Josh Dubin & J.D. Tomlinson — Josh Dubin is a civil-rights and wrongful-conviction attorney affiliated with the Innocence Project who has exonerated multiple people. J.D. Tomlinson is the former prosecuting attorney for Lorain County, Ohio, who agreed to grant the Ohio 4 a new trial before leaving office and was himself charged with felonies he says were politically motivated.
The gist
The episode is a deep dive into the Ohio 4 case, in which four men were convicted of a 1991 murder largely on the testimony of a single informant, William Avery Jr., who later admitted he fabricated the whole story. Josh Dubin recaps how he pressed Tomlinson to act, and Tomlinson describes reviewing the record, canceling his Thanksgiving, and filing a joint motion for a new trial. They then walk through how the incoming prosecutor, the Ohio Attorney General, and the courts moved to block and ultimately withdraw that relief days after Tomlinson left office. Tomlinson also recounts being charged with three felonies amid a contentious workplace relationship and what he frames as a politically driven investigation. The conversation broadens into prosecutorial immunity, the grand jury system, policing, bias, and how upbringing shapes who ends up in the criminal justice system.
Big reveals
- Informant William Avery Jr. walked into the FBI in 2004 and admitted he fabricated his entire account implicating the four men.
- Tomlinson reveals he was charged with three felonies (tampering, intimidation, bribery) on October 1, 2024, just before the election.
- Tomlinson alleges the lead detective investigating him was simultaneously trying to sleep with his girlfriend, with texts urging her to 'get back at him.'
- Exculpatory texts proving his innocence were allegedly withheld until two days after the election.
- Reviewing just two cases from the same assistant prosecutor, Tomlinson found six people wrongly convicted who served about 162 years combined.
- Judge Cook initially rules the case should not be delayed, then reverses 180 degrees three days later after swearing in the new prosecutor.
- Incoming prosecutor Tony Silow's second-day act in office was to withdraw the joint motion, undoing the path to the men's freedom.
- Dubin says he found a document showing Silow himself had once been assigned to investigate alternative suspects in the case.
Things worth remembering
- A famous quote holds that a grand jury 'can indict a ham sandwich' because the standard is far lower than to convict.
- The defense is not allowed to be present at grand jury proceedings, making it a one-sided affair.
- Prosecutors have immunity, so there are typically no consequences for withholding exculpatory evidence.
- Al Cleveland's alibi was provided in part by Shark Tank's Damon John, who was with him in New York the day of the murder.
- In the Nancy Smith / Joseph Allen case, the alleged abuse house was a slab home with no basement, contradicting the children's coached stories.
- A federal court found Al Cleveland 'presented a credible claim of actual innocence,' a rare statement.
- Ohio's statutory compensation for the wrongfully imprisoned is about $50,000 per year, and exonerees often must still fight to collect it.
- As county prosecutor, Tomlinson handled about 10 fatal police-involved shootings in four years and declined to route clear cases to the grand jury.
- Tomlinson cites a Harvard study finding police use of force was not biased toward Black people, despite public perception driven by viral videos.