Crimes of the Times

Crimes of the Times

L.A. Times reporter Christopher Goffard of “Dirty John” is back with another riveting podcast from L.A. Times Studios. In “Crimes of the Times,” Goffard goes deep behind the scenes of a new story each week, cutting through common myths and misconceptions to uncover what really happened in the most compelling cases from L.A. and beyond.

Episodes

September 23, 2025 26 mins

When Lee Baca took over the LA County Sheriff’s Department in 1998, he inherited a scandal-plagued agency. He built a reputation as a progressive reformer, and his jail-education programs were celebrated. But the feds notice that investigations into his agency always seem to evaporate when he gets involved. By 2011, he is 70 years old and has run the department for 13 years. Furious about the FBI’s probe into his jails, Baca has Le...

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After an inmate sucker-punches James Sexton, he defies the jail’s unwritten rules by failing to exact violent retribution, and finds himself ostracized by his peers. But he becomes an expert in the antiquated jail computer system and eventually wins promotion to an elite jail-intelligence unit. Leah Marx has a cell phone smuggled to inmate-informant Anthony Brown, part of the FBI’s increasingly ambitious scheme to catch dirty jaile...

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September 9, 2025 30 mins

A young FBI agent named Leah Marx arrives in Los Angeles and receives a tip in 2010 about brutal conditions at Men’s Central Jail downtown. Such complaints have gone nowhere for years, since they pit the allegations of inmates against the word of jail deputies. But she finds informants, including a wily bank robber, Anthony Brown, who is facing life in prison and is willing to help. She reflects on a family tragedy that informs her...

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Pandora’s Box: The Fall of L.A.’s Sheriff is a six-part podcast exploring the crisis that toppled one of the country’s most prominent lawmen, Lee Baca. Rising from humble beginnings, he presented himself as a reformer when he took over the scandal-plagued agency in 1998. He vowed that he would be sheriff as long as he lived, and voters seemed to approve. But inside the massive jail system he ran, claims of inmate abuse kept surfaci...

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In this special feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow to discuss the aftermath of the case.

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In this featured episode, The fates of Frank Carson and his co-defendants are decided, and jurors explain their reasoning. An interview with the state’s star witness, now out of lockup, raises troubling questions about the state’s handling of the case.

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In this special feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to examine the evidence against Carson and his co-defendants as the longest California criminal trial in decades staggers to its conclusion.

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In this specially featured episode, defense attorneys offer alternate theories to explain Korey Kauffman’s death, and the trial becomes an endurance test. As Frank Carson’s health deteriorates, he wonders whether he will live to see a verdict. 

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In this specially featured bonus episode,  our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss the implications of Frank Carson's trial on the criminal-justice system.

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In this special-feature episode, Frank Carson hits rock bottom, and offers his co-defendants a way out. During the marathon preliminary hearing, the prosecution belatedly reveals a cache of undisclosed evidence — with major consequences.
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In this special-feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss how detectives zeroed in on Frank Carson’s wife and stepdaughter. 

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In this specially featured episode,  a series of wiretaps lead to criminal charges against Frank Carson’s wife and stepdaughter, an art student.

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 In this special-feature bonus episode, our editor Steve Clow and our host Christopher Goffard discuss how three California Highway Patrol officers fell into the District Attorney’s crosshairs.

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In this special-feature episode, Frank Carson and his co-defendants are accused of a complicated murder conspiracy after a three-year investigation. Among the accused: three cops.

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In this special-release bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard talks with false-confession expert Richard Leo, who questions the credibility of the government’s star witness.  

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In this special featured episode, the discovery of Korey Kauffman’s remains gives the investigation new impetus, and a man named Robert Woody offers a methamphetamine-fueled “confession.” But his story changes again and again. 

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In this special-released bonus episode,  our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to talk about how authorities linked the disappearance of Korey Kauffman to Frank Carson.

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 In this special-release bonus episode,  our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss the origins of The Trials of Frank Carson.

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In this special-release episode, investigators  confront a defiant Frank Carson about the disappearance of a scrap-metal thief with a reputation for making enemies. 

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In Season 2 of Crimes of the Times, host Christopher Goffard revisits one of the longest and most bizarre murder trials in U.S. history.

This special podcast rerelease will include fresh insights, bonus content and a new episode with the latest news on this fascinating case. The story follows the rise and subsequent downfall of one of Stanislaus County’s most controversial defense attorneys, Frank Carson.  

In this episode, meet Fran...

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