Sean Ellis spent 22 years in prison for the 1993 murder of Boston Police Detective John Mulligan — a crime he has always professed he didn't commit. It took the Commonwealth three trials to convict him. Years later, the detectives who built the case were exposed as corrupt cops who robbed drug dealers, faked warrants, and lied under oath. In 2015 his convictions were vacated, and by 2021 he was fully cleared. No one else has ever been charged with Mulligan's murder. This week on Defense Diaries, Bob and Ali Motta sit down with Sean Ellis himself — the subject of Netflix's "Trial 4" — Sean will break down the night that changed his life, the case the police built against him, the 22 years he survived inside, and the relentless legal fight led by Rosemary Scapicchio that finally won his freedom. Bob and Ali are defenses attorney. This is a defense-side breakdown of one of the most disturbing wrongful-conviction cases in Massachusetts history — from the man who lived it and how it fundamentally changed the course of his life. ⚖️ ABOUT ROSEMARY SCAPICCHIO Rosemary Curran Scapicchio is a Boston criminal defense and wrongful-conviction attorney who took over Sean's case and drove it to victory — using years of public-records fights to expose the suppressed evidence and police corruption behind his conviction. She won Sean a new trial in 2015 and didn't stop until every charge against him was gone in 2021. 💡 WHERE SEAN IS NOW Sean came home with almost nothing and built a life of service. He went to work at Community Servings, a Boston nonprofit that delivers meals to people who are seriously ill and homebound, and worked his way up. He serves on the board of the New England Innocence Project and founded the Exoneree Network, which helps other wrongfully convicted people rebuild their lives after release. He's also a leading voice at the Massachusetts State House fighting to fix the state's wrongful-conviction compensation law — which caps payment at $1 million no matter how many years were taken. In 2021, the City of Boston settled with Sean for $16 million over the police misconduct in his case. 🔗 SUPPORT SEAN'S WORK The Exoneree Network: New England Innocence Project: ▶️ Subscribe to Defense Diaries for defense-side breakdowns of the cases everyone's talking about. New episodes weekly. #SeanEllis #Trial4 #WrongfulConviction #RosemaryScapicchio #DefenseDiaries #TrueCrime #Exonerated #Boston #CriminalDefense #Netflix #JusticeForSeanEllis 00:00:00 - Intro & welcoming Sean Ellis 00:02:25 - Who was Sean before the arrest at age 19? 00:14:00 - Recap: What happened the night of the crime? 00:19:00 - Bob's breakdown of the initial investigation details 00:21:00 - HEADS UP: Warning signs in the state's timeline 00:30:00 - "If you don't have money to defend yourself... you lose" 00:36:00 - Sean on systemic inequality and resource disparities 00:38:00 - Unwilling to accept responsibility on the press release by CW/Prosecution 00:45:00 - Botched investigation and corrupt police officers 00:47:00 - What goes through your mind when you hear a false guilty verdict? 00:54:00 - High-stakes strategy talk with attorneys before Trial 3 00:57:00 - How Sean first learned about attorney Rosemary Scapicchio 01:00:00 - The critical news article and Elaine's breakthrough 01:05:00 - Fighting the state's claims of a defense "fishing expedition" 01:08:00 - "Wrongful conviction is a silent epidemic." - Sean Ellis 01:10:00 - The crisis of thousands of innocent people incarcerated 01:11:50 - Walking into court for the acquittal news & Rosemary's surprise visit 01:16:00 - "They were trying to take my life." — Sean on coming from the projects 01:20:00 - Founding the Exoneree Network to support families 01:24:00 - Choosing community work over bitterness after release 01:26:40 - The harsh reality of re-entry hurdles for exonerees 01:30:00 - Flying for Freedom: Sean's skydiving experience 01:38:00 - How the trauma impacts daily life and family years later 01:43:00 - Staying away from the nightmare: REGISTER TO VOTE! 01:45:00 - Ali asks how voting forces judicial accountability 01:52:00 - Stolen time vs. reclaiming life: Wounded But Not Broken (#WBNB) 01:56:00 - Live chat questions and comments for Sean 01:59:00 - Sean's final thoughts and goodbyes 02:00:00 - Bob & Ali's post-show legal analysis and super chats 02:10:00 Thanks & goodbyes! LIKE, SHARE, SUBSCRIBE & HYPE! Thank you all for joining us today! Links To Support And Follow Sean Ellis Work: EXONEREE NETWORK https://www.newenglandinnocence.org/exonereenetwork NE INNOCENCE PROJECT https://www.newenglandinnocence.org/ BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/newenglandinnocence.org