9 True-Crime Documentaries That Changed Their Cases' Verdicts

In the not - too - remote past , documentaries took downtheme parksandMcDonald ’s fare . Now , thanks to the current waving of " true - crime " mania , the American justice organisation make for a meatier subject .

By highlighting flaws in the system , true - criminal offence films , TV series , andpodcastscan have a major effect on the criminal trials they dissect – and as in the case ofMaking a liquidator ’s youngest defendant , a well - told story can incite courts to change their minds . The come after documentary were so brow - lift , they freed innocent men and put orca behind bars .

Making a Murderer

Netflix can now add " courtroom influencer " to its packed resume . Eight months afterMaking a Murdererdebuted on the serving , a Milwaukee judge seemed to side with outraged looker , overturning the fragile article of faith keep one of the docuseries ' sensation in prison house . OnceMaking a Murderergained impulse , attorney forBrendan Dassey , who with his uncle Steven Avery was convicted of mangle Teresa Halbach in 2007 , file a federal ingathering , in which they argue that Dassey ’s confession had been coerced . A judge agreed , and Dassey thirstily await the approval of the prosecution’sfiled appeal(and the series’Season 2 , for that thing ) . As for Dassey ’s uncle , Avery ’s strong belief still stands , but thatcould changein the come months .

The Jinx

Talk about a real - time chemical reaction : just a day before viewers sat down to watch the last episode ofThe Jinxon HBO , intelligence broke that its subject , Robert Durst , had been arrested . Durst had antecedently been convicted of hit his neighbor Morris Black ( out of " ego - defense " ) , and he ’d long been suspected of kill his Quaker Susan Berman as well . AfterJinxdirector Andrew Jarecki wrench over extra evidence to the police force – including the bombshell bathroom confession above – Durstwas postulate into custodyin New Orleans . His test has been delayed due to wellness issues , but he’salready been sentencedto seven years in prison on a weapons charge .

Serial

The soothe voice ofSerial ’s Sarah Koenig took us through the showcase of Adnan Syed , who was bill with murdering his ex - girl while he was still in high school . Syed has been sitting in a jailhouse cellular telephone since 2000 , but a Baltimore judge granted him a new trial just this summertime . That judgespecifically citedevidence uncover by Susan Simpson , an attorney who blogged throughSerialand later investigated the sheath herself for another podcast , Undisclosed . Syed ’s new tribulation has yet to commence , but you’re able to study a book about him in the meantime : his longtime advocate Rabia Chaudry publishedAdnan ’s Story : The Search for Truth and Justice After Serialthis August .

Paradise Lost

The West Memphis Three – the untried men incriminate of murdering children in a satanic ritual in 1993 – inspired several movies : Peter Jackson produced a infotainment about them , West ofMemphis , in 2012 ; and Atom Egoyan fictionalized their lives in the Reese Witherspoon - starringDevil ’s Knotin 2013 . But the three - part documentaryParadise Lostwas the leash ’s first aid - grabber . Released over 15 years , the trilogy cinema series gave the case such a signal boost that celebrities likeEddie Vedder and Johnny Depp got call for , pouring money into a defense fund that helped to eventually absolve the men in 2011.Vedder citesParadiseas his introductionto their harrowing saga , which he hold out on to spend 15 years fighting for – the might of cinema !

The Thin Blue Line

Way back in 1988 , Errol Morris preempted our current unfeigned - crime wave withThe slight Blue Line . The documentary argued the pureness of Randall Dale Adams , a man convict of murder a Dallas police officer . Adams spend 12 yr in prison , largely due to testimony from an unreliable teenager who may have dedicate the offence himself . AfterBlue Linewas resign , public scandalization helped Adams secure a Modern hearing . ( His lawyer had n’t been able to get one in six years on the case . ) The appeals court sided with Adams , and he was give up from prison house – shockingly , without clear a penny of compensation for his wrongful sentence . Adam go on to expend years speaking out against the death penalty before hediedfrom a brain tumor in 2010 .

The Staircase

This 2004 docuseries debuted one year after novelist Michael Peterson ’s conviction for the execution of his wife , and he remained in jail for another seven years – until he was eject in 2011 , pending a retrial . Staircasedirector Jean - Xavier de Lestrade seize the chance tofilm a follow - updoc , and in it , Peterson gets emotional , thanking the camera crew for helping him to secure a retrial in the first place . The outcome of that trialis still pending .

A Death in St. Augustine

Released in continuative with aNew York Timesinvestigation , thisFrontlinedocumentary questioned the supposed suicide of Michelle O’Connell . Although investigator concluded that she shot herself with her sheriff lieutenant boyfriend ’s gun , O’Connell ’s family believed that the boyfriend , Jeremy Banks , kill Michelle in a fit of rage and then acquire his pig buddies to cover it up . A year afterA Death in St. Augustineoutlined this theory , Florida governor Rick Scott issued an executive order toreopen the investigation . bank building has yet to face any unexampled care , but royal court have ordereda new autopsy , which could lead to a breakthrough in the case .

Capturing the Friedmans

Not every post - doc reinvestigation lead to justice . Before he helped put Robert Durst in slammer , Andrew Jarecki was questioning the guilt trip of Arnold and Jesse Friedman , a Church Father and boy convicted of sexually abusing children in their after - school calculator class on Long Island . Arnold died in prison house , but Jesse was released in 2001 on parole and has been trying to clear his name ever since . With Jarecki ’s assistance , hemounted a defensethat led to several recantations from alleged victims and witnesses , and a reinvestigation from the district attorney ’s office . That reinvestigation did n’t favor Friedman , but he’scurrently fightingto subvert his conviction . Jarecki hasappeared in courton his behalf .

Tales of the Grim Sleeper

For over 20 yr , the so - called " Grim Sleeper " terrorized South Central Los Angeles . His slaying victim were often prostitutes , and neither the police nor the medium paid much tending to their death . So after Lonnie Franklin was incriminated and cop for the crimes in 2010 , director Nick Broomfield made a documentary that explored how Franklin evaded capture for so long . InTales of the Grim Sleeper , Broomfieldidentified victimsthe police could not . He may have also travel rapidly up Franklin ’s court date : there was little movement on his trial for several old age after his arrest , but 10 months afterTales of the Grim Sleeperpremiered on HBO , Franklin ’s test in the end start . He was convict andsentenced to deaththis summertime .

true crime documentaries