Today we're introducing you to Earwitness. Earwitness is one of Lava for Good’s most important investigative series and will be released right here in the Bone Valley feed. You’ll see it shown here as Bone Valley Season 4 but it is a completely different show told by a different host - noted Alabama-based journalist and podcaster Beth Shelburne. We hope you enjoy.

One hot July night in 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was shot dead behind a Birmingham, AL hotel. At the same time, four miles away at least ten people saw Toforest Johnson at a packed nightclub called Tee’s Place. It didn’t matter. The cops zeroed in on Toforest as the culprit anyway.

What followed was a familiar American ritual: arrest, trial, conviction, death sentence. No eyewitnesses. No physical evidence. Just unjustifiable confidence. For more than 25 years, Toforest has lived in a five-by-eight cell on Alabama’s death row.

In 2019, journalist Beth Shelburne reopened the case and found something far worse than incompetence. The state once tried to pin the murder on another man. Its case hinged on an “earwitness,” a woman secretly paid by prosecutors to testify about an overheard phone call. The jury never knew. Neither did the defense. They found out 17 years later.

Earwitness, an eight-part docuseries from the team behind Bone Valley, pulls back the curtain on a justice system that refuses to admit it got it wrong. With rare access to detectives, prosecutors, jurors, and witnesses, Shelburne asks the only question that matters: how did an innocent man end up on death row, and why is the state still trying to kill him?

On February 4, we'll be releasing all eight episodes right here in the Bone Valley feed as Bone Valley Season 4 | Earwitness. For those who want to hear Earwitness early and ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

Earwitnessis a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

Today we're introducing you to Earwitness. Earwitness is one of Lava for Good&rsquo;s most important investigative series and will be released right here in the Bone Valley feed. You&rsquo;ll see it shown here as&nbsp;Bone Valley Season 4&nbsp;but it is a completely different show told by a different host - noted Alabama-based journalist and podcaster Beth Shelburne. We hope you enjoy.
One hot July night in 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was shot dead behind a Birmingham, AL hotel. At the same time, four miles away at least ten people saw Toforest Johnson at a packed nightclub called Tee&rsquo;s Place. It didn&rsquo;t matter. The cops zeroed in on Toforest as the culprit anyway.
What followed was a familiar American ritual: arrest, trial, conviction, death sentence. No eyewitnesses. No physical evidence. Just unjustifiable confidence. For more than 25 years, Toforest has lived in a five-by-eight cell on Alabama&rsquo;s death row.
In 2019, journalist Beth Shelburne reopened the case and found something far worse than incompetence. The state once tried to pin the murder on another man. Its case hinged on an &ldquo;earwitness,&rdquo; a woman secretly paid by prosecutors to testify about an overheard phone call. The jury never knew. Neither did the defense. They found out 17 years later.
Earwitness, an eight-part docuseries from the team behind Bone Valley, pulls back the curtain on a justice system that refuses to admit it got it wrong. With rare access to detectives, prosecutors, jurors, and witnesses, Shelburne asks the only question that matters: how did an innocent man end up on death row, and why is the state still trying to kill him?
On February 4, we'll be releasing all eight episodes right here in the Bone Valley feed as Bone Valley Season 4 | Earwitness. For those who want to hear Earwitness early and ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.
<a href="https://lavaforgood.com/earwitness/">Earwitness</a> is a production of <a href="https://lavaforgood.com/">Lava for Good&trade; Podcasts</a> in association with <a href="https://www.signalco1.com/">Signal Co. No1.</a>

In Season 1 of Bone Valley, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King tells a story of a man, Leo Schofield, fighting to prove his innocence in the case of his wife Michelle’s murder.

In Season 2, “JEREMY” Gilbert King brings us a story about her actual killer, Jeremy Scott, fighting to prove his guilt. The State of Florida does not believe either man.

Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY is a new story about a new case. Maggie Freleng, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the hosts of Lava For Good’s Wrongful Conviction, takes us to a small town in Graves County, Kentucky, where a terrible discovery on the front lawn of a middle school invites a string of amateur and professional investigators to try to solve a murder.

Bone Valley Season 4 | EARWITNESS chronicles the case of Toforest Jonhson. In 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was murdered behind a hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. Toforest Johnson was four miles away at the time and no physical evidence linked him to the crime. But he has been on Death Row for 25 years.

From the team behind Bone Valley, Lava for Good’s 8-episode docuseries Earwitness follows journalist Beth Shelburne’s dogged investigation into a story filled with disturbing twists and shocking admissions, leading her to ask – and answer - this vexing question: “How did an innocent man end up on Alabama’s death row - and why is he still there, when even the prosecutor who put him there says he should get a new trial?”

Bone Valleyis a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

In Season 1 of Bone Valley, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King tells a story of a man, Leo Schofield, fighting to prove his innocence in the case of his wife Michelle&rsquo;s murder.
In Season 2, &ldquo;JEREMY&rdquo; Gilbert King brings us a story about her actual killer, Jeremy Scott, fighting to prove his guilt. The State of Florida does not believe either man.
Bone Valley Season 3 | GRAVES COUNTY is a new story about a new case. Maggie Freleng, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the hosts of Lava For Good&rsquo;s Wrongful Conviction, takes us to a small town in Graves County, Kentucky, where a terrible discovery on the front lawn of a middle school invites a string of amateur and professional investigators to try to solve a murder.
Bone Valley Season 4 | EARWITNESS chronicles the case of Toforest Jonhson. In 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was murdered behind a hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. Toforest Johnson was four miles away at the time and no physical evidence linked him to the crime. But he has been on Death Row for 25 years.
From the team behind Bone Valley, Lava for Good&rsquo;s 8-episode docuseries Earwitness follows journalist Beth Shelburne&rsquo;s dogged investigation into a story filled with disturbing twists and shocking admissions, leading her to ask &ndash; and answer - this vexing question: &ldquo;How did an innocent man end up on Alabama&rsquo;s death row - and why is he still there, when even the prosecutor who put him there says he should get a new trial?&rdquo;
<a href="https://lavaforgood.com/bone-valley/">Bone Valley</a> is a production of<a href="https://lavaforgood.com/"> Lava for Good&trade; Podcasts</a> in association with<a href="https://www.signalco1.com/"> Signal Co. No1.</a>

Bone Valley

Introducing - Bone Valley Season 4 | Earwitness

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/27841f79-e0fa-4527-aabf-b3df014953e5/transcript