'It takes a great prosecutor to convict an innocent man'

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The documentary is a pleasure to watch. The cinematography is very artistic. The subtle music of Phillip Glass haunts the screen, creating a feeling of "Any prosecutor can convict a guilty man; it takes a impending doom. Without overt sentiment or gore, Morris dramatizes Officer Woods' killing so that the senselessness of it spills over to Adams' conviction, If the above statement is true, then Douglas Mulder, Dallas County District Attorney, is a "great" prosecutor.

And Randall Adams—convicted in 1979 of the killing of One of the problems with the film, however, is the a Dallas, Texas, police officer-is a victim of his conclusion that Morris draws. He gives the impression that what happened to Adams was a freakish event. In This is the inescapable conclusion which Errol Morris fact, the legal system is often used against working brings to his latest film, "The Thin Blue Line." Through The American legal system is based on English use of first-hand testimony and newspaper reports, Morris proves that Adams was not guilty of the killing. common law, which was designed so the nobility could Instead, he was set up by the real killer, who was too keep property at the expense of the peasants. In the same way, the American legal system allows capitalists to young to be electrocuted by the state. Adams was framedup for the killing so the state could have somebody to keep property at the expense of working people. The clearest example of this is the role of the cops and courts Killing a guard of the ruling class (a cop) is conșidered to be more than just murder. It is such a dangerous assault against the status quo that somebody has to die Adams was fingered by 16-year-old David Harris, who was arrested in Vidor, Texas, for assaulting a clerk at a While everyone should be guaranteed their right to a convenience store. The police found that Harris had used fair trial, the criminal-justice system doesn't do this.

Adams was prevented from getting a fair trial because the same gun that killed Officer Woods, and that he had Instead, it protects the rights of those who can afford the judge and jury were so overwhelmed by the "heiniousness" of the crime that they were blinded to the stolen a car which fit the description of the one driven by them. For instance, proportionately more Blacks than whites are in jail, not because Blacks commit more facts. He is alive today only because the Supreme Court Adams' connection to Harris was based on sheer crimes, but because they can't afford competent legal overturned his death sentence on a technicality.

However, the Texas Attorney General commuted the chance. Adams' car had run out of gas the day after sentence to life imprisonment in order to block Adams Thanksgiving, and Harris had picked him up. They spent A poor person relying on an overworked and underpaid from getting a retrial, which might have proven his a few hours together drinking beer and watching movies public defender is not getting the quality of legal at a drive-in theater. When Harris tried to invite himself protection that a high-priced defense lawyer provides.

Unfortunately, Morris presents Adams' case in the to spend the night, Adams politely refused. Harris never context of a system that occasionally makes mistakes. In reality, there is rarely justice for working people in our When Harris was picked up a month later for assault, present legal system. More often, it is a system of he bargained his way out of the charges by fingering Adams as the "top killer." Harris was given complete There are striking parallels between "The Thin Blue immunity for testifying against Adams although he had a Line" and the case of Mark Curtis, a Socialist Workers long string of assaults and burglaries on his record. Party member who was recently convicted of attempted The facts of the case show Adams was innocent. On In fact, Harris is now on death row in Texas for the rape in Des Moines, Iowa. The evidence in Curtis' case Thanksgiving weekend in 1979, Dallas police officer murder of another man. In one of the last scenes of the in no way connected him to the crime or the victim. His Robert Woods was shot and killed while stopping a car film, Harris admits on tape that he knew Adams was conviction was the culmination of a conspiracy against for not having its lights on. On Dec. 22, 1979, Adams innocent, and implicates himself in Woods' killing. him because of his union activities and his work with Adams had arrived in Dallas the same weekend Officer "The Thin Blue Line" is a powerful lesson for all Woods was killed. Although he and his brother had "The Thin Blue Line" is more than a documentary of a working people. Seeing it makes me always want to intended to pass through Dallas on their way to murder investigation—it is itself an investigation. have an iron-clad alibi handy in case the state decides to California, Adams landed a job in Dallas, and they Director Morris allows each witness to tell his or her turn its criminal injustice system against me. decided to stay so he could work. Throughout the trial, story without prejudice. All the evidence is laid out Unfortunately, at this point in time, even an alibi won't the prosecution tried to paint Adams as a "vagrant" or a fairly. Although it is apparent that Morris believes help those the state is determined to prosecute and "transient," when actually he was just a worker looking Adams was innocent, his presentation of the case is Line, great prosecutor to convict an innocent man."

"greatness." execute.

for the offense. innocence.

The film demonstrates how system can be manipulated While Morris doesn't directly inferred that the system is oppression.

Anatomy of a frameup was arrested and charged with the killing. directed by Errol Morris.

easily the criminal justice against working people. draw this conclusion, it is an instrument of class for a job.

Woods' killer. forgot this slight. Balanced and objective completely balanced and objective. which is equally as senseless.

people. in breaking strikes. representation. criminal "injustice." undocumented workers. convict.

But in the last 20 years, their quiet has changed; more highways are going close to their territories, more Indians are killed by speeders, more thefts are committed by "whites" (mostly mestizos)-who have all the rights.

The Indians got tired of being abused. Last June, one of the Salasacas found two young persons stealing some of his belongings. He summoned other people, who surrounded the thieves. The latter then threatened the Indians, saying that they belonged to a big group who would take revenge for any injury.

The Indians, out of fear, decided to kill the two thieves. A legal nightmare has ensued. The Indians now face harsh sentences. But many people are defending the Salasacas, who were trying to protect their rights.

Antonio Proano, Los Angeles, Calif.