I just saw this movie on AMC…it is a well-done flick, and quite horrifying. The murder of a young LA policeman (and his surviving partner’s descent into alcoholism and madness) is truly a hearbreaking story. I have a few questions:
-the two criminals who kidnapped the policemen…were they originally just petty thieves?
-the murderer…why was he permitted to have appeal after appeal? How amny times was he allowed to put the surviving cop through hell? What kind of judeg would allow this to happen?
-I heard a while ago, that the two criminals are still seeking aprole…is this true?
-too bad the murderer wasn’t sent to the gas chamber!
My recollection is that Powell had served time for robbery(?) but they were characterised in the book as petty criminals.
The appeals process is just one of those flukes of a generous legal system.
Smith(Youngblood) was paroled and Powell received a release date in 1982. After the movie was shown on TV a public campaign resulted in Powell’s prospective parole being revoked. He appealed to the Supreme Court and lost. I think he is still in jail. Smith has been back in several times.
I just found this archived
Great movie and book that I had forgotten about. Thanks for the reminder. Wambaugh’s non fiction books are all quite compelling.
Sorry about stupidly quoting the post immediately above. I don’t know how I didn’t notice.
And forgive the added overhead of this post.