Review: Two Films by Errol Morris: The Thin Blue Line and Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.: Two Films by Errol Morris

In 1985, director (and erstwhile private investigator) Errol Morris became interested in the trial of Randall Adams, who by then had served almost a decade for the murder of a Dallas police officer. As a product of his investigation, Morris released The Thin Blue Line, a film that documents gaping flaws in Adams's conviction through a series of revealing interviews that culminate in a taped confession to the murder by the prosecution's chief witness, David Ray Harris. The evidence presented by the film appears to exonerate Adams and is widely credited with securing his release from prison in 1989 (Figure 1). The Thin Blue Line...