Radiolab
October 21, 2024: The Alford Plea
In 1995, a tragic fire in Pittsburgh set off a decades-long investigation that sent Greg Brown Jr. to prison. But, after a series of remarkable twists, Brown found himself contemplating a path to freedom that involved a paradoxical plea deal — one that peels back the curtain on the criminal justice system and reveals it doesn’t work the way we think it does.