Crime Film Documentaries

Instructor: James R. Elkins


Archive

Monday, August 20.2018 | Tuesday, August 21, 2018

"Murder on a Sunday Morning" (2001) | 1 hr. 51 min. | Instructor's Notes

Monday, August 27 | Tuesday, August 28

"Brother's Keeper" (1992) | 1 hr. 45min. | Instructor's Notes

Monday, September 3. 2018. Labor Day. No Class
Tuesday, September 4. 2018

"Mississippi Innocence" (2011) | 58 mins. | Instructor's Notes

[The Levon Brooks & Kennedy Brewer cases]

Monday, September10. 2018 | Tuesday, September 11. 2018

"An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story" (2014)
| 1 hr. 30 mins. | Instructor's Notes | Instructor's Notes-II


John Raley: Truth Matters
[34:14 mins.] [at 4:08 mins.,ending at 8:18 mins., Raley talks about the evidence
that the police had uncovered about a possible suspect and Eric's statement
to his grandmother (the victim, Christine's mother) about the "monster" and the murder
of his mother; DA Ken Anderson had the transcript of the report of Eric's statement;
Raley continues commentary on the medical testimony about the time of death]

Ken Anderson [DA] News Conference
[5:14 mins.] [Texas Tribune video, November 16, 2011]

State Bar of Texas Files Civil Suit Against Judge Ken Anderson
[3:15 mins.]

Judge Anderson Resigns Amid Controversy
[2:25 mins.]

Anderson gets 10 days in jail, community service
[1:50 mins.]

Monday, September17. 2018 | Tuesday, September 18. 2018

[1 hr. 42 mins.] [film by Errol Morris]

Instructor's Notes

Monday, September 24. 2018 | Tuesday, September 25. 2018

"Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" (1996)

| run time: 2 1/2 hrs. |


Instructor's Notes


Monday. October 1. 2018

West Memphis Three Case

Instructor's Notes

Instructors Notes2

Elkins WM3 Course Website

WM3 Case: Damien Echols & Jason Baldwin
Screen the Following Selected Videos in Class

"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
[13:03 mins.]

West Memphis Three Panel Discussion
[7:25 mins.] [2011] [On October 10, 2011 at HBO in New York City, the WM3 and the filmmakers of "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" gathered for the first time since their release from prison on August 10, 2011]

Life After Death
[10:19 mins.] [audio] [2012] [The Moth: True Stories Told Live]

Damien Echols: Life After Death
[18:49 mins.] [2013] [PBS: Greater Boston] [Echols interview ends at 17:43 mins.]

Damien Echols' Life after Death
[8:47 mins.] [2013] [Interview by Erin Moriatry, 48 Hours]

Lives Forever Changed: The West Memphis Murders
[26:19 mins.] [2014] [Damien Echols and his new life :: begins at 7:23 mins.; commentary on Jessie Misskelley's new life begins at 11:36 mins.; commentary on Jason Baldwin begins at 12:48 mins.; Echols reappears at 13:43 mins.] [end in-class viewing at 19:24 mins.]

Damien Echols Interviewed by Katie Couric
[6:12 mins.] [2014] [Katie Couric raises a question about the impact of "Paradise Lost"]

Cocktails & Conversations with Bryan Stevenson and Damien Echols at First-Year Experience
[1:04:29 mins.] [2015] [question presented to Damien Echols at 12:52 mins., with Echols commenting on his early life, ends at 20:44 mins.; second question for Echols (raising the WM3 case) begins at 28:40 mins., commenting on "not fitting in," how he was arrested, and his meeting of Lori, his wife; comments on "Paradise Lost"; ends at 42:02 mins. (Echols reappears at 50:04 mins., ends at 53:22 mins.; on forgiving those who sent him to prison, begins at 57:33 mins., ends at 58:40 mins.)]

Damien Echols: What is Magick?
[1:59 mins.] [2018] [Echols's latest book is High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Saved My Life on Death Row (Sounds True, 2018)]

Living Ferociously: Magick, Healing and Urban Shamanism
[3:52 mins.]



Tuesday. October 2. 2018
WM3 Case (Opening Statements)

Opening Statement (Scott Davidson representing Damien Echols): Audio of Opening Statement [13:01 mins.]

Opening Statement (Dan Stidham representing Jessie Misskelley): Audio of Stidham's Opening Statement

Instructor's Materials: Opening Statements

Use an Opening Statement to Tell a Story

The Crime: Death at Cottonwood Creek [2:09 mins.]

Opening Statement (Prosecution): Prosecutor Ryan Brackley's Opening Statement [3:13 mins.].
[2nd trial of Fred Mueller, Oct. 1, 2013]

Opening Statement (Defense): Defense Opening Statement [3:10 mins.]

CBS 48 Hours Full Episode: The Fred Mueller Case
[40:22 mins.]

Opening Statements

Gerry Spence Delivering an Opening Statement
[7:02 mins.] [end class presentation at 2:32 mins.]

Opening Statements
[30:20 mins.] [Paul Zwier, Emory University School of Law]
[end class presentation at 3:22 mins.]

Footnote

Legendary Trial Lawyer Gerry Spence Offers Advice to Young Lawyers
[6:38 mins.] [end class presentation at 4:04 mins.]


Monday. October 8. 2018 | Tuesday. October 9. 2018

" Witch Hunt" (2009)

| runtime: 1 hr. 31 mins. |

Instructor's Notes


Monday. October 15. 2018 | Tuesday. October 16. 2018

"Capturing the Friedmans" (2003)

| runtime: 1 hr. 47 mins.|

Instructor's Notes


Monday. October 22. 2018 | Tuesday. October 23. 2018

"Deliver Us From Evil" (2006)

| runtime: 1 hr. 43 mins.|

Instructor's Notes


Monday. October 29. 2018 | Tuesday. October 30. 2018

"Incident at Ogala: The Leonard Peltier Story"
(1988)

|runtime: 1hr. 29 mins.
|

Instructor's Notes

Monday. November 12 | Tuesday. November 13. 2018

"Aileen Wuornos: The Selling Of A Serial Killer"
The 1992 Interviews (1992)

[1 hr. 27 mins.] [film by Nick Broomfield]

 


"Filmmaker Nick Broomfield explores the troubled life and deadly end of female killer Aileen Wuornos, the woman behind Charlize Theron's Oscar-winning role for Best Actress in "Monster." Filmed after Wuornos was imprisoned but before she was put to death, the documentary highlights the media blitz surrounding her case, culminating in interviews with Wuornos as well as her lawyer, her lover and her adoptive mother." ~Netflix

 

 

Instructor's Notes