The Documentary That Saved a Death Row Inmate From Execution
How Errol Morris's The Thin Blue Line proved Randall Dale Adams's innocence
Quick Facts
A Documentary Becomes Legal Evidence
Filmmaker Errol Morris released the documentary The Thin Blue Line in 1988, proving that Randall Dale Adams was innocent of murdering police officer Robert Wood in Dallas, Texas. Adams sat on death row awaiting execution. Morris's film became the first true crime work in history to directly and legally exonerate a death row inmate.
On the night of November 28, 1976, police officer Robert Wood was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Dallas. The brutal crime shocked Texas and demanded swift justice. Police arrested Randall Dale Adams, a 28-year-old drifter who had run out of gas earlier that day and accepted a ride from 16-year-old David Ray Harris.
Adams was sentenced to death based on witness testimony that later proved false. He spent three years on death row and a total of 12 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. The actual shooter was likely David Ray Harris, the teenager who had given Adams a ride and who was later convicted of other violent crimes.
Morris's Investigation Reveals the Truth
Errol Morris began researching the case after hearing about Adams's fate. He interviewed everyone involved in the case — witnesses, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and both Adams and Harris. Morris developed a unique interview method where he filmed his subjects directly confronting the camera, a technique that has since become standard in
