After Innocence (2005)

Very well executed

Really Surprised!

Great Film overall

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I knew from reading and research that the criminal justice system was deeply flawed on many levels. This movie beautifully and powerfully illustrates all that is wrong with our system. Men are incorrectly identified by witnesses; even after being excluded as the perpetrator by DNA wrongfully convicted individuals sit in jail as part of a show of force by the DA. Once released, some still have criminal records and find it difficult to get jobs. Some have difficulty acclimating to life outside of a cage. They have no skills. They have no money. They are broken. They are angry, and you will be too after watching this. Wilton Dedge's broken spirit will stick with you. Fortunately, he received 2 million dollars for 22 years in prison.

I couldn't sleep, so was watching early morning TV. This film killed sleep that night.I was crying, with anger, empathy ...and remorse, because I have never done anything to highlight such miscarriages of justice.The prosecutor in Mr Dregde's case - who could not admit he got it wrong, and made him spend 3 more years in jail. A seriously stupid and blinkered man.The lack of conscience of the state and prosecutors - who did not expunge the records, and left these people with a tragic life on the outside, worse than if they had been guilty.The one prosecutor who apologised is a man of honour.Governor Ryan is a very brave man, and one of conscience - would we had more in Government! May I recommend John Grisham's book, The Innocent Man, For another tale of criminally inadequate judiciary - I don't even like him as a writer, but I was given this book, and slept less because of it.How many people rot in jail because of incompetent prosecutors and lazy investigators? Thank God for DNA - as the film said - "God's Fingerprint".I have never written to a website before - I don't like giving details for Spam senders - but this film has made me so ANGRY!!! Can anyone support the death penalty having seen such spectacular miscarriages of justice? The people not shown,on death row,whose evidence has been "lost".The lack of expungement, and thus hurdles in getting a job.The FEE to get an expungement in some states - take my life and then charge me to get it back? Compensation for lost earnings, and for monies spent on defence, should be automatic for all exonerees - in most cases, they have lost the best years of their life, and their chance to establish themselves financially, through the incompetence of the justice system. The lawyers from the Innocence Project got it right - this should be a clarion call to all of us, to reform the system.Thank you to the filmmakers for such a coherent and impressive film - and to those who helped finance it. It should be shown weekly on national TV.0

This movie introduces you to a handful of men who have been freed from long prison terms after being exonerated. As shocking and heartbreaking as this movie is, it gives no hint of the scale of the problem. While it is a powerful experience to get to know these men, I found myself urgently wondering what percentage of the prisoners who get DNA tests turn out to be innocent. A little web surfing led me to this quote from William Sessions (former director of the FBI):"In early 1988, the FBI Laboratory Division created a DNA testing lab; by year's end, testing was completed in 100 active cases. I was fully expecting the results to confirm the careful investigative and evaluative work that had gone into the decisions to prosecute these suspects. Instead, I was stunned by the results. In about 30 percent of the cases, the DNA gathered in the investigation did not match the DNA of the suspect. Fifteen years later, this rate remains virtually the same. Approximately 25 percent of DNA tests do not produce a match."Now, it would certainly be reasonable to suppose that this rate of failure of our justice system's "careful investigative and evaluative work" is a similar 25% to 30% in the rest of the cases where it hasn't been scientifically checked by DNA testing. With two million Americans in the prison system, if 25% of them are innocent, then we have 500,000 innocent Americans in jail.After Innocence is a very good film but I think its impact could be much greater if it gave some context to these seven individuals by talking, even briefly, about how many other wrongfully incarcerated Americans may be moldering away in prison. The only hint of this in the film is a shot of a bank of filing cabinets at the Innocence Project that contains thousands of requests for help – all unopened.

To those of you who commented on After Innocence, thank you. "I hope that this letter finds you and finds you well." Those words are contained in a letter written by Tim Robbins' character, Andy Dufresne, to his friend, Morgan 'Red' Freeman, in the motion picture 'The Shawshank Redemption,' and how I either began or closed many of the thousands of letters I wrote while wrongfully imprisoned in RI's prisons for six years four months and 18 days of a life sentence for a murder I did not commit. Being innocent made the time excruciatingly frustrating; being a city police detective made the dehumanizing education especially humiliating. Upon my release, the people involved in the single and focused investigation that led to my wrongful imprisonment have attempted to spin a false claim that I continually lied to investigators, and brought the ordeal down upon myself. I think they are mad at me for being innocent and for making them look bad. During the last three years, I have attempted to reconnect with my sons, take care of my ailing Mom, have remarried and have a new baby girl; I have guest lectured at high schools, universities and conferences nationwide as well as other avenues for prison and judicial reform advocacy; participated in several national profiles, and documentaries, including the award-winning 'After Innocence' film; I'm finishing up a Master's of criminal justice at Boston University, researching PhD programs of universities; won reinstatement to the Warwick police department nearly two years ago, still waiting for the 'expedited' hearing in front of the RI Supreme Court since Warwick's mayor is appealing the order by RI's Superior Court chief justice, recently filed a 1983 Federal civil suit; occasionally have substituted at RI high schools, looking for other employment opportunities...my Mom wonders what I do all day. Marc Simon, Jessica Sanders, Brian Johnson and the rest of the AI team were (and are) thoughtful, considerate and aware. They are also heroes in the birth of this new civil rights movement. As my wife Tina aptly calls us: America's newest subculture. Scott Hornoff