February 13, 2023 • 40 mins
Ashley and Albert Debelbot met in the Army, got married and had their first child together, McKenzy, on May 29, 2008. Days later, Ashley noticed a bump on her newborn’s forehead and rushed her to the emergency room. Tragically, McKenzy passed away within hours. Ashley and Albert were immediately under investigation, and the medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the baby’s skull. Ashley and her husband both received life sentences. Maggie speaks to Ashley Jordan, Ashley’s mother, Brenda Jones, and Ashley’s attorney, Jimmonique Rodgers.
To learn more and get involved, visit:
https://www.womenontherisega.org/
Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
A note for listeners, this episode contains discussion of suicide.
Please listen with caution and care. In May of two
thousand eight, Ashley and Albert devil Bot welcomed their first baby, girl,
Mackenzie Leilani. The devil Bots were a successful military couple
(00:24):
stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, and the birth of their
daughter filled them with more joy than they ever imagined.
Once they brought baby Mackenzie home from the hospital, the
new parents put her to bed and went to sleep.
In the early morning hours, Ashley and Albert woke up
to find Mackenzie in distress. Concerned, they took her back
(00:47):
to the hospital. Maybe a couple of hours later. The
doctor comes in and told that she passed, and my
egg mouther hit the floor. He started crying and screaming
of rolland and I just kind of sat there looking
at the wall. And then I looked at the doctor
and said, go get my baby ready so we can
(01:08):
take your home. I think I was just in the
nile and shop because you just didn't tell me that
my daughter. We did, and then Columbu's police department showed up,
and that's when everything pretty much went to hell. My
name is Ashley Jordan's. I spent twelve years and two
(01:29):
months in the Georgia Department of Corrections prison system. Ropefully
convicted the recurme that I did not commit from love
of for good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie Freeling today.
Ashley Jordan's actually Jordan was born in Laurel, Mississippi, on
(02:01):
May thirteenth, nine four, to Brenda Dolores Jones and Thurman
Jordan's sr oh Astley. Growing up, let me tell you
about the little Poe. That's a nickname Poe. That's Ashley's mom, Brenda.
She was question. She was a sweet little girl. They
never had to get no whippers for nothing. She was
(02:23):
shod and you know I didn't take much to herd
of feeding. Ashley grew up with three brothers in a
military family. After just a few years in Mississippi, Ashley's
dad moved their family to Detroit, Michigan. Ashley adored her dad.
My dad was very hands on with us. He always
made sure we we showed love to each other as
(02:45):
brothers and sisters. He helped pray with us at night.
Ashley's family loved any excuse to get together, standon is
very big, and they like to cook out a lot,
so there's a cook out for every thing. We love
to get together and eat. So that's one of the
fondest memories I have growing up is being able to
get together with our family memberis and we eat and
(03:07):
have a good time. But behind closed doors, family life
wasn't as picture perfect as it seemed. My childhood life
with my mom and dad, Mary was very I like
to call it chaotic. It was just a lot of
It was always a lot of arguing going on. My
mom was a heavy drinker um and my dad wasn't,
(03:30):
so a lot of times that was a problem because
they bumped heads with a lot of things. Her parents
marriage eventually fell apart, so Ashley's mom packed up and
moved with the kids back to their home state. So
we moved back to Mississippi in my mom got a
(03:52):
job and pretty much just settled us there. I don't
think we understood as kids that we were gonna be
living in in in Mississippi. I believe that we were
just going to visit and we're gonna make home to Detroit.
But we started registering for school. It just kind of
came out of nowhere. Where we had to start over
again as kids. Brenda worked hard as a single parent
(04:16):
to make ends meet. She and Ashley are close now,
but at the time, Ashley wanted to get out of
that situation. To be honest with you, I didn't want
to say my mom anyway at that time because of
her drinking. Um, I just didn't like it. All my
other friends their moms did drink like that, So I
saw a difference in that pattern. Like I said, she
(04:38):
was a great mother when it came to taking care
of us. It's just the drinking was very it put
it put a strain on me in our relationship. Early on,
Ashley opted to leave her mom's house and instead live
with her grandparents. However, things weren't much better. Once she
made the move. She started to notice similarities between her
(04:59):
grandfather's be savior and her mother's My grandfather, her dad
was a heavy drinker, heavy drinker, was put in lightly.
He was an alcoholic. So I've seen the pattern of
where my mom where the filtered on into her. So
in the house of my grandmother, we dealt with a
lot of the same chaos. At the same time she
(05:24):
was facing these family troubles, Ashley It was also maturing
and learning to live her own life. Here's Brenda again,
and she grow up and got older. She still coming
out of it and still a door that She became
machill leaders school stuff like that, played basketball Northeast Jones Tigers. Yes,
Lady Tigers. M Yeah, she was a basketball players, chill
(05:49):
leader with the fast sixty legs. Yes. Ashley also loved school.
She was smart and ambitious. She even had a career
picked out for herself, one that she admits was inspired
by her own unique smile. You see, not have a
gap between my teeth, and I've always been very fond
(06:10):
of teeth. I like teeth and how they look, and
I wanted to be orthodonas but Ashley wound up on
a different path. The turning point came one day when
she was out shopping with a friend and we were
shopping at a place that was right next door to
the the the recruiting office for the all of the
branches in the military, and it was a recruiter setting
(06:31):
outside smoking a cigarette. Ashley was impressed by his uniform.
She told him he looked spiffy, and he said, you
want one? I said whatever, And before I knew it.
I was sitting in his office looking at brochures. In
(06:52):
my family, they always encourage you go to college, go
to college, and I thought, you know what, I've just
been in twelve years in school. I don't want to
go to college at He's not right there. I did.
She did want to get a college education eventually, so
Ashley was sold on the idea that the military would
finance her ambition. And all that can people was pay
for college. Pay for college. I didn't tell anybody I
(07:13):
was joining got into my mom. I didn't tell anybody.
I just kept a secret. After high school graduation in
two thousand two, Ashley's friends started going off to college
and my mom came on three one day and she said, so,
where do you guy going on? And I said what
do you mean? She said, are you going to school
or you're gonna start working or something? And I was like, well,
(07:36):
I got something else playing. She said like what, Because
you haven't said anything to me. I looked at One
day my baby came home. She came home from work
say she was gonna join the arm I said a
whole On the day she told Brenda the news, Ashley
brought an army recruiter to her mom's house to meet
and talk about her plans. So he comes walking up
the driveway and she looked at me and she just
(07:59):
thoughted ring me and she was so excited. Said are
you happy? And she said, yes, I'm happy. She said,
this is a great career. My mom was the most
supportive person I had in my army career. Ashley originally
joined as part of the Army Reserve and wound up
stationed in South Korea in two thousand seven. She soon
(08:22):
worked her way up to sergeant. Ashley loved the military,
and after only three months in South Korea, she was
about to find another love. Tell me how you meet Albert?
But my first time, I was actually going into my
barracks room for the first time, and he walked by
and I complimented his calf muscles. He got some nice
(08:46):
cat muscles, and he looked at me and was looking
at me like this girl was weird. Albert devil Budd
was a mail clerk in Ashley's unit. She would often
see him around. He was Lord Reagan and I was
I ranking, So he just kind of kept it professional,
going back and forth and beyond. Every guy at that
(09:08):
unit was trying to get my attention to talk to me,
but he wasn't and that kind of intrigued me. So
I started to like him and I kind of went
after him um and one day I stopped and talking
to him and we started watching DVDs together and we
realized we had that we love the same kind of
(09:29):
movies and the same kind of music, and that's kind
of where the conversation started. And so I knew we
were going on our first date. So besides his cabs,
what else did you like about him when he dressed?
I have this I love the way he dressed, and
I realized that he was really nice, like beyond just
(09:49):
being a soldier, he was a really nice guy. There's
was a whirlwind romance. You know, it was kind of quick,
but I don't have a time limit on love. I'm
gonna say that I'm the kind of person that I is.
There is there, and I'm gonna go for it. So
we met, we started dating August two thousand and seven.
We got engaged September two thousand seven, and we got
married over nine, two thousand and seven, and the couple
(10:15):
had more good news while still in Korea. After their engagement,
Ashley found out she was pregnant. I threw the pretty
segess in space and she looks, look look, and he
looked at me. He's like, what does this mean. Let's
say that means we're pregnant. So we were super excited
to be having a baby. She and Albert wanted to
(10:35):
have their baby in the States, so Ashley was able
to get an honorable discharge. I want to be a
hands on mom. I don't want to be thinking that
I'm gonna be shipped here and shipp there and my
kids are being transferred from here to there. I just
didn't want to deal with that. I'd rather be at
home with my kids. Before coming to South Korea, Albert
had served in Iraq. The newlyweds didn't want to worry
(10:58):
about him being deployed again, so they found a military
base where Albert could be on active duty without being
marshaled out. So that's how we wind up in Georgia
because that was the only due to station that was
offering him a non deployable status where he wouldn't miss
the baby's birth or I wouldn't be left alone. By
(11:21):
March two thousand eight, the young couple was back in
the States, getting ready for the birth of their baby.
A few months later, Albert was asleep and Ashley was
beside him in bed, watching TV and eating. Let me
tell you what I was eating. I had a tray
full of food. I had chocolate chip cookies, two peanut
butter and jelly son, which is a glass of milk,
a bowl of cereals, and grapes and strawberries. And I
(11:42):
was sitting there in the band eating and I was
watching George Lopez laughing, and I started having contractions and
they got so bad that at one point I slung
my fists over on the bed because the contraction hit
me so hard, and I hit him and he said,
what's wrong, and I say, I think I'm having the baby.
(12:03):
They headed to Martin Army Community Hospital. We're on. Ashley
gave birth to a baby girl, Mackenzie Leilanie. Ashley had
always loved the name Mackenzie, and Leilani was chosen by Albert,
who is pullowen. I've had Mackenzie name picked out since
the ninth grade. I was super excited to nake my
(12:23):
daughter McKenzie. So her limitle name was Leilanie and it
means beautiful flower and pull Owen culture. After two and
a half days in the hospital, Ashley and Albert were
able to take Mackenzie home. As for many new parents,
their first evening home was nerve wracking. I was afraid
(12:46):
to go to sleep. My mind Frank kept thinking, if
you go to sleep, something's gonnapp She's gonna roll over,
she's gonna smother. I don't know, it was just very conscious.
I was scared. My mom, of course, you know, advice
from older people was saying, actually, you can go to sleep,
and Albert was already asleep preparing to go back to work,
so Ashley relented and tried to get some sleep herself
with Mackenzie in the bassinet next to the bed. In
(13:13):
the early morning hours of June one, Ashley and Albert
were both sleeping fitfully. We were tussling in the bed
and we both woke each other up, and we both
were dreaming. And I looked at him, he looked at me.
I said, I just had the craziest dream, and he
said me too. And then they heard Mackenzie fussing in
her bassonet. I said, well, is your turn the feeder?
(13:35):
So he was getting the bottle ready and I was
getting wrapped beast and that, I said, I was. I
would tell him by my dream. I said, I was
dreaming I was falling to the elevator shaft, I said,
but when I got to the bottom, I woke up.
He said, Oh my god, I was dreaming I was
falling off a cliff, he said, but when I got
to the bottom, I woke up. I said, that's crazy.
And we just started feeder and then I noticed the
(13:55):
lump on her head and I said, what is that.
Actually called the hospital and spoke to a doctor about
the lump of Mackenzie's forehead, but the doctor said she
was fine. So then we tried to feed her and
she was like she was gasping for air, like she
just looked she just couldn't breathe. And I called him
(14:16):
back and said, we're bringing her in. And by this
time we're hysterical because she doesn't look good. She looks
like she's turning colors, and we're we left everything at
this array, and we looked at such a her. We
left our cell phones at the house. Within minutes, Mackenzie
had taken a turn for the worst, and we get
to the hospital and before he didn't even stopped the car.
(14:38):
I was jumping out and I ran the tide of
the Mercy room and I threw her out at the
nurse and I said, please help my baby. Something wrong.
(15:01):
This episode is underwritten by A I G, a leading
global insurance company. A I G is committed to corporate
social responsibility and to making a positive difference in the
lives of its employees and in the communities where they
work and live. In light of the compelling need for
pro bono legal assistance, and in recognition of A i
g s commitment to criminal and social justice reform, the
(15:24):
A i G pro Bono Program provides free legal services
and other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. Ashley called
her mom from the hospital to tell her what was happening.
Brenda and her husband had already planned to come meet
Mackenzie the following day, but now she was racing to
(15:46):
get to the hospital. We just trying to get them,
trying to get the fens that could and see just
as a babe ONEm on the way. We're errating, We're scare.
We don't know what's going on. A couple of hours
passed as the new parents waited anxiously for news of
their baby. Finally, a doctor came to tell Ashley and
(16:09):
Albert that Mackenzie had passed away. Albert collapsed on the floor.
He started crying and screaming and rolling and I just
kind of sat there looking at the wall. And then
I looked at the doctor and said, go get my
baby ready so we could take your home. I think
I was just in denial and shock because you just
(16:30):
didn't tell me that my daughter was dead, and I
just didn't want to believe it. And then almost immediately
after Albert and Ashley heard the news about their baby girl,
personnel from the military showed up, and I was a
little weird about why they were there. And then Columbus
Police department showed up, and that's when everything pretty much
(16:55):
went to hell. And in my mind frame, I was like, no,
this is not This is not normal. Nobody calls the
police when somebody passed it away. This is not normal.
She wasn't murdered. Why are they here? And when they
separated us, and the kind of questions they would asking
in the way the detective was looking at me, that's
when I was I said, they think we've done this.
(17:22):
Police took note that Albert was devastated, but that Ashley
wasn't showing as much emotion. And at that time, I
just lost the baby, and um, I don't know how
to grieve. At this point, it was just kind of unbelief,
like this was it was like a nightmare happening before
my eyes. But at that point police took Ashley back
(17:45):
to her and Albert's apartment to photograph and search their home.
They began questioning her about what had happened that night,
where we're where was I? Like? What time I went
to sleep? How long was Albert to sleep before I
into sleep? When do we do that day? Who came
to the house? Things like that, they were asking. Once
(18:11):
the police were done at the apartment, Ashley and Albert
were left to process all that had just happened. We
couldn't even sleep in our room because her room was
right next to ours with all her stuff, so we
slept downstairs. We we couldn't go up there. By this point,
(18:32):
Ashley's mother had arrived. That was just that was two devils.
That was just oh, that was two months. Oh. And
I asked me just crying and and Avery. He was
just screaming that background. She was slowing and he wore,
you know, asked was slower and he was just screaming,
the crying, and she said, my mom would go, let
me go, try to take care of, you know, look
(18:53):
after him. The next morning, the police called and said
the preliminary autopsy report was ready and that the couple
should come to the station. Do you remember when you
(19:15):
realized that they thought that you and Albert had done this?
I realized that when he separated us, and then that's
when interrogation started. Ashley was interrogated by Detective Andrew Tyner.
I would never forgive him because he caught me a monster,
and he said the preliminary I've talked to results said
that she died from blunt force trauma to the head
(19:38):
and she had multiple score fractures, and that we did it.
Ashley and Albert were adamant they had nothing to do
with Mackenzie's death and had no idea what happened to her.
Yet they were held and interrogated for hours. No mind
you on postpartum. I just had a baby. I am Margine,
(20:01):
and my breast of filling up with milk, and they
just set them interrogating me for hours and wouldn't give
me any feminine hygiene products, and I was bleeding from
having the baby, and they just sat there and kept
interrogating me, and so I didn't understand what was happening.
(20:24):
So I just assumed that I would go home, like
I just thought that we would go home. I didn't
think it would be what happened for sure, but we
didn't go home. And eventually the detectives tried to turn
Ashley and Albert against each other. If one of y'all
just say y'all did it, because both of y'all gonna
go to jail, and both of you'all gonna go to prison.
(20:45):
But if one of y'all just say y'all did it,
then one of y'all can go home and help fight
for the other way. That's what they told us. But
they made sure nothing was recording when they did that.
And he was about to say he did it just
so and go home and won't go to jail, and
I looked at him and I grabbed his hand and
I said, no, you're not. You will not lie for
(21:07):
these people. He said, but I don't want you to
go to jail, said, I don't care. We're gonna go
together then, and that's just what it's gonna be, I said,
because we didn't do anything wrong. Ashley and Albert were
arrested that same day. Did you think it was possible
(21:27):
that they could have done this at all? Did that?
Did you think that was possible? Oh? No, baby, I
never even think twice, not even for a split sucker,
that they dune something to that baby. That's like, oh
that we was the only child and they had everything
going for them. How you say they had everything going
for them. Ashley was charged with malice murder, felony murder,
(21:51):
and cruelty to children in the first degree. And it
was the most humiliating experience is being booked into the
county jail. They strip you of everything that was ever yours.
I'm bleeding from having a baby. They don't provide you
(22:13):
with any type of extra clothing. They just give you.
They give you their uniform and I said, well, I
don't have any underwear and I'm bleeding. But it was like, so,
we don't provide that. And they sent me in a
cell and a cold sale for hours on concrete, and
then I got took a mug shot and they put
(22:35):
me in a suicide sale, and I remember bleeding in
a lot of my pants. I just feel disgusted. I
just remember crying and crying in that sale, thinking this
can't be happening to us, like we didn't we didn't
do nothing wrong. Alone in the cell, Ashley's mind was racing.
(22:57):
I started thinking about him. I started thinking about our daughter.
I started thinking about our life and how they were
portraying us to be. I want to being on top
of the world. I a marriage, I was mad a baby,
and then I woke up in the whole robles on
top of me and I didn't know how to breathe.
And that then put moment is when I contemplated killing myself.
(23:21):
I just kept looking around thinking like what can I do?
How can I do it? Over a year later, on October,
the trial started. The prosecutor was Sadanna Daily. Ashley and
(23:44):
Albert each had a separate defense team. One of the
things that the state really wanted to present was to
depict Ashley as a cold hearted, really this angry black woman,
because that's the kind of woman that would harm her
(24:05):
own child. This is Jimminy Rodgers. She's a criminal defense
attorney and a doctoral student in criminal justice and criminology
and has represented Ashley, and so what the jury heard
was the state saying that Ashley was this cold hearted
woman who was controlling, controlling of Albert, and that she
(24:29):
didn't show any our appropriate sadness when her baby died,
and that whatever was going on, they were trying to
hide things. And then they presented Dr. Derressol to say
that there is no way, there's no other way other
than intentionally an intentional blunt force trauma, that the injuries
(24:53):
to Mackenzie would have occurred. Dr Laura Derrissau was a
medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the
state's primary witness. She performed the autopsy on Mackenzie the
day after she died. Dr Derrisau said she found extensive
fractures on Mackenzie's head and bleeding in the brain, and
(25:14):
once she saw blood, she deemed this to be a
homicide and reached out, called out to law enforcement and
communicated that unless the parents had some other explanation for this,
then it had to be blunt force trauma, either by
a series of blows to Mackenzie's head or a crushing
(25:37):
type of injury. Dr Derrissaw concluded that the injuries happened
near the time of Mackenzie's death by no more than
four hours, and the injuries were so traumatic that if
they had happened during birth, the hospital would have noticed.
The prosecution concluded that, without any other explanation, this was
(25:57):
a homicide by the only two people who were with
Mackenzie that night. The state also presented a jailhouse informant,
Melvin Tarver, who had been in jail at the same
time as Albert. He testified that on the morning that
trial was about to start, Albert told him that his
(26:19):
wife had harmed the baby. Tarver's story was that Albert
told him he had gone out to get drugs that night,
and when he returned, the baby wasn't moving. According to Albert,
he asked Ashley, you know what you did? What did
you do? And as she says nothing, I just spanked
her and put her to bed. Tell me about the
(26:40):
jail house snitch. Can you tell me what you thought
when you saw them on the stand. I was living.
I was ready to jump over that table and fight,
and I'm not a lining person. But when he came
to the door, I looked at Albert, I said, do
you know him? He said, no, I don't know him
at all, and I know he was in line because
I'm sociable. I'm the person that can walk into a
(27:02):
room full of strangers and make friends. He's gonna walk
into the room and sit by himself. He's not talking
to anybody because he's quiet. He's very humble, very to himself.
So no, so I didn't believe it. But I was
so mad because I was looking, what is he? What
is who is this guy? But what made me mad
(27:23):
was that the fact that the judge even allowed it
to happen. Jimminique says that off the bat, Ashley and
Albert were at a disadvantage. There was a systemic breakdown
in a fundamentally fair trial for Albert and Ashley. They
(27:44):
sat in jail for quite some time without proper representation,
and that sets the stage for what happened with their
attorneys once they got in court. Ashley hired private attorney
Sandy Callahan and Albert was appointed Bill Mason, and both
of these were highly respected attorneys. They had two very
(28:05):
different perspectives of going into the trial. Albert's attorney's strategy
was to not challenge the medical evidence to be presented
by doctor Derrissol and the prosecutor. On the other hand,
Ashley's attorney wanted and intended to challenge that medical evidence.
(28:26):
In order to challenge the prosecution's medical evidence, Callahan brought
in John Plunkett, a forensic expert, to talk about shaking
baby syndrome or SPS. The science behind this diagnosis was
starting to be questioned at the time. Experts had found
other causes or conditions that could mimic symptoms of SPS. Today,
(28:46):
SBS is acknowledged to be junk science. But there was
a problem with Plunkett refuting Dr Derrissov. The judge Douglas
Pullen did not require the prosecution to turn over the
medical evidence they were going to use at trial, and
there was no way that the defendant can't prepare a
defense a medical defense without the evidence that the prosecutor has,
(29:11):
And because of the collaborative efforts of the judge and
the prosecutor in the case, the defense was of never
able to get this information. So at that point Ashley's
attorney asked for a continuance. Albert's attorney opposed it, and
the judge, Judge Douglas Poland, denied it and so that
(29:34):
was the context in which the trial began, so ultimately
Ashley was unable to have a medical defense. In fact,
Callahan didn't put on much of a defense for Ashley
at all. During closing arguments, prosecutor Daily pointed out that
the defense did not present any evidence contradicting Dr Deissov.
(29:55):
Neither the defense attorney nor the judge stop the prosecutor
when she shifted the burden too the devil Bots, saying
they had the responsibility to present some evidence that this
was not homicide, and they would have, but they don't
have any evidence. And then they ended by arguing and
(30:17):
closing that the state didn't even have to prove, really
what we consider proof beyond a reasonable doubt. At the
end of any trial, if there's a doubt, the jury
must acquit. The prosecution's burden was to prove beyond any
doubt that Albert and Ashley were guilty. But in her
closing argument, Daily shifted the meaning of reasonable doubt, and
(30:41):
she goes on and says, this means we don't have
to prove that ninety percent. You don't have to be
ninety percent sure, you don't have to be eighty percent sure.
You don't have to be fifty one percent sure. It
does not mean to a mathematical certainty. The fifty one
percent sure is so offensive because it simply means that
(31:05):
this prosecution doesn't have to present and doesn't have to
meet any Burthen. Either Ashley nor Albert's attorneys objected to
that misrepresentation of reasonable doubt, and Daily went on to
make other misstatements and inaccuracies that the defense failed to
object to as well. After a short four day trial,
(31:28):
on October nine, Ashley and Albert were convicted of all
three charges and sentenced to life in prison. When Ashley
(31:54):
got to prison, she had no hope left. I will
try to commit suicide, and in I tried to take
all my appeals, and I had saw my medicine, and
I tried to do it again, but a friend walked
in and stopped me. Ashley knew she needed to create
a routine if she wanted to survive, so she got
a job and started making friends and taking courses and classes.
(32:19):
One thing I learned while I was there was to
stack your paper. And people say stack your paper your money.
I think, no, stack your resume. In two thousand nine,
Ashley's team moved for a new trial, arguing ineffective assistance
of counsel based largely on a failure to present medical evidence,
(32:40):
rebutting the state's case. A few years later, in Jimmy
Nique came on Ashley's case, they were only arrested because
there was a lack of the ability for them, as
parents to explain what happened to their child. They were
(33:01):
then denied the opportunity to have a full medical analysis
of their case to get a fair day in court.
That day finally came Judge Arthur Smith the Third heard
medical testimonies from defense experts who concluded that Mackenzie's injuries
likely happened before birth. After years of appeals being denied,
(33:27):
finally on February, the Georgia Supreme Court vacated their convictions
based on in effective assistance of counsel at trial. Tell
me about when you found out Ashley and Albert we're
going to get out. Oh I fat miss why. I
just called me and told me. She told me. I
(33:48):
dropped the phone. Brenda couldn't wait to tell her daughter
the good news. She called me and I said, well, Astley,
I said, y'all, convicion has been overturn sleety I heard
h was she's she's screamed. She just just recism. She's
a runnest, greedest Thanka. She comes a thank you ze,
(34:09):
thank you ze Thanka. After their release, the current district
Attorney Mark Jones apologized publicly to the devil Bots on
behalf of the court. In his apology, Joan said, there
is now quote mounting medical evidence that says the child
was born this way. Ashley was finally free, but although
(34:33):
she and Albert stayed in touch during their imprisonment and
we're able to see each other occasionally, the trauma they
had endured was too much for their marriage. While they
were still incarcerated, Albert asked for a divorce. He was
so busy fight for his life. How do you fight
for your marriage to stay when you're trying to fight
for your life? He said, he didn't even know me,
(34:53):
no more of a wife. He didn't even remember me
as that person. What did that feel like when he
said when he said that, devastate? I was devastated. I
felt less than I felt ugly because of course I
can't dress up. It looked nice like I would if
we were home, So whever time he saw me. I
(35:14):
had on a jail uniform that was dirty and dingy.
My hair wasn't comb like I like it in and
it just looks awful. So I felt like maybe he
thought I was ugly now, and maybe he couldn't remember
what I looked like before this because all he see
is this. So a lot of things ran through my mind.
(35:34):
They never got to grieve for their child, and then
we're left to sit in prison for years, the prime
years of their lives while they waited hoping to get justice.
The Devil Box can never go back. They can never
go back and recover the years that they lost. But
(36:06):
Ashley is trying. She moved into her own place, started working,
is in school for health administration and management, and has
made friends with her neighbor, Miss Jackie. We kind of
bonded because she lost the child too. She lost her son,
and we bonded off dealing with that as a whole
as mother's. Like the rest of her large family, Ashley
(36:29):
loves to cook and share meals. One day, Ashley was
bringing over food to Miss Jackie, so I will just
cook all this food like I had a big family
living here with me, and I would take your food too,
and that day Miss Jackie was with her daughter, Frieda,
a sergeant in the military. When she met Freda, Ashley
felt herself opening up to love again. I enjoyed being
(36:52):
a wife. I enjoyed being a mom. I enjoyed that
life and I wanted it back. But I just didn't
know how I wanted it back because I was so
afraid of people. I was afraid to trust people. I
was afraid to be around people. And I looked up
freed to one day and I was like, this is happening.
We started talking, I guess talking in March, and I
(37:16):
actually to marry me October one. Now actually is making
a family with Frieda and Frieda's son. Everything is still
so new to me and I'm learning, but I'm so
glad that I have a partner that's willing to be
patient with me and kind with me and loving with
me and let me be a mother and additional mother
(37:36):
to her son. Ashley is also focused on advocating for
reform within the prison system. I'm using what happened to
me as a beacon for goodness and for positiveness, because
even though I was innocent, a lot of my friends
are guilty and they have to do their time, but
they still deserve to be treated with humane conditions and
(37:57):
respecting dignity. And that's not what's happening in the prisons.
But I would have never known that unless this happened
to me. Ashley applied for compensation for her wrongful conviction
from the state of Georgia. In Georgia, a specific bill
has to be passed for each individual, and Ashley's bill
(38:19):
for compensation was denied in two thousand twenty one. I
asked Ashley if she has anything she'd like to say
to listeners, and she does. If anybody's listening, mass' registered
to vote. And I say this because there's over a
hundred and ninety thousand people on parole and to say
to Georgia and they're not allowed to vote. There's over
(38:39):
nineteen thousand people that are on probation in Georgia and
they're not allowed to vote. They get out of Prayerson
after they're saved their time successfully, they pay taxes in
the state that they're not allowed to even vote for
the leadership over them in the actual state. So if
you don't vote for anybody else, vote for those who
can't vote for themselves. And that's all I gotta say.
(39:01):
To help support the cause of ex offender voting rights,
go to Women on the Rise g A dot org
or the Southern Center for Human Rights at s c
h R dot org. You'll find all those links in
our bio. Next time, Unwrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling Charles Jackson.
(39:24):
They put their guns on me. They asked me for
my driver's license, shaw my name is, I guess just
him and locked me up. So I had none to
worry about because I didn't do anything. Three four days later,
you know I was tired with murder. Thanks for listening
to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling. Please support your local
(39:45):
innocence organizations and go to the links in our bio
to see how you can help. I'd like to thank
our executive producers Jason Flam and Kevin Wurtas, as well
as our senior producer Annie Chelsea, producer Lila Robinson, and
story editor Sonya Paul. The show is edited and mixed
by Annie Chelsea, with additional production by Jeff Cleburne and
Connor Hall. The music in this production is by three
(40:08):
time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph be sure to follow
us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful
Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as well
as at Lava for Good. On all three platforms, you
can also follow me on both Instagram and Twitter at
Maggie Freeling. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling is a production
(40:29):
of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company
Number one
A note for listeners, this episode contains discussion of suicide.
Please listen with caution and care. In May of two
thousand eight, Ashley and Albert devil Bot welcomed their first baby, girl,
Mackenzie Leilani. The devil Bots were a successful military couple
(00:24):
stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, and the birth of their
daughter filled them with more joy than they ever imagined.
Once they brought baby Mackenzie home from the hospital, the
new parents put her to bed and went to sleep.
In the early morning hours, Ashley and Albert woke up
to find Mackenzie in distress. Concerned, they took her back
(00:47):
to the hospital. Maybe a couple of hours later. The
doctor comes in and told that she passed, and my
egg mouther hit the floor. He started crying and screaming
of rolland and I just kind of sat there looking
at the wall. And then I looked at the doctor
and said, go get my baby ready so we can
(01:08):
take your home. I think I was just in the
nile and shop because you just didn't tell me that
my daughter. We did, and then Columbu's police department showed up,
and that's when everything pretty much went to hell. My
name is Ashley Jordan's. I spent twelve years and two
(01:29):
months in the Georgia Department of Corrections prison system. Ropefully
convicted the recurme that I did not commit from love
of for good. This is wrongful conviction with Maggie Freeling today.
Ashley Jordan's actually Jordan was born in Laurel, Mississippi, on
(02:01):
May thirteenth, nine four, to Brenda Dolores Jones and Thurman
Jordan's sr oh Astley. Growing up, let me tell you
about the little Poe. That's a nickname Poe. That's Ashley's mom, Brenda.
She was question. She was a sweet little girl. They
never had to get no whippers for nothing. She was
(02:23):
shod and you know I didn't take much to herd
of feeding. Ashley grew up with three brothers in a
military family. After just a few years in Mississippi, Ashley's
dad moved their family to Detroit, Michigan. Ashley adored her dad.
My dad was very hands on with us. He always
made sure we we showed love to each other as
(02:45):
brothers and sisters. He helped pray with us at night.
Ashley's family loved any excuse to get together, standon is
very big, and they like to cook out a lot,
so there's a cook out for every thing. We love
to get together and eat. So that's one of the
fondest memories I have growing up is being able to
get together with our family memberis and we eat and
(03:07):
have a good time. But behind closed doors, family life
wasn't as picture perfect as it seemed. My childhood life
with my mom and dad, Mary was very I like
to call it chaotic. It was just a lot of
It was always a lot of arguing going on. My
mom was a heavy drinker um and my dad wasn't,
(03:30):
so a lot of times that was a problem because
they bumped heads with a lot of things. Her parents
marriage eventually fell apart, so Ashley's mom packed up and
moved with the kids back to their home state. So
we moved back to Mississippi in my mom got a
(03:52):
job and pretty much just settled us there. I don't
think we understood as kids that we were gonna be
living in in in Mississippi. I believe that we were
just going to visit and we're gonna make home to Detroit.
But we started registering for school. It just kind of
came out of nowhere. Where we had to start over
again as kids. Brenda worked hard as a single parent
(04:16):
to make ends meet. She and Ashley are close now,
but at the time, Ashley wanted to get out of
that situation. To be honest with you, I didn't want
to say my mom anyway at that time because of
her drinking. Um, I just didn't like it. All my
other friends their moms did drink like that, So I
saw a difference in that pattern. Like I said, she
(04:38):
was a great mother when it came to taking care
of us. It's just the drinking was very it put
it put a strain on me in our relationship. Early on,
Ashley opted to leave her mom's house and instead live
with her grandparents. However, things weren't much better. Once she
made the move. She started to notice similarities between her
(04:59):
grandfather's be savior and her mother's My grandfather, her dad
was a heavy drinker, heavy drinker, was put in lightly.
He was an alcoholic. So I've seen the pattern of
where my mom where the filtered on into her. So
in the house of my grandmother, we dealt with a
lot of the same chaos. At the same time she
(05:24):
was facing these family troubles, Ashley It was also maturing
and learning to live her own life. Here's Brenda again,
and she grow up and got older. She still coming
out of it and still a door that She became
machill leaders school stuff like that, played basketball Northeast Jones Tigers. Yes,
Lady Tigers. M Yeah, she was a basketball players, chill
(05:49):
leader with the fast sixty legs. Yes. Ashley also loved school.
She was smart and ambitious. She even had a career
picked out for herself, one that she admits was inspired
by her own unique smile. You see, not have a
gap between my teeth, and I've always been very fond
(06:10):
of teeth. I like teeth and how they look, and
I wanted to be orthodonas but Ashley wound up on
a different path. The turning point came one day when
she was out shopping with a friend and we were
shopping at a place that was right next door to
the the the recruiting office for the all of the
branches in the military, and it was a recruiter setting
(06:31):
outside smoking a cigarette. Ashley was impressed by his uniform.
She told him he looked spiffy, and he said, you
want one? I said whatever, And before I knew it.
I was sitting in his office looking at brochures. In
(06:52):
my family, they always encourage you go to college, go
to college, and I thought, you know what, I've just
been in twelve years in school. I don't want to
go to college at He's not right there. I did.
She did want to get a college education eventually, so
Ashley was sold on the idea that the military would
finance her ambition. And all that can people was pay
for college. Pay for college. I didn't tell anybody I
(07:13):
was joining got into my mom. I didn't tell anybody.
I just kept a secret. After high school graduation in
two thousand two, Ashley's friends started going off to college
and my mom came on three one day and she said, so,
where do you guy going on? And I said what
do you mean? She said, are you going to school
or you're gonna start working or something? And I was like, well,
(07:36):
I got something else playing. She said like what, Because
you haven't said anything to me. I looked at One
day my baby came home. She came home from work
say she was gonna join the arm I said a
whole On the day she told Brenda the news, Ashley
brought an army recruiter to her mom's house to meet
and talk about her plans. So he comes walking up
the driveway and she looked at me and she just
(07:59):
thoughted ring me and she was so excited. Said are
you happy? And she said, yes, I'm happy. She said,
this is a great career. My mom was the most
supportive person I had in my army career. Ashley originally
joined as part of the Army Reserve and wound up
stationed in South Korea in two thousand seven. She soon
(08:22):
worked her way up to sergeant. Ashley loved the military,
and after only three months in South Korea, she was
about to find another love. Tell me how you meet Albert?
But my first time, I was actually going into my
barracks room for the first time, and he walked by
and I complimented his calf muscles. He got some nice
(08:46):
cat muscles, and he looked at me and was looking
at me like this girl was weird. Albert devil Budd
was a mail clerk in Ashley's unit. She would often
see him around. He was Lord Reagan and I was
I ranking, So he just kind of kept it professional,
going back and forth and beyond. Every guy at that
(09:08):
unit was trying to get my attention to talk to me,
but he wasn't and that kind of intrigued me. So
I started to like him and I kind of went
after him um and one day I stopped and talking
to him and we started watching DVDs together and we
realized we had that we love the same kind of
(09:29):
movies and the same kind of music, and that's kind
of where the conversation started. And so I knew we
were going on our first date. So besides his cabs,
what else did you like about him when he dressed?
I have this I love the way he dressed, and
I realized that he was really nice, like beyond just
(09:49):
being a soldier, he was a really nice guy. There's
was a whirlwind romance. You know, it was kind of quick,
but I don't have a time limit on love. I'm
gonna say that I'm the kind of person that I is.
There is there, and I'm gonna go for it. So
we met, we started dating August two thousand and seven.
We got engaged September two thousand seven, and we got
married over nine, two thousand and seven, and the couple
(10:15):
had more good news while still in Korea. After their engagement,
Ashley found out she was pregnant. I threw the pretty
segess in space and she looks, look look, and he
looked at me. He's like, what does this mean. Let's
say that means we're pregnant. So we were super excited
to be having a baby. She and Albert wanted to
(10:35):
have their baby in the States, so Ashley was able
to get an honorable discharge. I want to be a
hands on mom. I don't want to be thinking that
I'm gonna be shipped here and shipp there and my
kids are being transferred from here to there. I just
didn't want to deal with that. I'd rather be at
home with my kids. Before coming to South Korea, Albert
had served in Iraq. The newlyweds didn't want to worry
(10:58):
about him being deployed again, so they found a military
base where Albert could be on active duty without being
marshaled out. So that's how we wind up in Georgia
because that was the only due to station that was
offering him a non deployable status where he wouldn't miss
the baby's birth or I wouldn't be left alone. By
(11:21):
March two thousand eight, the young couple was back in
the States, getting ready for the birth of their baby.
A few months later, Albert was asleep and Ashley was
beside him in bed, watching TV and eating. Let me
tell you what I was eating. I had a tray
full of food. I had chocolate chip cookies, two peanut
butter and jelly son, which is a glass of milk,
a bowl of cereals, and grapes and strawberries. And I
(11:42):
was sitting there in the band eating and I was
watching George Lopez laughing, and I started having contractions and
they got so bad that at one point I slung
my fists over on the bed because the contraction hit
me so hard, and I hit him and he said,
what's wrong, and I say, I think I'm having the baby.
(12:03):
They headed to Martin Army Community Hospital. We're on. Ashley
gave birth to a baby girl, Mackenzie Leilanie. Ashley had
always loved the name Mackenzie, and Leilani was chosen by Albert,
who is pullowen. I've had Mackenzie name picked out since
the ninth grade. I was super excited to nake my
(12:23):
daughter McKenzie. So her limitle name was Leilanie and it
means beautiful flower and pull Owen culture. After two and
a half days in the hospital, Ashley and Albert were
able to take Mackenzie home. As for many new parents,
their first evening home was nerve wracking. I was afraid
(12:46):
to go to sleep. My mind Frank kept thinking, if
you go to sleep, something's gonnapp She's gonna roll over,
she's gonna smother. I don't know, it was just very conscious.
I was scared. My mom, of course, you know, advice
from older people was saying, actually, you can go to sleep,
and Albert was already asleep preparing to go back to work,
so Ashley relented and tried to get some sleep herself
with Mackenzie in the bassinet next to the bed. In
(13:13):
the early morning hours of June one, Ashley and Albert
were both sleeping fitfully. We were tussling in the bed
and we both woke each other up, and we both
were dreaming. And I looked at him, he looked at me.
I said, I just had the craziest dream, and he
said me too. And then they heard Mackenzie fussing in
her bassonet. I said, well, is your turn the feeder?
(13:35):
So he was getting the bottle ready and I was
getting wrapped beast and that, I said, I was. I
would tell him by my dream. I said, I was
dreaming I was falling to the elevator shaft, I said,
but when I got to the bottom, I woke up.
He said, Oh my god, I was dreaming I was
falling off a cliff, he said, but when I got
to the bottom, I woke up. I said, that's crazy.
And we just started feeder and then I noticed the
(13:55):
lump on her head and I said, what is that.
Actually called the hospital and spoke to a doctor about
the lump of Mackenzie's forehead, but the doctor said she
was fine. So then we tried to feed her and
she was like she was gasping for air, like she
just looked she just couldn't breathe. And I called him
(14:16):
back and said, we're bringing her in. And by this
time we're hysterical because she doesn't look good. She looks
like she's turning colors, and we're we left everything at
this array, and we looked at such a her. We
left our cell phones at the house. Within minutes, Mackenzie
had taken a turn for the worst, and we get
to the hospital and before he didn't even stopped the car.
(14:38):
I was jumping out and I ran the tide of
the Mercy room and I threw her out at the
nurse and I said, please help my baby. Something wrong.
(15:01):
This episode is underwritten by A I G, a leading
global insurance company. A I G is committed to corporate
social responsibility and to making a positive difference in the
lives of its employees and in the communities where they
work and live. In light of the compelling need for
pro bono legal assistance, and in recognition of A i
g s commitment to criminal and social justice reform, the
(15:24):
A i G pro Bono Program provides free legal services
and other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. Ashley called
her mom from the hospital to tell her what was happening.
Brenda and her husband had already planned to come meet
Mackenzie the following day, but now she was racing to
(15:46):
get to the hospital. We just trying to get them,
trying to get the fens that could and see just
as a babe ONEm on the way. We're errating, We're scare.
We don't know what's going on. A couple of hours
passed as the new parents waited anxiously for news of
their baby. Finally, a doctor came to tell Ashley and
(16:09):
Albert that Mackenzie had passed away. Albert collapsed on the floor.
He started crying and screaming and rolling and I just
kind of sat there looking at the wall. And then
I looked at the doctor and said, go get my
baby ready so we could take your home. I think
I was just in denial and shock because you just
(16:30):
didn't tell me that my daughter was dead, and I
just didn't want to believe it. And then almost immediately
after Albert and Ashley heard the news about their baby girl,
personnel from the military showed up, and I was a
little weird about why they were there. And then Columbus
Police department showed up, and that's when everything pretty much
(16:55):
went to hell. And in my mind frame, I was like, no,
this is not This is not normal. Nobody calls the
police when somebody passed it away. This is not normal.
She wasn't murdered. Why are they here? And when they
separated us, and the kind of questions they would asking
in the way the detective was looking at me, that's
when I was I said, they think we've done this.
(17:22):
Police took note that Albert was devastated, but that Ashley
wasn't showing as much emotion. And at that time, I
just lost the baby, and um, I don't know how
to grieve. At this point, it was just kind of unbelief,
like this was it was like a nightmare happening before
my eyes. But at that point police took Ashley back
(17:45):
to her and Albert's apartment to photograph and search their home.
They began questioning her about what had happened that night,
where we're where was I? Like? What time I went
to sleep? How long was Albert to sleep before I
into sleep? When do we do that day? Who came
to the house? Things like that, they were asking. Once
(18:11):
the police were done at the apartment, Ashley and Albert
were left to process all that had just happened. We
couldn't even sleep in our room because her room was
right next to ours with all her stuff, so we
slept downstairs. We we couldn't go up there. By this point,
(18:32):
Ashley's mother had arrived. That was just that was two devils.
That was just oh, that was two months. Oh. And
I asked me just crying and and Avery. He was
just screaming that background. She was slowing and he wore,
you know, asked was slower and he was just screaming,
the crying, and she said, my mom would go, let
me go, try to take care of, you know, look
(18:53):
after him. The next morning, the police called and said
the preliminary autopsy report was ready and that the couple
should come to the station. Do you remember when you
(19:15):
realized that they thought that you and Albert had done this?
I realized that when he separated us, and then that's
when interrogation started. Ashley was interrogated by Detective Andrew Tyner.
I would never forgive him because he caught me a monster,
and he said the preliminary I've talked to results said
that she died from blunt force trauma to the head
(19:38):
and she had multiple score fractures, and that we did it.
Ashley and Albert were adamant they had nothing to do
with Mackenzie's death and had no idea what happened to her.
Yet they were held and interrogated for hours. No mind
you on postpartum. I just had a baby. I am Margine,
(20:01):
and my breast of filling up with milk, and they
just set them interrogating me for hours and wouldn't give
me any feminine hygiene products, and I was bleeding from
having the baby, and they just sat there and kept
interrogating me, and so I didn't understand what was happening.
(20:24):
So I just assumed that I would go home, like
I just thought that we would go home. I didn't
think it would be what happened for sure, but we
didn't go home. And eventually the detectives tried to turn
Ashley and Albert against each other. If one of y'all
just say y'all did it, because both of y'all gonna
go to jail, and both of you'all gonna go to prison.
(20:45):
But if one of y'all just say y'all did it,
then one of y'all can go home and help fight
for the other way. That's what they told us. But
they made sure nothing was recording when they did that.
And he was about to say he did it just
so and go home and won't go to jail, and
I looked at him and I grabbed his hand and
I said, no, you're not. You will not lie for
(21:07):
these people. He said, but I don't want you to
go to jail, said, I don't care. We're gonna go
together then, and that's just what it's gonna be, I said,
because we didn't do anything wrong. Ashley and Albert were
arrested that same day. Did you think it was possible
(21:27):
that they could have done this at all? Did that?
Did you think that was possible? Oh? No, baby, I
never even think twice, not even for a split sucker,
that they dune something to that baby. That's like, oh
that we was the only child and they had everything
going for them. How you say they had everything going
for them. Ashley was charged with malice murder, felony murder,
(21:51):
and cruelty to children in the first degree. And it
was the most humiliating experience is being booked into the
county jail. They strip you of everything that was ever yours.
I'm bleeding from having a baby. They don't provide you
(22:13):
with any type of extra clothing. They just give you.
They give you their uniform and I said, well, I
don't have any underwear and I'm bleeding. But it was like, so,
we don't provide that. And they sent me in a
cell and a cold sale for hours on concrete, and
then I got took a mug shot and they put
(22:35):
me in a suicide sale, and I remember bleeding in
a lot of my pants. I just feel disgusted. I
just remember crying and crying in that sale, thinking this
can't be happening to us, like we didn't we didn't
do nothing wrong. Alone in the cell, Ashley's mind was racing.
(22:57):
I started thinking about him. I started thinking about our daughter.
I started thinking about our life and how they were
portraying us to be. I want to being on top
of the world. I a marriage, I was mad a baby,
and then I woke up in the whole robles on
top of me and I didn't know how to breathe.
And that then put moment is when I contemplated killing myself.
(23:21):
I just kept looking around thinking like what can I do?
How can I do it? Over a year later, on October,
the trial started. The prosecutor was Sadanna Daily. Ashley and
(23:44):
Albert each had a separate defense team. One of the
things that the state really wanted to present was to
depict Ashley as a cold hearted, really this angry black woman,
because that's the kind of woman that would harm her
(24:05):
own child. This is Jimminy Rodgers. She's a criminal defense
attorney and a doctoral student in criminal justice and criminology
and has represented Ashley, and so what the jury heard
was the state saying that Ashley was this cold hearted
woman who was controlling, controlling of Albert, and that she
(24:29):
didn't show any our appropriate sadness when her baby died,
and that whatever was going on, they were trying to
hide things. And then they presented Dr. Derressol to say
that there is no way, there's no other way other
than intentionally an intentional blunt force trauma, that the injuries
(24:53):
to Mackenzie would have occurred. Dr Laura Derrissau was a
medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the
state's primary witness. She performed the autopsy on Mackenzie the
day after she died. Dr Derrisau said she found extensive
fractures on Mackenzie's head and bleeding in the brain, and
(25:14):
once she saw blood, she deemed this to be a
homicide and reached out, called out to law enforcement and
communicated that unless the parents had some other explanation for this,
then it had to be blunt force trauma, either by
a series of blows to Mackenzie's head or a crushing
(25:37):
type of injury. Dr Derrissaw concluded that the injuries happened
near the time of Mackenzie's death by no more than
four hours, and the injuries were so traumatic that if
they had happened during birth, the hospital would have noticed.
The prosecution concluded that, without any other explanation, this was
(25:57):
a homicide by the only two people who were with
Mackenzie that night. The state also presented a jailhouse informant,
Melvin Tarver, who had been in jail at the same
time as Albert. He testified that on the morning that
trial was about to start, Albert told him that his
(26:19):
wife had harmed the baby. Tarver's story was that Albert
told him he had gone out to get drugs that night,
and when he returned, the baby wasn't moving. According to Albert,
he asked Ashley, you know what you did? What did
you do? And as she says nothing, I just spanked
her and put her to bed. Tell me about the
(26:40):
jail house snitch. Can you tell me what you thought
when you saw them on the stand. I was living.
I was ready to jump over that table and fight,
and I'm not a lining person. But when he came
to the door, I looked at Albert, I said, do
you know him? He said, no, I don't know him
at all, and I know he was in line because
I'm sociable. I'm the person that can walk into a
(27:02):
room full of strangers and make friends. He's gonna walk
into the room and sit by himself. He's not talking
to anybody because he's quiet. He's very humble, very to himself.
So no, so I didn't believe it. But I was
so mad because I was looking, what is he? What
is who is this guy? But what made me mad
(27:23):
was that the fact that the judge even allowed it
to happen. Jimminique says that off the bat, Ashley and
Albert were at a disadvantage. There was a systemic breakdown
in a fundamentally fair trial for Albert and Ashley. They
(27:44):
sat in jail for quite some time without proper representation,
and that sets the stage for what happened with their
attorneys once they got in court. Ashley hired private attorney
Sandy Callahan and Albert was appointed Bill Mason, and both
of these were highly respected attorneys. They had two very
(28:05):
different perspectives of going into the trial. Albert's attorney's strategy
was to not challenge the medical evidence to be presented
by doctor Derrissol and the prosecutor. On the other hand,
Ashley's attorney wanted and intended to challenge that medical evidence.
(28:26):
In order to challenge the prosecution's medical evidence, Callahan brought
in John Plunkett, a forensic expert, to talk about shaking
baby syndrome or SPS. The science behind this diagnosis was
starting to be questioned at the time. Experts had found
other causes or conditions that could mimic symptoms of SPS. Today,
(28:46):
SBS is acknowledged to be junk science. But there was
a problem with Plunkett refuting Dr Derrissov. The judge Douglas
Pullen did not require the prosecution to turn over the
medical evidence they were going to use at trial, and
there was no way that the defendant can't prepare a
defense a medical defense without the evidence that the prosecutor has,
(29:11):
And because of the collaborative efforts of the judge and
the prosecutor in the case, the defense was of never
able to get this information. So at that point Ashley's
attorney asked for a continuance. Albert's attorney opposed it, and
the judge, Judge Douglas Poland, denied it and so that
(29:34):
was the context in which the trial began, so ultimately
Ashley was unable to have a medical defense. In fact,
Callahan didn't put on much of a defense for Ashley
at all. During closing arguments, prosecutor Daily pointed out that
the defense did not present any evidence contradicting Dr Deissov.
(29:55):
Neither the defense attorney nor the judge stop the prosecutor
when she shifted the burden too the devil Bots, saying
they had the responsibility to present some evidence that this
was not homicide, and they would have, but they don't
have any evidence. And then they ended by arguing and
(30:17):
closing that the state didn't even have to prove, really
what we consider proof beyond a reasonable doubt. At the
end of any trial, if there's a doubt, the jury
must acquit. The prosecution's burden was to prove beyond any
doubt that Albert and Ashley were guilty. But in her
closing argument, Daily shifted the meaning of reasonable doubt, and
(30:41):
she goes on and says, this means we don't have
to prove that ninety percent. You don't have to be
ninety percent sure, you don't have to be eighty percent sure.
You don't have to be fifty one percent sure. It
does not mean to a mathematical certainty. The fifty one
percent sure is so offensive because it simply means that
(31:05):
this prosecution doesn't have to present and doesn't have to
meet any Burthen. Either Ashley nor Albert's attorneys objected to
that misrepresentation of reasonable doubt, and Daily went on to
make other misstatements and inaccuracies that the defense failed to
object to as well. After a short four day trial,
(31:28):
on October nine, Ashley and Albert were convicted of all
three charges and sentenced to life in prison. When Ashley
(31:54):
got to prison, she had no hope left. I will
try to commit suicide, and in I tried to take
all my appeals, and I had saw my medicine, and
I tried to do it again, but a friend walked
in and stopped me. Ashley knew she needed to create
a routine if she wanted to survive, so she got
a job and started making friends and taking courses and classes.
(32:19):
One thing I learned while I was there was to
stack your paper. And people say stack your paper your money.
I think, no, stack your resume. In two thousand nine,
Ashley's team moved for a new trial, arguing ineffective assistance
of counsel based largely on a failure to present medical evidence,
(32:40):
rebutting the state's case. A few years later, in Jimmy
Nique came on Ashley's case, they were only arrested because
there was a lack of the ability for them, as
parents to explain what happened to their child. They were
(33:01):
then denied the opportunity to have a full medical analysis
of their case to get a fair day in court.
That day finally came Judge Arthur Smith the Third heard
medical testimonies from defense experts who concluded that Mackenzie's injuries
likely happened before birth. After years of appeals being denied,
(33:27):
finally on February, the Georgia Supreme Court vacated their convictions
based on in effective assistance of counsel at trial. Tell
me about when you found out Ashley and Albert we're
going to get out. Oh I fat miss why. I
just called me and told me. She told me. I
(33:48):
dropped the phone. Brenda couldn't wait to tell her daughter
the good news. She called me and I said, well, Astley,
I said, y'all, convicion has been overturn sleety I heard
h was she's she's screamed. She just just recism. She's
a runnest, greedest Thanka. She comes a thank you ze,
(34:09):
thank you ze Thanka. After their release, the current district
Attorney Mark Jones apologized publicly to the devil Bots on
behalf of the court. In his apology, Joan said, there
is now quote mounting medical evidence that says the child
was born this way. Ashley was finally free, but although
(34:33):
she and Albert stayed in touch during their imprisonment and
we're able to see each other occasionally, the trauma they
had endured was too much for their marriage. While they
were still incarcerated, Albert asked for a divorce. He was
so busy fight for his life. How do you fight
for your marriage to stay when you're trying to fight
for your life? He said, he didn't even know me,
(34:53):
no more of a wife. He didn't even remember me
as that person. What did that feel like when he
said when he said that, devastate? I was devastated. I
felt less than I felt ugly because of course I
can't dress up. It looked nice like I would if
we were home, So whever time he saw me. I
(35:14):
had on a jail uniform that was dirty and dingy.
My hair wasn't comb like I like it in and
it just looks awful. So I felt like maybe he
thought I was ugly now, and maybe he couldn't remember
what I looked like before this because all he see
is this. So a lot of things ran through my mind.
(35:34):
They never got to grieve for their child, and then
we're left to sit in prison for years, the prime
years of their lives while they waited hoping to get justice.
The Devil Box can never go back. They can never
go back and recover the years that they lost. But
(36:06):
Ashley is trying. She moved into her own place, started working,
is in school for health administration and management, and has
made friends with her neighbor, Miss Jackie. We kind of
bonded because she lost the child too. She lost her son,
and we bonded off dealing with that as a whole
as mother's. Like the rest of her large family, Ashley
(36:29):
loves to cook and share meals. One day, Ashley was
bringing over food to Miss Jackie, so I will just
cook all this food like I had a big family
living here with me, and I would take your food too,
and that day Miss Jackie was with her daughter, Frieda,
a sergeant in the military. When she met Freda, Ashley
felt herself opening up to love again. I enjoyed being
(36:52):
a wife. I enjoyed being a mom. I enjoyed that
life and I wanted it back. But I just didn't
know how I wanted it back because I was so
afraid of people. I was afraid to trust people. I
was afraid to be around people. And I looked up
freed to one day and I was like, this is happening.
We started talking, I guess talking in March, and I
(37:16):
actually to marry me October one. Now actually is making
a family with Frieda and Frieda's son. Everything is still
so new to me and I'm learning, but I'm so
glad that I have a partner that's willing to be
patient with me and kind with me and loving with
me and let me be a mother and additional mother
(37:36):
to her son. Ashley is also focused on advocating for
reform within the prison system. I'm using what happened to
me as a beacon for goodness and for positiveness, because
even though I was innocent, a lot of my friends
are guilty and they have to do their time, but
they still deserve to be treated with humane conditions and
(37:57):
respecting dignity. And that's not what's happening in the prisons.
But I would have never known that unless this happened
to me. Ashley applied for compensation for her wrongful conviction
from the state of Georgia. In Georgia, a specific bill
has to be passed for each individual, and Ashley's bill
(38:19):
for compensation was denied in two thousand twenty one. I
asked Ashley if she has anything she'd like to say
to listeners, and she does. If anybody's listening, mass' registered
to vote. And I say this because there's over a
hundred and ninety thousand people on parole and to say
to Georgia and they're not allowed to vote. There's over
(38:39):
nineteen thousand people that are on probation in Georgia and
they're not allowed to vote. They get out of Prayerson
after they're saved their time successfully, they pay taxes in
the state that they're not allowed to even vote for
the leadership over them in the actual state. So if
you don't vote for anybody else, vote for those who
can't vote for themselves. And that's all I gotta say.
(39:01):
To help support the cause of ex offender voting rights,
go to Women on the Rise g A dot org
or the Southern Center for Human Rights at s c
h R dot org. You'll find all those links in
our bio. Next time, Unwrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling Charles Jackson.
(39:24):
They put their guns on me. They asked me for
my driver's license, shaw my name is, I guess just
him and locked me up. So I had none to
worry about because I didn't do anything. Three four days later,
you know I was tired with murder. Thanks for listening
to Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling. Please support your local
(39:45):
innocence organizations and go to the links in our bio
to see how you can help. I'd like to thank
our executive producers Jason Flam and Kevin Wurtas, as well
as our senior producer Annie Chelsea, producer Lila Robinson, and
story editor Sonya Paul. The show is edited and mixed
by Annie Chelsea, with additional production by Jeff Cleburne and
Connor Hall. The music in this production is by three
(40:08):
time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph be sure to follow
us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful
Conviction Podcast, and on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as well
as at Lava for Good. On all three platforms, you
can also follow me on both Instagram and Twitter at
Maggie Freeling. Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling is a production
(40:29):
of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company
Number one
Hosts And Creators
Lauren Bright Pacheco
Maggie Freleng
Jason Flom
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.