Speaking of Crime

Like any typical 20-year-old, Darrell Siggers had gone to a party. Unfortunately, but not unusual, a fight happened to break out and everyone left the party. As Darrell was walking home, he saw police vehicles and flashing lights.

This is just the first in a limited series of podcasts about the wrongful imprisonment of Darrell Siggers.

Music in this episode provided by Artlist:
This Will Be The End - Shahead-Mostafafar
Sad Acceptan...

Andre and Tameka set out to hire a private investigator to uncover anything and everything they could. 

This new information provided by Jamael, coupled with Andre’s access to the law library and learning the law, made him realize there may be a way out. 

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Who was this “old-timer”, as Andre calls him? Why did he approach Andre? What did he want? And where did he want Andre to go with him? 

These were the questions going through Andre’s mind.

Music in this episode provided by Artlist:
Onyx Music - Flowing Water
Javapsych - Chilean Seabass
Greg McKay - Wr...

Andre had been shot in 1998, a year prior to this crime being committed, but his recovery was extensive – Andre almost lost his life when he got shot. A year later he was still unable to walk properly, let alone run. 

Yet, he was still identified in a line up as the assailant.

Music in this episode provided by Artli...

How many times have you heard the phrase, “you look so much like someone I know”? 

I hear it all the time, but I rarely think about that statement much after it’s said. Sometimes I wonder if I saw the person they are referring to, would I also think they look like me, or not at all. And that is usually the extent of the energy or thought I give to it. 

For Andre Brown, a 21-year old college st...

Every year, on Pravin’s death anniversary, his family holds an annual memorial in Carbondale, at the exact location where Pravin took his last breath. 

It’s not an easy spot to get to, especially in the winter time with the tough terrain, but Lovely and her family make the 6-hour drive every February to gather in Pravin’s memory and say a prayer for him.

By the time Judge Mark Clarke overturned the jury’s guilty verdict and let Gaege walk free, it had already been four and a half years since Pravin’s passing – and yet, Pravin’s family was back at square one having to try this case all over again. And there was still no justice.

Music in this episode provided by Artlist:
Suraj Nepal - Mithila Vibes Unbearable Heavies Idolizing ...

Lovely was quoted as saying, “ I wanted the world to know that my son was not a drug-dealer, he was not drunk. He died because he was hit. I did not want Gaege to be put behind bars for his life. But yes, I wanted him to know that there are consequences to your actions and I want the law to hold him accountable.”

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After firing Wepsiec, Gaege needed to hire a new attorney. This is where Steve Greenberg came into the picture – Grenberg is the same lawyer who represented R. Kelly when he was facing criminal charges.

Music in this episode provided by Artlist:
Sémø - Fractured Timeline
Noam Zaguri - In a Heartbeat
Yehezkel Raz - When the Sunrise - (Instrumental Version)
Yotam A...

Pravin’s family stayed with Robinson when court was adjourned, from 4:00 pm onwards, waiting for the jury to reach a verdict. They were in the very same office where they had initially met David Robinson for the first time. 

Then, at almost 11:00 pm, a police guard came in and told Robinson that it was time to head back to court. The jury deliberated for seven hours, and had finally reached a verdict. 

Pravin’s family only learned of Gaege in the first place, because of Monica. The police never even shared Gaege’s name with Lovely while Pravin was missing, or during the investigation.

And now, more than three years later, Lovely finally got the opportunity to witness Gaege being held accountable for his crimes.

...

The trial started – but so did the games the defense was playing. From trying to request a motion for mistrial on a regular basis, to demanding that photos of Pravin not be allowed in the courtroom, it was clear the defense was not interested in a fair and just trial. 

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The day finally came that Lovely and Monica had been working towards for years. David Robinson called and said Gaege was being charged with Pravin’s murder.

Music in this episode provided by Artlist:
Yotam Haimovitch - Whole Moon
Suraj Nepal - Try Again
Suraj Nepal - Cant Be Touched (1)

Episode writt...

After struggling for multiple years, Lovely and Monica were finally able to trust someone in the legal system – someone with authority who could not only clear Pravin’s name of all the lies that were being fabricated about him, but also get justice for Pravin’s murder.

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Monica’s local connections and her voice on her radio show coupled with Lovely’s tenacity and community support was a recipe for success. The two of them were on a mission to get justice, and nothing was going to stop them.

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...

Armed with all the evidence and knowledge that Lovely and Monica had gathered, they set out to prove what they knew to be true, and to get justice for Pravin’s murder. 

Without the help of the Carbondale Police, or the State’s Attorney, or anyone else who had the power to investigate and press charges in this case – Lovely...

With so many pieces of evidence pointing to the exact things their instincts were telling them, Pravin’s family and Monica knew there was so much more to the story than they were being told. And if they wanted to get to the truth, they’d have to find it for themselves. 

That’s exactly What they set out to do.

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We know the audio from Jonathan’s interview was difficult to hear last week because of the poor audio quality, so we are sharing the police interview transcript on our Facebook page for anyone who wants to read it in its entirety.

in this weeks episode  we hear Gaeges second Police interview and he changed many details from what he had originally said, even admi...