News

Gimlet, the Brooklyn-based media company behind hit podcasts like Homecoming, Reply All, Crimetown and The Horror of Dolores Roach, today announced the premiere of Conviction, a true crime series that will feature a new piece of investigative reporting each season. All seven episodes of the first season of Conviction will premiere Monday, February 4 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all podcast streaming apps.

In the first season of Conviction, reporter and host Saki Knafo explores big questions about the criminal justice system in New York as he follows the developing case of Pedro Hernandez. As a teenager, Hernandez was picked up as a suspect in a Bronx shooting, and jailed in New York's infamous Rikers Island. He remained there for over a year, awaiting trial, as his family struggled to prove his innocence. Hernandez’s case has been cited by civil rights activists as an egregious example of systemic police corruption and the failings of the American justice system. 

As the story unfolds, we are introduced to two complex men: private investigator Manny Gomez and NYPD Detective David Terrell, who are fighting each other in the courts and on the streets, all while claiming to be protecting the innocent and pursuing justice.

Gomez is like a PI ripped from a Hollywood movie: he carries a pen that doubles as a knife, wears a watch with a hidden camera, and reads The Art of War while on stakeouts. He says his mission is to take on the establishment and be a champion for those who need it most: families from tough neighborhoods who face harassment, discrimination, and violence at the hands of the NYPD. But Gomez has another mission — revenge. 

Terrell is an aggressive cop who made hundreds of arrests in a high-crime precinct of the Bronx. While he made a name for himself on the force, there were whispers that Terrell himself was breaking the law, arresting people for crimes they didn’t commit. 

As Knafo searches for the truth about Terrell and Gomez, he unearths dark truths about the justice system. Our story asks fundamental questions about crime and punishment in America: In neighborhoods where people don’t have the money or power to ensure accountability from their government, who can they turn to for help? And what are the costs?

This story is the first in Gimlet’s Conviction series. Season One grew out of a collaboration with The New York Times Magazine, and a partnership with Type Investigations. A corresponding article about this story will appear in an upcoming edition of the The New York Times Magazine.