Netflix True Crime Series Exposes The Scariest Possibility For Innocent People
For years, Netflix has done an incredible job of keeping true crime fans satiated with the most interesting and jaw-dropping stories around. And, while docuseries that focus on one case like The Staircase may be a great go-to, some audiences may be missing out on one of the streamer’s best anthology titles, The Confession Tapes. With only a handful of stories spanning more than one episode, audiences are presented with numerous accounts of convicted murderers whose confessions are called into question as false and coerced by law enforcement officials.
True Crime Anthology At Its Very Best
Over two seasons, The Confession Tapes’ creator and director, Kelly Loudenberg, takes viewers into some extreme examples of possibly mishandled cases and shows how not everyone behind bars is guilty of their crimes. By the end of each installment, it’s on the audience to decide whether the convicts are truly guilty or if the justice system failed them.
Some of these subjects have since been freed from prison thanks to the overturning of convictions or retrials but for most of them, they still reside behind bars, hoping that the Netflix series will breathe new life into their cases.
Holes In The Legal System
At its core, The Confession Tapes is a reflection of the United States legal system and shows the tatters and tears in its fabric. The series reveals just how easy it is for someone to end up charged and found guilty for a crime they didn’t commit thanks to unjust police interrogation techniques and holes in the system. After all, once someone has admitted to a crime and law enforcement has that person on record saying such, it’s incredibly difficult to sway a jury in the other direction.
When In Doubt, Lawyer Up
Aside from The Confession Tapes, a prime example of this mishandling of justice is in Netflix’s other docuseries, Making a Murderer. In the production, audiences learn of a man and his nephew who are fighting for the overturning of their murder convictions after the latter is seemingly coerced into a confession by the police. The series captivated audiences and did a terrific job of not just pulling back the curtain on what can go wrong in interrogation rooms but also teaching audiences to always have a lawyer present when talking to the cops.
Raising Awareness Isn’t Enough
Sadly, the truth behind shows like The Confession Tapes and Making a Murderer is that despite the public’s support and opinions, it’s still nearly impossible to get a case with a confession overturned. As we mentioned above, many of the inmates who spoke to Kelly Loudenberg during her time working on the series were hoping that with people hearing their stories, they would be exonerated.
Unfortunately, this is something that rarely happens and even if it does, it could take years upon years of appeals – just as the trio known as The West Memphis Three from HBO’s classic true crime documentary film series, Paradise Lost.
Stream The Confession Tapes On Netflix
Next time you’re scrolling through Netflix’s wide array of true crime content looking for your next binge-worthy series, look no further than the very real and, at times, bleak stories of the folks pleading their cases in The Confession Tapes.
