Law in Popular Culture
Move Over, ‘Boston Legal’: ‘Dallas DNA’ Is on Deck
Posted Mar 11, 2009, 05:53 pm CST
By Martha Neil
First came LA Law. Then Boston Legal. Now, Dallas DNA is poised to hit the nation's airwaves.
But, unlike the earlier award-winning television dramas, this one is set in real life. "Dallas DNA chronicles a pioneering unit within the Dallas County’s District Attorney’s office where post-conviction DNA testing is being used to clear the innocent, as well as confirm the guilty," reports a press release about the new six-part series, which premieres April 28 on Investigation Discovery.
Under a new DA, Craig Watkins, the Texas office created the first DNA-testing program in the nation overseen by a prosecutor that seeks to correct unjust convictions. Investigation Discovery was given exclusive and unprecedented access by the DA's office and the local court system to film the work of the conviction integrity unit established by Watkins and interview the prisoners and families involved.
Since state law authorized post-conviction testing in 2001, there have been more DNA exonerations in Dallas County than anywhere else in the country.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Faulty Eyewitness IDs, Flawed Procedures Helped Convict the Innocent"