Presented with Retain a Just Nebraska — in collaboration with Nebraska Innocence Project, Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and Hightower Reff Law.
BLOODSWORTH: AN INNOCENT MAN is the remarkable true story of the first death row inmate exonerated by DNA evidence in the United States. The film details his case and follows his efforts to repeal Maryland’s death penalty law in 2013.
In 1985, Kirk Noble Bloodsworth was wrongfully convicted for the murder and rape of a 9-year-old-girl in Maryland. Though there was no physical evidence against him, he was sentenced to death for the crime. In an interview with journalist Marcia Franklin, Bloodsworth says,
“Anything that could go wrong did […] Nobody wanted to listen to me, nobody wanted to believe me.”
The film shows how different factors came together for the wrongful conviction to occur. The rush to judgment was the unfortunate result of mounting pressure to catch the criminal who committed the heinous crime. Bloodsworth’s intial lawyer was ill-equipped to handle the case. Evidence languished in a paper bag in a closet. The people involved in the prosecution were skilled and experienced, Bloodsworth himself point out, but they were also incredibly wrong. After eight years, 10 months, and 19 days, DNA testing revealed Bloodsworth’s innocence.
Bloodsworth has since become a devoted advocate for abolishing the death penalty, primarily because his own story is too common, and as he tells Franklin,
“Nobody should have to face that in their life.”
Post-film discussion will feature an audience Q&A with Kirk Noble Bloodwsorth moderated by Brad Christian-Sallis, Regional Field Director of Retain a Just Nebraska. Kirk Noble Bloodsworth’s visit is made possible through the support of Witness to Innocence.
— Diana Martinez, Film Streams Education Director
