Crime Film Documentaries
Instructor: James R. Elkins
"The Staircase"
(2004)
[6 hrs. 24 mins.] [film by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade]
"From award-winning documentary filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade comes this real-life, gripping courtroom drama that chronicles the case of author Michael Peterson, who stood trial in 2003 for the murder of his wife, Kathleen. With unprecedented access to Peterson's lawyers, his family and others involved in the proceedings, de Lestrade offers viewers an intimate look at the judiciary process and the mystery surrounding this high-profile case." ~ Netflix
The Case
Did Prosecution Meet Its Burden?
Behind the
Staircase
[website contains some case documents including: autoposy reports, witness
lists, NC Supreme Court opinion]
Michael Peterson Case Timeline
Peterson attorney seeks new trial: November, 2008
Expert gives jury a tutorial in blood spatter in novelist's murder
See: Jim Fisher, Forensics Under Fire: Are Bad Science and Dueling Experts Corrupting Criminal Justice? 259-268 (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2008)
Peterson regrets not testifying at murder trial
WRAL News, July 24, 2009
The Film
"The Staircase": Director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade on Michael Peterson, Owls, and More
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, "The Daily Beast," March 4, 2013
An Accused Killer Won't Watch the Film Version of His Life
Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2013
Forensic Expert: Henry Lee
Henry Lee
Wikipedia
For Henry Lee's account of his work in the Michael Peterson case, see: "The Michael Peterson Case" in Henry C. Lee & Jerry Labriola, Dr. Henry Lee's Forensic Files: Five Famous Cases (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2006)
Forensic Expert: Werner Spitz
In A Heartbeat with Dr. Werner Spitz
video,
12:57 mins. [Part II :: 14:15 mins.]
Videos & Interviews|Michael Peterson
Trial Commentary on "Catherine Crier Live"
[5:33 mins.]
Peterson Attorney Seeks New Trial
[Video; WRAL; 2:35 mins., August 20, 2008] [The owl theory offers an alternative explanation]
Peterson Prosecutor on the Owl Theory
[Video interview; 5:11 mins.; former Durham prosecutor Freda Black says Larry Pollard's theory that an owl was responsible for Kathleen Peterson's death is implausible.]
Michael Peterson: Post-Trial
[WRAL video news coverage; 3 mins.; July 24, 2009; regrets not testifying at his trial]
Michael Peterson Interview in Prison
[Video; 38:26 mins; July 24, 2009; about his life in prison]
True Crime Writer, Aphrodite Jones, Interviews Michael Peterson
[Investigation Discovery Video, March, 2010, 2:34 mins.]
Peterson Discusses Quest for New Trial
[WRAL News interview video; 21:43 mins; December 2, 2011]
Post-Conviction Appeals & Court Decisions
North Carolina Court of Appeals affirms Peterson's conviction: 634 S.E.2d 594 (2006)
Defendant's Brief
NC Court of Appeals
North Carolina Supreme court affirms Peterson's conviction: 652 S.E.2d 216 (2007)
Arguments before the NC Supreme Court
Video; 1:08:08 [TV news coverage of the court arguments]Defendant's NC Supreme Court Brief
February 26, 2007NC Supreme Court opinion
Denial of Appeal
Supreme Court denies writ of certiorari: 552 U.S. 1271 (2008)
Peterson Seeks a New Trial: Defendant's Brief [November 12, 2008] State's Brief [February 27, 2009] [Attorney general says Mike Peterson shouldn't get new trial Michael Peterson, WRAL.com; Febuary 27, 2009]
Motion to Vacate Conviction
February 2, 201l
Legal Documents in the Michael Peterson Case
Peterson is granted a new trial: Appeals Court Hears Dismissal Ordered
April 24, 2013 :: video :: 1:12:59 mins. :: The North Carolina Court of Appeals hears arguments on whether to overturn a Durham judge's ruling giving Mike Peterson, who was convicted in 2003 of killing his wife, a new trial.
Durham DA to retry Mike Peterson for murder
July 16, 2013 :: video :: 3:07 mins.
North Carolina Court of Appeals upholds a lower court's ruling that Mike Peterson should get a new trial in the 2001 death of his wife.
December, 2011 News Coverage of Peterson's Efforts to Secure a New Trial
Peterson again tries to clear his name in wife's death
WRAL News video: 2:32 mins. December 2, 2011
Peterson discusses quest for new trial
WRAL News interview: 21:43 mins. December 2, 2011
Issue involving ex-SBI agent complicates Peterson hearing
WRAL News video: 2:09 mins. December 2, 2011
SBI says ex-analyst was biased
WRAL News video: 2:27 mins. December 7, 2011
SBI remains under fire in Peterson trial
WTVD,
Thursday, December 08, 2011; video, 2:26 mins.
DA wanted others to support ex-SBI analysts conclusions
WRAL News video: 1:59 mins. December 9, 2011
Experts pile on against analyst in Peterson case
WRAL News video: 2:13 mins. December 13, 2011
Peterson will be free on bond while awaiting retrial
WRAL News video: 2:36 mins. December 14, 2011
Mike Peterson released from jail
WRAL News video: 3:06 mins. December 15, 2011. Durham novelist and one-time mayoral candidate Mike Peterson walks out of jail for the first time in more than eight years while awaiting a new trial in his wife's death a decade ago.
Novelist Michael Peterson, Convicted of Wife's Murder, Is Released From Prison and Will Get New Trial
ABC News; 2:39 mins. December 15, 2011
Peterson attorney: There might not be new trial
WRAL News video: 3:09 mins. December 15, 2012.
Fewer bombshells expected in Mike Peterson's retrial
WRAL News video: 2:36 mins. December 16, 2011
Retired lawyer blames Durham DA for Peterson's new trial
WRAL News video: December 30, 2011
"The Staircase": Reviews of the Documentary
IndyWeek.com
DVD
Talk
Slate: Death on the Installment
Plan
News Coverage
WRAL News Coverage of the Case
Peterson's hope for freedom lies in tainted testimony
WRAL News; video, 2:30 mins., April 24, 2014
NC State Bureau of Investigation Scandal Grows with New Evidence of Fraud
Huffington Post, May 14, 2012
Attorney alleges evidence in Peterson case kept secret
WTVD News; video, 2:27 mins., September 22, 2008
New Coverage: 2014
Mike Peterson won't accept plea with prison time, attorney says
WRAL News, September 11, 2014
Mike Peterson gets new attorney for second murder trial
WRAL News, October 23, 2014
Bibliography: Aphrodite Jones, The Perfect
Husband (New York: Pinnacle Books, 2004); Diana Fanning, Written
in Blood (New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2005); Jim Fisher, Forensics Under Fire: Are Bad Science and Dueling Experts Corrupting
Criminal Justice? 259-268 (New Jersey: Rutgers University Press,
2008); F. Lee Bailey, When the Husband is the Suspect 218-235
(New York: Forge Books, 2008)
Dramatization (Film): "The Staircase Murders"
(2007)(based on Aphrodite Jones, The Perfect Husband (New York:
Pinnacle Books, 2004))
Film Postscript:
 |
"The Staircase 2. The Last Chance," a sequel to "The Staircase" (2013) aired on Sundance Channel in March, 2013. Excerpt from the "The Staircase 2. The Last Chance" Excerpt from "The Staircase2. The Last Chance" Excerpt from "The Staircase2. The Last Chance"
|
"Staircase" Murder Documentary: An Update On A Bizarre And Fascinating Case
Huffington Post, March 4, 2013
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (director of "The Staircase")
Jean-Xavier
de Lestrade
Wikipedia
