fdawkins 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!

coachtonya-young 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.

amazon-41 I can't understand the low IMDb rating. Since there are no bad reviews posted here as of April '12, I can't speculate as to why I see a 5.7 rating. Irregardless of the political or legal viewpoint one might develop of the particular case in question, this is a well made film. Though I can't imagine anyone would question the fact that this film documents an INCREDIBLE miscarriage of justice.Although come to think of it, I can imagine a scenario in which the L.A. District Attorney's office sent a super-secret memo to its staff demanding that all employees log on to IMDb and give it one star...If you are a fan of compelling legal documentaries à la "Murder on a Sunday Morning", "Paradise Lost". "The Trials of Darryl Hunt" or "The Thin Blue Line", you will absolutely love this one. All the elements are here: DA misconduct, Interesting plot turns, recanting witnesses, dedicated and interesting attorneys... you name it.This is great drama.

David Ferguson 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.