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Ross (3284 KP) rated The Staircase in TV

Jun 28, 2018  
The Staircase
The Staircase
2018 | Crime, Documentary
8
8.0 (25 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
The story of what happened to Kathleen Peterson is compelling. Her husband claims to have found her after a fall at the bottom of a narrow staircase bleeding to death.
The documentary follows the investigation from very early on, through the original trail and subsequent appeals. It still smacks of being quite one-sided (which is natural when the filmmakers are given access to one side of the legal battle and not the other). As with other similar programs, it is somewhat failed as an idea when the burden of formulating a story of what happened and of proof is on the estate, and the defence (by far the more vocal side in the program) only have to cast enough doubt on aspects of those stories to allow a jury to have "reasonable doubt" and therefore a conviction cannot be made.
Once again, this documentary shows that the state will do anything to convict, and once convicted it is very unlikely any appeals would be successful - they cast aspersions over the judge and prosecutors' professional ethics which they won't allow.
This one is rare in that the judge does appear to suggest there was a miscarriage of justice at the end of the final episode.
There is more closure in this story when compared to the likes of Evil Genius and Making a Murderer, but there still remains some doubt over what happened to Kathleen (I have now read there was a theory she was attacked by an owl on the way in to the house!).
Compelling but a little more drawn-out than its peers.