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The latest season of the popular CounterClock podcast will feature a case from IU McKinney’s Wrongful Conviction Clinic and interviews with Professor Fran Watson, ’80. The podcast is produced by Indianapolis-based producer audiochuck.

The latest season of CounterClock drops April 29 and focuses on the Wrongful Conviction Clinic’s case: State of Indiana v. Robert Jeffrey Pelley. An episode of the CBS show 48 Hours featured the case in January 2020.

According to the state, Pelley was grounded over stealing some CDs and cash from a nearby home a few weeks before the prom in 1989 in Lakeville, Indiana. The state claimed Pelley's father grounded him, and would only permit his son to attend the dance if he drove him. When the family didn't show up for services at the church where Pelley's father preached, police arrived and found four family members dead. Prosecutors declined to file charges at the time, but a new prosecutor brought a case against Pelley in 2002. Pelley by then was married, had a son, and was working as a computer consultant in Florida. A jury convicted him in 2006, and he was sentenced to 160 years in prison.

It's the second time 48 Hours has based a program around a case in which the clinic was involved. Professor Watson represented Darryl Pinkins and Roosevelt Glenn for more than 15 years after a referral from the Innocence Project in 1999.

Professor Watson is the founding director of the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at IU McKinney. She is a clinical professor of law and teaches in Law and Forensic Science, and Lawyering Practice, along with the Wrongful Conviction Clinic.