Wrongful Convictions: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

“Guilty until proven rich or lucky” a statement like that just stays with you holy shit

Fun fact: The DA who sought the death penalty for Maria Melissa Lucio was later convicted of taking bribes and corruption and is currently serving 14 years. EDIT: To correct the name. My bad. High af sunday night.

Mellisa Lucio's execution was halted and she's gonna get a new trial. Her attorney told her on the phone that she got to wake up on Thursday morning. John Oliver continues to amaze me after all these seasons. Huge respect to the show and the entire team.

Way to go John, Melissa Lucio's execution has been stayed for 120 days. Your episode shed light on a huge problem with the amount of wrongfully convicted people. You helped save her life with your very thorough investigative journalism. Thank you.

I've also heard it expressed as, "Innocent until proven broke." This explains a lot. Thanks for this.

How can someone who is literally inside a sheriff's office when murders took place be convicted of the crime? Insanity.

The "Is the queen dead?" joke definitely hits different right now.

A perfect example of why you never talk to police. "What's your name?" "Lawyer."

"Guilty until proven rich or lucky" I can not think of a more succinct and accurate way to describe America's legal system. Utterly real and unimaginably terrifying.

In 2010 I was arrested for a murder my mother commited. I was picked up after school and told someone wanted to talk to me about her case at the station. I was never told miranda rights or cuffed or actually arrested at all. At the station I all of a sudden was booked and when I asked why they didnt answer me. The next day I was told there was a warrent for my arrest but they would not tell me what my charge was. Over a week later I finally had an initial appearence and it wasnt until then I was told I was charged with murder and a grand jury had already met to vote whether or not to pursue the death penalty. Let me emphasize 12 people talked about whether or not I should die BEFORE I even knew what I was charged with. I fought as hard as I could and was held in county jail for over a year before ever being convicted or sentenced to anything. I turned down every plea deal because I didnt do it. Finally a prosecutor came to visit me without my lawyer and said if I take this to trial theyre trying me for accessory because my mom already said I did it and would even testify against me to get a shorter sentence for herself, but if I took a plea deal for assault Id be guarenteed to be released within a couple years. Admitting to an assault I never commited just so I could go home went against everything I believed in, but I had already been in jail for 14 months at that point. I asked to talk to my lawyer first and he outright said if I didnt sign it then the plea deal was off the table completely. I missed my brother and sister so much and just wanted to go home and so I signed it. I was sentenced 18 months with time served so after 4 months in prison I was finally able to go home. But a viloent felony will be on my record forever and has greatly affected my life. I was only 18 and never did it but was bullied into saying I did. If that doesnt show how broken the judicial system is, I dont know what will.

Good god. The fact that John is able to continue so eloquently after hearing that prosecutor blame Melissa for her Death Penalty is just amazing. I probably wouldn't be able to SEE the teleprompter from rage, let alone read from it.

I watched this the day before Melissa's trial. They have JUST halted her execution due to new evidence. I'm saddened that it even got this close for them to do so.

I don't know who said this but I think this sentiment is correct: "The US doesn't have a justice system, it has a legal system."

I am straight up crying. What a waste of an existence that prosecutor is.

As someone who was forced to take a guilty plea by both my public defender & sheriff, I stand behind every single word you said. They made sure my appeal paperwork never left the prison I was in. They even had the AUDACITY to bring it back to me & rip it up in my face, insuring that I'd missed the deadline 😭

In 2020, I found out I was charged with a felony in 2019. In the state of South Carolina for an felony assault..that I didn’t know about. I live in North Carolina and hadn’t even left the state that entire year. Even after sending Google transcript location data to show everywhere I was for the entire year, work clock in and out times, Gym punch in and out times, work vehicle GPS tracking location. The police in Columbia South Carolina would only tell me that I needed to come down there be arrested go through the entire process to prove my innocence. After a private detective friend helping me track down my own information and having to get my parents to pay a lawyer. Several months later they finally got the case thrown out as far as I know. All I received was a email saying that the case was dropped no other documentation. When I finally received a copy of the police report the description of the suspect was Black 5’5 - 5’6 220 pounds. I’m 5’11 closer to 6 feet 280lb , One of the officers I spoke to on the phone told me my face was picked out of a lineup. I have never been arrested for anything in my life. I did work for the state of South Carolina as a correctional officer 15-20 years ago.

Long story short: we should always be infinitely more willing to risk letting a guilty man go free than to risk letting an innocent man be punished...because if we let an innocent man be punished, we've still let a guilty man go free.

"You're basically saying we should retrial cases every 15-17 years" That... That sounds like a great idea actually.

There are no words to describe how evil it is that some prosecutors want to keep people locked up when they KNOW they are innocent. How can you live with yourself???? I am SOOO grateful for progressive prosecutors, but it seems like they are so hard to find.

This is the day Melissa Lucio was supposed to be executed but she dodged it in the last day or two. Her execution was stayed after renewed light which was partly thanks to this episode.