Scenes of a Crime
Closed CaptioningBlue Hadaegh & Grover Babcock
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Plot Summary
What might lead an innocent man to confess to something he didn’t do? This riveting, award-winning documentary explores a spellbinding criminal case, and reveals shocking aspects of the justice system. Secretly recorded video provides a window on the hidden world of police interrogation techniques in wide use by investigators in the US, and worldwide. Based on a tip from a doctor, detectives in Troy, New York suspect a young father, Adrian Thomas, of killing his four-month-old son, and take him to the police station for questioning. And so begins a psychological battle, captured in fascinating detail: the investigators use lies, threats, and pledges of leniency to put enormous pressure on their suspect, driving him toward confession. Ten hours of relentless push-and-pull yield a disturbing picture of police power, heart-wrenching drama, and more questions than answers. This real-life legal thriller twists through unexpected medical revelations and courtroom clashes, landing with the jurors' struggle to reach a verdict - and its aftermath.
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
100%- Reviews Counted: 6
- Fresh: 6
- Rotten: 0
- Average Rating: 7.5/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Presents a disturbing picture of courtroom justice and how different people come to opposite conclusions, based on the same testimony.
Fresh: If you watch "Scenes of a Crime" - and you very much should - be prepared to be outraged.
Fresh: A nonfiction corrective to decades of cop-friendly pop-culture conditioning, this rigorously focused documentary looks hard at police interrogation, a process most of us take for granted.
Fresh: A true-crime documentary of invigorating analytical clarity and evenhandedness.
Customer Reviews
Wow! Amazing Crime & Justice Doc
This is an amazing documentary about a criminal case in New York where the police recorded a very long interrogation with a murder suspect.
The film contains some extremely heart-wrenching scenes inside the interrogation room - it makes you aware that we really don't understand what happens every day in police stations. The police are investigating the death of the suspects child, after he was taken to the hospital in a coma. In the early part we see that the suspect confessed (after hours and hours) but that turns out to be only the beginning of the story. The police feel like they simply brought out the truth - but a defense expert says they used lies and other tricks to manipulate the suspect. And then the police pretty much agree! That's the heart of this film: the filmmakers really try to show all sides of the story, and give you everything bit by bit - including medical evidence. The case eventually goes to trial - and we get to actually hear the jurors talk about how they made their decision: amazing! A very revealing documentary about our justice system, and in particular, interrogations, which are a lot more complicated that they seem on "Law and Order."
technical writer and editor
This potent documentary interweaves scenes from the actual police interrogation of an accused father with snippets of Reid Technique training films and interviews with the major players in the case. The result is a clean, careful, and gripping illustration of how a man can be manipulated into confessing to a crime he didn’t commit.
The film is especially relevant in the child abuse arena, as it also documents a hasty and inaccurate diagnosis of inflicted infant head trauma that triggers a legal nightmare. I wish only that the filmmakers had also had the time to address the unanswered question: Why the doctors were so sure Adrian Thomas's son had been murdered. If you don't know, please do a browser search for "Shaken: A Forensic Misadventure."
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