Zimmerman still pined after Thompson and he became the prime suspect in the case. After 11 months of investigation, including phone calls by the police to Zimmerman saying that they know he's guilty, he was finally arrested. The first trial resulted in a guilty verdict. Three and a half years of prison time later, during which he suffered a stroke, Zimmerman was back in court with the Wisconsin Innocence Project on his side. The DA had offered him a plea bargain in which Zimmerman would plead guilty to a lesser charge and have his jail time suspended but he refused. The program stuck to the retrial and the preparation immediately beforehand so one doesn't get a sense of how WIP decided to take his case. What viewers did get was a very compelling bit of drama and a glimpse of our legal system in action.
One thing to note is that Zimmerman was no angel when the murder occurred. He was an alcoholic and estranged from his children. This aspect of the story resonated with me personally. Seeing the streets of Eau Claire, he reminded me of the countless faces I saw at the Ten Pin Tap there as my own father indulged his penchant for the drink. Hearing Zimmerman's son talk about how his father's alcoholism ripped the family apart and how he coped with this by distancing himself from his father was eerily familiar as it mirrored my life. His son also said that this case was about his father trying to redeem himself...the show took on a very personal edge for me. Plus, it wasn't just some guy in another state going to court; it was a guy from a city in which I used to live (well, I lived a bit south of Eau Claire but was there often enough); and he was being defended by lawyers from my alma mater right here in Madison.
There are some fairly wrenching scenes in which Zimmerman nearly collapses from exhaustion and nerves when some UW law students prepare to prep him for trial with a mock cross-examination. The filmmakers had the head defense lawyer give brief introductions to the court proceedings before actually showing what happened. While it was no O.J. Simpson trial, this one had its own twists & turns and surprises. For instance, the medical examiner (I think) was, according to the defense attorney, one of the big factors for the guilty verdict in Zimmerman's first trial. He was brought back and again gave his description of how he thought Thompson was strangled in Zimmerman's van with a phone cord. The defense team brought out that blue cotton fibers were found on Thompson's neck (and underneath her fingernails). They didn't come from a phone cord and yet the medical examiner didn't know about the fibers. When another investigator was questioned, he admitted that he didn't try to match the fibers on the neck with those under the nails.
Another surprise came with one of the prosecution's witnesses. The trial was moved from Eau Claire to Dodge County (I think the courthouse is in Juneau) to avoid a tainted jury pool. Both sides agreed not to tell the jurors that there had already been a trial. While Thompson's husband was being questioned, he let it slip that there had been a previous trial. I give credit to the filmmakers for not having put music here (or indeed anywhere else in the trial footage). Instead of turning this into a Perry Mason moment, they chose to just show the disbelief on the face of the lead defense attorney - a great stylistic decision, in my opinion. If this show is any indication, real trials are a lot less hyperbolic than those portrayed in fictional TV shows and films. There was drama, to be sure, but dramatic moments punctuated long periods of dull, rote questioning and legal procedure.
At the end of the day, Zimmerman was exonerated. I don't know the legal term for it but the judge got the opposing sides together and basically let Zimmerman go free after saying that the prosecution has no case. Watching his face when being informed of this was very emotional. As he hugged everyone, tears welled in my eyes. Almost 4 years of his life were wasted and now he was found not guilty and his name would be cleared.
But he still had the task of integrating himself back into society. The prologue indicated that he was denied a janitorial job a few months after the trial. A background check revealed that he had been arrested. I don't know what a background actually reveals but either his exoneration was excluded from the check or ignored by the company. Zimmerman was told that, because he was arrested, he must have done something wrong.
Stylistically, I give kudos to the filmmakers for letting the story tell itself. The first half hour or so gave the background of the case but the rest of the program stuck to the trial at hand. And I was happy at the sparse use of music in the film. There was music during brief interludes which indicated a passage of time or a change of location but, when the trial was on and when things got down to brass tacks, there was no non-diagetic music. I really appreciate that the filmmakers let the drama of the story carry the film and that they didn't try to "artificially" move the viewer with music.
One thing the film only touched on was the responsibility of the police. The conclusion was that the authorities didn't have any good suspects outside of Zimmerman and that they pinned the crime on him. (Remember, they took 11 months to actually arrest Zimmerman.) An innocent man went to jail and three and a half years of his life. And now his reputation is tarnished and is having problems rebuilding his life. Yet the people responsible for this tragedy aren't being held responsible for their actions. At least the film gave no indication to this effect. Looking on the Net, however, I see that Zimmerman filed a suit against the City of Eau Claire for wrongful conviction.
Another long row to hoe.
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