this is a new series that debuted earlier in the month. I've been trying to record all of the episodes, but it's been very difficult as the show keeps getting pre-empted so that CNN can bring you 24 hour coverage of the missing plane. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but the stories sound pretty interesting.

If you want to catch up on any of the 7 previously aired episodes, CNN is scheduled to re-air all of them over the course of the next couple of weekends. (presuming they don't pre-empt them of course, which is always a possibility)

They will also be airing the 8th episode in the series. You may have heard of this one as it is a major deal in Colorado right now, and is even factoring in to that year's governor's race, where Democrat John Hickenlooper is seeking re-election.

The case concerns another mass-murder in Aurora, CO (almost everyone remembers sicko James Holmes killing 12 people in a movie theater). In 1993, Nathan Dunlap, a Chuck E. Cheese employee, hid out in the bathroom until closing time, and afterward killed 4 coworkers and nearly killed a 5th. All but one of the victims were teenagers. Dunlap was sentenced to death, and his execution was supposed to take place last year, but Governor Hickenlooper, (who originally supported capital punishment during his first gubernatorial win in 2010, has since waffled on the issue and is now against it) ordered a reprieve for Dunlap. Even more disgusting, Hickenlooper has suggested that he might grant clemency for Dunlap should he lose re-election. These moves have angered the families of the victims, understandably so, and Hickenlooper has taken a lot of flak for it. Also distressing is that Hickenlooper seems to not want to take any action on the issue and rather leave things for his successor (whenever that should take place) to handle. His opponent, Republican Bob Beauprez, has said that Dunlap's execution will go through is planned should he be elected.

Polls suggest a close race. Colorado was a Republican leaning state until the last decade, when things shifted towards Democrats. Things may be turning back to the Republicans favor however, as several Democratic state congressmen have been recalled, or resigned after being threatened with recall. The state also has a close U.S. senate contest this year.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26404052/hickenlooper-suggests-granting-clemency-nathan-dunlap-interview

I just saw the James Duckett one. Lots of twists and turns I didn't see coming.

This is one of the absolute best crime shows ever made. I love the line from the opening segment, "Get a conviction at all costs. Let the truth fall where it may."

So accurate. So devastatingly accurate.

Unfortunately the networks typically shy away from anything that hints toward detective and prosecutor abuse. There are scattered episodes of a person who was wrongly convicted via flimsy evidence, or withheld evidence of innocence, combined with coercion by the state. But they are never presented as a theme. We have series devoted to Swamp, and Twins, and Alaska, and you name it, but the networks don't want to ruffle feathers by presenting a series that focuses on one wrongly convicted person after another, and the way it happened. It would certainly open some eyes. By this point there are more than enough cases to qualify for a series like that. Several series.

Death Row Stories includes some of that. I applaud CNN for producing it. But it's more a series of "maybe innocent" than absolute innocence. Still, it gives you a peak into how evidence is twisted and presented in court. In some of the cases of innocence presented on other programs I've done some research and been absolutely shocked at some of the abuses that never made it onto the program itself. Protection indeed.

This is what always gets me. When a person confesses in that back room, the first question never varies: "What happened? Tell us what happened."

Often the details are astonishing to the detectives, with twists galore, things they never suspected even though they had the right perpetrator all along.

Now fast forward to all those cases that lack a confession, including when an innocent person is on trial. The prosecutor presents the theory of the case as if they know damn well what happened, piece by piece. The jury and generally the public too often accept it as gospel. Disgusting. And back to the line from the Death Row Stories opener, "Get a conviction at all costs..."

That may not be true of all departments and all prosecutors. Just too many of them.

I look forward to another season of this series.