Criminal Procedure Issues in “The Thin Blue Line”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Criminal procedure issues
Conclusion
Works cited

Introduction

The movie was directed by Morris Errol and released in 1988. It documents the murdering of a police officer in Dallas, Robert Wood. Adams Randall was arrested tried and imprisoned for the killings. This is only done after several years as the police had no clue who actually committed the crime till a resident of Vidor a sixteen year old gave the police some information. The teen later identified Adams as the killer (‘The Thin Blue Line’.1988)

After running out of gas, Adams was picked by Harris the sixteen years old teen. The two went into a drinking spree and watched movies. The story turns into a two different case as Adams held that he went to a motel where he stayed with his brother and slept. On the other hand, the teen claims that the two were stopped by a police where Adam shot the police who was approaching the car they were in. Audiences are taken through the procedure of police collecting evidence. The movie has been hailed for making authorities release Adams after serving 12 years in jail.

The essay thus seeks to critically examine the criminal procedures issues that were in the movie especially those in regards the police violating peoples’ right. It is no doubt that the work of police is to solve crime and unmask the real culprits and bring them to books. There are instance that this does not happen and innocent citizens are taken to task and jailed for mistakes they never committed.

Criminal procedure issues

Criminal procedure has been thought of as rules used by governments to enforce criminal law and help to adjudicate the assertions that an individual has broken criminal laws. The procedure acceptable in regards to criminal process entails “booking, arraignment, bail, preliminary hearing, a trial, sentencing, punishment and lastly appeal” (Zalman 121). Factoring in the issues of democracy and human rights, there is need for prosecutors to gather substantial evidence and at the same time uphold the human rights. After being arrested a police officer tried to force him (Adams) to sign a confession, this amounts to violation of human rights.

While undergoing interrogation, the same officer placed a piston on the table and forced him to pick, refusing to pick it up made the police threaten him further by pulling his service revolver on Adams (Gershman 300).

It is sad that when the Millers came to testify against Adams, they were to gain as their daughter who as to be taken to court for robbery charges was dropped. Apparently, the huge reward by the police regarding a testimony that will ensure Adams is found guilty did play a major role in ensuring that the innocent suffer while the real culprits walk free. The kind of rebuttal witnesses seemed to have worked in helping the prosecutor cover their story.

According to Gershman 312 in a situation where witnesses provided conflicting evidence like in the case of Turko and Harris, it was the responsibility of the court to refer the matter back to Dallas for collection of fresh and tangible evidence as Adams should be released. However, this did not happen hence violating his civil rights.

In the first place the booking of Adams was completely misplaced. The police only and heavily relied on information from the teen, Harris. It is a violation of human right to arrest an individual being suspected of having committed a crime while the evidence at hand is a mere hearsay (Zalman 21). It is no doubt that the teenager killed the officer as he bragged of the same and eventually managed to frame Adams. The police failed to even establish that the teen was responsible for stealing the car as well as the firearm used to kill officer Woods. This failure put Adams into trouble where his constitutional rights were violated.

After being arrested it is no doubt that Adams was kept in detention for too long despite the fact that time for him to be released either on bail or otherwise was due. This is a violation of his civil rights of freedom. During his arrest he was mishandled as there are incidences in which police seemed to have used excessive force and even threatened him. Since it is the work of police to stop crime, the failure of Woods partner Turko not interviewed during investigation failed to establish how many individuals were in the car (Gershman 286). Making matters worse she was not in a position to even identify the model of the car. Such carelessness is responsible for the woes that faced Adams because if Turko could be keen, to establish these two issues, Adams could have been exonerated of the charges laid against him.

Conclusion

From the review of the movie The Thin Blue Line it is apparent that there are obvious incidences that the police or prosecutors worked to suppress justice hence violating the right of Adams who is accused falsely as the real culprit Harris walks free committing other heinous crimes. Among the criminal issues that police did that violated the rights of individuals include threatening the suspect and using force in arresting him, ‘bribing witnesses’, relying on hear say as evidence, over detention to mention but a few. It is the responsibilities of the police to ensure human rights are not violated while justice is being sought after. The movie fully captures flaws committed by prosecutors and is worth watching.

Works cited

Gershman, Bennett. The Thin Blue Line: Art or Trial in the Fact-Finding Process, 1989. Web.

‘The Thin Blue Line’. Dir. Errol, Morris, Prod. Lipson, M. DVD. USA: Miramax Films, 1988.

Zalman, Marvin. Criminal Procedure. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.

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Criminal Procedure Issues in “The Thin Blue Line”

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