Routier was treated after that template as a mom who ‘‘snapped.’’ The context of her trial, points out the author Kathy Cruz, was the nationally publicized case of Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman convicted in 1995 for drowning her two sons. Prosecutors painted her as a materialistic, ‘‘self-centered’’ woman for whom children were ‘‘an impediment to the good life.’’ ‘‘The Last Defense’’ suggests that investigators minimized it because they were already invested in Routier as a suspect.īut the most powerful part of the case against Routier - and the most disturbing, in the retelling - was an all-out character attack. The documentary also notes a significant exculpatory piece of evidence - a sock, stained with both boys’ blood, found down an alley from the house. (We hear the excruciating audio several times.) Though Routier was herself wounded badly, including a life-threatening slash to the throat, prosecutors soon charged her.Įxperts for the prosecution argued that Routier’s knife wounds were self-inflicted and that blood spatter and broken glass found at the crime scene was inconsistent with her account. Routier called in the killing to 911, saying that an intruder had attacked her and the boys while they slept. The first four episodes re-examine the 1997 murder conviction of Darlie Routier, a Texas woman whose two young sons were stabbed to death. But it offers a powerful argument that people can be convicted as much by emotion and prejudice as by evidence. ‘‘The Last Defense’’ may or may not add to that number. It begins with Davis (one of several executive producers) saying in a voice-over that every year an average of five prisoners on death row are exonerated.
The seven-part documentary, starting Tuesday, reargues cases of two prisoners awaiting execution.
#JULIUS JONES STORY ON NETFLIX SERIES#
For four seasons, Viola Davis has starred for ABC in ‘‘How to Get Away With Murder.’’ Her new series for the network, ‘‘The Last Defense,’’ might well be called ‘‘How to Get Convicted of Murder.’’
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