Criminal Justice Natters: Recent Episodes
Ed Johnston
A introduction to a new podcast called Criminal Justice Natters, hosted by Dr Ed Johnston. Ed is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of England. His research interests are centred in Criminal Justice, procedure and fair trial rights.
In this Natter, David Rudolf discussing the Michael Peterson case, as featured in the Netflix documentary 'The Staircase'. We also discuss some of the factual inaccuracies regarding the HBO dramatization of the case. We also discuss David's podcast 'Abuse of Power' as well as his new book 'American Injustice'
Liam Walker Q.C. is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, he is regularly instructed to defend those accused of the most serious offences. In this Natter, Liam and I discuss 'The Case of The Colston 4', which was covered globally in the summer of 2020. All four defendants were acquitted and Liam explains why that occurred.
In this Natter, I speak to Charlotte Henry, who is a practicing defence lawyer for Tuckers Solicitors. We discuss the law around Joint Enterprise, why the law is wrong and in need of reform. We talk about Charlotte's Brother, Alex, who is imprisoned under the Joint Enterprise law and finally we discuss Charlotte's and JENGBA's (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association) efforts to reform the law through the means of a Private Member's Bill.
In this brief chat with The Byline Times journalist, James Doleman, we talk about the the #Danielmorgan murder, the subsequent police cover and the media's involvement in the case.
In this Natter, I am joined by the Shadow Minister for Legal Aid, Karl Turner, The Director of the University of Exeter Evidence Based Justice Lab, Dr. Rebecca Helm and renowned US defence Attorney, Jerry Buting. We discuss the issues with the Early Guilty Plea regime in both England and Wales and the United States as well as other problems which impact on adversarial criminal justice.
In this Natter, Mark talks to me about Scott's conviction of the murder of his wife, Laci Peterson.
In this video I speak to Liam and Hannah about their experiences with the criminal justice and system and their criminal justice charity - The Defendant. The charity looks to support those who are involved in the CJS at any stage.
In this Natter, I speak to Sophie Marsh, PhD candidate and Associate Lecturer at UWE, Bristol. We discuss why cases of rape have such a high rate of attrition and ultimately, low conviction rates. We also talk about Rape Myths and their prevalence in both society and the criminal justice system.
In this episode, I speak to Steven Avery's closest friend Sandy Greenman. In the wake of the #kathleenzellner news last week that there is a witness who saw Bobby Dassey moving the Rav4 onto the Avery Salvage Yard, I wanted to speak to Sandy to hear how the family have reacted to the news.
The murder of Jodi Jones, a 14-year-old girl, took place in Dalkeith, Scotland on 30 June 2003. Her 15-year-old boyfriend, Luke Mitchell, came under suspicion, but it was several months before he was arrested. Mitchell was tried for the murder and after Scotland's longest single-accused trial, Mitchell was convicted in January 2005 despite there being no direct evidence against him.
In this talk with Dr. Sandra Lean, we hear from the defence perspective and what will happen next.
In this interview, I sit down with the world's leading academic on false confessions, Prof. Gisli Gudjonsson. We discuss his career and the cases his worked on and the many issues surrounding false confessions during police interrogations
In this interview, I speak to Kathleen Zellner about the Avery case, other prominent miscarriages of justice and her career in criminal defence.
I speak to Chris Atkins, author of 'Doing a Stretch' to discuss his thoughts and experiences on the prison system of England and Wales. We talk about the crisis of an understaffed prison regime and look at the issue of whether the prison system is a 'holiday camp'.
In this episode, Laura Nirider, from Netflix's Making a Murderer discuss the Brendan Dassey case, the notion of why people make false confessions, general criminal justice issues and an update on Brendan's appeal and his current wellbeing.
In this episode I talk to Dean Strang about the Making a Murderer documentary, the Steven Avery investigation and trial the subsequent potential miscarriage of justice. We also talk about Dean's books 'Worse than the Devil: Anarchists, Clarence Darrow and Justice in a Time of Terror' and 'Keep the Wretches in Order'. We also talk about poverty, including poverty of education and mental health services.
Jerry Buting talks to Criminal Justice Natters about the Steven Avery case, the botched police investigation and how he really thinks the blood and key evidence were found. We also discuss what it was like working on a case whilst being followed by a documentary team, how 'internet fame' impacted him and discuss his new new non-profit organisation the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences.
Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, Professor of Law at Goldsmiths, University of London, will be discussing his book 'Improperly Obtained Evidence in Anglo-American and Continental Law.' Professor Giannoulopoulos’ book offers an extensive cosmopolitan, cross-cultural insight into the perennial controversy over the use of improperly obtained evidence in criminal trials, bringing together the Anglo-American and Continental legal cultures, highlighting fascinating synergies that manifest themselves - and move the debate - beyond the stereotypical divide between adversarial and inquisitorial criminal procedure. In his presentation, Prof Giannoulopoulos will concentrate on the applications of the ‘rights thesis’ (the idea of excluding evidence to protect constitutional or human rights) to contemporary debates on improperly obtained evidence, with an emphasis on confessional evidence obtained in violation of the right to custodial legal assistance, against the backdrop of the seminal ECHR jurisprudence of recent years that has had a significant transformational effect across European jurisdictions in this area.
On this episode I speak to David Rudolf from the Netflix documentary The Staircase and the co-host of the podcast Series, Abuse of Power. David and I discuss the Peterson case, problems within the contemporary criminal justice system and talk about the horrifying miscarriages of justice identified in his podcast, Abuse of Power.
Criminal Justice Natters speaks to Chris Daw Q.C. about his route to a career in law and his best selling book, Justice on Trial. The book discusses radical reform to the criminal justice system and we discuss a couple of these core points including: The regulation of the drug market and draw comparisons to Switzerland. We also discuss the problems with the dark weapon in terms of importing illegal firearms and issues with child pornography.
This is an interview with Liam Allan. In 2016, Liam was arrested on suspicion of multiple rapes and sexual assault. These allegations were false. Liam joins us to natter about experience of the criminal process and it's monumental failings. Liam also talks about his new criminal justice charity, aimed at making the process simpler for suspects accused of crimes.
This is an introduction to a new podcast called Criminal Justice Natters, hosted by Dr. Ed Johnston. Ed is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of England. His research interested are centred in criminal justice and procedure; in particular he has an interest in the law of disclosure, fair trial rights and adversarialism.