How Discovery Channel’s ‘MythBusters’ Helped a Wrongly Convicted Man Prove His Innocence

Innocence Project, October 5, 2022: How Discovery Channel’s ‘MythBusters’ Helped a Wrongly Convicted Man Prove His Innocence

“In 2007, John Galvan was about 21 years into a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit when he saw something on the prison television he thought might finally help him prove his innocence and secure his freedom: A re-run of an episode of the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters.

“The episode, ‘Hollywood on Trial,’ which originally aired in 2005, sees the show’s hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage attempt to reproduce famous scenes and commonly used plot devices from Hollywood films with the goal of ascertaining their scientific validity. The pair and their team investigate whether a person can break down a door with four types of locks, whether a sinking ship — like the Titanic — can actually create a whirlpool, and whether a lit cigarette can really ignite a pool of gasoline.

“It was the last of these questions that caught Mr. Galvan’s interest.”

Additional reading:

Chicago Sun Times, July 15, 2022: Four men convicted of murder released from prison after judges find they can’t trust the work of detectives in two cases