How does mercy end

Contrasted with the reality of the U. There are few films about those cases. Fictional stories, like The Green Mile , have ended in the execution of an innocent character, and foreboding documentaries like 13th depict the worst tendencies of the U. But in most dramatizations of true stories, when the protagonist is innocent - like McMillan, or the way Rubin Carter Denzel Washington is portrayed in Hurricane - the third act usually sees him freed.

And when moviegoers see a phenomenal true story about the success of one man against a deeply flawed system, they may leave with motivation to work to change that system.

Perhaps there is value in telling stories about a triumph of justice over injustice, but such a story masks the hundreds of untold stories, those of people whose wrongful conviction ended in continued imprisonment or death, not exoneration.

They find witnesses who can prove the witnesses against Walter lied as well as financial records that indicate that one of these witnesses was paid to give false testimony. However, their big break comes when they receive a phone call from Ralph, who now wants to make amends.

Ralph admits to lying about Walter and says he was threatened by law enforcement. While the judge refuses to grant Walter relief, Stevenson continues the appeal process through the Alabama courts.

The district attorney asks outside agents to investigate the murder for which Walter was convicted, and the investigators determine that Walter had nothing to do with the crime. Stevenson and the State file a joint motion to dismiss the charges, and Walter is set free. Throughout the process, Stevenson and Walter become close friends, and Stevenson helps Walter upon his release, including filing a civil suit on his behalf and offering him a place to stay.

Walter works with Stevenson to share his story, giving interviews and speaking at legal conferences, and Walter is even featured in a documentary. Unfortunately, Walter is diagnosed with advancing dementia and is forced to rely on family and eventually a nursing facility for his care. He returned to his hometown, where he resumed his work as a tree trimmer, but j ust two years later, he broke his neck while trimming a tree, according to The New York Times Magazine.

After his injury, McMillan went on partial disability and was able to work part-time taking in junk cars for scrap metal. He left. McMillan also said he often ran into the same police officers who were responsible for putting him behind bars. I see them -- the cops -- all the time. I see them on the street, at the fruit stand, they say, 'Hey, Johnny, how ya doing? Every time I see one, I speak to them just like they speak to me. Bryan meets with him, and since he had no family, he tells Bryan he asked for his military flag to be sent to him.

Bryan watches from the gallery in horror as Herb is put into the electric chair. The other men clang their cups onto their bars so that Herb can hear their support through the grates, and Herb is executed. Bryan returns to Eva, devastated. Bryan returns to Myers, and presents him the information he knows: that his original statement was completely different, and also that he was transferred to death row for an evening before he confessed.

When he smelled the burning flesh, he told the sheriff he would say whatever he wanted to get out of there. With all his evidence, Bryan files to get Johnny D a new trial, and calls many witnesses to the stand — all the people who saw Johnny at the fish fry, a police officer who admits he was asked to lie about the crime, and finally Myers.

Though he hesitates, Myers eventually admits he lied and that Johnny D is innocent.