Crimes of the Times
Politikk og nyheterSamfunnTrue crimeL.A. Times reporter Christopher Goffard of “Dirty John” is back with another riveting podcast from L.A. Times Studios. In “Crimes of the Times,” Goffard goes deep behind the scenes of a new story each week, cutting through common myths and misconceptions to uncover what really happened in the most compelling cases from L.A. and beyond.
Siste episoder av Crimes of the Times podcast
- Inside Man: A Jailer Turns Informant (00:28:09)
James Sexton thinks Operation Pandora’s Box is behind him. When he reports a superior officer for misconduct, he is branded a snitch and treated as a pariah. Ostracized and scared, he does what he once thought unthinkable: he begins feeding information about the Sheriff’s Department to the FBI, and tells a grand jury about the scheme to hide Anthony Brown. In the U.S. Attorney’s first major thrust against the sheriff’s department, Sexton becomes one of 18 current or former sheriff’s employees to be indicted. Desperate to keep his badge, he decides the fight the charges, and his lawyer portrays him as the “Walter Middy” of the scandal, a man who exaggerated his role. Nevertheless, a jury finds him guilty and he begins his prison sentence.Sexton’s decision to talk to investigators opened a rare window into the inner workings of the Sheriff’s Department. His testimony about Anthony Brown tied deputies and supervisors to a widening obstruction scandal. The story is reported and narrated by Chris Goffard, the Los Angeles Times journalist behind Dirty John.
- Gunning Up: L.A. County’s Top Cop Versus the Feds (00:26:20)
When Lee Baca took over the LA County Sheriff’s Department in 1998, he inherited a scandal-plagued agency. He built a reputation as a progressive reformer, and his jail-education programs were celebrated. But the feds notice that investigations into his agency always seem to evaporate when he gets involved. By 2011, he is 70 years old and has run the department for 13 years. Furious about the FBI’s probe into his jails, Baca has Leah Marx surveilled. Two of his sergeants appear at her apartment and threaten her with arrest. Allegations emerge about the beating of a jail visitor name Gabriel Carrillo. The feds have expanded their probe beyond civil rights violations. Can they make a case for obstruction of justice? How high does the misconduct go?Baca’s clash with the FBI revealed how deeply the department was in turmoil. Allegations of intimidation and the beating of visitor Gabriel Carrillo turned a civil rights probe into one of Los Angeles’ most significant corruption cases. Host Chris Goffard, from the Los Angeles Times and creator of Dirty John, traces how the investigation escalated to obstruction of justice.Topics in this episode include: Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Jail scandal, Gabriel Carrillo beating, FBI investigation, police corruption.
- The Ghost: An Inmate Disappears in L.A. County Jail (00:30:16)
After an inmate sucker-punches James Sexton, he defies the jail’s unwritten rules by failing to exact violent retribution, and finds himself ostracized by his peers. But he becomes an expert in the antiquated jail computer system and eventually wins promotion to an elite jail-intelligence unit. Leah Marx has a cell phone smuggled to inmate-informant Anthony Brown, part of the FBI’s increasingly ambitious scheme to catch dirty jailers. Jailers quickly discover the phone, however, and trace it to the FBI. Scrambling to hide Brown from the feds, the department enlists Sexton, who helps change Brown’s name in the computer system and dubs the plan Operation Pandora’s Box. For 18 days, from August-Sept. 2011, Marx struggles to find her informant.The effort to erase Anthony Brown from jail records showed how far leaders would go to shield themselves. A young deputy became central to the cover-up, and what began as a contraband phone case quickly spiraled into an obstruction probe. Reporter Chris Goffard, who previously told the story of Dirty John, guides listeners through this extraordinary clash between the Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.
- The Dungeon: Inside Men’s Central Jail (00:30:16)
A young FBI agent named Leah Marx arrives in Los Angeles and receives a tip in 2010 about brutal conditions at Men’s Central Jail downtown. Such complaints have gone nowhere for years, since they pit the allegations of inmates against the word of jail deputies. But she finds informants, including a wily bank robber, Anthony Brown, who is facing life in prison and is willing to help. She reflects on a family tragedy that informs her perspective and fuels her sense of mission. Meanwhile, an ambitious young jailer named James Sexton works his way through the ranks, trying to overcome his image as a “brass baby,” the son of a prominent law officer, while navigating a complicated agency where loyalty is a prime value.That jail was notorious for violence and neglect, and outside investigations had rarely gained traction. By entering Men’s Central Jail, the FBI was challenging a department that had long resisted oversight. The series is reported and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Goffard, best known for his work on Dirty John.Topics in this episode include: Operation Pandora’s Box, Anthony Brown informant, James Sexton, Los Angeles County Jail scandal, FBI investigation, Sheriff Lee Baca.
- Introducing Pandora's Box: The Fall of L.A.'s Sheriff (00:02:36)
Pandora’s Box: The Fall of L.A.’s Sheriff is a six-part podcast exploring the crisis that toppled one of the country’s most prominent lawmen, Lee Baca. Rising from humble beginnings, he presented himself as a reformer when he took over the scandal-plagued agency in 1998. He vowed that he would be sheriff as long as he lived, and voters seemed to approve. But inside the massive jail system he ran, claims of inmate abuse kept surfacing. When a young FBI agent found an inmate willing to talk, it triggered an unprecedented clash between two massive law agencies…and a cover-up that went to the top.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 8 Bonus (00:25:21)
In this special feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow to discuss the aftermath of the case.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 8 (00:54:47)
In this featured episode, The fates of Frank Carson and his co-defendants are decided, and jurors explain their reasoning. An interview with the state’s star witness, now out of lockup, raises troubling questions about the state’s handling of the case.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 7 Bonus (00:23:06)
In this special feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to examine the evidence against Carson and his co-defendants as the longest California criminal trial in decades staggers to its conclusion.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 7 (00:46:39)
In this specially featured episode, defense attorneys offer alternate theories to explain Korey Kauffman’s death, and the trial becomes an endurance test. As Frank Carson’s health deteriorates, he wonders whether he will live to see a verdict.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 6 Bonus (00:21:04)
In this specially featured bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss the implications of Frank Carson's trial on the criminal-justice system.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 6 (00:44:06)
In this special-feature episode, Frank Carson hits rock bottom, and offers his co-defendants a way out. During the marathon preliminary hearing, the prosecution belatedly reveals a cache of undisclosed evidence — with major consequences.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 5 Bonus (00:21:52)
In this special-feature bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss how detectives zeroed in on Frank Carson’s wife and stepdaughter.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 5 (00:43:16)
In this specially featured episode, a series of wiretaps lead to criminal charges against Frank Carson’s wife and stepdaughter, an art student.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 4 Bonus (00:21:02)
In this special-feature bonus episode, our editor Steve Clow and our host Christopher Goffard discuss how three California Highway Patrol officers fell into the District Attorney’s crosshairs.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 4 (00:41:08)
In this special-feature episode, Frank Carson and his co-defendants are accused of a complicated murder conspiracy after a three-year investigation. Among the accused: three cops.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 3 Bonus (00:20:31)
In this special-release bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard talks with false-confession expert Richard Leo, who questions the credibility of the government’s star witness.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 3 (00:50:18)
In this special featured episode, the discovery of Korey Kauffman’s remains gives the investigation new impetus, and a man named Robert Woody offers a methamphetamine-fueled “confession.” But his story changes again and again.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Bonus Episode 2 (00:28:31)
In this special-released bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to talk about how authorities linked the disappearance of Korey Kauffman to Frank Carson.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Bonus Episode 1 (00:33:47)
In this special-release bonus episode, our host Christopher Goffard is joined by his editor, Steve Clow, to discuss the origins of The Trials of Frank Carson.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 2 (00:43:12)
In this special-release episode, investigators confront a defiant Frank Carson about the disappearance of a scrap-metal thief with a reputation for making enemies.
- Featuring: The Trials of Frank Carson, Episode 1 (00:43:49)
In Season 2 of Crimes of the Times, host Christopher Goffard revisits one of the longest and most bizarre murder trials in U.S. history.This special podcast rerelease will include fresh insights, bonus content and a new episode with the latest news on this fascinating case. The story follows the rise and subsequent downfall of one of Stanislaus County’s most controversial defense attorneys, Frank Carson. In this episode, meet Frank Carson, Stanislaus County’s most controversial defense attorney, famous for his high-profile courtroom victories and take-no-prisoners style. A longtime nemesis of local law enforcement, he is representing homicide defendants in the very courthouse where he is on trial for murder himself.
- Featuring: Man in the Window (00:37:22)
Please enjoy a special feature of the first episode of L.A. Times Studios production, Man in the Window. In this episode, Phantom in the Fog, investigative reporter Paige St. John discusses how a series of brutal dog killings in a small town in California acted as the prelude for the coming danger and violence committed by one of California's deadliest serial killers.
- Featuring: Detective Trapp (00:38:05)
Please enjoy a special feature of my show, Detective Trapp’s first episode, All the Missing. In this episode, Detective Julissa Trapp fights her way onto the homicide unit in her hometown of Anaheim, California — and strives amid personal struggles to understand God’s plan for her. At the same time in a nearby city, women begin vanishing.
- Featuring: Dirty John (00:42:25)
Please enjoy a special featured episode of my show Dirty John. In this episode, Debra Newell, an interior designer in Southern California, meets John Meehan on an over-50 dating site. His profile looks exciting: Anesthesiologist, divorced, Christian. She falls in love fast. But her children dislike him and warn her that his stories don’t add up. A psychologist advises Debra to set firmer boundaries with her kids, saying she has a right to be happy.
- The Arsonist in the Crowd (00:32:44)
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself. New episodes every Tuesday.To read more about these cases, visit Crimes of the Times at latimes.comVideo episodes will be available on Spotifyand Youtube.