John Grisham's 'The Innocent Man' Becomes a Documentary Series
John Grisham's 'The Innocent Man' Becomes a Documentary Series
John Grisham is setting big goals for his new documentary.
“We’re trying to get Tommy and Karl out of prison,” the best-selling writer says. “The more awareness we can give their cases, the more likely they are to get out.”
Mr. Grisham is one of the executive producers of “The Innocent Man,” a six-part documentary series based on his 2006 nonfiction book by the same name. The series, coming to
Netflix
on Friday, focuses on the 1980s convictions in Oklahoma of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, for the murder of Debra Sue Carter, and Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, for the murder of Denice Haraway.
Mr. Grisham’s book examines the crimes, the men who were convicted and the legal process surrounding the cases. By the time it was published, Messrs. Williamson and Fritz had been cleared and released from prison, a fact the author learned while reading Mr. Williamson’s obituary.
John Grisham’s nonfiction book ‘The Innocent Man’ prompted the new series by same name.
Photo:
Netflix
Messrs. Ward and Fontenot, however, have been in jail since Mr. Grisham learned of the case.
“They need to get out of prison and we’re trying to get them out,” says Mr. Grisham, who has become a board member of the Innocence Project, which advocates for people it believes are wrongfully convicted.
The Netflix series was directed by Clay Tweel, who says that he sought to augment the story Mr. Grisham told in the book. While Mr. Grisham focused on Mr. Williamson, Mr. Tweel wanted to use interviews with Ms. Carter’s family to demonstrate the way flaws in the criminal-justice system affect both the convicted and the people close to the victims.
“Seeing how hard it was on them—through the course of watching someone be convicted and then having things overturned and having to relive these traumatic experiences over and over again—was something that was really surprising to me,” he says.
“The Innocent Man” is coming out at a time when true-crime series, such as the podcast “Serial” and the documentary “Making a Murderer,” are changing some minds about criminal justice, incarceration and the death penalty.
That isn’t lost on Mr. Tweel. “I view all audience members as sort of a potential jury pool,” he says.
Cable news and social media, Mr. Grisham says, too often lead to immediate presumptions of guilt. And he disagrees with those who say that accusers should be believed no matter what.
“I believe in the presumption of innocence,” he says, “and the burden of proving somebody guilty.”
“The Innocent Man” begins streaming Friday on Netflix.
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