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After Innocence
by New Yorker Video
| List Price: |
$29.95 |
Unavailable for
purchase at this time |
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DVD
Publisher: New Yorker Video
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
After Innocence tells the dramatic and compelling story of the exonerated - innocent men wrongfully imprisoned for decades and then released after DNA evidence proved their innocence. Focusing on the gripping stories of seven men, including a police officer, an army sergeant and a young father that were sent to prison for decades – in some cases death row – for crimes they did not commit, After Innocence explores the emotional journeys these men face when thrust back into society with little or no support from the system that put them behind bars. While the public views exonerations as success stories - wrongs that have been righted - After Innocence shows that the human toll of wrongful imprisonment can last far longer than the sentences served, raising basic questions about human rights and society’s moral obligation to the exonerated by placing a spotlight on the flaws in our criminal justice system that lead to wrongful conviction of the innocent.
For an innocent man exonerated by newly found DNA evidence, release from prison is only the beginning. Shattered lives aren't so quickly pieced back together with a wave of a judge's gavel. After Innocence, a moving and unforgettable documentary, follows the lives of several "exonerees" freed after years--sometimes decades--of wrongful imprisonment for rape or sexual assault. Some of the men have used the opportunity to truly start over--get degrees, forge a new career, rebuild family ties. Others remain broken and bewildered by a judicial system that let them down. And, as one of the exonerees notes, there's nothing in place to assist people wrongly convicted, while there are a host of benefits available to convicts who are out on parole. There are many touching moments in the film, especially showing how the exonerees have banded together in a loose support group; while nothing will ever be the same for any of these men, their recognition for what each other has been though is sometimes enough for them to feel that they can face another day. --A.T. Hurley
| Customer Reviews: |
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| Just like that a life is changed |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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A well Done Documentary.
A standing ovation goes out to the staffers of The American Innocence Project and to those who were open enough to share their lives with the public. The amount of years that these individuals spent in our US Justice System is horrifying. Their stories are a reminder that this can happen to anybody in the USA.
As a viewer, I was hopeful that these individuals were able to go on with their life to the best of their abilities.
There is information noted in the DVD for individuals who want to help.
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| powerful, heartrending documentary |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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After Innocence exposes the very real, often overlooked problem of people wrongfully imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. These people are mostly male; some of them were on death row or serving time without parole before DNA evidence proved years later that they could not have committed the crime with which they had been charged. Director Jessica Sanders does a marvelous job with this documentary; we get to see many people who have been freed from prison and even death row through the efforts of The Innocence Project, a legal clinic founded by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld in 1992 at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. The documentary tells the stories of these men in very personal, poignant ways; and even the hardest of hearts will be moved by their stories. Remarkably, these men aren't particularly sour about their experience; they merely want to reconstruct their lives as quickly as possible. The fact that they have lost time with their loved ones really is painful to explore but it's critical to understanding their experience. We also learn that often these people were put in prison based primarily on eyewitness accounts, which, according to attorney Barry Scheck, is essentially what the courts go on in 78% of criminal cases despite the fact the scientific research shows that eyewitness accounts are not reliable ways to determine the identity of a person, especially in a heated and emotional crisis like a woman's memory of the man who harmed her, for example.
There are many details of each man's story in this film; but there are certain similarities about them that I can explore here to help you determine if you want to watch this film. The men reminisce about their lives before their incarceration and they talk about how prison life is meant to "break them down." We see prosecutors desperate to cover themselves rather than admit that they made a mistake by wrongfully prosecuting anybody; in the case of one man in Florida it takes three years just to have another court meeting to demonstrate that the DNA evidence proves him innocent of the crime. We also see the incredible obstacles each must face after they are released from prison--they're given next to nothing and there's no compensation for what they went through. One man tells the former Governor of Illinois that they often just take the newly released person to a local bus stop, give them seven or eight dollars and make sure that they get on the bus! The Governor of Illinois was so impressed by the power of DNA evidence and so concerned that he might be able to avoid the execution of even just one innocent person that before he left office he commuted the death sentences of all convicts in the state of Illinois.
Although it's sometimes painful, it's also fascinating to meet family members, often parents and spouses of the convicts so recently released from prison. Because of a long period of time without my mother in my life I can easily feel what these released men must have felt when they first saw their homes again after years or decades of being locked away. Despite their problems reentering the community (their records are not easily erased), some of the men in this film achieve their goals of having a happy, productive life with a good job and the love from forming a new family of their own.
In addition, the DVD comes with numerous extras that make this very special and informative. There are deleted scenes and updates on the lives of some of the exonerees. There's another bonus of Pearl Jam performing with two exonerees and the interviews with the filmmakers are also good. I also liked the footage of the film's premiere.
After Innocence is a powerful look at the failure of the criminal justice system to make certain that only those who are guilty of crimes go to prison. Even today, DNA isn't always available in some cases; in some other cases botched investigations destroy the DNA evidence with terrible results. I highly recommend this film for anyone studying law and anyone else interested in these issues.
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| Every Juror (and voter) Should Watch "After Innocence" |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Having lived in Brevard County, Florida, where Wilton Dedge was exonerated, and having experienced traumatic exchanges with some of the parties involved in his wrongful conviction and his delayed exoneration, I have the unfortunate ability to rate Jessica Sander's directorship from a personal standpoint. After Innocence took the high road; Ms. Sanders could have revealed there was a prior Brevard exoneree, Juan Ramos, who served five years due to the testimony of the bogus "sniffing dog" handler who testified against Dedge, and mentioned that another likely wrongful Brevard conviction (partly based on the dog) is on the Innocence Project's radar. While both these men's stories are as important as Wilton Dedge's, they could have taken the film into the realm of appearing to be a cinematic indictment of Brevard County, detracting from the stories of the exonerees from other locations. I encourage those who purchase the DVD to watch the Special Features, not only to extend the great feeling the film leaves them with, but so they'll be inspired to support the Innocence Project until every state learns the right way to say they're sorry for wrongful imprisonments. While I'm grateful that the film thoroughly educates potential jurors, one aspect I wish Ms. Sanders had been hit hard on is that voters nationwide can give elected public servants that don't care about innocence -- governors, legislators, D.A.'s -- the opportunity to find a new line of work for which they're better suited.
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| Lopsided Documentary With Significant Information |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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A telling documentary about the failings of criminal investigative law in the U.S., AFTER INNOCENCE is a poignant, if somewhat stilted, telling of the lives of men who've been wrongfully imprisoned for years and years (sometimes decades and decades) only to be released after advances in DNA evidence free them.
The documentary follows only men through this process, most of them having been identified during their trial by a person who is wrong about them. Not really a surprise, as eyewitness identification is now being proven to be one of the least accurate ways in which to prosecute someone.
The film begins and ends with its focus on Wilton Dedge in Brevard County, Florida. Sentenced to life in prison for sexual battery and burglary, Dedge has steadfastly commented on his innocence since his imprisonment some 22 years earlier. Never having given up, Dedge has the physical evidence collected from his crime sent to a forensic lab for DNA study. By the end of the film, we learn that none of it matches Dedge and he is sure to be released. But the prosecutors from the District Attorney's office are reluctant to let him go. Why?
That's the biggest stickler in the entire film. Even when faced with overwhelming evidence of innocence, our supposed community service men and women are unwilling to admit their errors. That's very frustrating and shown quite well.
The problem with the documentary, though, is that it never really shows the "other side." In other words, the D.A.'s perspective. Perhaps the D.A.'s didn't want to be filmed. But we're never told either way. Only once do we ever see a prosecutor discussing DNA cases, and that is very short indeed. Thus, this gives the After Innocence a very lopsided/one-sided viewpoint. If the D.A.'s didn't want to be filmed, I would've liked to have seen the film-makers attempting to get in to see them only to be rebuked and booted out. Again, we don't know if this happened or if the film-makers ever tried to get the other side.
The other notable portion to the film is that prison affects these men very differently. Vincent Moto seems to have lost his willingness to better himself, while Herman Atkins now has a Ph.D in psychology. Dennis Maher and Nick Yarris seem to have mental health problems thanks to their long and wrongful imprisonment, each appearing either lackluster about life or having an inflated ego about their own importance rather than the importance of the situation itself.
Regardless, After Innocence is informative in its own, one-sided way. Just make sure you check out both sides before deciding on its entire significance.
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| simply incredible |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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to put it simply, this film is a STUNNING jaw-dropper. it is by far one of the best films i have seen in decades, not because of great film-making techniques, but simply because of its incredibly powerful content. highly worth your time to see the how and why our (U.S.) justice system so consistently malfunctions and to see the wide swath of lives it ravages in the process.
but this is a truly hopeful film, as it shows many exonerees who, after being freed, have risen above the horrors of being imprisoned for 10, 20 years for committing no crime at all; and it shows many of those in the innocence project who make enormous sacrifices of time, effort, and money to save innocent people from the hell of unjust imprisonment and death.
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