Wrongfully Convicted Man Opens Up About Exoneration After 15 Years Behind Bars

FAQs

• Why was Aaron Salter wrongfully convicted of murder?

  According to reports discussed on the episode, a detective found a photograph of Salter and showed it to a witness who had been shot, who said it ‘looked like’ the gunman, even though the night he was shot he had described a man of about 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds. Salter says he is about 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds. He was convicted with no physical evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, connecting him to the crime.

• What did Aaron Salter say about his trial attorney?

  Salter said his court-appointed attorney never interviewed his three alibi witnesses, the people he was staying with on the west side, and never called them at trial, even though Salter told him about them and had family bring them to court. He said the attorney met with him only about twice before trial, for 20 to 30 minutes each time, mostly to go over paperwork.

• How was Aaron Salter finally exonerated?

  In March 2018, Salter’s lawyers sent Valerie Newman of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit a letter summarizing the weak identification, the witness’s statement that he was never sure, the polygraph and other evidence, and she opened the case. On August 15, 2018, Newman and his lawyers presented dismissal paperwork to his original trial judge, who granted it, and Salter was released that day, his 36th birthday.

• What is Aaron Salter's nonprofit Innocence Maintained?

  According to the episode description, Innocence Maintained is Salter’s nonprofit working to free others convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. Salter said he bought a three-bedroom house in Highland Park planning to make it an Airbnb, but instead renovated it as a shelter for exonerees until they get back on their feet. He said he put about $110,000 of his own money into it, and a donor fully furnished the house.

• What challenges did Aaron Salter face after his release?

  Salter said his biggest struggles were housing and not having a job to pay simple bills, and that there were no organizations there to help him. He found a temp job doing cleanup at Chrysler but quit for his own sanity, saying 15 years locked up left psychological damage that makes it hard for him to be indoors for a long time.