The Staircase: Death on the stairs
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Staircase: Death on the stairs |
| Original title | Soupcon |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2004, 2013, 2018 |
| length | 360 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jean-Xavier de Lestrade |
| script | Jean-Xavier de Lestrade |
| production | Matthieu Belghiti Allyson Luchak |
| music | Joel Goodman Jocelyn Pook |
| camera | Jean-Xavier de Lestrade |
| cut | Jean-Xavier de Lestrade Scott Stevenson |
The Staircase: Death on the stairs is the German title of the documentary Soupçons (literally for German "suspicion") by Oscar- winner Jean-Xavier de Lestrade . The film follows the American writer Michael Peterson during his murder trial. The documentation begins a few weeks after his wife's death in early December 2001 and ends with the pronouncement of the verdict in October 2003.
The case
On the evening of December 9, 2001, the writer Michael Peterson called the local emergency number in Durham , North Carolina , and said his wife Kathleen Peterson fell on the stairs and was seriously injured. The arriving rescuers and the police find the woman in a large pool of blood at the foot of the stairs. The officials soon suspect that it was not an accident. After discovering that Peterson was in contact with male prostitutes in addition to his marriage, they assume that an argument broke out over this, during which Peterson killed his wife with a poker by the fireplace. In addition, the indebted writer would benefit from his wife's life insurance. District Attorney Jim Hardin is bringing charges. Peterson remains at large on bail. A team of respected defense lawyers led by lawyer David Rudolf takes on the defense of the accused. The documentary accompanies the defense team during the trial.
The procedure
The documentary begins a few weeks after Kathleen Peterson's death in late 2001.
Michael Peterson's children are firmly convinced of their father's innocence. His brother, a California attorney, also supports his defense. Kathleen's daughter from a previous relationship does not initially believe that her mother was murdered either. Later, her doubts come and she turns away from her family. Like Kathleen's biological sister, she is now convinced that Michael is a murderer.
The film shows how the members of the defense team around lawyer David Rudolf do everything possible to exonerate their clients in the eyes of the jury. They hire highly respected experts such as the well-known forensic scientist from Wayne State University in Detroit , Dr. Werner Spitz and his colleague Dr. Henry Chang-Yu Lee , both of whom became known in well-known cases such as the death of Mary Jo Kopechne , the Kennedy murder or the OJ Simpson case. They are intended to provide other possible explanations for Kathleen Peterson's death. Chang-Yu Lee's statements will be presented to a trial jury in advance to test the effect. Lee explains that the traces of blood spatter need not come from being beaten, but could have been caused by the victim himself, who may have swallowed blood and then coughed up several times because it threatened to suffocate.
Peterson himself is trained by a specialist in preparing witnesses in an empty courtroom for possible testimony of his own. It was agreed, however, that he should not testify on his own behalf.
Michael Peterson takes the film crew on a tour of Durham. He describes the city as a place where racial prejudice still prevailed and the black and white population lived in separate residential areas. It shows a failed construction project that should have offered apartments for socially disadvantaged sections of the population, but is now largely empty and is increasingly falling into disrepair. In his house he shows columns that he has written for the local newspaper in recent years. In it he harshly criticized the corruption in the city and sharply attacked the police and investigative authorities, including District Attorney Hardin, and accused them of failing to fight crime. He subliminally establishes a connection with the charges against him.
Against the vehement resistance of the defense, a connection to the death of an acquaintance of the Petersons in Germany in 1985 is established. Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead at the foot of a staircase in her home in Graefenhausen , near the Rhein-Main Air Base , similar to Kathleen Peterson. The last person reported to have seen her alive was Michael Peterson. The lawyer travels to Germany and learns there that, according to investigations by the German public prosecutor's office and the American military police, Elizabeth Ratliff's death was classified as an accident at the time. The woman suffered from Von Willebrand Syndrome , so she passed out on the stairs and sustained fatal head injuries in the subsequent fall. In the former house in Graefenhausen, lawyer Rudolf von Zeugen has the situation reconstructed. However, the Durham District Attorney's Office enforces an exhumation and transfer of the dead to North Carolina. The forensic medicine there comes to the conclusion that this incident was also a violent death.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) blood trail expert Duane Deaver testifies for the prosecution that the evidence clearly proves a violent attack on Kathleen Peterson. The traces of blood on the scene could only have been created when someone deliberately hit Kathleen Peterson's head. An accident could not produce such traces. In addition, traces of blood on Mike Peterson's pants and shoes showed that he must have stood over her when violence was against her head. Surprisingly, when questioned by the defense attorney, he announced that he could not find any traces of blood on Peterson's shirt. When he confirmed that he had also communicated this in a written report to the public prosecutor's office, a scandal broke out because the defense never received this report. From the point of view of the defense, this represents a serious violation of the rights of the accused. However, it cannot invalidate the testimony of the blood trail expert.
The expert's statement is nevertheless permitted. To re-enact the blows, he uses a poker, as the public prosecutor suspects as a weapon. On old photos of the fireplace you can see such a poker that was once a gift from the family. However, the prosecution is unable to present the poker as evidence. He seems gone. Only when the proceedings are almost over does a son of Michael Peterson find the missing poker covered with dust and cobwebs in a corner of the cellar. Obviously it must have been there a long time. Since it was also intended for blowing on the embers, it was a relatively light, hollow design that would be bent immediately with strong blows. However, it is undamaged and does not show any traces of blood. He was obviously not the weapon of the crime. The defense brings it to the trial as evidence.
The earlier case from Germany and the fact that there was no other reasonable explanation for Kathleen Peterson's massive head injuries than blows with an object on the head, from the point of view of the prosecution, ultimately only lead to the conclusion that Peterson, alone was in the house with his wife, must have murdered her. Photos show Kathleen Peterson in a large pool of blood and her severe head injuries. This speaks for itself. The blood under the soles of her feet proves that she was still standing upright when there was already a pool of blood on the floor. This is incompatible with a fall and clearly shows that her husband had killed her as he was the only one in the house at the time. Whether he used the poker or some other object is irrelevant. That evening, Kathleen Peterson accidentally discovered her husband's emails with a call boy . According to her sister, there was no way she would have tolerated this. If she had separated from her husband, his financial livelihood would have collapsed, as the family had for a long time lived exclusively on their income as a successful manager.
The defense argues that Peterson had no motive for action because his wife had known and tolerated his bisexual tendencies for a long time. In addition, the couple learned shortly before the fact that one of his novels is about to be filmed in Hollywood, which promised him substantial income. On the evening of death, this was celebrated with a bottle of red wine by the pool. Peterson's attorney tries to cast reasonable doubts about Peterson's guilt on the jury and to convince them that Kathleen Peterson's death was an accident. She drank alcohol, took Valium and finally fell miserably on the stairs. She hit her head several times. Her husband did not hear that because he was still sitting outside by the pool and therefore found her later. The defense attorney points out that the murder weapon was missing and that there were no blood splatters on the ceiling, which must have arisen if someone strikes a head that is already bleeding several times with an object. In addition, there has never been a case in the entire state of North Carolina in which someone was killed and only suffered lacerations on the head. In all other documented cases, the skull was always broken or there were brain injuries, mostly both. Kathleen was not killed, but fell unhappy on the narrow, poorly lit stairs. She tried to get up again, which explains the blood under the soles of the feet, and slipped again and sustained the fatal injuries. She finally bled to death because her husband found her too late. In addition, the public prosecutor's office was unable to produce a weapon and could not explain where Peterson had disappeared.
On October 10, 2003, the verdict was passed in North Carolina, the longest trial to date . To the horror of his children, the accused is found guilty of the murder of his wife by the jury and sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole . He is arrested and taken away in the courtroom.
background
The film should also be seen as a critical examination of the US judicial system . The year before, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade made an Academy Award-winning documentary about the judiciary in the United States, A Made-to-Measure Murderer , which accompanies the trial of 15-year-old Brenton Butler, who is accused of shooting a tourist in Jacksonville, Florida and, as it turns out in the end, is completely innocent. Lestrade is also the producer of the crime series " The Law of Las Vegas ", which, similarly structured, accompanies negotiations on murder cases from the gambling metropolis , especially from the point of view of the law firm for compulsory defense . The series was broadcast on arte and on ARD .
Later development
TV presentation
In 2007 the director Tom McLoughlin produced a television film with the English title "The Staircase Murders" in which the story is retold from the crime to the conviction. In the television documentary series Medical Detectives - Secrets of Forensic Medicine (Original Title: Forensic Files ) the case was also taken up in episode 22, season 11. In 2018, the case was featured in the US crime documentary series American Murder Mystery in season 5. The last current twists and turns of the case that ultimately led to Peterson's release were also presented
Appeal and Retrial
The appeal against the verdict was initially dismissed by the North Carolina Supreme Court and the verdict was upheld. After it became known in early 2011 that Duane Deaver, the blood trail expert who was an authoritative witness for the prosecution in the first trial against Michael Peterson, had been dismissed by the state investigative authorities for numerous falsified reports in court cases, a new case was initiated by Peterson's lawyers . The judge declared all findings presented by the blood trail expert null and void. The jury was significantly influenced by it. In December 2011, Peterson was awarded a new trial. He was released from prison and placed under house arrest on bail of $ 300,000. He had to wear an electronic ankle cuff. He was relieved of this duty on July 8, 2014 after the North Carolina Supreme Court refused in December 2013 to overturn the rescheduling decision. Peterson's longtime attorney David Rudolf, who had represented him pro bono in the first trial and since his release from prison , withdrew from the mandate in 2014. According to his own statements, he could no longer afford to work without remuneration. Peterson, who had declared that he could not afford a lawyer, was assigned Mike Klinkosum as public defender to represent him in the upcoming retrial. Klinkosum had previously represented Greg Taylor, who was convicted of murder in 1991 for allegedly traces of human blood stuck to his car, which was stuck in the mud near a murder victim. The blood trail expert at the time was Duane Deaver. Taylor was convicted on his incorrect or falsifying report.
In November 2016, the start of a new trial for Peterson was set for May 8, 2017. In February 2017, a so-called Alford procedural arrangement was reached between his lawyers and the prosecution . Peterson pleaded guilty of second degree murder (manslaughter) and was sentenced to the prison term he had already served. Immediately after this decision became final, Peterson publicly stated that he had made this pledge only in order to bring the proceedings to a final conclusion. He again denied having killed his wife.
Durham District Attorney's Office scandals
District Attorney Jim Hardin was named a judge in 2005. One of his former assistant prosecutors, Mike Nifong, was elected to succeed him, but was forced to leave office early in 2007 after several violations of the law in the case of the Duke University lacrosse team were proven. He just wanted to get a quick conviction and disregard the rights of the accused. He lost his lawyer license and was sentenced to one day in prison. His successor, Tracey Cline, was also forced to resign prematurely in March 2012 on charges of willfully withholding exculpatory evidence in a 1998 murder case. The then-defendant Derrick Allen was released from prison after 12 years. After she publicly attacked executive judge Orlando Hudson, who also presided over the Peterson case, and demanded that he be removed from office, she was finally removed from office. Your objection to this was rejected in early October 2013. Some of the allegations also hit her then colleague Freda Black, who represented the prosecution with Jim Hardin in the Peterson case. In 2006 and 2008 she tried in vain for the office of district attorney and was unsuccessful in applying for a judge's office in 2010. She was arrested in 2012 and 2015 and charged with drunk driving. She was found dead in her home in July 2018. The cause of death was liver disease due to years of alcohol abuse.
swell
- ^ Suzan Clarke: Novelist Michael Peterson, Convicted of Wife's Murder, Is Released From Prison and Will Get New Trial. In: ABC News . ABC , December 15, 2011, accessed December 17, 2011 .
- ↑ http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/20/3475230/nc-supreme-court-will-not-review.html
- ↑ http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/07/08/3991509/michael-peterson-seeks-freedom.html
- ↑ Homepage of Judge Jim Hardin, professional career ( memento of the original from April 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Product news observer "rise and fall of Tracey Cline" (English)
- ↑ Article newsobserver "Appeal Court rejects objection of former District Attorney Cline from Durham"
- ↑ "Freda Black accused of drunk driving" ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ "Freda Black died of liver disease" (English)
Web links
- The Staircase: Death on the stairs in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official film website (French)
- dctp - broadcast dates
- Behind the Staircase - Exposing Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's Film (review of the film)