Justice and Caryl Chessman (1960)

Synopsis of Justice and Caryl Chessman

This well-wrought, 45-minute documentary by director John Jacobs contains footage of death row inmate Caryl Chessman, sentenced to death in January 1948 because he was convicted of being the "red light bandit." The bandit got that name because he would put a flashing red light on top of his car to stop motorists and then he would rob them. Chessman later recanted his confession which he says was due to police brutality. When the "red light bandit" robbed people in their cars he would sometimes abduct a woman from the car and rape her. Under the "little Lindbergh" law in California, anyone guilty of an abduction involving bodily harm gets the death penalty. (That law was later repealed.) In this documentary, the mother of one of the "red light bandit's" victims is interviewed, along with the prosecutor in his case, the policeman who arrested Chessman, Chessman's lawyer and a few other people. Chessman was executed in the gas chamber a little more than sixty days after this documentary was released, in spite of a world-wide appeal to spare him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Director(s):

John L. Jacobs, John Jacobs

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