Admissible: Shreds of Evidence

Jul 31 2024 15 ep. 537
Admissible: Shreds of Evidence Podcast artwork

13 wrongful convictions all tied to one forensic analyst. The analyst – Mary Jane Burton – was hailed as a hero for saving the DNA evidence that led to the exonerations. But when reporter Tessa Kramer starts investigating, she meets a former lab trainee with a very different – and much darker – story to tell. Over the course of 12 episodes, Kramer unravels this mystery, searching for proof of explosive allegations against Burton and a possible cover-up at one of the nation’s leading crime labs. An original podcast from VPM and Story Mechanics, future seasons of Admissible will investigate the role of evidence in our legal system.

  Society & Culture  True Crime
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The Fallout

Jul 31 2024 36 mins  
Content advisory: this episode makes mention of the sexual assault and murder of a child. Please take care if listening. In this special update episode of Admissible, Tessa Kramer returns to the mic to explore the aftermath of our 12-part series. Our investigation exposed the Virginia state crime lab’s mishandling of a whistleblower's allegations against Mary Jane Burton, the lab

Ch. 12 - Something of this Magnitude?

Apr 25 2023 25 mins  
As we come to the end of season one, reporter Tessa Kramer is left with some lingering questions. How are the injustices we've seen in this story woven into the DNA of our criminal legal system? Is there hope for genuine reform? And what role can forensics play? More information on Maneka Sinha of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law: https://www.law.umarylan

A Note from Tessa on Evan Gershkovich

Apr 18 2023 4 mins  
The final episode of our first season is coming soon, but first: a message from Tessa on the arrest of her friend, Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who is wrongfully detained in Russia. For more information, visit www.freegershkovich.com.

Ch. 11 - Repress It, Suppress It

Apr 11 2023 34 mins  
The case of Earl Washington left a permanent stain on Virginia’s state crime lab. What does this case, and its aftermath, reveal about the lab's record of reviewing misconduct within its own four walls? More information on the case of Earl Washington Jr.: https://innocenceproject.org/cases/earl-washington/

Ch. 10 - The Ultimate Form of Gaslighting

Apr 04 2023 23 mins  
As we approach the end of our reporting, Tessa revisits Gina Demas, the whistleblower, to see where the events of our story have left her, and to give her an update on our investigation. Will she get any vindication? More information on Dana Gold and the Government Accountability Project: https://whistleblower.org/ https://whistleblower.org/our-team/dana-gold/

Ch. 9 – The Burden

Mar 28 2023 38 mins  
Three women attacked on one fateful night in Norfolk, Virginia. All three identify the same man. Decades after his conviction, DNA analysis proves his innocence, leaving the women with more questions than answers. The people falsely convicted are not the only ones whose lives are turned upside down when the system gets it wrong.

Ch. 8 - Lights and Sirens

Mar 21 2023 28 mins  
In the midst of our reporting, another man is exonerated based on Mary Jane Burton’s clippings – Winston Scott. But one thing isn’t clear: why was Scott convicted in the first place? Reporter Tessa Kramer takes the original serology reports to an expert. Did Burton have a hand in Scott’s conviction? More information on the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, including former MA

Ch. 7 - Too Little Too Late

Mar 14 2023 28 mins  
The discovery of Mary Jane Burton’s clippings sparks a review of thousands of case files. This massive effort to find wrongly convicted people is unprecedented. Yet the slow effort by the lab raises questions. Were they afraid of what they’d find? More information on Virginia’s Post-Conviction DNA Testing and Notification Project: http://vscc.virginia.gov/2020/Virginia%20Post

Ch. 6 - "Bad Documentation"

Mar 07 2023 35 mins  
Whistleblower Gina Demas wasn’t the only one with concerns about Mary Jane Burton. Tessa Kramer sits down with two former lab employees whose careers soared following Gina’s fight with the lab. What do they remember about Mary Jane’s work? And what kept them from speaking up?

Ch. 5 - Politics and Science

Feb 28 2023 35 mins  
Falsifying results, skipping tests, and ignoring scientific protocols -- why weren’t these concerns addressed by the Virginia state crime lab? Whistleblower Gina Demas finds herself caught in a clash between science and office politics.