Follow the Truth: The attorney fighting to free Daniel Green
I first met Chris Mumma when she represented Greg Taylor in his innocence case in 2010. Taylor was the first person in North Carolina exonerated by a three-judge panel after being referred by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.
From that point on, I was assigned to cover Mumma’s cases as she continued to fight to get convicted offenders out of prison often based on DNA evidence. I have to admit, she was pretty intimidating, okay, a lot intimidating. Chris can be bold, brash, and in your face when she disagrees with you. But it’s these same traits that make her uniquely qualified to represent people she’s trying to prove are wrongfully convicted, many who have spent decades behind bars convicted on flimsy evidence. I’ve interviewed several people she has helped get out of prison, and they all say she is the only person who was willing to fight for them, that she saved their lives, that she is an angel, a godsend.
I talked to Chris about Daniel Green early on. She said she was aware of the murder of James Jordan and his case, but that he was already represented by attorneys, and there was nothing she could do to help. But eventually, in 2016, she did join his legal team, and eventually became his attorney of record.
Seeing Chris and Daniel together is almost comical. In some ways, they are cut from the same cloth –strong-willed, determined, passionate, intelligent. The more she tries to reign him in, the more he pushes back. Doing an interview with both of them is like witnessing a brother and sister jabbing at one another. Daniel goes off on a tangent, she tries to redirect him. He gets annoyed. They whisper to one another. He rephrases what he is saying while she looks on and nods. Sometimes, she throws up her hands exasperated by the energy required to handle an intense client like Daniel.
In episode eight of the true crime podcast Follow The Truth, we introduce you to Chris Mumma and reveal why she is the best person, maybe the only person willing and qualified to take on Daniel’s case. She shares the new evidence she has discovered which will allow you to decide for yourself if you think Daniel deserves another shot at justice.
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