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About The Guests
On This Episode
This episode of Gideon’s Promise: The Podcast explores the criminal legal system through the eyes of those who have experienced this system first hand. Co-hosts Jonathan Rapping and Ilham Askia, speak with Ohio Justice & Policy Center’s Director of Community Outreach, Tyra Patterson and Founder of R.E.D, David Lee Windecher! Hear riveting stories about their childhood, imprisonment, & the importance of public defenders!
About The Guests
Tyra Patterson was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. On December 25, 2017, she walked out of prison after serving 23 years for crimes she did not commit.
Today, Tyra travels all over the country speaking at law schools, colleges, prisons, conferences and high schools, leveraging her story to educate people on social justice, mass incarceration and wrongful convictions. She currently lives in Cincinnati and works at the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, where she serves as the Director of Community Outreach. Tyra also maintains paralegal duties at OJPC working on cases on behalf of people, both guilty and innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted. She is also an Ambassador for Represent Justice.
Her story has been covered by many publications including Rolling Stone, Essence, the Guardian and many others.
Tyra is heavily involved in the arts community of Cincinnati, specifically using art to educate people on the issues of social justice and mass incarceration.
David Lee Windecher is the founder of RED (Rehabilitation Enables Dream) a trailblazing orator, author and lawyer in the growing movement to end mass incarceration and redress racial inequity in the criminal justice system.
In his autobiography The AmerIcan Dream / HiSstory in the Making, David shares the harsh realities of growing up as an impoverished immigrant on the streets of Miami-Dade County. He was arrested 13 times and spent over 7 months incarcerated as a juvenile. He dropped out of high school and joined a gang for protection. His street name was Red. All the while he dreamed of becoming a lawyer and fighting for those who don’t have the resources to pay for justice.
David began his path to self-rehabilitation when he earned his GED in March of 1998 and took his first academic steps toward his childhood dream of becoming a lawyer. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from American Intercontinental University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2005 and earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, Georgia in 2012. David was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 2012 and the Florida Bar in 2014. David is a member of the Georgia and Florida Court of Appeals, the Georgia and Florida Supreme Court, the Northern District of Georgia United States District Court and the American Bar Association. David specializes in criminal defense, juvenile law, and expungement procedures.
David is a recipient of Martindale-Hubbell’s Client Distinction Award in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2015, David was named “40 Under 40” by Atlanta Business Chronicle and Georgia Trend Magazine. David is a frequent guest on local and national television and radio shows as an expert legal analyst.
You’ll Learn About
- What is it like to go through our criminal legal system?
- How important are public defenders?
- How has their past experiences shaped their work in criminal justice reform today?
Gideon’s Promise: The Podcast can be found on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and at the Gideon’s Promise Website.
Further Reading
Gideon’s Promise: A Public Defender Movement to Transform Criminal Justice (2020) by Jonathan Rapping (Pre-order).
The AmerIcan Dream: HiSstory in the Making (2018) by David Lee Windecher