Iowa Wrongful Convictions - (Erica Nichols Cook) - Part 2

10/31/21 • 29 min

On October 8, 1980, a man named William Beeman from Muscatine, Iowa was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Michele Winkel. His lawyer, Erica Nichols Cook who is the current director of the wrongful conviction Division, at Iowa State Public Defender, believes her client is innocent. She has been fighting for his release for a few yrs. Erica sat down with me to discuss the case, why she thinks Mr. Beeman is innocent and her expectations from the justice system.

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Iowa Wrongful Convictions - (Erica Nichols Cook) - Part 1

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In America, sometimes innocent people are investigated, charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison for crimes they haven't committed and ended up spending half of their lives behind bars before they could be exonerated.
In this episode, I sat down with Erica Nichols Cook, director of the wrongful conviction Division at Iowa State Public Defender. Erica is on a mission, she is called to be a fighter, and her fight is to free as many wrongfully convicted people in the state of Iowa as she can.

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Alexander Clark - (Daniel G. Clark) - Part 1

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Alexander G. Clark, arguably the most influential black man to ever lived in the state of Iowa in the 19th century. Some historians believe that he was probably the second most influential black man after Frederick Douglass that no one knows about.

Alexander Clark was born in 1826, in Washington County, Pennsylvania, to John Clark a former slave, and Rebecca Darnes Clark. At age 14 Alexander Clark moved from Pennsylvania to go live with his uncle George Darnes in Cincinnati Ohio, where a young Alexander learned barbering skills. In 1842 at age of 16, he left Cincinnati and moved to Muscatine Iowa, where he opened a barbershop and became a prominent barber in Muscatine. Alexander called Muscatine a home for over 40yrs.

In this episode, I sat down with one of the men who studied Alexander G. Clark, Muscatine's Own, Daniel G. Clark to discuss the life, contributions, and accomplishments of Alexander G. Clark to the state of Iowa.

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