Innocent Victims

The actual events of this crime film are very well documented, and the actors, (Rick Schroeder, Rue McLenahan, Hal Holbrook,) are entirely believable in their characters. The miscarriage of justice that transpired,here, is only more horrifying when you realize that other "rush-to-judgment" convictions are still occurring. The fact that the final scenes and updates do not complete the story, leaves one unsatisfied, and wondering why more has not been pursued.Current forensic and technological advances, (as well as legal and courtroom proscriptions) might never have caused this case to advance as it did.This cold case should definitely be re-examined in light of today's knowledge.

Yes, the movie is long, but it leaves nothing out. This poor family went through torture, it's worth the time to watch it. If you really think about a trial like this it would take many years, so how could they possibly end this movie in just an hour and a half. It's very realistic. This man's parents sold their home and practically their life to prove his innocents. I don't want to give anything away. Just either rent the movie or buy it, and get some popcorn, some soda and sit back and relax and enjoy this movie. Evidently is very hard to get another trial once you're on death row. Between his parents and the lawyers they never gave up.

This was the last of the great miniseries. And I had the privilege of watching it with the author. A little stressful, but on the money as far as telling the story of that horrendous crime -- and how the local police department got their sites set on one person and used only the evidence that could back up what they wanted. This has happened over and over again in our justice system, and it is the reason why the death penalty should not be in effect. Too often, the ones on death row are those who either don't have the money for a good lawyer (Hennis' parents took out a second mortgage on their home to pay for his) or are in the tunnel vision of the local police department.

So in the end ,years down the road his DNA matched the semen found in the victim and now he awaits his execution👍👍He was guilty after all and watching this after his conviction you can see how unfortunately he had everyone fooled but at least now he is paying for what he did to that poor woman and those two little girls.

"Innocent Victims" is the story of what happens what the police decide on a suspect and set out to nail that particular suspect, becoming blind to any evidence that would raise doubt. For those who don't believe this can happen in the U.S., guess again - we just saw it in the Duke University case. Did the same thing happen in this case? It's up to you.

The young man here, Tim Hennis, is well played by a blond John Corbett as a man questioned and finally arrested for brutal murder of a woman and her two small children. He insists on his innocence, and his parents go to great lengths, including selling their home, and his father retiring early and getting only a partial pension, to help him prove it. When he is convicted and lands on Death Row, efforts are redoubled by his attorneys to get him a new trial and to find the real killer. This was a sensational case that resulted in a book and this TV movie.

One thing pointed up here is that the defendant agreed to be questioned by the police and submit to DNA testing without an attorney present. I think from seeing the film, people realize that it doesn't matter whether or not you are innocent of the crime, you should never, ever talk to the police without a lawyer, no matter what they tell you. They told this guy he wasn't a suspect and just wanted to talk to him. My sister works for the public defender. She says, don't fall for it. I know many people assume that if you bring a lawyer, you have nothing to hide, but that isn't true. A lawyer is there to protect your rights.

Hal Holbrook and Rue McClanahan are excellent as Tim's devoted parents, and Rick Shroeder does a terrific job as one of the lawyers trying to prove that Tim is not guilty. All of the acting is good. It's difficult for me to see lawyers depicted in such a positive light - I had a lawyer for something who did nothing and collected a fortune from me. Someone posted that they have a hard time believing this could happen in America; I have a hard time believing lawyers like this exist.

There is a fascinating update on this case if you go to google.com and put "Tim Hennis" "update" in the search box. The link was too long, and IMDb would not allow it.