How One True Crime Podcast Is Raising Awareness For Criminal Justice Reform

A growing genre in podcasting is true crime, which brings to life the motivations and back stories of gruesome crimes.

Benzinga chatted with Talia Goetting, co-host of "Crimes & Consequences," to discuss the genre of true crime — and how she’s helping make an impact on the criminal justice system, while keeping listeners entertained.

How 'Crimes & Consequences' Was Born

In 2019, Goetting discovered true crime podcasts from her law partner Tonya Corrado and developed an affinity for the genre.

“We would sit during our lunch time and talk about true crime stories,” Goetting told Benzinga. “I asked if she would be interested in doing a podcast with me, and she was on board.”

After learning the ins and outs of podcasting, Goetting and Corrado released their first episode in October 2019: a story of gruesome torture and killing in Keddie California, the home of a run-down resort.

“It was trial by fire,” Goetting said. 

A Michigan native, Goetting is a former attorney obsessed with understanding why people do crazy things.

Her path to practicing law wasn't a typical one. After initially earning a degree in psychology at Michigan State University, Goetting turned to computer science before becoming interested in politics at the time of the Bush v. Gore election.

“I was fascinated by that, so I decided to take what’s called the LSAT and apply to the Michigan State College of Law,” she said. After obtaining a scholarship, she completed law school and went on to work as an assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan, in addition to practicing adoption and family law in the private sector.

Tonya Corrado, left, and Talia Goetting of the "Crimes & Consequences" podcast. 

Focusing On The Details

What makes "Crimes & Consequences" unique is detail and variety.

Being that the podcasters are attorneys, they have a good understanding of law in regards to the crimes they discuss.

In one year, the podcast amassed 450,000 downloads and attracted the attention of commercial broadcast television operators.

“We try to do cases that people haven’t heard of, because everybody knows about JonBenét and Ted Bundy,” Goetting said.

“This started out as a hobby and it’s become a full-time job for me.” 

A Platform To Make An Impact

Many times, the two podcasters examine cases of wrongful conviction, helping bring to light systemic issues in criminal justice and the struggles ex-prisoners face reintegrating into society.

For example, in one episode, "Crimes & Consequences" detailed the brutal rape and attempted murder of a Michigan woman.

One of the men involved in the case was found innocent, but failed to regain the confidence and trust of his peers.

The man listened to the podcast and contacted Goetting.

 “I got an email from him saying that he listened to our podcast episode on his story and he loved it. He never had somebody that supported him [and] that most people thought he got out on a technicality, even though he was found to be completely innocent,” she said. 

Since the encounter, "Crimes & Consequences" increased its focus on cases involving wrongful convictions, suggesting the podcast does a good job of getting listeners engaged in justice reform.

“It’s a huge problem in the United States and we’re starting to focus a little bit more on exoneration cases because there are wrongful convictions happening every day in America,” Goetting said. 

It's a systemic issue, she said, with bias among police and prosecutors. 

Though Goetting said modern innovations like DNA technology reduce the number of wrongful convictions, it’s education that matters most to create systemic justice reform.

“If you can get the public to be aware of the problems, that puts pressure on the rest of the system to make changes, so we’re trying to bring awareness to that.”

What’s Next For 'Crimes & Consequences'

In its second year, "Crimes & Consequences" plans to scale using social media like TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to double its and engage with its audience.

The podcasters said they'll dive into cases submitted by listeners or ones that bring awareness to systemic issues within the justice system.

“In our second season, we will have true crime stories in which the wrong person was convicted, and, in the end, you can find out who actually did it,” Goetting said. 

“One thing I do want to say — we don’t sugarcoat.”