sticking to his story
that it was all me, And then during the second
one that's when he recanted his story.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Prior to trial, Israel set recanted in an interview with
Jeremy's private investigator and gave some version of the truth,
saying something about Middlebrooks having set up Anthony Allotti for
a robbery and quote, Jeremy not involved. Jeremy knew nothing
about robbing anyone. That's the God's truth end quote. Wow.
(12:08):
Sept never said who was responsible, though, but with this
recantation in the bag, it appears that Jeremy's attorney didn't
feel the need to develop an alibi defense or look
into any of the state's evidence, including Israel SEP's motel
receipt that was alleged to a line with the morning
of March fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
The motel receipt shows that Sepp registered at this motel
at four to twenty am and there was a number
on the receipt six seven one eight. The receipt was messy,
but if you look at the next receipt six seven
nine with a totally independent party registering at six ten am,
you realize it was on the morning of the thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
And there was one part to as well.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Yeah, and the one prior to it. That's correct. So
there's no doubt that this hotel entry was on the thirteenth.
But however, the Sacramento DA just said it's on the fourteenth.
She talked about it as though he registered the mourning
of the fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
This could mean one of a few things. Perhaps the
medical examiner was mistaken about the time of death between
five and seven am on the fourteenth, or perhaps the
state glossed over the discrepancy in order to align the
findings of the autopsy with the morning after Jeremy had
actually made an appearance at Van Hill's apartment March twelfth
and to the thirteenth. This could have been uncovered by
(13:26):
Jeremy's attorney had he just bothered to look into his alibi.
In addition, it's important to note that, according to nineteen
ninety one California legislation, jail house inform and testimony has
to be corroborated by independent evidence. Perhaps the prosecutor, Marjorie Kohler,
used this motel receipt from the thirteenth to check that
box for a crime that occurred on the fourteenth.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
None of the witnesses or anybody testified to the thirteenth.
They were told from the prosecution of what day this happened.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Jeremy's right. The prosecution would just say, let me draw
your attention to the night of the thirteenth or the
morning of the fourteenth, So witnesses just went along with that.
No one said, oh, wait a minute, this happened on
a Thursday night.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And this wasn't the only dirty trick. In her opening statement,
Kohler raised the specter of the fire that killed Benny
Campbell as well as the murderer of Angela divorce key.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
They tried to implicate Jeremy in that murder.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
She already knew she had a week case, so she's
trying to throw everything in to make me look bad
from the get go.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Anyway, Jeremy's attorney asked the judge to Clara misstrial, and
when the judge asked Kohler if she had the evidence
to corroborate her implications. She said that there was evidence
linking Jeremy, but just not enough to charge him.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
But that wasn't true, and she was admonished by the
judge that this wasn't proper.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
She was actually told to tell the jerry that I
had nothing to do with that, and she said no, yeah,
so the judge hself had to do it.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
The judge instructed the jury that the prosecutor could not
corroborate her implications, and then the trial proceeded.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
The state presents middle Brooks. Middlebrooks said he was in
the bathroom doing cocaine with Patty Scott Bostick and that
he didn't think that Jeremy was there, and Patty Scott
Bostick always said that she never looked out the door.
And then she got on the stand and then she
said she heard Jeremy yelling. She had never testified to
(15:23):
that before, but we found out later that she wanted
to testify favorably because she was on probation at the
time she testified, and the jury was never told this again.
The jury has to hear if a witness has a
motive to make an entirely new statement that had never
been made before, so that's what Patty said. And then
(15:46):
van Hill said he saw Anthony Glotti being removed by
two black men and based on their height difference, he
thought it might be Israel and Jeremy. Again, that was
a new statement made it.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
In his earlier statements, van Hill said that the two
black men were about the same height. Then at trial,
he said that his memory had improved since his first
interview just after the crime. In addition, he described Israel
Scept as being five to four, much shorter than his
actual height five to ten, which notably is not much
shorter than Jeremy at six foot one.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
His stores all over the place.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We learned during our investigation, unfortunately, that mister van Hill
had many psychological problems, but of course the jury never
heard that.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
But of course none of the supporting testimony mattered as
much as Israel Scept. And we don't know what happened
between his recantation and trial, but perhaps the prosecutor reminded
him about the deal they had made.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Either testify against me and say it was all me,
or there's going to take his deal back, and he
was face to life without the possibility to role. He
just went back to the script he was given when
he took the deal. What was crazy about that is
that prior to being into the courtroom, we were in
separate sales, like basically across from each other. And now
I ask them personally, like what are you doing? Like
(17:07):
why you doing this to me? I still remember him
saying like, I know, I'm sorry, And when I get
back in there, I'm gonna go in there and tell
them the truth that you have nothing to do with it. Right.
But well, soon we get back into the courtroom, it
was like everything that was just said he completely forgot,
and he's got the back to pointing the finger right
back at me.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Jeremy's attorney was able to cross Examinecept with not only
inconsistencies with his prior statements, but also his recantation.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
A course Scept denied it. And that's why I was
shot that my trial attorney didn't call their investigator to
rebut his role.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Wait wait wait, wait, so he didn't even bother to
call the investigator to present the recantation.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
It's unbelievable. It's absolutely I tell people this story that
the attorney had a recantation he didn't put on it,
and they can't believe it, let alone the data. The
murder is even wrong. It's just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
The jury had not heard the motivations of those testifying,
as well as the full recantation by this state star witness,
so they predictably returned a guilty verdict for first degree
murder robbery, but curiously not guilty for unlawful use of
a firearmy.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
All I remember is hearing is I was guilty of
murder and everything else I didn't hear. I blacked out.
It wasn't until my mother came and visited me that
she's the one who told me that I was found
not guilty of the gun, and that kind of shot me.
So I thought once I heard guilty murder, I felt
I was guilty of everything. Everything just blacked out. I
heard nothing else, and I just especially see my life
(18:36):
just washed away like it was nothing. You walked into
the yard and all you see is these big brick
walls and you just realize like you're really imprisoned, like
(18:59):
they're going to rest your life here for something you
didn't do. It was heartbreaking. I couldn't sleep for the
first couple of nights because I couldn't even believe I
was in the situation. I was even in It's a
doggie doll world in there. You know, it's a battle
of the fitness. It's a survival instinct that you must
have in prison to make it through. I've seen people
come in prison and not make it at all, and
I've seen people comit suicide before. I've seen people get
(19:21):
killed in prison. I've seen all type of things happen.
I've seen people overdose. I've seen basically just about everything
in there. And thank God that I was able to
put my faith in God and keep fighting. And I
guess it is always frustrating to know that you're doing
everything you can, but knowing it is not enough.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
After his initial appeal, Jeremy fought his case pro sae,
meaning on his own without an attorney, from inside of
his prison cell.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And of course it was so hard for Jeremy because
he doesn't have anyone to find that the evidence has
been suppressed. He's banging up against a brick wall because
he can't get into the DA file, into his own file,
into the file of Angela divorce. KI out on the
street to interview people.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I was almost ready to give up because I was
tired of getting all the denials on my own and
to thank god, I had my sister and my mom,
my cousins and everybody, a strong core in my family
that still believed in me no matter what. And I
look back on it and I think it was my daughter,
and my daughter saved my life. I'll never forget that
day she came to saw me and I think my
sister's gonna get something to eat for us, and my
(20:26):
son and my niece. They went to a player and
I was telling my daughter, like, oh, I want you
go play with your brother and your cousin, and she's like, no,
I want to stay here with you. And I remember
her looking at me and she was like, when you wait.
Excuse me, She said, when you come home, when you're
gonna come home, because I want you home. And that's
what I knew right there. I had to keep fighting,
(20:48):
not for myself, for my kids. I couldn't give up.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
After about fourteen long years of denials and appellate Cord
Karen and the Northern California Indists Project took on Jeremy's
case and were able to un what Jeremy never could
have from the inside.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Sepp told the detectives that a man with the nickname
Jamo brought Angela Devorski to the apartment, and that was
a very important sentence that he said that. I don't
think Jeremy's trial attorney appreciated the importance of it at
the time. Because the Sheriff's detectives had suppressed the evidence
(21:27):
related to Angela Devorski.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Much of the discovery that should have come to Jeremy's
defense attorney remained hidden in the Angela Davorski murder file.
I'm talking about seven hundred pages worth.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Pages and pages of evidence, witness after witness saying Jamo
had control over Angela Devorski, and Angela's diary talked about
the control that Jamo had over her and that Jamo
and Angela Devorski did set up robberies. They would use
her as a lure for young men who wanted to
(22:04):
spend some time with her, to put it nicely, and
instead they would rob the young man. In the suppressed evidence,
we learned that there were two witnesses that actually saw
the set up robberies going on. And once you know
that and know that Jamo is controlling her, then the
(22:25):
story starts to make sense. The story Step told didn't
make any sense. But this is a robbery gone bad
and they've set up Anthony Golotti. We learned that Jamo
went to an apartment where a gun was later found,
and we believe that is the gun used to pistol
whip Anthony Golotti. And the investigating detective had said that
(22:49):
this gun was connected to the Glotti murder, and yet
that information was never turned over to Jeremy's attorney.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So they hid not only the motives of all of
the trial witnesses who testified falsely, but now it was
also discovered that they'd hidden a way more compelling suspect,
James Reeves or Jamo, Who's estranged wife, Connie Goins, gave
a statement sworn statement in twenty fifteen in which she
(23:20):
said that Jamo had always said that Jeremy had nothing
to do with Anthony Glotti's robbery and murder, and he
knew that because he was there at the time of
the crime. Moreover, this is supported by the fact that
Angela Dvorski's diary contained the names of one hundred and
twenty one men, and get this, not one of them
(23:41):
is Jeremy there's.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
No evidence that they knew one another, and during the
investigation of the Divorski murder, many witnesses were shown Jeremy's
picture friends of hers. No one could identify Jeremy. They
ran in completely separate and disc circles.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
The choice to pursue Jeremy over Jamo made me wonder
if perhaps investigators were protecting Jamo. Maybe he was cooperating
in other cases, but that doesn't seem to fit here.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
The sheriff never interviewed Jamo. This is investigation one oh one.
You interview everyone who was there that night. They never
interviewed him. My theory is that the police were negligent.
I think Sepp was protecting Jamo. That's my theory of
the case. What do you think, Jeremy.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
I think they were so solely focused on me that
they didn't care about anybody else.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
That was an easy prosecution. We don't have to do
any more work. If you accuse Jeremy, how can he
defend himself other than just say I had nothing to
do with it. By the time he's interviewed, he can
hardly remember that night. You know, it's a year and
a half later.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
The Northern California, and this is projects along with attorneys
from Simpson, Thatcher and Bartlett filed a state which they
had to fight all the way up to the state
Supreme Court to finally get a hearing where they presented
there's absolute mountain of Brady material, the recantation evidence, the
statement from Connie Goins as well as an expert to
point out the discrepancy between dates in the state's narrative
(25:15):
and the time of death.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Doctor Melanik was incredible. There was no question by the
time she was done testifying that they had the date
of the murder wrong, and they actually conceded that finally,
finally correct. At the very end of the hearing, they
conceded that the gun evidence came in that they had suppressed.
Jamo had made this statement by the time of the
(25:38):
hearing to one of our investigators, and so he said, no,
Jeremy had nothing to do with the murder. I was there.
So everything went right in the hearing. I think we
were feeling positive.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
I mean I felt good, but of course, you just
never know where it's going to go. And then the
day that I found out was one of the most
happiest and craziest days ever, I finally got my case overturned.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
It was pretty emotional, and of course it was the
day that California is shut down like.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
A few days.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
So the good news is you're gonna get out. The
good news is it's a shutdown.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, Friday thirteenth. At that well, it was crazy. Everybody
else is losing their minds and I'm like, oh, y'all
think you this is nothing.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
When we're all home crying in our soup that we
can't go out. Jeremy gets a driver's license, a passport,
a job, a car, housing, He lived life and it
was just amazing. And you know, we needed to get
his record cleared and all that and everything now was
(26:50):
slowed down because of COVID the hearing for factual innocence
that didn't come till the following January.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
It's kind of shocking when we had the factual innocence
because she told me it's going to be like two
or three days and he's only there for like fifteen
twenty minutes. And when he finally said what he said,
I had to turn through us. I didn't know what happened.
I was like, what just happened? And she's like, you
won you're actually insignt now and it was just a
shock for everybody.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Jeremy was awarded statutory compensation from California just under a
million dollars, and as of February twenty twenty two, he's
been pursuing civil litigation.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I'm playing a small role again, Simpson Thatcher. The law
firm is working on it and Jeremy has just inspired
everyone in that firm to get behind him, and we're
very hopeful that will be successful. But again Sacramento, they
continued to fight us, even though Jeremy was wrongfully convicted,
(27:46):
served nineteen years for a crime he didn't commit, and
has been found factionally innocent.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
In the meantime, life goes on and Jeremy has been
doing his best to adjust to life on the outside.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I have a job, I've officially bought me a house
seven months ago. I had my grandkids. Building my relationship
with my kids who were just My kids were two
and one when I initially got locked up and I
came out, they were grown. So trying to rebuild that
relationship has been ongoing. It's a little bumpy sometimes, but
you know where the loved you can see the love
is there or really see in a relationship now. So
(28:20):
that's going good. So life's been pretty good so far,
and I'm just looking forward to continue to grow every
day and make life even better.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Jeremy's freedom would not have been possible without the dedication
of Karen's new new tower and the other great folks
at the Northern California Innocence Project, which we will link
in the episode of description. Please support them and follow
their work, as there are countless people like Jeremy who
still need their help. And with that, I want to
turn into closing arguments, where, of course, you know, I
(28:48):
get the privilege of thanking each of you first of all,
Karen and Jeremy, and then turning off my microphone, kicking
back in my chair with my eyes closed and my
headphones on, and just listening to anything else you want
to share with me and with our fantastic audience. So Karen,
it's traditional you go first and then just sort of
(29:09):
hand the mic off to Jeremy and he'll take us
off into the sunset.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Well, I feel very honored to have been on the
journey to justice with Jeremy Puckett. I've gained a friend
and learned a lot through his ordeal, and he's let
me enter his life, He's shared his most intimate details,
and I believe we've built a friendship out of this
(29:35):
crazy situation. How the two of us came together is
the stuff stories are made of. But it's been my
honor to work with Jeremy, and I look forward to
wrapping up the civil suit and still maintaining that friendship.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
And I just want to thank you for having me
here and being able to tell my story. And I
also want to just think people like like Karen, the
whole NCIP organization and the whole project organization in itself,
as well as Buzz and everybody from the team, from
the Cents and Thatsher, from Don, everybody who helped me
with my case. And then I think most importantly I
(30:13):
think I would like to say is that if there
is somebody listening to this who is innocent, locked up,
to keep fighting, to keep going. I don't care who
says what If you know you're innocent, keep going because
your day will come. I don't know when. I can't
tell you how, but your day will come. The truth
always fulvails.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Thank you for listening to Ron for conviction you can
listen to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts
one week early by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus
on Apple Podcasts. I want to thank our production team
Connor Hall and Kathleen Fink, as well as my fellow
executive producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wartis, and Jeff Clyburn. The
music in this production was three time OSCAR nominated composer
(31:02):
Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us across all social
media platforms at Lava for Good and at Wrongful Conviction.
You can also follow me on Instagram at It's Jason Flamm.
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts
and association with Signal Company Number one
On March fourteenth, nineteen ninety eight, the body of nineteen
year old Anthony Golotti was found alongside a desolate stretch
of road outside of Sacramento, California. The case remained cold
for over a year until a young man named Israel
Sept went to prison on a gun charge and offered
authorities information about the murder. According to Sept, he was
(00:25):
at an apartment when two others, Angela Devorski and Jeremy Pucket, assaulted, robbed,
and abducted Anthony Golotti. Then, according to Sept, he got
into Anthony's car with them to keep him safe from
further violence, but failed when they arrived at that stretch
of road where Golotti was fatally shot. In the weeks
following the murder, Angelo Devorski also turned up dead, leaving
(00:47):
only Jeremy Pucket to stay. A trial where Sept made
good on his plea deal and sent Jeremy away for life.
But this is wrongful conviction. Wrongful conviction has always given
voice to innocent people in prison. Now we're expanding that
(01:09):
voice to you. Call us at eight three three, two
oh seven, four six sixty six and leave us a message.
Tell us how these powerful, often tragic stories make you
feel outraged, inspired, motivated. We want to know. We may
even include your story in a future episode. Call us
A three three two oh seven, four six sixty six.
(01:40):
Welcome back to Rafel Conviction. Today, we have a story
out of Northern California in the years following legislation that
had been passed to stop ironically prosecutions just like this
one that use snitch testimony that is not corroborated by
independent evidence. Nevertheless, a path was made with the help
of other incentivized witnesses, to let that happened. And here
(02:01):
to help tell this story as an attorney with the
Northern California Inisons Project, Karen Sanu, New Tower, Karen, Welcome
to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Thank you, and our.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Guest of honor today, the man who lived and somehow
survived this night, mayre Jeremy Pucket. Jeremy welcome, thank you.
And this crime took place in a place called Rancho
Cordova kind of outside of Sacramento anyway. Is that where
you grew up and what was your family life like?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, I grew up in Sacramento, California, pretty much all
over the place, mainly ranch Cordova's self, and we moved
around a lot, you know, and didn't have the most
money or anything. But you know, my parents they did
the best they could and gave me, my brother and
my sister the best life that we could have. So
I had a great childhood. It was good. It was
(02:47):
really good.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
In the late eighties and early nineties, the crack epidemic
affected many of Jeremy's friends, but not him. Instead, Jeremy
became a father who's clear head served him well. One night,
when his young family faced a situation.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
The house call on fire while me and my son's mother,
Carl were sleeping, and as I woke up, I opened
up the door and there was just smoke coming up
the stairs. So I went across the hall grabbed my son,
and because of all the smoke and everything's coming from downstairs,
I knew we had to jump out the window. When
we jumped out the window, at that time, I knew
(03:23):
that her sister would sleep downstairs, and so I kicked
in the door to get her out. However, when her
sister was coming out the door, that's when she told
me that one of my good friends was sleeping. My
son's Auntie's room basically, and by that time the house
was up in flames and there's nothing we can do
to save them.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Oh man, what was his name?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Benny Campbell? And I think the worst part of it
was is I heard her scream as he was trying
to get out, and like, this is like not just
a friend, Like he was like one of my best friends.
So just to not be able to save him, you know,
And it still affects me, I guess you could say,
and it's just and still miss him to this day.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Jeremy displayed true heroism that night, but unbeknownst to him,
his friend Israel Scept harbored some resentments over Benny's death.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I believe I met him through Benny. I thought we
had a good relationship. I thought we were good friends.
You know, he came to my house, I would go
to his house. But yeah, I guess we were as
good as friends as I thought thought we were.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Israel Scept became integral to Jeremy's wrongful conviction for a
murder that in part began at the apartment of a
young man named William van Hill.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
This was a small, one bedroom apartment in the heart
of Rancho Cordova, and William van Hill would let people
come to the house and deal drugs and he would
get some drugs through that, and he also was letting
a guy named Larry Biddlebrooks crash there every once in
(04:52):
a while, and so on the particular night in March
nineteen ninety eight, Larry middle brook Brooks was there. Van
Hill was pretty much in his bedroom. A woman named
Patty Scott Bostik was there. She and Larry Middlebrooks were
heavily using crack cocaine that night and drinking a lot.
(05:14):
And then Israel Sep was there.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Jeremy planned to hang out with Israel step that night
after a family gathering.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Had a little get together. It was no part or nothing,
and we had a little barbecue. It was me, my
sister's friend, Chante, my son's mother, Akara, my mom was there,
my dad was there. There was a few people there
that could all testify to my whereabouts this night. Prior
to my leaving and coming back, I remember talking to Israel.
He told me what was going to be at. I
showed up and as I seen how things were progressing
(05:44):
at the apartment where he was at, I pulled myself
out of that and went back home.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
The victim of the murder, Anthony Glotti, showed up wanting
to buy some drugs to celebrate his nineteenth birthday. He
was by himself.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
The Goliath didn't looked like the usual crack I guess
she would say, so he showed up. I was like,
this guy looks like he might be the police. And
I told Scept this, and Set was still intent on
selling this guy drugs. And that's when I decided to
pull myself out of that situation and leave because I
was not gonna be involved in something that got myself
(06:17):
in trouble.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
With and Galotti was a young, young god yeah guy
that everyone called the preppy because he didn't look like
anyone else in the apartment.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
It's not to judge anybody, but just look out of place.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
But he saw this young attractive woman, Angela Devorski, and
he left the apartment, but then told his friends he
wanted to go back and meet up with the girl.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
I didn't know Andrew Devorski. The only people, I guess
you really knew it was Israel and Larry. That's about it.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
According to all accounts, Angela Davorski was there with her
boyfriend James Reeves, also referred to as Jamo, but the
accounts diverge on what happened between the time Jeremy left
the apartment that night and when Anthony glotti body was
found on March fourteenth, nineteen ninety eight, on White Rock Road.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Just a driver going down the road spotted him and
called it in to police. He was at the side
of the road in an unincorporated area of Sacramento County.
It appeared that he had been shot out there. His
hands were tied behind his back. Really an assassination type murder.
Originally they thought he had one bullet wound to the head,
(07:27):
but after autopsy, they realized he had been shot twice
in the head.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
The medical examiner later testified that the time of death
was likely between five and seven am on Saturday, March fourteenth.
Two days later, anth Think Alotti's Pontiac fireberg was found
set ablaze in a parking lot, and then, as police
continued to question non associates, Angela Devoorski's body washed up
in the American River on May first of ninety eight.
She had been stabbed twelve times. Her case remains cold
(07:55):
to this day, but Galotti's investigation was reinvigorated when Israel's
SEPT was victed an unlawful discharge of a firearm in
October of ninety nine.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
As soon as you are taken to prison, your DNA
is taken. In California, Israel believed that his DNA was
going to implicate him in the murder of Anthony Gollotti,
so he contacted the Sheriff's office to tell a story
that would take the focus away from him and onto
(08:27):
someone else. He then was interviewed by the Sacramento Sheriff's
office three or four times, and each story was inconsistent.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Jeremy's jury never heard about Sept's motivation. Nevertheless, it appears
that SEPT bounced inconsistent stories off the Sacramento Sheriff's department
until they landed on a narrative which Anthony Gollotti came
to William Van Hill's apartment to buy some drugs, and
Scept alleged that Jeremy Pistol whipped and tied up Anthony
with the help of Angela Devorski. Scept said that he
(08:57):
followed them out to Anthony's car, where he allegedly told
Anthony that he would come along and keep him safe.
Then Jeremy allegedly drove them all out to White Rock Road,
took Anthony out of the car, shot him, and drove off,
dropping sept at a motel. Shortly after this account, Jeremy
was brought in for questioning.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
They were just asking me questions about a murder that happened,
Like I have to know something about this, because you know,
I'm from the neighborhood or whatever, and I don't have
no idea what they're talking about. I believe they mentioned Israel,
and that's when I started trying like peaceful things agein.
I was like, oh, this is what's going on, But
I still had no idea of what happened after I
had left the apartment where he was at this night.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Curiously, only Scept was charged in June of two thousand
and taken to trial in March two thousand and.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
One, because all they have is this so called confession
by Israel, and so they have to try them separately
because Israel will have the opportunity to take the Fifth
Amendment and then there'd be no case. And they can't
just use this statement because Jeremy wouldn't have had a
(10:07):
chance to cross exam Israel, so they had to try
them separately, and so they started with Israel and then
of course he folded after opening statement. But he cut
a deal. I mean, he went from life without the
possibility of parole to what eleven years eight months. But
(10:27):
when he was actually sentenced, he even got a better deal.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Shortly after steps leaning a plea deal for robbery and
accessory to murder, they arrested Jeremy.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
All our members being at work and I was called
to the office and I had a feeling that something
might goals, like something just wasn't right. I walked into
the office. That's when I was basically surrounded by officers
placed in handcuffs, placed in the car, and I was like,
you gotta have the wrong person, because I ain't hurt nobody.
I didn't kill nobody, Like I don't know what you
guys are talking about, Like you got to have the
(10:58):
wrong person, And they're like, no, got you with this
and now whatever. I'm trying to convince them, you know,
but they didn't want to hear nothing. I had to say.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen to this
and all the Lava for Good podcasts one week early
and ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good plus
on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I pretty much preached together that something was being pinned
on me from Israel. I believe. During the initial interview
with my investigator, he was still sticking to his story
that it was all me, And then during the second
one that's when he recanted his story.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Prior to trial, Israel set recanted in an interview with
Jeremy's private investigator and gave some version of the truth,
saying something about Middlebrooks having set up Anthony Allotti for
a robbery and quote, Jeremy not involved. Jeremy knew nothing
about robbing anyone. That's the God's truth end quote. Wow.
(12:08):
Sept never said who was responsible, though, but with this
recantation in the bag, it appears that Jeremy's attorney didn't
feel the need to develop an alibi defense or look
into any of the state's evidence, including Israel SEP's motel
receipt that was alleged to a line with the morning
of March fourteenth.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
The motel receipt shows that Sepp registered at this motel
at four to twenty am and there was a number
on the receipt six seven one eight. The receipt was messy,
but if you look at the next receipt six seven
nine with a totally independent party registering at six ten am,
you realize it was on the morning of the thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
And there was one part to as well.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Yeah, and the one prior to it. That's correct. So
there's no doubt that this hotel entry was on the thirteenth.
But however, the Sacramento DA just said it's on the fourteenth.
She talked about it as though he registered the mourning
of the fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
This could mean one of a few things. Perhaps the
medical examiner was mistaken about the time of death between
five and seven am on the fourteenth, or perhaps the
state glossed over the discrepancy in order to align the
findings of the autopsy with the morning after Jeremy had
actually made an appearance at Van Hill's apartment March twelfth
and to the thirteenth. This could have been uncovered by
(13:26):
Jeremy's attorney had he just bothered to look into his alibi.
In addition, it's important to note that, according to nineteen
ninety one California legislation, jail house inform and testimony has
to be corroborated by independent evidence. Perhaps the prosecutor, Marjorie Kohler,
used this motel receipt from the thirteenth to check that
box for a crime that occurred on the fourteenth.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
None of the witnesses or anybody testified to the thirteenth.
They were told from the prosecution of what day this happened.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Jeremy's right. The prosecution would just say, let me draw
your attention to the night of the thirteenth or the
morning of the fourteenth, So witnesses just went along with that.
No one said, oh, wait a minute, this happened on
a Thursday night.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And this wasn't the only dirty trick. In her opening statement,
Kohler raised the specter of the fire that killed Benny
Campbell as well as the murderer of Angela divorce key.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
They tried to implicate Jeremy in that murder.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
She already knew she had a week case, so she's
trying to throw everything in to make me look bad
from the get go.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Anyway, Jeremy's attorney asked the judge to Clara misstrial, and
when the judge asked Kohler if she had the evidence
to corroborate her implications. She said that there was evidence
linking Jeremy, but just not enough to charge him.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
But that wasn't true, and she was admonished by the
judge that this wasn't proper.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
She was actually told to tell the jerry that I
had nothing to do with that, and she said no, yeah,
so the judge hself had to do it.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
The judge instructed the jury that the prosecutor could not
corroborate her implications, and then the trial proceeded.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
The state presents middle Brooks. Middlebrooks said he was in
the bathroom doing cocaine with Patty Scott Bostick and that
he didn't think that Jeremy was there, and Patty Scott
Bostick always said that she never looked out the door.
And then she got on the stand and then she
said she heard Jeremy yelling. She had never testified to
(15:23):
that before, but we found out later that she wanted
to testify favorably because she was on probation at the
time she testified, and the jury was never told this again.
The jury has to hear if a witness has a
motive to make an entirely new statement that had never
been made before, so that's what Patty said. And then
(15:46):
van Hill said he saw Anthony Glotti being removed by
two black men and based on their height difference, he
thought it might be Israel and Jeremy. Again, that was
a new statement made it.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
In his earlier statements, van Hill said that the two
black men were about the same height. Then at trial,
he said that his memory had improved since his first
interview just after the crime. In addition, he described Israel
Scept as being five to four, much shorter than his
actual height five to ten, which notably is not much
shorter than Jeremy at six foot one.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
His stores all over the place.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We learned during our investigation, unfortunately, that mister van Hill
had many psychological problems, but of course the jury never
heard that.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
But of course none of the supporting testimony mattered as
much as Israel Scept. And we don't know what happened
between his recantation and trial, but perhaps the prosecutor reminded
him about the deal they had made.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Either testify against me and say it was all me,
or there's going to take his deal back, and he
was face to life without the possibility to role. He
just went back to the script he was given when
he took the deal. What was crazy about that is
that prior to being into the courtroom, we were in
separate sales, like basically across from each other. And now
I ask them personally, like what are you doing? Like
(17:07):
why you doing this to me? I still remember him
saying like, I know, I'm sorry, And when I get
back in there, I'm gonna go in there and tell
them the truth that you have nothing to do with it. Right.
But well, soon we get back into the courtroom, it
was like everything that was just said he completely forgot,
and he's got the back to pointing the finger right
back at me.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Jeremy's attorney was able to cross Examinecept with not only
inconsistencies with his prior statements, but also his recantation.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
A course Scept denied it. And that's why I was
shot that my trial attorney didn't call their investigator to
rebut his role.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Wait wait wait, wait, so he didn't even bother to
call the investigator to present the recantation.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
It's unbelievable. It's absolutely I tell people this story that
the attorney had a recantation he didn't put on it,
and they can't believe it, let alone the data. The
murder is even wrong. It's just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
The jury had not heard the motivations of those testifying,
as well as the full recantation by this state star witness,
so they predictably returned a guilty verdict for first degree
murder robbery, but curiously not guilty for unlawful use of
a firearmy.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
All I remember is hearing is I was guilty of
murder and everything else I didn't hear. I blacked out.
It wasn't until my mother came and visited me that
she's the one who told me that I was found
not guilty of the gun, and that kind of shot me.
So I thought once I heard guilty murder, I felt
I was guilty of everything. Everything just blacked out. I
heard nothing else, and I just especially see my life
(18:36):
just washed away like it was nothing. You walked into
the yard and all you see is these big brick
walls and you just realize like you're really imprisoned, like
(18:59):
they're going to rest your life here for something you
didn't do. It was heartbreaking. I couldn't sleep for the
first couple of nights because I couldn't even believe I
was in the situation. I was even in It's a
doggie doll world in there. You know, it's a battle
of the fitness. It's a survival instinct that you must
have in prison to make it through. I've seen people
come in prison and not make it at all, and
I've seen people comit suicide before. I've seen people get
(19:21):
killed in prison. I've seen all type of things happen.
I've seen people overdose. I've seen basically just about everything
in there. And thank God that I was able to
put my faith in God and keep fighting. And I
guess it is always frustrating to know that you're doing
everything you can, but knowing it is not enough.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
After his initial appeal, Jeremy fought his case pro sae,
meaning on his own without an attorney, from inside of
his prison cell.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And of course it was so hard for Jeremy because
he doesn't have anyone to find that the evidence has
been suppressed. He's banging up against a brick wall because
he can't get into the DA file, into his own file,
into the file of Angela divorce. KI out on the
street to interview people.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I was almost ready to give up because I was
tired of getting all the denials on my own and
to thank god, I had my sister and my mom,
my cousins and everybody, a strong core in my family
that still believed in me no matter what. And I
look back on it and I think it was my daughter,
and my daughter saved my life. I'll never forget that
day she came to saw me and I think my
sister's gonna get something to eat for us, and my
(20:26):
son and my niece. They went to a player and
I was telling my daughter, like, oh, I want you
go play with your brother and your cousin, and she's like, no,
I want to stay here with you. And I remember
her looking at me and she was like, when you wait.
Excuse me, She said, when you come home, when you're
gonna come home, because I want you home. And that's
what I knew right there. I had to keep fighting,
(20:48):
not for myself, for my kids. I couldn't give up.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
After about fourteen long years of denials and appellate Cord
Karen and the Northern California Indists Project took on Jeremy's
case and were able to un what Jeremy never could
have from the inside.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Sepp told the detectives that a man with the nickname
Jamo brought Angela Devorski to the apartment, and that was
a very important sentence that he said that. I don't
think Jeremy's trial attorney appreciated the importance of it at
the time. Because the Sheriff's detectives had suppressed the evidence
(21:27):
related to Angela Devorski.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Much of the discovery that should have come to Jeremy's
defense attorney remained hidden in the Angela Davorski murder file.
I'm talking about seven hundred pages worth.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Pages and pages of evidence, witness after witness saying Jamo
had control over Angela Devorski, and Angela's diary talked about
the control that Jamo had over her and that Jamo
and Angela Devorski did set up robberies. They would use
her as a lure for young men who wanted to
(22:04):
spend some time with her, to put it nicely, and
instead they would rob the young man. In the suppressed evidence,
we learned that there were two witnesses that actually saw
the set up robberies going on. And once you know
that and know that Jamo is controlling her, then the
(22:25):
story starts to make sense. The story Step told didn't
make any sense. But this is a robbery gone bad
and they've set up Anthony Golotti. We learned that Jamo
went to an apartment where a gun was later found,
and we believe that is the gun used to pistol
whip Anthony Golotti. And the investigating detective had said that
(22:49):
this gun was connected to the Glotti murder, and yet
that information was never turned over to Jeremy's attorney.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
So they hid not only the motives of all of
the trial witnesses who testified falsely, but now it was
also discovered that they'd hidden a way more compelling suspect,
James Reeves or Jamo, Who's estranged wife, Connie Goins, gave
a statement sworn statement in twenty fifteen in which she
(23:20):
said that Jamo had always said that Jeremy had nothing
to do with Anthony Glotti's robbery and murder, and he
knew that because he was there at the time of
the crime. Moreover, this is supported by the fact that
Angela Dvorski's diary contained the names of one hundred and
twenty one men, and get this, not one of them
(23:41):
is Jeremy there's.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
No evidence that they knew one another, and during the
investigation of the Divorski murder, many witnesses were shown Jeremy's
picture friends of hers. No one could identify Jeremy. They
ran in completely separate and disc circles.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
The choice to pursue Jeremy over Jamo made me wonder
if perhaps investigators were protecting Jamo. Maybe he was cooperating
in other cases, but that doesn't seem to fit here.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
The sheriff never interviewed Jamo. This is investigation one oh one.
You interview everyone who was there that night. They never
interviewed him. My theory is that the police were negligent.
I think Sepp was protecting Jamo. That's my theory of
the case. What do you think, Jeremy.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
I think they were so solely focused on me that
they didn't care about anybody else.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
That was an easy prosecution. We don't have to do
any more work. If you accuse Jeremy, how can he
defend himself other than just say I had nothing to
do with it. By the time he's interviewed, he can
hardly remember that night. You know, it's a year and
a half later.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
The Northern California, and this is projects along with attorneys
from Simpson, Thatcher and Bartlett filed a state which they
had to fight all the way up to the state
Supreme Court to finally get a hearing where they presented
there's absolute mountain of Brady material, the recantation evidence, the
statement from Connie Goins as well as an expert to
point out the discrepancy between dates in the state's narrative
(25:15):
and the time of death.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Doctor Melanik was incredible. There was no question by the
time she was done testifying that they had the date
of the murder wrong, and they actually conceded that finally,
finally correct. At the very end of the hearing, they
conceded that the gun evidence came in that they had suppressed.
Jamo had made this statement by the time of the
(25:38):
hearing to one of our investigators, and so he said, no,
Jeremy had nothing to do with the murder. I was there.
So everything went right in the hearing. I think we
were feeling positive.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
I mean I felt good, but of course, you just
never know where it's going to go. And then the
day that I found out was one of the most
happiest and craziest days ever, I finally got my case overturned.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
It was pretty emotional, and of course it was the
day that California is shut down like.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
A few days.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
So the good news is you're gonna get out. The
good news is it's a shutdown.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, Friday thirteenth. At that well, it was crazy. Everybody
else is losing their minds and I'm like, oh, y'all
think you this is nothing.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
When we're all home crying in our soup that we
can't go out. Jeremy gets a driver's license, a passport,
a job, a car, housing, He lived life and it
was just amazing. And you know, we needed to get
his record cleared and all that and everything now was
(26:50):
slowed down because of COVID the hearing for factual innocence
that didn't come till the following January.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
It's kind of shocking when we had the factual innocence
because she told me it's going to be like two
or three days and he's only there for like fifteen
twenty minutes. And when he finally said what he said,
I had to turn through us. I didn't know what happened.
I was like, what just happened? And she's like, you
won you're actually insignt now and it was just a
shock for everybody.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Jeremy was awarded statutory compensation from California just under a
million dollars, and as of February twenty twenty two, he's
been pursuing civil litigation.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I'm playing a small role again, Simpson Thatcher. The law
firm is working on it and Jeremy has just inspired
everyone in that firm to get behind him, and we're
very hopeful that will be successful. But again Sacramento, they
continued to fight us, even though Jeremy was wrongfully convicted,
(27:46):
served nineteen years for a crime he didn't commit, and
has been found factionally innocent.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
In the meantime, life goes on and Jeremy has been
doing his best to adjust to life on the outside.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I have a job, I've officially bought me a house
seven months ago. I had my grandkids. Building my relationship
with my kids who were just My kids were two
and one when I initially got locked up and I
came out, they were grown. So trying to rebuild that
relationship has been ongoing. It's a little bumpy sometimes, but
you know where the loved you can see the love
is there or really see in a relationship now. So
(28:20):
that's going good. So life's been pretty good so far,
and I'm just looking forward to continue to grow every
day and make life even better.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Jeremy's freedom would not have been possible without the dedication
of Karen's new new tower and the other great folks
at the Northern California Innocence Project, which we will link
in the episode of description. Please support them and follow
their work, as there are countless people like Jeremy who
still need their help. And with that, I want to
turn into closing arguments, where, of course, you know, I
(28:48):
get the privilege of thanking each of you first of all,
Karen and Jeremy, and then turning off my microphone, kicking
back in my chair with my eyes closed and my
headphones on, and just listening to anything else you want
to share with me and with our fantastic audience. So Karen,
it's traditional you go first and then just sort of
(29:09):
hand the mic off to Jeremy and he'll take us
off into the sunset.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Well, I feel very honored to have been on the
journey to justice with Jeremy Puckett. I've gained a friend
and learned a lot through his ordeal, and he's let
me enter his life, He's shared his most intimate details,
and I believe we've built a friendship out of this
(29:35):
crazy situation. How the two of us came together is
the stuff stories are made of. But it's been my
honor to work with Jeremy, and I look forward to
wrapping up the civil suit and still maintaining that friendship.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
And I just want to thank you for having me
here and being able to tell my story. And I
also want to just think people like like Karen, the
whole NCIP organization and the whole project organization in itself,
as well as Buzz and everybody from the team, from
the Cents and Thatsher, from Don, everybody who helped me
with my case. And then I think most importantly I
(30:13):
think I would like to say is that if there
is somebody listening to this who is innocent, locked up,
to keep fighting, to keep going. I don't care who
says what If you know you're innocent, keep going because
your day will come. I don't know when. I can't
tell you how, but your day will come. The truth
always fulvails.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Thank you for listening to Ron for conviction you can
listen to this and all the Lava for Good podcasts
one week early by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus
on Apple Podcasts. I want to thank our production team
Connor Hall and Kathleen Fink, as well as my fellow
executive producers Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wartis, and Jeff Clyburn. The
music in this production was three time OSCAR nominated composer
(31:02):
Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us across all social
media platforms at Lava for Good and at Wrongful Conviction.
You can also follow me on Instagram at It's Jason Flamm.
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts
and association with Signal Company Number one
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.