If you watched everything Netflix had to offer this winter, we’ve got good news. “The Innocence Files,” Netflix’s new documentary series, is dropping on the streaming platform next month.
“The Innocence Files” gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at eight people’s fight for justice. The nine-episode series will be available to stream on April 15.
More than 2,500 wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated in the U.S. over the past three decades. And there are many more who are still hoping to clear their names.
“The Innocence Files” takes an in-depth look at why the journey to justice can be so long and difficult. The series features Innocence Project co-founders and special counsel Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, and other experts as they fight for justice on behalf of various wrongfully convicted people.
“We are thrilled to be part of the groundbreaking Netflix series, ‘The Innocence Files,’” Scheck and Neufeld said in a joint statement. “This is truly important television. Each episode reveals — step by step — how the American criminal justice system gets it wrong.
“We hope these stories motivate people to take action. There are tried and tested reforms that will improve the system to make it more fair and just. Countless innocent people endure unspeakable suffering in maximum security prisons and death row for crimes they didn’t commit. These miscarriages of justice extend a circle of pain and trauma that embraces families, communities, and even victims of crime. We must do better.”
“The Innocence Files” focuses on three different causes of wrongful conviction: prosecutorial misconduct, eyewitness misidentification and the use of unreliable or unvalidated forensic science. Split into three parts — The Evidence, The Witness and The Prosecution, the series follows the individual stories of people working to be exonerated, including Chester Hollman III, Kenneth Wyniemko, Alfred Dewayne Brown, Thomas Haynesworth, Franky Carrillo, Levon Brooks, Kennedy Brewer and Keith Harward.
The documentary series is executive produced and directed by Academy Award nominee Liz Garbus and Academy Award winners Alex Gibney and Roger Ross Williams. The series also includes episodes directed by Sarah Dowland, Academy Award nominee Jed Rothstein and Emmy Award winner Andy Grieve.