Trials

Ed Ryder and Reverend James McCloskey The story of one man's fight for freedom. Three days after Ryder arrived at Holmesburg prison to do time for theft, he was accused of murdering a prisoner in his cell block. For twenty years, Ryder fought to prove his innocence... the city of Philadelphia rallying behind him. Reverend James McCloskey, who helps prisoners he believes are unjustly convicted get pardons, spearheaded the efforts for Ryder's release. Now Ryder is a free man.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Body of Evidence," the new sex-fueled courtroom drama starring Madonna and William DeFoe.

Critic Maureen Corrigan says the best she can say about Barnes's "Porcupine," about deposed communist leaders on trial in Eastern Europe, is that she "didn't not like it."

Kalin wrote, directed and co-produced the new movie,"Swoon." It explores the lives of "thrill killers" Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. They were Jewish and homosexual; the film looks at how anti-semitism and homophobia figured into their 1920s trial. "Swoon" is Kalin's first feature film. He worked for three years as a producer for AIDSFILMS and is a founding member of the AIDS activist collective Gran Fury.

Garbus recently defended Peter Matthiessen's controversial book, "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," against two separate libel suits. Among many other projects, Garbus is currently helping to write a new constitution for Czechoslovakia.

Book Critic John Leonard reviews Wasted, an investigation of last year's `Preppie Murder' trial in New York City. Robert Chambers, son of a wealthy New York City couple, was charged with the murder of Jennifer Levin, herself the product of wealthy parents and New York's finest private schools. The trial was a headline-grabber for Chambers' controversial defense and for its exposure of the aimless, dissolute lifestyle of the children of the wealthy.

Susan Brownmiller's book is based on the murder case of Lisa Steinberger, a six-year-old victim of child abuse. The trial is still ongoing. Book critic John Leonard says Waverly Place weaves through New York's Greenwich Village in ways reminiscent of Balzac and Celine.

The new film Cry in the Dark dramatizes the true story of Lindy Chamberlain, who was wrongfully convicted of infanticide while camping in Australia. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the movie proves Schepisi is a great director.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews this week's "American Playhouse" presentation on PBS titled "The Trial of Bernhard Goetz." Goetz was acquitted last year of assault charges stemming from his shooting of four black youths in a New York City subway car after, Goetz contended, the youths tried to rob him. The trial, which dominated the New York City press for several weeks, was known as "The Subway Vigilante" trial.

Walter Polovchak. Polovchak was a 12-year-old Ukrainian immigrant living with his family in Chicago, when he refused to return with them to the Soviet Union. His decision provoked a storm of controversy from his family and authorities in both countries and attracted worldwide media attention. The court battles continued for five years until Polovchak reached his 18th birthday in 1985 and was sworn in as an American citizen.