Film Analysis: The Thin Blue Line
Cameron Wasserman
Isabel Sperry
The Thin Blue Line Rough Draft
4 November 2013
Lying to find the “truth”
The Thin Blue Line documentary by Errol Morris provides reenactments and investigation interviews of a late November homicide of a Dallas, Texas police officer, Robert Wood. This murder was at the hands of a troubled 16 year old, David Harris, who shot a man from inside a stolen Mercury Comet with a stolen .22 pistol. Randall Adams, innocent, and wrongly accused of being in the passenger seat of Harris’ stolen car, was blamed as the killer of police officer Robert Wood on the late November evening in Dallas, Texas. Young and afraid, David Harris claims Randall Adams is the gunman who shot down Robert Wood in Dallas, consequently many of the case’s investigators accept such a conviction due to the need for a “wrap up” of the case; furthermore the DA, in effort to keep his perfect win record by convicting Adams, and his desire for the death penalty …show more content…
The major fact that David Harris was a 16 year old presented the idea that Randall Adams was the murderer because Adams was 28 and could be sentenced to death. This played a major role in why Randall Adams was convicted for the murder and was thrown on death row.
Edith James explains, “They had a twenty-eight year old man. The only alternative was to be prosecuting a sixteen year old that could not be given the death penalty under Texas Law, where our twenty-eight year old man could. That’s always been the predominant motive…for having a death penalty case against Randall Adams…he was a convenient age”.
Edith James, being Adams’ defense attorney, had no problem pointing out the deceitful actions of Doug Mulder throughout the case. As James says, Adams was at a very convenient age which made it easy for Mulder to prosecute Randall Adams, placing him on death
Isabel Sperry
The Thin Blue Line Rough Draft
4 November 2013
Lying to find the “truth”
The Thin Blue Line documentary by Errol Morris provides reenactments and investigation interviews of a late November homicide of a Dallas, Texas police officer, Robert Wood. This murder was at the hands of a troubled 16 year old, David Harris, who shot a man from inside a stolen Mercury Comet with a stolen .22 pistol. Randall Adams, innocent, and wrongly accused of being in the passenger seat of Harris’ stolen car, was blamed as the killer of police officer Robert Wood on the late November evening in Dallas, Texas. Young and afraid, David Harris claims Randall Adams is the gunman who shot down Robert Wood in Dallas, consequently many of the case’s investigators accept such a conviction due to the need for a “wrap up” of the case; furthermore the DA, in effort to keep his perfect win record by convicting Adams, and his desire for the death penalty …show more content…
The major fact that David Harris was a 16 year old presented the idea that Randall Adams was the murderer because Adams was 28 and could be sentenced to death. This played a major role in why Randall Adams was convicted for the murder and was thrown on death row.
Edith James explains, “They had a twenty-eight year old man. The only alternative was to be prosecuting a sixteen year old that could not be given the death penalty under Texas Law, where our twenty-eight year old man could. That’s always been the predominant motive…for having a death penalty case against Randall Adams…he was a convenient age”.
Edith James, being Adams’ defense attorney, had no problem pointing out the deceitful actions of Doug Mulder throughout the case. As James says, Adams was at a very convenient age which made it easy for Mulder to prosecute Randall Adams, placing him on death