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Ayesha Roscoe

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Up First from NPR

The Luckiest of the Unlucky

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I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is a Sunday Story from Up First, where we go beyond the news of the day to bring you one big story. We're continuing with the story of Ben Spencer, a man who has been fighting what he maintains is his wrongful conviction and sentenced to life in prison. If you haven't listened to the first part of the series, please go back and listen to that.

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More after the break. Stay with us.

Up First from NPR

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We're back with the Sunday story from Up First. So Barbara Bradley Haggerty has gone to Dallas to reinvestigate the crime, found two key witnesses from the original trial, and they both recant. She also found a new alibi witness. So what happens now?

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The wild thing about this case is it seems like anyone who even just scratches the surface a little bit finds evidence and all the evidence is pointing towards Ben being innocent. Like there's no evidence pointing the other way.

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So this is the movie ending that we've been wanting, right? We wanted the movie ending, and we're finally getting it. Not yet. Not yet?

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Oh, wow. I mean, that is huge. And after so long, they can finally be together.

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Oh, goodness. So how many years of life had been stolen from them? Really, when you think about it, stolen from them. Right.

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I mean, how did Ben react? I mean, after all these years, what what did he what did he say? How did he feel?

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You know, that was very unselfish of him, but so painful. And he really lost this lifeline, right, with who was his wife.

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You know, after all that Ben has been through, for him to take this moment, really that's supposed to be his moment of triumph, and to think about Young, the victim in this case, and his family and their suffering, it really says so much about who Ben is and his character and his morality, right? Um...

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Barbara, before I let you go, I'm wondering, how do you see the criminal justice system now, after all of these years reporting this story?

Up First from NPR

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Yeah, that is the question. That is the question that I think will stay with all of us. Barbara, thank you so much for sticking with this story and not letting Ben Spencer fall through the cracks and spend the rest of his life in prison. Thank you for all the work that you do.

Up First from NPR

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That was journalist Barbara Bradley Haggerty. To learn more about Ben Spencer's story, you can check out Barbara's book, Bringing Ben Home, A Murder, A Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice. This episode was produced by Andrew Mambo and edited by Jenny Schmidt. It was engineered by Kwesi Lee. The rest of the Sunday Story team includes Justine Yan and Liana Simstrom.

Up First from NPR

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Outside of Deborah, was there anything else positive going on in his life?

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Irene Noguchi is our executive producer. A special thanks to Anchor Entertainment for providing audio of Ben's final court appearance. I'm Ayesha Roscoe. Up first, we'll be back tomorrow with all the news you need to start your week. Have a great rest of your weekend.

Up First from NPR

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But, you know, as you said, courts are very unlikely to go against a jury decision and his appeals have been denied. So so what does Jim do?

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That's going to give you all the background that you need. Now, Barbara, as you explained in the first episode, the 1990s were this pivotal time in the American justice system. It was the tough on crime era, but it was also this time of technological change, including the arrival of DNA testing, which to date has helped to free about thirty six hundred innocent prisoners.

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Okay, so tell me about the other suspect.

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So did the judge agree to hold a hearing?

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We're back with Barbara Bradley Haggerty and the story of Ben Spencer. So, Barbara, this judge says there's no way that Ben Spencer committed the crime for which he's serving a life sentence. But, you know, in the movies, you would think, OK, they open up the bars and he's let right out. But that's that's not what happened. Right.

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You told us, however, DNA didn't help Ben Spencer because police didn't obtain any DNA from the crime scene. So while there was new hope for many wrongfully convicted, there wasn't that hope for Ben.

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I mean, that just seems so unfair, especially when you have someone who was committing similar crimes with the same M.O. I mean, and then you have a judge that reviewed it and grilled the witnesses and found Ben to be innocent. So so did the higher court in rejecting what the judge found, did they give a reason? Was it just that there wasn't any DNA? Yeah.

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It's really unimaginable. Yeah. what he's going through. And I mean, you know, at this point, Ben's been in prison for 30 years. And I just have to say that again, 30 years. And now he's essentially being told that there's really no hope. But... then there's you and Barbara, and you get involved in 2017.

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OK, so you team up with this investigator who has this experience. But it sounds kind of a little crazy because didn't Jim McCloskey, he already was looking for new evidence with his efforts and he talked to 200 people. He didn't find anything. But so y'all, but y'all thought y'all could find something.

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Yeah, I mean, you just knock on the door and see what happens. Exactly. What's the second lesson?

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Yeah, so he was the one who said, oh, yeah, he told me everything, and I was so outraged, and that's why I'm testifying. That's right.

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Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL

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Luis Clemens is our deputy managing editor.

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Government Shutdown Averted, German Christmas Market Attack, Netflix And The NFL

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The story of a young black man convicted for killing a white businessman and how he remained in prison even as witnesses recanted their testimony.

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And I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News. Republicans defy the demands of President-elect Donald Trump and vote in favor of the deal.

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But not until after Trump interfered with his own demands and threats.

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We'll have more on that story, plus a car plows into a busy Christmas market in Germany, killing at least five people and leaving more than 200 injured.

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Authorities in Germany say a man intentionally drove a BMW into an outdoor Christmas market yesterday in the city of Magdeburg.

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Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.

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Congress ratifies a bipartisan short-term spending plan to avert a government shutdown this weekend.

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Netflix has streamed live events before, but they are stepping up their game this Christmas Day.

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And a Beyonce halftime show to boot. Can Netflix handle that traffic? John Oran is here to tell us more. He covers sports and business for Puck News. Thank you for being with us.

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OK, so as I mentioned before, Netflix has hosted live events before. There was last month's boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, as well as a live reunion last year for the reality show Love is Blind. How have these live events gone in the past?

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What's in it for the NFL? There is that risk of technical issues, even if that's just short term. They're also competing against Christmas Day NBA games. So what is the upside for the NFL?

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Are the viewers, the fans of these sports, are they making the jump to streaming? Like, right now it seems like they need a cable package, Amazon Prime Video. They might need Peacock. Are they going to have to add Netflix to the list? I mean, this could be a lot just for the fan to keep up.

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Netflix has secured the streaming rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cups. What does that tell you about the company's kind of longer-term strategy when it comes to sports?

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That's John Oran. He covers sports and business for Puck News. Thank you so much for joining us.

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Andy Huther is our technical director with engineering support from Zach Coleman, David Greenberg, and Arthur Halliday-Lorent.

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S. Korea President, Texas Abortion Lawsuit, Coffee Prices

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And I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News. Thousands of protesters outside the parliament building cheered when the measure was passed.

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The political crisis threatened to pull an established democracy back to its days of military rule.

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Plus, Texas sues a New York doctor for prescribing abortion medication to a Dallas woman.

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Since Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago, out-of-state doctors have been prescribing abortion medication to patients in states with strict abortion laws.

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Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.

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Earlier this month, he tried to impose martial law as he struggled against his political opponents in the government.

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Did you know coffee is the second most popular beverage in the U.S. after water?

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S. Korea President, Texas Abortion Lawsuit, Coffee Prices

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And for me, I just drink a lot of Coca-Cola. But I am thinking of all the millions of coffee drinkers out there because this week coffee prices on the futures market hit their highest level in nearly half a century. We invited NPR's Alina Selyuk here to explain what's going on. Welcome to the podcast. Hello, hello. Can you guess what I brought? Did you bring some coffee to keep you going?

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Okay, you brought your latte. What is happening with coffee prices?

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OK, I think my mom drinks something like that. But back to the prices. Was it just the irreversible damage to harvest that drove up the cost?

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OK, so now we've been talking about record prices on the futures market, but I don't buy coffee at the futures market, right? You buy it at the grocery store or at Starbucks. So how is this going to translate?

Up First from NPR

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That's probably bad news for coffee drinkers, but we got to give it to you straight. No cream and sugar here. That's NPR's Alina Selyuk. Thank you so much. Thank you.

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Our director is Michael Radcliffe.

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Jay Ciz is our technical director with engineering support from Zach Coleman, David Greenberg, and author Holiday Laurent.

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And Jim Cain is our deputy managing editor. He also did a lot of editing this week.

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The celebrated African-American poet Nikki Giovanni passed away this week at the age of 81. We remember her and her work. with a conversation between her and NPR host Rachel Martin earlier this year.