ALDERS AUDRA BELLOWS BODIE BOTH BRIAN CELESTE CHAD CLARENCE_MAYER DETECTIVE_1 DYLAN EASY GREEN GRETA HEATHER HELEN IRENE ISABEL JEFF JUDGE_BOXER JUDGE_MCGRATH LEVI MADELINE MARCO MAYFELD MICHAEL MURRAY_BRYCE PEOPLE_IN_COURT POLICE_OFFICER REPORTER REPORTERS TAMARA TEENS VIOLET WATERMAN YOUNG_MADELINE MADELINE Hilarious. JEFF You want another? MADELINE Yes. JEFF Yes! MADELINE Okay. JEFF Roxy, another round. MADELINE JEFF Hey, I ain't never seen you in here before, MADELINE No, but I love it. So hardcore. JEFF Yeah? MADELINE Oh, we should do a selfie. JEFF Yeah? MADELINE Yeah. Oh, wait. No, I want to see the scar. Oh, it's so hot. JEFF Yeah? MADELINE Yeah. JEFF Okay. Okay. MADELINE Okay. JEFF How's that? MADELINE That's perfect. JEFF What are you doing in here all by your lonesome, huh? You, uh, looking to meet your Prince Charming? MADELINE God no. No, I'm here to serve you a subpoena in the Tamara Folsom case. MADELINE Cut him off at the next block! Just go after him! MADELINE Ah! BODIE Where is he? MADELINE He's in that truck! Go! BODIE You're bleeding. MADELINE Yeah, I'm fine! Will you go? BODIE No, come on. We live to fight another day. Got to get you some stitches, maybe. Does it hurt? MADELINE Yes, it hurts! VIOLET The fight for justice is unending. Every day in America, someone is wrongfully accused, and far too many are convicted. This podcast tells their stories. On today's episode of Until Proven Innocent, we'll discuss the case of Tamara Folsom. Tamara was charged with the murder of a man she never met. The police were confused, conflating her boast of fighting back against an attacker as a confession of to the murder of a totally different person. It was a terrible mistake that got Tamara locked away for life. Tamara told the truth, but the police either didn't hear her or didn't believe her. People say the truth will set you free, so what happens when telling the truth is what ends up costing you your freedom? JEFF TAMARA TAMARA Yeah, that's him. That's him all right. I'll never forget his ugly ass face. He looks old now, though. So now what? Put him on the stand and he tells the judge I cut him? MADELINE Once we find him again, yes. TAMARA Wait, you lost him? MADELINE We're going to find him, and this photo is gonna get us another hearing. EASY To prep you we want to go over your story one more time, okay? CLARENCE MAYER I'll just need to go over your story again, okay? YOUNG MADELINE It's not my story. It's the truth. TAMARA I've been telling the same story for years. EASY Why did you tell the police you slashed a man that night? TAMARA I was proud of it. A creep tries to rape me in a parking lot, damn right I cut him. EASY Why were you carrying a knife? TAMARA Where I'm from you always carry a knife. When I was 12, my mom married a man that would rape me every chance he got. When I finally got old enough, I vowed never to let anyone do that to me again. After she divorced that son of a bitch, we never looked back. MADELINE Does she still visit you? TAMARA No, ma'am. She died a few years after they locked me up. I never even got to go to the funeral. MADELINE I'm so sorry. EASY And then after you cut Jeff Skadden, the police arrest you the next week for the murder of Tim Manning who was also slashed that night. TAMARA They kept asking me why I killed him. I said I didn't. This wasn't the guy I cut. I never even met the man. YOUNG MADELINE I didn't kill Rosemary! I swear! Why won't anyone believe me? TAMARA I was defending myself against someone else. EASY Why didn't your original lawyer ever look for the man you really slashed? TAMARA My public pretender. He didn't believe a word I said. Worst piece of crap lawyer ever. MADELINE Tamara, we hear you. We believe you, and we're gonna do everything we can to get you the hell out of here. MADELINE The number of wrongful convictions in Cook County is skyrocketing, and lazy, sloppy, corrupt prosecutions are the reason. There's only man to blame for that. Gore Bellows. ALDERS If you're just joining us, my guest today is Madeline Scott. You may remember her as the drunken, love-sick teen who, along with her brother Levi, allegedly murdered her best friend Rosemary Lynch. MADELINE A conviction that never would have happened except for the corrupt prosecution by Mr. Bellows. My brother and I spent ten years in prison for a murder we didn't commit, because Bellows ignored a medical examiner report that would have exonerated us. How many others are suffering in silence because of his incompetence? ALDERS It makes me wonder how the man thinks he's qualified to be Illinois' next Attorney General. MADELINE He's not. And I'll keep telling my story to make sure that never happens. ALDERS Thank you, Madeline. We'll be right back. VIOLET Nearly every defendant who can't afford their own attorney gets assigned a public defender. The same was true for Tamara Folsom. But like many public defenders, hers was overworked and underpaid. MURRAY BRYCE I strongly advised Ms. Folsom not to testify. She had already confessed to slicing the guy's neck. Admitting it in open court would only make matters worse. MADELINE Uh, but we've identified that guy as Jeff Skadden, not the actual murder victim Tim Manning. MURRAY BRYCE Same town, same night, two different neck slashes? No one bought her story. MADELINE Is that why you didn't look for Skadden? Because you didn't believe her? MURRAY BRYCE I did look, and I couldn't find him. MADELINE How hard did you look? MURRAY BRYCE I was balancing 73 cases that month. It's why I'm not a public defender any more. MADELINE The arrest report noted there was DNA evidence collected from the scene. Did you seek to ascertain the source of that DNA? MURRAY BRYCE Again, we didn't have the resources. MADELINE Did you do literally anything? GREEN Objection! PEOPLE IN COURT MADELINE Your Honor, Mr. Bryce's testimony is nothing more than an attempt to cover up an inadequate trial strategy that was manifestly unreasonable. Petitioner requests the court order a new trial on grounds Ms. Folsom's 6th amendment rights to a fair trial were grotesquely violated. JUDGE MCGRATH I'll take it under advisement, but I'm more interested in hearing from this Jeff Skadden. EASY Uh, Your Honor, we're tracking him down as we speak. While the court considers our motion, Petitioner requests we be allowed to test the potentially exculpatory DNA evidence from the scene. It's time someone from her defense finally looks at it. JUDGE MCGRATH I think it's a terrific idea. Okay, we're adjourned. TAMARA Do I get a new case? EASY It's very positive. TAMARA That's so good. MADELINE Yeah, we're in good shape. EASY Yeah. Buys us a few days for Bodie to find Skadden. MADELINE HEATHER Levi Scott never should've been released from prison in the first place. He murdered my best friend, and I swore at her funeral I'd never forget. Now he attacks my husband for no reason whatsoever. Once a killer always a killer. You can quote me on that. REPORTER Thank you. BRIAN That was awesome, babe. Okay. Hey, I'll see you soon. HEATHER Here, take this. MADELINE That's interesting, who someone who's dead and can't speak up for herself is suddenly your best friend. HEATHER We were friends. MADELINE Oh, yeah, like Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. You know, I bet that going after my brother again is the biggest thrill you've had since the first trial. HEATHER And it'll be an even greater thrill watching that loser get locked up again. MADELINE You're such a bitch. HEATHER Takes one to know one. Nice shoes, by the way. Did you get them at a garage sale. MADELINE Yeah, well, your shoes look cheap, too. HEATHER Like you would know. MADELINE Yeah, I can agree to that. Where is Levi? We've agreed to anger management classes and community service, but he still needs to be here. JUDGE BOXER Ms. Scott, are we ready to proceed? MADELINE Your Honor, may I approach? Apologies, Your Honor. My client still isn't here. I think maybe that I wasn't clear that his presence was required. JUDGE BOXER You weren't clear? How about this for clarity? This court hereby issues a bench warrant for the arrest of Levi Scott. MADELINE I got to get back to work. GREEN This is Assistant States' Attorney Tracy Green, receiving biological evidence. Case number 0-3-9-4-3-8-5. State of Illinois v. Tamara Folsom. I'm now transferring custody of evidence to Petitioner Counsel. EASY Let the record reflect that I did not touch this box. The tape-seal on the evidence container has clearly been broken. GREEN A.S.A. Green confirms the broken seal. I am opening the box now. The evidence is missing... without explanation. MADELINE The evidence has been taken and, in all probability, destroyed in order to keep an innocent woman in prison. GREEN You have no evidence of that. MADELINE We have no evidence at all. IRENE Sophie's dad is picking you up after ballet tomorrow. AUDRA But his car smells funny. Why can't you pick us up? IRENE Because we car pool and that's the deal. Plus, I have to work. EASY What do you mean funny, Audra? Like strange funny? And who's Sophie's dad? IRENE Sophie and Audra are best friends, and they go to ballet together. Chuck is their dad. Chuck Reynolds. EASY Why don't I know Chuck Reynolds? And why does his car smell funny? IRENE Well, he's a mechanic, so it probably just smells greasy. MICHAEL Can I be excused? IRENE Listen, no video games until after your homework is finished tonight. EASY You know, it's like he's not even here. IRENE Oh! Like father like son. EASY Hey. I'm here. IRENE Hmm. Not like you used to be. EASY Let's meet the Reynolds family. IRENE Well, it's just Chuck and Sophie, uh. His wife passed away a few years ago, EASY Okay. Dinner later this week? IRENE EASY What? It doesn't hurt to have a friend who's a mechanic, baby, right? IRENE Save the charm for court, E. BODIE Aloha! JEFF Yeah. BODIE How may I help you? JEFF I got a voicemail from WRCW. It said I won a free trip to Hawaii. BODIE Lucky son of a gun. If WRCW called you, that means that you're one of our lucky Aloha Adventure winners. What's your name? JEFF Jeff Skadden. Two D's. BODIE Double D's. More of a C cup man myself. JEFF BODIE Here you go. Sure, we've been trying to track you down. Well, congratulations! You've been served. See you in court. JEFF Ain't gonna happen. BODIE Hold on, Jeff. I could care less what you do, but if you fail to appear, they're just gonna issue a warrant and you'll be running from bounty hunters for the next decade. And once they find out that you're an attempted rapist- well, let's just say they won't be serving you a delicious Mai Tai. My advice you just want to get this over with. What ever happened to being polite? BELLOWS Northwestern. I'm so proud of you. ISABEL I've gotten a number of offers from the private sector, but I just feel like this is where I belong. If there's a place here for me. BELLOWS Of course there is. But are you sure you want criminal law? It just. It takes a toll. ISABEL It does? You make it all seem so effortless. BELLOWS Just the violence in most of these cases, the pain of the victims, it can wear on you. And when I'm not trying to put criminals away, I'm being publically attacked for being corrupt, a liar, ineffective, when all I really want to do is just bring justice to victims. ISABEL Every time Susan Andrews attacks you on TV, my blood boils. You're my hero. You really are. BELLOWS You have no idea how much that means coming from you. It is an honor to welcome you to the States Attorney's office. And if you have some interest in politics, well, you could always moonlight on my campaign. ISABEL Really? I would love that. How is it all going? BELLOWS Great. I don't know. It's politics. Welcome to the team. ISABEL Thank you. BELLOWS Oh. Oh, gosh. ISABEL Can't wait. BELLOWS I'm very excited about this. JEFF I left the bar to go out back, then she attacks me with a knife, just like that. Sliced my neck. TAMARA You're a liar! JUDGE MCGRATH There will be no outbursts in my courtroom. Counselor? EASY We're fine, Your Honor. MADELINE Wasn't Tamara defending herself from your advances? JEFF Hey, hey, let me talk to you for a minute. TAMARA Don't touch me. JEFF No. She was crazy. TAMARA No! JEFF TAMARA He's crazy. Your Honor, he's a rapist, and you got to believe me! JUDGE MCGRATH That's enough, or I'll end this hearing right now. MADELINE Your Honor, please forgives my client. But her anger is understandable, as Jeff Skadden had just confirmed, everything that she's been saying for years. Tamara Folsom slashed him, and not Tim Manning on the night of his murder. She's not a killer. She's a victim. JUDGE MCGRATH Ms. Scott, I agree that you have produced one of Ms. Folsom's victims, but that does not mean that she is not also guilty of ending Tim Manning's life. This testimony demonstrates a pattern of violent aggression towards men. MADELINE Prior to that night, she'd never been arrested or demonstrated violent tendencies. Then in one night she commits multiple acts of violence, miles apart within moments of each other? JUDGE MCGRATH It's possible. MADELINE Why do you refuse to see the truth when it is so clearly in front of you? JUDGE MCGRATH Truth is subjective, Ms. Scott. I need proof. Motion denied. TAMARA God! That's it? It's over? MADELINE Far from it. We're not giving up, Tamara. EASY Pretty terrible ruling if you ask me. MADELINE Really terrible. And it means we only have one option left. BOTH Find the real killer. LEVI Hey, sis. MADELINE There's a warrant out for you. LEVI I screwed up. MADELINE You remember our promise? No matter how bad it gets, no matter how much you want it, you reach out, we talk. LEVI How was I supposed to talk to you about Rosemary? I lied to you for so long. MADELINE Why? Why'd you lie to me? How long were you together? LEVI A few months. We didn't tell anybody because we knew that it was wrong. MADELINE So that night at the campsite, when Rosemary hooked up with Toby Kissell. TEENS LEVI Yeah, I was upset. But I didn't. I didn't kill Rosemary. MADELINE That was the prosecution's entire case, Levi. And now I'm finding out it was actually true. LEVI Maddie, look at me. I would never kill her. I loved her. You think that I kill Rosemary? MADELINE I don't know what to think anymore. I'll take care of the bench warrant. Okay? Just be at court next week. Don't screw this up. This is serious now. LEVI I promise. MADELINE We'll get you cleaned up, okay? MAYFELD We've conducted flash polls every week since you announced your candidacy and we're trending. BELLOWS Downwards. MAYFELD Yes, but the biggest drop came right after Madeline Scott attacked you on television. BELLOWS So we're are tied together. MAYFELD Exactly. She attacks, you fall. GRETA We need to attack her back. Let's go negative. BELLOWS She's not even my opponent. GRETA Well, she's going negative on you. BELLOWS The last thing I want is my campaign is for it to become about Madeline Scott. ISABEL I don't think you have a choice. That's one of the most famous cases in the country, Mr. Bellows. MAYFELD She's right. Madeline Scott drives your numbers. It's an issue. BELLOWS So we'll double down on crime, making the context her case. GRETA Can you all excuse us for a moment? BELLOWS Thank you. GRETA What the hell is Isabel doing here? BELLOWS I like having her around. GRETA Well, I don't, and you know that. BELLOWS So you want me to fire her? That'll be great for my numbers. GRETA Oh, then hide her in a closet. BELLOWS Right, honey. I'll just hide her in a closet. GRETA You need to grow a pair. Madeline Scott threatens your campaign. We need to go negative. BELLOWS It'll backfire. Too many people see her as a victim. GRETA Then find a way to do it without leaving your fingerprints. HELEN What are you doing, Maddie? This isn't gonna help anything. You see what this is doing to Levi. He can't take it again. None of us can. Don't you know how hard your trial was on us? MADELINE On you? I am the one who lost my best friend and ten years of my life for something I didn't do. HELEN But look what you have done since you have gotten out. You've turned your nightmare into a path forward. Your brother hasn't been so lucky. MADELINE Mom, the prosecution's entire case was based on the theory that Levi and Rosemary had a secret relationship- HELEN Maddie, stop it. MADELINE He lied for years, and I need to find out what really happened, so I am not just gonna shut this out anymore. HELEN It's over. Why can't you just move on like the rest of us? YOUNG MADELINE She was my best friend. I have to go to the funeral. HELEN I'm sorry, sweetie, but no one wants you there. YOUNG MADELINE HELEN Oh, I'm so sorry. MADELINE I didn't get to say good-bye. HELEN I know, honey. Oh. VIOLET Fighting for the wrongfully accused means dealing with the same police officers who investigated the crime in the first place. Sometimes we need to find their mistakes in order to uncover the truth. DETECTIVE 1 Yeah, he was basically decapitated. MADELINE Any other suspects that you considered? Anyone in particular stand out? DETECTIVE 1 Yeah, there was this one. A thing that stood out about her was she confessed. Name is Tamara Folsom. EASY We'll run down a list of his last known associates. Might take a- MADELINE Hold on. The original investigation had three detectives on it. So what happened to the other guy? WATERMAN Those jagoffs didn't even tell me you were coming in. MADELINE So you thought Tamara was innocent? WATERMAN No, but I wasn't sure. After Tim Manning was killed, I did some digging. Found something interesting. He had a girlfriend. A Celeste Adams, I think. Yeah. She was 18 at the time. Seems Tim would periodically beat her up. EASY Did anyone track her down? WATERMAN No. They were so focused on Tamara, once they got a confession, those lazy slobs just wanted to move on. EASY All right. You know where we can find Celeste? WATERMAN No idea, it's 16 years ago. There is an old photo in the file. I don't know. Good luck. MADELINE Illinois employment records say that Celeste works here now. EASY She's a used car salesman? Definitely our killer. MADELINE Uh, Oh. I actually think that's her. Celeste Adams? CELESTE Do I know you? MADELINE We need to talk about Tim Manning. CELESTE I don't know who that is. EASY We think you do. CELESTE Who are you? What do you want? MADELINE We're attorneys. We represent Tamara Folsom, the woman stuck in prison for murdering Tim. CELESTE I don't know anything about that. MADELINE She's spent 16 years locked up for something she didn't do. EASY Police records say you were Tim's girlfriend, and you left Illinois immediately after he was killed. CELESTE I went to Florida 'cause my mom got sick. I didn't even know Tim was dead until a couple months later. He was a bad guy. He used to beat me. EASY Did you call the police? CELESTE I tried. No one listened to me. You're Madeline Scott, right? MADELINE Yeah. And no one listened to me either, or Tamara Folsom who has spent 16 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit. CELESTE Sorry, I can't help you. EASY So, what do you think? Is she our killer? MADELINE Well, she's hiding something. But she recognized me. BELLOWS We'd all like to return to a time when our streets were safe, when hardened criminals weren't released because of technicalities or flawed jurisprudence. I'm sure you all remember the case of Dimitri Wright. Anyone remember this case? I was a young, inexperienced prosecutor trying Dimitri Wright for armed robbery. His high-paid attorney ran circles around me, used every trick in the book and he was acquitted. One month later, Dmitri Wright killed a single mother in a liquor store hold up. The poor woman was holding her one year-old daughter when she was shot in the head. Her grandmother raised the little girl, and I have stayed in touch because I felt responsible. I'm pleased to tell you that that little girl just graduated from Northwestern University Law school and is the newest hire in the Cook County States Attorney's office. She serves as a reminder of why we have laws, why we need justice and why I want to be the next Illinois Attorney General. BELLOWS Please meet our newest Assistant States Attorney, Isabel Sanchez. MAYFELD Home run. TEENS EASY Celeste Adams is clean. No previous arrest record and no accusations of violence. Everything all right? MADELINE If Levi and I were retried for Rosemary's murder, could we be tried separately? EASY Probably. Why? MADELINE He lied. To me. To the jury. To everyone. He just told me he was in a relationship with Rosemary. He's been lying for years. EASY So? MADELINE So? That doesn't faze you? EASY I always suspected he was lying. MADELINE And that doesn't bother you? EASY I represented you, Madeline, Levi had another lawyer. If he committed perjury, not my problem. MADELINE Do you think Levi killed Rosemary? EASY Just because he lied doesn't make him a killer. VIOLET Um, Madeline. It's eight o'clock. MADELINE So? VIOLET So? You have a date. Right now. EASY Mm. MADELINE EASY Oh, damn it. I'm supposed to be home. VIOLET What are you doing? MADELINE Uh, I'm canceling. VIOLET Give it to me. You are going on this date, and you are gonna give me all of the details. MADELINE Violet, I do not have time to- VIOLET I know you're nervous because you didn't get to make a fool of yourself in your 20s like the rest of us, but you need to do it in your 30s. MADELINE Why? VIOLET So that you can be normal in your 40s. Have fun. And smile! He's very cute. MADELINE I don't know anybody in their 40s who's normal. VIOLET Have fun! Call me. MADELINE I'm so sorry. I'm so late. I'm- DYLAN Oh, no. Will you stop? Come on. MADELINE I'm-I'm late. I'm-I'm sorry. DYLAN Listen, I was four months late for dinner once because I was being held hostage by a small Ugandan army. MADELINE How did the apology go over? DYLAN Uh. Oddly, not well. MARCO The gentleman ordered a Brachetto. MADELINE Oh, uh, just a seltzer for me, please. MARCO Are you sure, madam? It's an excellent choice. MADELINE Uh, the last time I got drunk I was convicted of murder and spent ten years in a state prison, so I'm just a party seltzer girl now. DYLAN Yeah. Two seltzers, please. Thanks. So sorry. I completely forgot. MADELINE Yeah, it's a bummer right? That first hook up without alcohol is always so tricky. DYLAN Yeah, yeah. Uh, so. So how are the cases coming? MADELINE Good. Good. Yeah. Bad, because all my clients are in jail for crimes they didn't commit and trying not to lose their minds which causes all of us to try to not lose our minds. DYLAN Well, maybe you should start drinking. MADELINE Clever. DYLAN Oh, I got something funny for you. Um. MADELINE DYLAN I didn't even say what was funny yet. MADELINE Right. Right. DYLAN Right. MADELINE You know what? I'm just. I'll be right back. I'm gonna run to the restroom, but I'm gonna be so quick. It's just number one. Okay. IRENE You asked me to make dinner arrangements. You did. Not me. EASY I know, and I'm sorry. IRENE We invited him over so that you could know who was driving your daughter to ballet. So that you could have an inkling of what was going on in her life. I mean, it's bad enough that you forget about us, but now you've let the whole world know that we're still an afterthought to the redheaded princess. EASY Come on. This has nothing to do with Madeline. IRENE At dinner, Chuck asked why your first wrongful conviction was for a white girl. Ten years later, people are still asking me the same thing. Our prisons are filled with our brothers and sisters, and you give up your whole career for Madeline Scott. EASY Because hers was the highest profile case that made the most sense. I mean, what, do you think I'm in love with her or something? IRENE Oh, please. I stopped worrying about that skinny little bitch years ago. What I care about is how you avoid your family. How you won't even talk to me about anything, not even your cases. EASY Because they're too painful, and I want to forget about them when I get home. IRENE Okay. So why are you even doing this? EASY Because I'm not practicing boring reinsurance law anymore. I have famous politicians and reporters wanting something from me, attacking me and trying to be my friend. I am in the game now, baby. Making a difference in the justice system. How many black lawyers get that chance? Now, it's gonna take a sacrifice from all of us. IRENE I want to be part of your life again. We all do. I know you don't like to hear me say this, but I really think you need to see someone. EASY No. Absolutely not. IRENE Well, then you better do something, 'cause this is not working. VIOLET What the? MADELINE What are you still doing here? VIOLET I'm working on Tamara's case. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be naked right now. MADELINE Ugh. Worst date ever. There's something wrong with me, Vi. VIOLET So. no second date? MADELINE I don't know. He just texted and asked to try again. VIOLET Oh. So you have to go. MADELINE Really? VIOLET Yes. I'm on a dating app cleanse right now, and I'm living vicariously through you. And I need all the naughty details. Oh, speaking of naughty, Come here. I just found something on Celeste Adams. I did the image search and looks like she has an alter ego, Celeste is an escort. Fitness techniques straps and B&B, which is short for bondage and bareback. MADELINE Why do you know that? VIOLET A girl has her secrets. MADELINE Do a search for Tim Manning and Sandy Ojai. VIOLET Oh. Here we go. Sandy Ojai was picked up in a prostitution sting 16 years ago, and she wouldn't testify against her pimp Tim Manning and all the charges were dropped. MADELINE Well, that's why she had a clean record. She was using a different name. I think Tim Manning was murdered in some kind of prostitution turf war, and our Ms. Ojai was right in the middle of it. You may have just saved Tamara's Folsom's life. POLICE OFFICER Keep moving! Now! BODIE Can't a guy take pictures of hookers in peace anymore? BODIE They're using the used car dealership as a front for a brothel. MADELINE Is that really a thing? Asking for a friend. BODIE It is. Bars, car washes, junk yards, any cash heavy businesses is pretty common for laundering money. In this case, they're also using it as their base of operations for incoming calls. We've got Chad the salesman who works the front. And then there's the owner of the car dealership David Jackson. He's not only her pimp, but also her husband. EASY Marriage is a tricky business. BODIE Yeah. They got married in Florida a few months after Tim's murder. Short grieving period. VIOLET Very short. MADELINE So David kills Tim, Celeste's former pimp. David marries her and enslaving her in his prostitution ring. EASY Your mind goes to dark places. BODIE And fast. VIOLET So very fast. MADELINE In prison I knew hundreds of prostitutes and sadly, this is a common story. They're brainwashed or enslaved by these guys, and it's almost impossible for them to get out of this life. EASY Yeah, I don't know. Celeste doesn't seem like the type woman who wants to get out or turn on her handlers. MADELINE Agreed. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try. VIOLET So what's the approach? BODIE Well, this is encouraging. MADELINE Hi, Celeste. Or should I say Sandy Ojai? CELESTE What are you doing here? I told you I don't know anything. MADELINE I want you to come with me to visit Tamara Folsom. CELESTE Get out of my way or I'll beat the hell out of you. MADELINE If you mess with me, and you're gonna find yourself face down bleeding on the concrete. Give me and Tamara a few minutes. I swear I'll never bother you again. MADELINE Celeste, this is Tamara. I know this isn't easy for you. We really appreciate you coming down here. CELESTE I didn't know. I swear. I thought they'd never arrested anyone for Tim's murder. I'm so sorry. TAMARA It's not your fault if you didn't know. CELESTE I didn't. I was just so relieved Tim was gone. MADELINE What happened? How'd you end up with that guy? It's okay. Really, it's just us. CELESTE I ran away from home when I was 16. I met Tim and he was nice and funny, and I was broke. He put money down for a deposit on an apartment and. MADELINE He said you had to pay him back. CELESTE Told me this is how it works in Chicago, and if I didn't bring home 300 bucks a night, I'd be on the streets. You probably think I'm an idiot, but you don't know how it feels to be so trapped. TAMARA I know exactly how it feels. MADELINE We both do. CELESTE If I didn't make enough, he'd beat me. I thought he was gonna kill me until I met David. David promised he wasn't going to let Tim hit me anymore. So he and his buddy Chad took care of him. MADELINE Did they killed him? That's what you're saying? CELESTE I'm real sorry for you, but David's friends with some bad people. If I testify, they'll come after me. I'm sorry. I can't do this. MADELINE Celeste this is your chance at a new start. Tell the truth. David and Chad will go away. You can both finally be free. TAMARA That's exactly how I thought it would go. I never met a ho that didn't look out for anyone but herself. MADELINE Truth. But the good news is now we know exactly what happened. TAMARA So? MADELINE So now we have a way in. CHAD You're gonna love the silver. I actually knew the original owner, kept it in top notch shape. EASY Right on. That's-That's great. CHAD So you guys live together, or? EASY No. No, we ain't a couple. MADELINE Why? You don't like interracial couples? CHAD Oh, I don't care. I-I didn't mean to offend anybody. MADELINE Oh, no. I'm not offended. Easy? EASY A little bit, but I'll get over it. MADELINE Easy here is actually my pimp. MADELINE Yeah. Except it's not a joke. I used to be with a guy named Tim Manning, but Easy killed him, then married me and I've worked for him ever since. We launder the money out of a bar. EASY I-I thought it was a junk yard. MADELINE Car wash? CHAD All right. You're gonna have to go now. MADELINE Too late for that, Chad. Celeste already told the cops you killed Tim and David is making a statement at this very moment saying it was you. CHAD No, he's not. You're lying. EASY I wish we were. We wanted David to go down because we know he really did it, but Celeste is his wife and she's invoking marital privilege. She can't be coerced into testifying against him. MADELINE They both seem really comfortable pinning the whole thing on you. CHAD It's not true. Tim was a pig, but I didn't do anything to him. EASY That's not what David and Celeste said. They said you killed him. MADELINE Two against one, Chad, and all the prosecutor will care about is someone going down for this. CHAD I didn't have anything to do with it. EASY We know. We know everything. We know David did it to because he wanted Celeste, and then married her in Florida. But what we don't have is someone to go on the record against David. MADELINE Instead we have David and Celeste on the record against you. CHAD I can't believe this is happening. MADELINE So unfair, but you tell us what David did, we set the whole thing straight. We want David, not you. CHAD Okay. Okay, yeah. Everything you said was right. David did it because Tim was beating up Celeste and he wanted her to be his girl. I didn't have anything to do with it. I was just supposed to keep Tim from getting away. David's the one that killed him. WATERMAN You're under arrest. EASY Interracial him and her wires. CHAD All right. JUDGE MCGRATH Will the defendant please rise? Based on newly discovered evidence of her actual innocence, this court hereby vacates Petitioner's conviction of murder. If the state plans to retry Ms. Folsom they have 20 days- GREEN Your Honor, the state does not intend to re-prosecute Ms. Folsom. We no longer believe she took any part in this killing. JUDGE MCGRATH In that case, Ms. Folsom, you are free to go. Good luck and Godspeed. REPORTERS TAMARA I just want to say I got 16 years taken from me. I got called murderer. I got treated like I was trash, but somebody finally listened to what I had to say. Somebody finally heard my truth. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. REPORTERS Ms. Folsom. VIOLET This week's episode is the tale of two women who never met, but both we're trapped in prison. One had her freedom taken way for no other reason than bad luck, and another was locked in a cycle of mental and physical abuse. What they have in common is the same monsters imprisoned them both with their lies. There's a gender bias that we see over and over again in wrongful conviction. Men are believed and women are ignored. And it's the burden of hiding the truth that will tug at a person's soul or irrevocably alter another's life. Until we can speak our truth and have another human being not just listen to us, but believe us, we can never be truly free. MADELINE I'm sorry that I didn't come visit you sooner. I told myself I wouldn't come until I found your killer, but the truth is I stopped looking years ago. I just couldn't think about it anymore, but now it's all I think about. And no matter who it is, I swear to you I will find them.