In the closing credits of The Innocent Man we are present in an on-screen graphic that 4% of those convicted of murder are innocent. That claim has more outright believability after you see the series. While the claim isn't given with reference to how that number is arrived at the viewer really doesn't think "that's hogwash". By the time you see the series you begin to come to a general conclusion that this is highly possible.
The case of Tommy Ward in Ada Oklahoma was the subject of the only non-fiction books by the celebrated author John Grisham. It is likely many more people will see this series than have already read the book. It is compelling in the finding of just how possible it is that for over 30-years an innocent man sits in prison for a crime he most likely did not commit. Although the series is a bit long it seeks to delineate the breaches in procedure and lack of adequately pursuing others who were more even more likely suspects. If you stick with it a picture emerges in which the best interests of the umbrella of local law solving a case sooner is chosen over a longer haul of exhausting all possible suspects. To do so with poor forensics and paucity of evidence opens many questions. Combine that with a manipulation of the one suspect chosen by law enforcement as the killer and a conviction often ends up on the side of the prosecutor. It certainly did here. Grisham starts a ball rolling to expose just how shaky and weak this particular case is. He soon feels he is on to something worthy of his writing skills taking them into a new realm for him of non-fiction. That in itself speaks loudly for the injustice here. Grisham, and a group of others, unite to gain an appeal based on what is available to them. Is it enough? Since the answer holds a man's life in the balance, as well as true justice for the victim, it will hopefully result in an overturning of the original conviction if the facts we are given here hold up. The bottom line is this conviction remains highly questionable imaking it one of the 4% stories worthy of a viewer's time.
The case of Tommy Ward in Ada Oklahoma was the subject of the only non-fiction books by the celebrated author John Grisham. It is likely many more people will see this series than have already read the book. It is compelling in the finding of just how possible it is that for over 30-years an innocent man sits in prison for a crime he most likely did not commit. Although the series is a bit long it seeks to delineate the breaches in procedure and lack of adequately pursuing others who were more even more likely suspects. If you stick with it a picture emerges in which the best interests of the umbrella of local law solving a case sooner is chosen over a longer haul of exhausting all possible suspects. To do so with poor forensics and paucity of evidence opens many questions. Combine that with a manipulation of the one suspect chosen by law enforcement as the killer and a conviction often ends up on the side of the prosecutor. It certainly did here. Grisham starts a ball rolling to expose just how shaky and weak this particular case is. He soon feels he is on to something worthy of his writing skills taking them into a new realm for him of non-fiction. That in itself speaks loudly for the injustice here. Grisham, and a group of others, unite to gain an appeal based on what is available to them. Is it enough? Since the answer holds a man's life in the balance, as well as true justice for the victim, it will hopefully result in an overturning of the original conviction if the facts we are given here hold up. The bottom line is this conviction remains highly questionable imaking it one of the 4% stories worthy of a viewer's time.