Ryan Ferguson's "Unlocking the Truth" Premieres Wed. 8/17 on MTV - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JamesG · 08-17-2016, 01:18 PM

MTV's "Unlocking the Truth" Aims to Overturn False Convictions
by Andy Swift
August 17, 2016

One day after bringing "Scream’s" fictional killer to justice, MTV is shifting its focus to crimes of a different sort.

"Unlocking the Truth" (Wednesday, 10/9c) examines the U.S. justice system from the point of view of Ryan Ferguson, a man who was imprisoned for 10 years after being falsely accused and charged with second-degree murder.

After a decade behind bars, Ferguson was exonerated with the help of attorney Kathleen Zellner, the same person who filed an appeal to free Steven Avery of Netflix’s "Making a Murderer".

Wednesday’s premiere begins with a brief look at Ferguson’s story — which he admits is “not the easiest thing to watch” — before diving into the case of Michael Politte, a man who was charged with the murder of his mother in 1998 when he was just 14 years old.

“They’re all worth my time,” Ferguson tells TVLine of the cases he and partner Eva Nagao take on. “But I only have so much time. If I see that a case was not thoroughly investigated, that’s where I can best provide help.”

Unfortunately, Ferguson admits, not every investigation ends with a discovery of innocence — but that doesn’t make his efforts any less important.

“We just want to find the truth in these cases, and they definitely lead us down paths we don’t anticipate,” he says. “There are a lot of twists and turns, and it’s not always what you expect. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not.”

Ferguson says his drive for this work comes from, “anger and frustration at a legal system that values convictions over human lives. I saw it in my case and I saw it in multiple other cases. There are 1,700 wrongfully imprisoned people who have been exonerated, and there are thousands more. I do the opposite of what they’re doing: I take this negative energy and I turn it into positive action.”

http://tvline.com/2016/08/17/unlocki...imprisonments/

RobinW · 08-17-2016, 06:34 PM

Looking forward to this one. This is one of my pet cases and I'm glad it's staying in the spotlight. There's still a lot unfinished business with it, as Ryan Ferguson's so-called "partner in crime" Chuck Erickson is still in prison. I know Chuck was the one who confessed and implicated Ryan to begin with, but I'm pretty certain he had nothing to do with the murder and deserves to be released.

08-17-2016, 01:18 PM	#1
JamesG Freakshow Moderator Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 01, 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57,135	Ryan Ferguson's "Unlocking the Truth" Premieres Wed. 8/17 on MTV *MTV's "Unlocking the Truth" Aims to Overturn False Convictions* by Andy Swift August 17, 2016 One day after bringing "Scream’s" fictional killer to justice, MTV is shifting its focus to crimes of a different sort. "Unlocking the Truth" (Wednesday, 10/9c) examines the U.S. justice system from the point of view of Ryan Ferguson, a man who was imprisoned for 10 years after being falsely accused and charged with second-degree murder. After a decade behind bars, Ferguson was exonerated with the help of attorney Kathleen Zellner, the same person who filed an appeal to free Steven Avery of Netflix’s "Making a Murderer". Wednesday’s premiere begins with a brief look at Ferguson’s story — which he admits is “not the easiest thing to watch” — before diving into the case of Michael Politte, a man who was charged with the murder of his mother in 1998 when he was just 14 years old. “They’re all worth my time,” Ferguson tells TVLine of the cases he and partner Eva Nagao take on. “But I only have so much time. If I see that a case was not thoroughly investigated, that’s where I can best provide help.” Unfortunately, Ferguson admits, not every investigation ends with a discovery of innocence — but that doesn’t make his efforts any less important. “We just want to find the truth in these cases, and they definitely lead us down paths we don’t anticipate,” he says. “There are a lot of twists and turns, and it’s not always what you expect. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not.” Ferguson says his drive for this work comes from, “anger and frustration at a legal system that values convictions over human lives. I saw it in my case and I saw it in multiple other cases. There are 1,700 wrongfully imprisoned people who have been exonerated, and there are thousands more. I do the opposite of what they’re doing: I take this negative energy and I turn it into positive action.” http://tvline.com/2016/08/17/unlocki...imprisonments/ Attached Images

08-17-2016, 06:34 PM	#2
RobinW Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2010 Posts: 1,874	Looking forward to this one. This is one of my pet cases and I'm glad it's staying in the spotlight. There's still a lot unfinished business with it, as Ryan Ferguson's so-called "partner in crime" Chuck Erickson is still in prison. I know Chuck was the one who confessed and implicated Ryan to begin with, but I'm pretty certain he had nothing to do with the murder and deserves to be released.