What might lead an innocent man confess to something he didn’t do?
“Scenes of a Crime” explores a 10-hour interrogation that resulted in Adrian Thomas’s false confession.
Adrian Thomas is now a free man.
On June 12 2014, Thomas was acquitted of killing his infant son after the New York State Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for him, citing among other reasons “highly coercive” techniques used by police during his interrogation. In 2009, Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.
Thomas is the subject of the award-winning documentary “Scenes of a Crime”, broadcast nationally for the first time on MSNBC in December 2012. The New Box Productions film produced by Grover Babcock and Blue Hadaegh investigates Thomas’s false confession and includes interviews with detectives, prosecutors, witnesses, jurors and Thomas himself.
Central to Thomas’s 2009 conviction was a videotaped admission to killing his son, Matthew Thomas—a confession that came nine and a half hours into a 10-hour interrogation. But in February, New York’s highest court ruled the psychological pressure placed on Thomas invalidated the confession, and it should not have been used as evidence.
For most of the interrogation, Thomas maintains he did not harm the child. But police insist the child must have been treated violently, telling Thomas that if he did not accidentally hurt Matthew, then his wife must have. Thomas says that “if it comes down to it” he would “take the fall for my wife.” His wife was never accused.
Detectives repeatedly tell Thomas that explaining how he’d caused Matthew’s head injuries could save the child’s life—even though they knew he was already brain-dead. They ask Thomas to act out throwing the child down on the bed.
The jury found Thomas not guilty after seven hours of deliberations over two days.
“Scenes of a Crime” producers said the documentary’s broadcast helped bring Thomas’s case to national attention, garnering legal support.
“We’re proud the documentary played an important role in gathering attention and support for Adrian’s case, which was eventually embraced by the Innocence Project, Center on Wrongful Convictions, and many other justice reform groups,” they said.
Babcock said false confessions in the United States are much more frequent than most people realize.
Thomas was reunited with his family June 15 in South Georgia after spending nearly six years in prison and jail. Babcock and Hadaegh spoke with him shortly after his release.
“He says it’s unreal, he says he’s taking it moment by moment, and he says he’s just so grateful for the support that gathered around his case,” Babcock said.
“Scenes of a Crime” will re-air Sunday, September 27th at 10 p.m. ET on MSNBC.