Innocent Man (2018)
Miniseries S1E1-E6.
This documentary series is an engaging one. It is based on John Grisham's sole non-fiction book based on two murders that happened in a small town in Oklahoma named Ada. Through two unrelated cases that occurred in this place in the years 1982 and 1984, the author tries to highlight the weakness of the American judicial system.
Debbie Carter was raped and killed in her home in 1982. Denise Haraway was allegedly kidnapped and murdered in 1984. Two men each were convicted for each crime. There were striking similarities in the handling of the cases - a common witness and the same prosecution and investigative team.
The docuseries with Grisham's investigations and a separate team of journalists with a little help from 'Innocence Project', managed to illustrate how the system is so rotten to the core. Up to 4% of prison inmates in American prisons that accounts to 90,000 of them are wrongly convicted and are spending term for crimes they never committed. With the rush to finish off a case, to put a closure to a seemingly unsolvable mysteries, many corners are cut. Lengthy and exhausting interrogations tire suspects to submissions. Invariably, people at the lowest rung of the social pecking order are worst hit. Poverty denies competent legal representations. No doubt, the system ensures that everyone is given a chance to defend themselves, the level of competence may vary. The police, in their haste to close a case, may suppress evidence or purposely take shortcuts. Whatsmore, officers in high positions may have political ambitions and also under pressure from the members of the society. Justice needs to be seen to done and with prompt.
The storytellers managed to tell, in a convincing manner, a fair account from both the aggrieved as well as the accused, to suggest that the wrong men had wasted many of productive years behind bars due to the weakness of the system. In the case of Debbie Carter, the introduction of DNA in forensic studies was a shot in the arm. Both accusers in her case were released, one just five days before his planned execution. Incarceration scarred the men for life. The remaining two accused in Denise Haraway's case are awaiting justice to be done on them.
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Miniseries S1E1-E6.
This documentary series is an engaging one. It is based on John Grisham's sole non-fiction book based on two murders that happened in a small town in Oklahoma named Ada. Through two unrelated cases that occurred in this place in the years 1982 and 1984, the author tries to highlight the weakness of the American judicial system. Debbie Carter was raped and killed in her home in 1982. Denise Haraway was allegedly kidnapped and murdered in 1984. Two men each were convicted for each crime. There were striking similarities in the handling of the cases - a common witness and the same prosecution and investigative team.
The docuseries with Grisham's investigations and a separate team of journalists with a little help from 'Innocence Project', managed to illustrate how the system is so rotten to the core. Up to 4% of prison inmates in American prisons that accounts to 90,000 of them are wrongly convicted and are spending term for crimes they never committed. With the rush to finish off a case, to put a closure to a seemingly unsolvable mysteries, many corners are cut. Lengthy and exhausting interrogations tire suspects to submissions. Invariably, people at the lowest rung of the social pecking order are worst hit. Poverty denies competent legal representations. No doubt, the system ensures that everyone is given a chance to defend themselves, the level of competence may vary. The police, in their haste to close a case, may suppress evidence or purposely take shortcuts. Whatsmore, officers in high positions may have political ambitions and also under pressure from the members of the society. Justice needs to be seen to done and with prompt.
The storytellers managed to tell, in a convincing manner, a fair account from both the aggrieved as well as the accused, to suggest that the wrong men had wasted many of productive years behind bars due to the weakness of the system. In the case of Debbie Carter, the introduction of DNA in forensic studies was a shot in the arm. Both accusers in her case were released, one just five days before his planned execution. Incarceration scarred the men for life. The remaining two accused in Denise Haraway's case are awaiting justice to be done on them.
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