''After Innocence'' is a 2005 American documentary film about men who were exonerated from
death row
Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
by
DNA evidence
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
. Directed by Jessica Sanders, the film won the Special Jury Prize at the 2005
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
.
The featured exonerees are Dennis Maher; Calvin Willis; Scott Hornoff; Wilton Dedge; Vincent Moto;
Nick Yarris;
Ronald Cotton; and Herman Atkins. Also featured are
Barry Scheck
Barry Charles Scheck (born September 19, 1949) is an American attorney and legal scholar. He received national media attention while serving on O. J. Simpson's defense team, collectively dubbed the "Dream Team (law), Dream Team", helping to win ...
and
Peter Neufeld of the
Innocence Project
Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and other forms of post-conviction relief, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform to prevent futur ...
and
Lola Vollen of the Life After Exoneration Program.
Awards
*
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
—Special Jury Prize; Grand Jury Prize (nominated)
*
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...
—Women in Cinema Lena Sharpe Award
*
Newport Beach Film Festival
The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival had permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival bega ...
—Special Jury Prize
*
Independent Film Festival of Boston
The Independent Film Festival Boston is a not for profit film festival in Boston, Massachusetts.
History
The Independent Film Festival Boston (also known as IFFBoston or IFFB) was created in 2003 by the non-profit organization the Independent F ...
—Audience Award
*
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema founded by Nancy Buirski, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo editor of ''The New York Times'' and documentary filmma ...
—Content + Intent = Change Award
*
Nantucket Film Festival
The Nantucket Film Festival is a film festival founded in 1996 which focuses on screenwriting. Board members include Donick Cary, Nancy Dubuc, Nancy Dubac, Chris Matthews, Kathleen Matthews, Ben Stiller, and Tom Scott (American businessperson), ...
—Best Storytelling In A Documentary
See also
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List of wrongful convictions in the United States
This list of wrongful convictions in the United States includes people who have been legally exonerated, including people whose convictions have been overturned or vacated, and who have not been retried because the charges were dismissed by the s ...
*
Innocence Project
Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and other forms of post-conviction relief, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform to prevent futur ...
*
List of miscarriage of justice cases
This is a list of miscarriage of justice cases. This list includes cases where a convicted individual was later cleared of the crime and either has received an official exoneration, or a consensus exists that the individual was unjustly punished ...
*
Race in the United States criminal justice system
Race in the United States criminal justice system refers to the unique experiences and disparities in the United States in regard to the policing and prosecuting of various races. There have been different outcomes for different racial groups i ...
*
Capital punishment in the United States
In the United States, capital punishment (also known as the death penalty) is a legal penalty in 27 states (of which two, Oregon and Wyoming, do not currently have any inmates sentenced to death), throughout the country at the federal leve ...
*
Innocent prisoner's dilemma
*
Miscarriage of justice
A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent ...
*
False confession
A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interrogatio ...
*
Overturned convictions in the United States
This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.
Alabama
Blount County, Alabama, Blount County
* Bill Wilson (convict), Bill Wilson was convicted of the 1912 murder of his wife and child and sentenced to life in prison. ...
*
Capital punishment debate in the United States
The debate over capital punishment in the United States existed as early as the colonial period. As of April 2022, it remains a legal penalty within 28 states, the federal government, and military criminal justice systems. The states of Colorado, ...
*
List of exonerated death row inmates
This list contains names of people who were found guilty of capital crimes and placed on death row but later found to be wrongly convicted. Many of these exonerees' sentences were overturned by acquittal or pardon, but some of those listed were ...
References
External links
Homepage''After Innocence''
a
Working Films"For the Wrongly Convicted, New Trials Once the Cell Opens"
The New York Times, January 25, 2005. (PDF link)
*
2005 films
American documentary films
Films scored by Charles Bernstein
Sundance Film Festival award–winning films
Documentary films about capital punishment in the United States
2005 documentary films
Wrongful convictions
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
English-language documentary films
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