After Innocence (2005)

Director:

Jessica Sanders

Writers:

Jessica Sanders (writer)
Marc H. Simon (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Freedom is just the Beginning

Plot:

A gripping, emotionally charged film that follows wrongfully convicted men freed by DNA evidence after decades in prison as they struggle to transition back into society. |

Plot Keywords:

Falsely Accused | Innocence Project | Ex Convict | Exoneration

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Directed by
Jessica Sanders

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jessica Sanders		writer
Marc H. Simon		writer

Produced by
Jessica Sanders	....	producer
Marc H. Simon	....	producer

Original Music by
Charles Bernstein

Cinematography by
Shana Hagan
Buddy Squires

Film Editing by
Brian Johnson

Sound Department
Orada Jusatayanond	....	sound editor
Phillip Koch	....	sound recordist
Elmo Weber	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dave Winston	....	sound mixer: Philadelphia

Visual Effects by
Diane Macke	....	visual effects project manager: EFilm

Camera and Electrical Department
Tammy Middleton	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Sean Cooney	....	post-production executive
Steve Lemley	....	color timer

Other crew
Winston Emano	....	publicist
Amy Kolsky	....	production associate
David Magdael	....	publicist
Steven Wallace	....	publicist

Production Companies

• American Film Foundation
• Showtime Independent Films

Distributors

• New Yorker Films (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Showtime Entertainment (2005) (worldwide) (TV)

Other Companies

• Film Sales Company, The  worldwide sales

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

American Film Foundation

500,000 innocent Americans in jail?

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.