Breakdown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's award-winning podcast "Breakdown," tells deeply human stories about the Georgia justice system. Season 11 explores how a young military couple found themselves at the center of something neither expected. Something terrible. Something… criminal.
Episodes
Ep 6: A Very Dangerous Argument
Ashley and Albert's attorneys have fought all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. The stakes couldn't be higher. Ultimately, the justices find fault with what happened at the couple's trial and vacate their sentences. But they aren't free…
Ep 5: The Dream Team
Wisconsin Innocence Project attorney Carrie Sperling has a specialty: freeing people wrongly convicted of child abuse. When she receives a letter from Ashley Debelbot and reads the case file, she decides to take the case. A team of skilled …
Ep 4: Hitting the Floor
A jailhouse snitch says Albert told him a shocking story. Ashley and Albert take the stand in their own defense but they're no match for a hard-charging prosecutor. They're convicted and sentenced to life in prison. But the couple makes a v…
Ep 3: Speedy Trial
Charged with murder, Ashley and Albert find themselves with few resources. Ashley's lower-middle class family hires a local attorney while Albert gets a public defender. The couple maintains their innocence, but they're up against tough odd…
Isolated
In a matter of a few days, Ashley and Albert have gone from excited new parents to a couple utterly devastated. Their infant has died. And as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and local police close in on them, the couple makes a critical…
Mack
In their 20s and in love, Georgia military couple Ashley and Albert Debelbot are overjoyed to welcome their baby girl, McKenzy. After a 15-hour labor, she arrives. The couple take her home and settle in for the night only to be awakened by …
The jury panel is assembled
Jury selection isn’t fast, but it is fascinating. Prospective jurors in the Harris case speak of magical powers, preconceived notions and their favorite TV shows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A long winter for Tex McIver
Neither the prosecution nor the defense is ready. The prosecution asks for a continuance, saying it would be unfair to proceed because the defense is unprepared. The defense calls the move "transparently disingenuous," saying it's really th…
Breakdown: The Tex McIver Murder Case: The trial begins
The state opens the Claud "Tex" McIver murder trial by detonating some new bombshells. McIver, the prosecution says, provided six different versions of what happened to his wife on the night she was shot. Or did he? Among the first prosecut…
Back to the Tex McIver Murder case
After a long winter’s delay, the murder trial of The State v. Claud “Tex” McIver is to begin on March 5. Tex says his wife Diane’s death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says he intentionally shot her in the back. The Atlanta Jo…
Coming Soon: A New Season of Breakdown
On July 17, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will launch Murder Below the Gnat Line, season four of our award-winning Breakdown podcast. Bill Rankin returns to explore a murder case with many unresolved questions. Learn more about your ad…
Breakdown Season 6: A Jury of HIs Peers
Reginald "Reggie" Coicou was 24. Quincy "Fat" Wytche was 22. Both were killed in a sudden outburst of gunfire in the parking lot of an Atlanta Burger King in the spring of 2016. Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constituti…
The Tex McIver Murder Case
Coming soon: Season 5 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Breakdown podcast. This season, the AJC's Bill Rankin and Craig Schneider take you deep inside the case against Atlanta lawyer Tex McIver. He says his wife's death was a tragic acc…
Breakdown Season 7: Judgment Call
Anthony Hill was a loving son, talented musician and an Afghanistan War veteran. In 2015, Hill was shot and killed by DeKalb County Police officer Chip Olsen, who was responding to a 911 call of a naked man wandering an apartment complex. H…
The defense makes its case
During a hearing, the attorneys for the men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery formally asked a judge to allow evidence about the slain man's past before a jury. But that's not the only major update in the case. We have a federal hate cr…
He ran. And ran. And ran.
Join host Bill Rankin on the one-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery's death as he explores who the man was in life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Father and Son
Since Ahmaud Arbery's death, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael have been condemned by many as racist vigilantes who targeted a Black man running down their street. Attorneys for the men claim that is far from true. Join host Bill …
A fourth defendant is indicted
A grand jury has indicted a former Glynn County district attorney, saying she violated her oath of office while responding to Ahmaud Arbery's death. Join host Bill Rankin as he takes a closer look at the indictment and explores the events o…
The Elephant in the Room
Prosecutors building a case against the three men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery have passed several motions regarding what evidence can be submitted in court.Meanwhile, the contention that gunman Travis McMichael uttered a racial ep…
The Ahmaud Arbery murder trial begins
The trial for the three men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery will begin Oct. 18, almost 20 months to the day after he was shot and killed. Join host Bill Rankin ahead of what is expected to be one of the most closely followed trials in…
We’re almost there
The second week of jury selection ended with the end in sight. It is expected that 64 Glynn County residents will be qualified into a pool from which 12 jurors and four alternates will soon be chosen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
Jurors express some strong opinions
Jury selection for the murder trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death is underway in Brunswick and many prospective jurors have expressed very strong opinions. Join host Bill Rankin as he unpacks the first week of jury selec…
A Momentous Decision
This is the murder case against Justin Ross Harris, who left his 22-month-old son Cooper to die in a hot car on June 18, 2014.Harris, a Home Depot web developer, took Cooper that morning to Little Apron Academy, the in-house daycare center …
The Tex McIver Case: Georgia Supreme Court strikes again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast drops a special episode on Friday for Season 5: “The Tex McIver Case.”McIver, an Atlanta lawyer, was convicted of murder during a trial in Fulton County for killing his wife on Sept. 25, …
After a year’s wait, a concluding decision
Justin Chapman awaits the all-important decision from the state's prosecutors: will they put him back on trial for murder and arson or end the long-running legal drama that put him in state prison for eight years? This concluding episode ha…
Could Justin Chapman Be Guilty?
Justin Chapman tells his side of the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A New Trial or a New Life?
The case goes back to the Georgia Supreme Court – and this time there would be a much different outcome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Before You Listen
A state prosecutor is now deciding whether to put Justin Chapman back on trial for murder. His first trial ended in a guilty verdict after the jury deliberated about 40 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
She Lost, but She Never Gave Up
Meet Jan Hankins, the public defender who lost Justin Chapman’s case and embarked on a personal crusade to free him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Let’s Test the Evidence
Bill Rankin goes to Bremen in the dark of night, and with the help of an Army veteran, tests what you can see from "Stroupe's stoop." Could Gary Allen Stroupe have seen Justin Chapman from his front porch? Plus, Chapman experiences the appe…
The New Team Goes to Work
The Justin Chapman murder case attracts a new defense team full of heavy hitters and colorful characters. In this episode, we take a detour from the case in order to introduce you to some of the players who came to Chapman's aid, and learn …
Young Lawyers and Old Hands
Justin Chapman’s new defense team sifts through the evidence and uncovers critical breakdowns in the prosecution of Chapman, including several pieces of evidence that Chapman's public defender Jan Hankins says she never received, and the te…
Railroad Justice in a Railroad Town
Follow the twists and turns of a case in rural Georgia that some say landed an innocent man in prison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Postscript
Justin Ross Harris returns to Cobb County and is sentenced for the murder of his 22-month-old son Cooper. We delve into the contradictions in the jury's verdict. We also hear from some Breakdown listeners who seem to know as much about the …
Leanna Taylor takes the stand
Ross Harris’ ex-wife, Leanna Taylor, took the witness stand on Monday and repeated her long-held belief that Harris never meant to leave their 22-month-old son Cooper to die in his overheated SUV. Taylor spent an emotional two days on the s…
The jury gets the case
The prosecution and the defense give impassioned, powerful closing arguments, wrapping up the trial. Prosecutor Chuck Boring insists Ross Harris lived a double life and intentionally killed his little boy. Defense attorney Maddox Kilgore co…
We have a verdict
After four days of deliberations, the jury in Brunswick returns with a verdict in The State of Georgia v. Justin Ross Harris. Cobb County's district attorney says this is no time for a celebration. Harris's lawyers, in an emotional intervie…
Game on
The murder trial against Justin Ross Harris is finally underway. The prosecution opened with ablistering opening statement, while Harris’ defense attorney countered with anemotional and powerful opening of his own. After that, the first pro…
Shelter from the storm
The judge, lawyers and jurors return to Brunswick after Hurricane Matthew. Thetrial starts back up with the initial focus on little Cooper Harris. Prosecutorsintroduce testimony about the “smell of death,” and the jury hears from ahooker wh…
From the gutter to the homicide file
Prosecutors open a new week of testimony by calling one woman after another to the witnessstand. Harris pursued all of them – including two teenagers – over sexuallyexplicit online chats. Finally, lead detective Phil Stoddard takes the stan…