the case for innocence
homefour casesspeaking outsystem failurethe dna revolutionvideo
Interviews
Ofra Bikel (Producer of The Case For Innocence)

In this interview Bikel discusses how her investigation began, offers some background on how it unfolded, and talks about the most important lesson we should draw from these four case histories.
Judge Charles Baird

He was a judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In the Roy Criner rape and murder case, Baird felt new DNA test results warranted granting Criner a new trial. However, the majority of his fellow judges on the Appeals Court disagreed.
Clyde Charles

He was imprisoned at Angola State Prison, Louisiana for 18 years. He proclaimed his innocence in a rape case, but for nearly a decade his appeals for DNA testing were blocked by state and federal officials. After his case was taken up by Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project, a DNA test was finally agreed upon. The tests came back negative for Charles and on December 17, 1999 he was released from Angola.
Bennet Gershman

He is a former prosecutor and discusses in this interview why the criminal justice system resists conceding errors and correcting mistakes.
Judge Sharon Keller

She is on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She wrote the majority opinion in the Roy Criner case, ruling that new tests showing DNA evidence in the rape and murder case was not Criner's didn't warrant granting Criner a new trial.
Jim Liebman

A constitutional law professor at Columbia University, he discusses why the criminal justice system often focuses more on procedural issues than on fairness and justice. He also explains why the system's refusal to examine cases of possible wrongful conviction points to a basic lack of confidence in the system itself.
Barry Scheck

He is a law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and co-founder of its Innocence Project. The Innocence Project has successfully exonerated over 35 inmates using DNA testing. Scheck is co-author of a recently published book, Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution and Other Dispatches from the Wrongly Convicted.


home · cases · speaking out · total system failure? · how far will it go? · video · discussion
interviews · synopsis · tapes & transcripts · press

web site copyright WGBH educational foundation

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY