Crime After Crime

I couldn't stop the tears that was in my eyes....

Just watched the True story of Deborah Peagler "Crime After Crime", bought tears to my eyes... This woman was so strong to endure what the Justice System put her through even after they had all the evidence that she was abused by her abusive boyfriend. All I can say is Steve Cooley shame on you and the Justice System. I'd recommend all womens that are going through any type of abuse to watch this movie. Ms. Deborah was a very strong woman. And we must also give credit to her Lawyers; they never gave up on her case. She's living in Peace. I'm just happy she was able to spend her remaining days with her family.

This is simply a riveting and intensely moving documentary on an important subject. It was shot over a period of years, and the true story takes unexpected turns; I was reminded of Hoop Dreams. Perhaps I'm biased because I've had first-hand experience with out horribly flawed justice system*, so let's just say that if you are interested in the subject, you *have* to see this.

I saw 17 documentaries that were released in 2011, and it was a great year for them. I'm a ferociously tough grader; an 8 is an A- grade. Pina earned a 10 (A+) for its use of 3D, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead earned a 9 (A) for being life-changing, and this led the 8's ahead of Bill Cunningham New York, If a Tree Falls, and We Were Here. The 7's (equivalent to a B+ grade) were Project Nim, The Interrupters, Into The Abyss, and Senna. If you see a lot of docs, that should give you an idea of just how good I thought this was. See it!

* My roommate was convicted of a crime after my exonerating testimony was thrown out by a judge's egregious error. The verdict was overturned unanimously on appeal, but not until he'd spent nearly two years in prison.

Greetings again from the darkness. 80% of women in US prisons are survivors of domestic violence, rape and/or abuse. This statistic is crucial to understanding not just the story in this documentary, but moreso, the underlying issue that is screaming for attention. Wrongful incarcerations have a disproportionate impact on poverty-stricken families and communities.

This film focuses on the story of Deborath Peagler. Her charismatic, drug-dealing boyfriend violently abused her, forced her into prostitution and abused her daughters. At her mother's suggestion, she asked a couple of crips' gang members to convince her boyfriend to leave her alone. The convincing got out of hand and Deborah was arrested.

The Los Angeles District Attorney office threatened Deborah with the death penalty if she didn't confess to planning the murder. See, there was a $17,000 life insurance on her boyfriend and they were sure they could pin a murder-for-profit scheme on her. Deborah believed the DA and chose not to die. Her confession got her a 25 year to life sentence. This was 1983.

While in prison, Deborah earned two associates degrees, held a top prison job and was a social leader amongst the women prisoners. A model prisoner by any standard. In 2002, California passed a law allowing courts to reconsider decisions when evidence of physical abuse had been withheld from the original trial. Enter two young pro-bono attorneys, Joshua Safran and Nadia Costa.

I won't go into detail with all of the corruption and cover-up and injustice that occurred over those next 7 years, but clearly it is a disheartening story that sheds light on the downside of a political office being responsible for justice. The Los Angeles District Attorney, Steve Cooley, is exposed for his power hungry ways and need to avoid scandal regarding poor law work from his office.

The film is both inspirational and motivational. Witnessing the spirit of Deborah Peagler over the years gives you hope for humanity, while also acting as expose' on a system that has many problems.

Look, I am no bleeding-heart liberal, but I do recognize injustice when it slaps me upside the head. I firmly believe justice is compromised given the politicized system we now have. District Attorneys campaign based on their conviction rate ... their ability to be tough on crime. Is it possible that corners are cut and poor judgement supersedes compassion and doing what's right - all for the sake of a high conviction rate?

After the film, there was a panel discussion that included attorney Alan Bean from friendsofjustice.net and Reverand Gerald Britt from CitySquare (CitySq.org). Both of these men, and their many associates are fighting daily for JUSTICE over procedure. I am not pushing any agenda or any specific organization, but I do believe more conversation and insight is needed to ensure our Justice system is actually providing justice, and not just a system to serve those running for office.

After watching this documentary twice on Amazon Prime, I just was overwhelmed by the injustice done to Ms. Peagler. As a lawyer with over 40 years of experience as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney, I cannot adequately express in words the admiration I have for these two pro bono attorneys, Ms. Costa and Mr. Safran, and their courage to fight for her to right the wrong, their passion in diving into an area of the law that neither of them had experience in, their intelligence in figuring out the various avenues for challenging the unconstitutionality of her conviction, their compassion in hearing and understanding Ms. Peagler, and their fearlessness and tenacity in fighting the corrupt L. A. DA's Office, which suppressed material evidence favorable to Ms. Peagler's defense bearing on her innocence of the crime charged. The documentary filmmaker, Mr. Potash, did an incredible job too in putting the documentary together in such a polished manner, synopsizing years of legal wrangling into an hour and a half documentary, it was just riveting to watch. It's clearly one of the finest documentaries I have ever seen. These lawyers are true heroes and exemplify the highest standards of professionalism as lawyers, and the filmmaker deserves high praise for an uncompromising examination of injustice done to a victim of severe domestic violence whose abuser's death she really took no part in yet received a life sentence due to the corruption of the criminal justice system in California. I cannot recommend this film too highly, it's that good!

It was a very interesting and enjoyable documentary. I did my own research like I do with every documentary I watch. And I do very much believe she was abused which is awful and very messed up.At the same time though, I read plenty about the people she hung out with and aquatinted herself with. And it wasn't just her, her mother as well. They would spend there time, with very dangerous criminals, drug dealers, and gang members.If you choose to hang out with and put yourself around people like that, you can't later on complain about the consequences of the events that occur. I grew up in a poor area, I've been in the same neighborhood as large groups of criminals and like any normal individual chose to not associate myself with them. They would ask me to hang out or try to strike up conversation. I always politely declined or on occasion just completely ignored them. They eventually got the hint. And I reaped the benefits of doing that later in life.