Once in a rare while, a movie is made that rocks you to the very core of your soul with a theme as old as civilization and a message as deep as a myth. "Crime After Crime" is that movie, and what's more...it's a documentary.
Directed by Yoav Potash, Crime After Crime is the story of two pro bono lawyers, Joshua Safran and Nadia Costa, and their struggle for freedom for Deborah Peagler. Like many women in prison, Peagler had been a victim of prolonged physical and sexual abuse. By the time Safran and Costa met her, in 2002, Peagler had already served 20 years in prison for the death of her abuser.
In 2002, California passed a law that allowed prisoners who were victims of domestic violence to have a new hearing if the original court never considered evidence of the abuse. The law seemed designed to bring justice to people like Deborah Peagler.
While she was still in her teens, Deborah fell in love with a man who eventurally abused her brutally, both physically and emotionally, and forced her into prostitution. All her efforts to escape from him failed. One time, when he and a group of armed friends came to take her back by force, a neighbor called the police. The abuser was arrested and released the next day. Deborah had no way out.
In 1982, her abuser was beaten and strangled to death by two Crips gang members who were friends of Deborah's mother. Arrested and threatened with the death penalty, Deborah agreed to plead guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life. The 2002 law brought Deborah the hope that, having already served 20 years as a model prisoner, justice would giver her back her freedom.
Crime After Crime is a journey through the legal battles that became a long war, and in the process revealed widespread incompetence, corruption and collusion permeating California's justice system. The journey is a series of hope - followed by disappointment and heartbreaking betrayals. We travel this journey, year after year, in the compay of three extraordinary people; individuals who are as different from one another as possible. Peagler is a Christian, whose faith and personality have sustained her throughout her incarceration. She is a blessing to all who know her, she's a leader and a mentor to other inmates. Safran, a land development lawyer and family man, is an Orthodox Jew who feels a religious mission to free those who are unjustly imprisoned. Both he and Costa, who was a social worker before becoming a lawyer, experienced abuse in their own families. Their work is, no doubt, redemptive.
The relationship among them, and the many others who participate in the "Free Debbie" movement renew one's faith in the possibility of genuine human compassion and the triumph of goodness over evil. They become a close-knit family whose dedication and faith are tested through years of confrontation with a giant, powerful and seemingly impenetrable system.
Crime After Crime is not to be missed.
