Sometimes the justice system works fine, putting guilty people behind bars. But at times the system can also fail, and the wrong person has to pay the price for another’s crime. Check out these documentaries featuring stories of the wrongly convicted.
“The Thin Blue Line” (1988)
This classic film by Errol Morris examines the arrest and conviction of Randall Adams for the murder of a Dallas policeman in 1976. Billed as “the first movie mystery to actually solve a murder,” the film is credited with overturning the conviction of Randall Dale Adams, a crime for which Adams was sentenced to death.
“The Fear of 13” (2015)
In a continuous monologue, former death-row inmate Nick Yarris tells the story of how he was charged with the murder, sentenced to death, and, after twenty-one years behind bars, exhonerated based on DNA evidence. His story has all the twists and turns of classic crime drama with a final shocking twist that casts everything in a new light.
“Bloodsworth” (2015)
The story of Kirk Bloodsworth, a former marine living in Maryland who was found guilty of murder. An innocent man convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, Kirk became the first death row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence in the United States.
