617 Murder in the First Degree

First  viewed :  9  July  1983

This  three  part  documentary  was  originally  part  of  a  longer  documentary  series  called   Circuit  Eleven  Miami ,  taking  advantage  of  a  decision  by  the  State  of  Florida  to  allow  its  judicial  proceedings  to  be  filmed  for  a  year. It  was  first  shown  at  an  ungodly  hour  on  BBC2  in  1979 ; these  repeats  went  out  just  after  nine. Interestingly, it  was  screened  just  as  the  Commons  were  seriously  debating  the  restoration  of  the  death  penalty  for  the  last  time.

The  drama  centred  on  the  trial  of  a  man  called  Thomas  Perri  who  was  accused  of  the  murder  by  knife  of  an  old  man  in  revolting  circumstances. The  State's  only  witness  was  his  apparent  accomplice  Stephen  Weiss  who  had  been  promised  a  maximum  sentence  of  fifteen  years  if  he  helped  nail  Perri  and  send  him  to  the  chair.

What  struck  me  most  was  just  what  U.S.  lawyers  were  able  to  get  away  with  in  court. The  defence's  entire  strategy  seemed  to  be  to  unnerve  Weiss  by  constantly  accusing  him  of  being  a  sexual  pervert. I  seem  to  recall  one  of  the  questions  was

"Did  you  say  to  Diane  [Perri's  wife ]  "Diane  you've  got  such  a  skinny  body , how  can  you  take  that  python  that  Tommy's  got  ?"

The  prosecutors  would  then  object, the  judge  would  shout  "Sustained ! "  and  then  the  defence  lawyer  would  ask  another  question  that  was  equally  as  abusive  and  irrelevant.

And  this  went  on  and  on. Neither  Perri  nor  Weiss, who  were  both  clearly  relishing  the  presence  of  the  cameras,  seemed  fazed  by  the  proceedings.

This  was  in  the  first  episode  and  I  felt  grubby  just  watching  it. I  couldn't  face  any  more  of  it. Googling  reveals  that  Perri  was  found  guilty  but  not  whether  he  was  subsequently  executed .