Most of us love a good legal or crime drama, but we also wonder how much is based on reality and how much is the creative license exercised by Hollywood. True crime allows the audience to see more of the cold-blooded reality behind both crime and the justice system.
Here are 6 of the best criminal justice documentaries for you to enjoy this weekend.
The Keepers
This 7-part series offers everything from devout faith to rampant corruption. Sister Cathy Cesnik grew up in a blue-collar Catholic section of Pittsburgh and later went on to teach drama in a suburb of Baltimore. In November 1969, she simply disappeared.
Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub were former students of Sister Cathy’s and were determined to find out what happened. The central theme of The Keepers is that their determination was, tragically, an exception to the rule. Hoskins and Schaub encounter negligence and malfeasance from the archdiocese and the legal authorities and their investigation leads them to a possible cover-up of clerical sexual abuse.
The Central Park Five
Ken Burns is one of America’s most renowned documentary creators, having touched subjects ranging from baseball to music to history. The Central Park Five is his contribution to criminal justice.
In 1989, 5 racial minorities were accused of raping a white woman in Central Park. They were convicted after a lengthy interrogation that produced a confession. Thirteen years later, the real rapist confessed. Burns’ 2-hour program focuses in how a mob mentality and a willingness to ignore strong evidence that contradicts a preferred narrative will inevitably lead to a grave miscarriage of justice.
The Innocent Man
John Grisham is the master of the legal thriller, with epic fiction stories ranging from The Firm to A Time To Kill to The Rainmaker. Grisham stepped into the realm of true crime with The Innocent Man and that book has been adapted into a 6-part series, with each episode roughly 45 minutes.
Ronald Keith Williamson was a former minor league baseball player, who developed problems with drugs and alcohol after washing out of baseball and returning to his Oklahoma hometown. In 1982, at the age of 29, Williamson became a suspect in the rape and murder of Debra Sue Carter. Williamson, along with his friend Dennis Fritz, was convicted of the crime in 1988.
Eleven years later, DNA evidence revealed that both men were innocent. Williamson, sentenced to death, had come within 5 days of execution. The Innocent Man explores how justice finally came to Williamson, Fritz and to the Carter family, but not without serious injustices along the way.
The Imposter
Nicholas Barday was 13 years old when he went missing in his hometown of San Antonio. After 3 years, his family had all but given up hope of finding him. Then “Nicholas” suddenly made it back home, with horrific tales of sexual abuse and being transported around the world.
But in fact, the man was Frederic Bourdin, a French con man. How did the family manage to mistake this brown-eyed older man with a French accent for their blond-haired, blue-eyed son? That’s the subject of The Imposter and the hour and a half documentary includes interviews with Bourdin, who subsequently confessed to his real identity.
The program shows what can happen when a grieving family desperately wants to believe something is true, in the face of all contradicting evidence.
There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane
Diane Schuler was seemingly the good suburban housewife from Long Island. Then she drove a minivan the wrong way on the highway. Schuler ended up dead, along with her daughter, several nieces and 3 men that she hit head-on. When the autopsy revealed marijuana and large amounts of alcohol, the natural assumption was that Schuler was not who she appeared to be on the surface.
Only upon further investigation, that evidence might not be what it seemed. Those that knew her found it impossible to believe she was capable of such reckless behavior. Questions started being asked. Those that encountered her on that fateful day saw no indication she was intoxicated or high.
To this day, no one knows the truth, but the hour and a half program will leave you wondering.
Cocaine Cowboys
The city of Miami developed an unfortunate reputation as the cocaine capital of the United States in the 1980s. That image was fueled by the popular TV show Miami Vice, but there were strong elements of truth behind the image. Miami’s location as a port city made it an ideal place to smuggle drugs in from the south. The increased supply on the street resulted in lower prices, which in turn made it easier to get lower-income people hooked.
Cocaine Cowboys doesn’t focus on one particular crime, but is instead a comprehensive look at the drug trade and the legal efforts to bring it down. Interviews with drug smugglers who have since been arrested or turned state’s evidence explain how distribution was possible and how profits were laundered. Police officers and lawyers provide insights into the criminal justice side of the fight in this fascinating 118-minute film.