EXONERATED, THE (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama film tells the true stories of six Americans, all portrayed by actors, who were wrongfully convicted and sent to Death Row before eventually obtaining their freedom. Dialogue is taken directly from the individuals' court transcripts and personal letters.
Gary Gauger describes how he was swiftly arrested for the 1993 double homicide of his parents and was interrogated for many hours until finally, sleep-deprived and highly suggestible, he began to accept the cops' idea that he committed the crime while "blacked out." Once convicted, he was sent to Death Row, where he regularly saw the death chamber, positioned near the public telephone. Opting not to join any of the white nationalist prison gangs, he passed the time by teaching himself to embroider. After many years, his sister contacted an expert on wrongful convictions, who eventually discovered that members of a violent biker gang, the Wisconsin Outlaws Motorcycle Club, had confessed on tape to committing the murders as part of an initiation ritual. Gary, released from prison in 1996, explains that he didn't want the killers sentenced to death, as "no good would come from it."
Robert Earl Hayes explains how he was accused in 1990 of raping and murdering a white woman whom he had previous dated and was eventually convicted by a mostly white jury, pointing out that, thanks to largely generational double standards, a white male accused of harming a black woman would receive far different treatment. He describes unethical treatment from prison guards, and retaliation when he spoke up for other prisoners, but then adds that a fateful dream convinced him of his chances at a second trial. His lawyer proved that foreign hairs found on the body definitely didn't belong to Hayes, and he was exonerated in 1997, though he still finds himself unable to "relax" or shed the emotional weight of prison. He notes with irony that his record prevents him from returning to his former job at the racetrack, but as his conviction was technically overturned, he can, in fact, legally buy a gun.
Kerry Max Cook describes how, as a kid, he earned a local deputy's ire after destroying his car during a joyride and was thereafter "blamed for everything," including the 1977 murder of a local woman. His own defense attorney was a former prosecutor who had imprisoned him before; though the state's case rested on a single fingerprint from a separate encounter and unreliable eyewitness testimony, the prosecutor declared him "a sick animal" and argued that his latent homosexuality spurred his violent hatred of women. The false claims about his sexuality reached Death Row before Cook did, leading to traumatic violence and sexual abuse from other prisoners; his suicidal thoughts increased when his older brother, driven to despair and alcoholism by Kerry's imprisonment, was himself murdered by a stranger who then served only three years for the crime. After two long decades, DNA evidence finally set him free, though the actual killer was never prosecuted. Despite being extremely shy around women, he eventually married and started a family; he retains significant physical and mental scars from the long ordeal.
David Keaton explains how he was falsely accused of a 1971 robbery-homicide and struggled to maintain his religious faith while imprisoned, though some other prisoners began to wonder if he had otherworldly powers driven by prayer. Once exonerated in 1973, he tried to find solace through poetry, describing the helplessness one feels when trapped within a powerful system.
Sunny Jacobs describes how, in 1976, she and her common-law husband Jesse Tafero teamed up with a paroled ex-con, Walter Rhodes, who suddenly shot two cops when cornered at a highway rest stop. Though she protested her innocence, Rhodes quickly struck a deal with the authorities and blamed Sunny and Jesse for the killings, leading to their convictions. Sunny recalls saving all of Jesse's affectionate letters, including those written partially in Japanese for a bit of privacy from the guards; Rhodes eventually had a change of heart and wrote to a judge with a full confession of his crimes and previous lies. Though Sunny was released in 1992, she was not technically exonerated, having instead accepted an Alford plea for second-degree murder. Jesse's gruesome 1990 execution became instantly famous when the electric chair repeatedly malfunctioned. Sunny, unable to bring herself to visit his grave, decides to become a "living memorial" for her husband and those lost to wrongful convictions.
Delbert Tibbs, a former seminarian, explains how he chose to "drop out and tune in" and peacefully roamed the country before being arrested in Mississippi for a 1974 rape-homicide committed in Florida. Once extradited, he was convicted of the crime — by a mostly white jury, thanks to Florida's voting laws — and sent to Death Row. There, he was unable to remember any of his dreams. He considers the Biblical story of Job as he describes avoiding "internalizing" his pain; though he was released in 1977 after an informant recanted his false testimony, he struggled "to feel and to be human again" once back in the outside world. Concluding that the American justice system is in serious need of repair, he became an anti-death penalty activist.
The program concludes with the six real individuals introducing themselves onscreen.
Details
- NETWORK: Court TV
- DATE: January 27, 2005 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:30:09
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:91114
- GENRE: Drama, legal
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, legal; Capital punishment; Legal system and the courts; Murder; Racism
- SERIES RUN: Court TV - TV, 2005
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Allan Buchman … Executive Producer
- Bob Balaban … Executive Producer, Director
- Greg Schultz … Producer
- Steven Tabakin … Producer
- Mort Kasman … Co-Producer
- Jessica Blank … Co-Producer, Writer
- Erik Jensen … Co-Producer, Writer
- Kate Schumaecker … Associate Producer
- Justin Wilkes … Associate Producer
- Karen Wolfe … Line Producer
- David Robbins … Music by
- Brian Dennehy … Cast, Gary Gauger
- David Brown Jr. … Cast, Robert Earl Hayes
- Aidan Quinn … Cast, Kerry Max Cook
- Danny Glover … Cast, David Keaton
- Susan Sarandon … Cast, Sunny Jacobs
- Delroy Lindo … Cast, Delbert Tibbs
- Dennis Burkley … Cast, Sheriff Carroll
- Bobby Cannavale … Cast, Jesse Tafero
- Lee Tergesen … Cast, Walter Rhodes
- Katherine Leask … Cast, Sue Gauger
- April Yvette Thompson … Cast, Georgia Hayes
- Johanna Day … Cast, Sandra Cook
- Jessica Blank … Cast, Paula
- Rob Bogue … Cast, Doyle
- Carlin Glynn … Cast, Judge
- Raynor Scheine … Cast, Southern Guy
- Laurence Luckinbill … Cast, Prosecutor
- Anslem Richardson … Cast, Inmate
- Otto Sanchez … Cast, Prison Officer
- Erik Jensen … Cast, Jeff
- Lou Sumrall … Cast, Boyfriend
- Ed Onipede Blunt … Cast, Bar Guy
- William Jay Marshal … Cast, Texas Driver
- Chuck Montgomery … Cast, Defense Attorney
- Becky Ann Baker … Cast, Defense Lawyer #1
- Venida Evans … Cast, State Attorney
- Thomas G. Waits … Cast, Deputy
- Chris Bauer … Cast, Cop
- Brian Kerwin … Cast, Cop
- Jimonn Cole … Cast, Cop
- Jay Patterson … Cast, Cop
- Curtis McClarin … Cast, Cop
- Lanny Flaherty … Cast, Southern Cop #1
- Philip Levy … Cast, Southern Cop #2
- Bruce Kronenberg … Cast, Hayes Cop #1
- Myk Watford … Cast, Hayes Cop #2
- Gary Gauger … Cast, Himself
- Robert Earl Hayes … Cast, Himself
- Kerry Max Cook … Cast, Himself
- David Keaton … Cast, Himself
- Sunny Jacobs … Cast, Herself
- Delbert Tibbs … Cast, Himself