Review: 'A Question Of Innocence'

As a guy who grew up happily in Southern Indiana, going off to college at UCLA was a jarring and scary experience. But my second day on campus, I met this lanky and beautiful struggling actress named Susan and I fell instantly in love. Luckily for me, she didn't mind spending time with my either and it wasn't long before we were living together. She was going to be a successful yet serious actress and I was going to write the next great television drama.

One day I was running late on my way home and by the time I got there, Susan was dead. I walked into our apartment, found her body sprawled across the floor in a pool of blood and our TV and stereo missing. For all intents and purposes, that portion of my life ended with her. I tried to stick it out in school and managed to get a couple of low-level writing assistant jobs. But my heart was shattered and I was spiraling down a whirlwind of self destruction that would make Gary Busey nervous.

A lot has changed in my life over the past couple of decades. I'm happily married, a reasonably successful writer and have a young son I love more than I can express. But there's not a week that goes by that I don't think about Susan. Not so much because of what I lost, but because of what she could have been. Murder is final and there isn't a punishment available that can ease the pain and the loss.

The police never found her killer and I've wondered over the years what my reaction would be if the case was ever solved. Would I want revenge? An eye for an eye? Could I forgive the person or persons who took her life and ended such a beautiful spirit?

I decided long ago that I don't believe in the death penalty, because just like in the case of Susan's murder, death is final. In nearly all death penalty cases there is some measure of uncertainty and that is enough to keep me from endorsing it, even if we were talking about the person who murdered Susan. Short of capturing the murder on video, I don't think my soul could live with even the smallest possibility that retribution was enacted on an innocent person.

That concept is the starting point for "A Question of Innocence," a new Investigation Discovery special that premieres on Friday. Narrated by Bruce Greenwood, the special recounts the story of Florida death-row inmate Tommy Zeigler, who has been on death row for 38 years.

Zeigler was convicted of killing his wife, in-laws and a customer during a late night murder spree in the furniture store he owned just outside Orlando, Florida. He and his lawyers were convinced that they could quickly prove his innocence, but an unfriendly judge and a police investigator eager to show off his newly-learned blood spatter skills ended up sending Zeigler to death row.

The details of the case are jarring, from one juror holding an empty gun to the head of the lone juror holding out for an acquittal to witnesses who later seemed to be part of the botched robbery. Based on what is presented on the special, it's amazing there was a conviction at all, much less a death sentence.

Over the past 35 years, a string of lawyers and investigators have taken up Ziegler's case and many of them are convinced he is innocent. They've built a very credible scenario for what really happened, although after so many years, it's unlikely they'll ever be able to prove it in court.

In the end, Ziegler remains on death row awaiting execution. And while he's dodged that fate a couple of times (coming within 20 minutes of death on one occasion), his luck is unlikely to survive the current Florida governor, who seems almost eager to extract what he believes is justice.

Anyone who has ever suffered a great loss will tell you that is no such thing as "closure" or "retribution." There is only pain and loss and while that eases with the passage of time, it never goes away. But that pain isn't enough to take the risk of compounding one injustice with another by executing an innocent man. "A Question of Innocence" is a fine reminder of that fact and it's a special that is well worth watching.

"A Question Of Innocence" premieres on Investigation Discovery on Friday, June 11th, 2014 at 10/9c.