... DNA became part of the arsenal of crime fighting and also proving innocence and overturning convictions. As of November 2019, 367 people previously convicted of serious crimes in the United States had been exonerated by DNA testing since 1989, 21 of whom had been sentenced to death. It makes you wonder, did we actually execute any innocent people? The answer is probably yes.
So Tim Matheson plays a photographer who badly needs to go the bathroom one morning when there is none around. He does his business as discreetly as he can, but an overzealous cop spots him and hauls him in for public indecency. So now he has a mug shot. And that mug shot is ID'd by victims and witnesses as that of a man who is responsible for a streak of rapes and robberies.
So now his mug shot starts making the rounds of other police departments and other accusations come in. The man's life is being destroyed because of the suspicion he is a Jekyll and Hyde character. Able to put on a civilized charade but internally a savage. Nobody feels safe around him.
I saw this film back when it originally ran and a couple of times in repeats, so I have a foggy memory of all details, but I do remember one particularly chilling scene. There is one of those old instant photo development booths - these were common when people shot pictures with film instead of phones - out in the middle of a parking lot at night, long after the businesses around it have closed. There is a young woman working there alone. Someone walks up and obviously has criminal intentions toward her. And then you hear the blare of police sirens everywhere and see headlights surround the guy. You finallly see the perpetrator's face. It is Matheson. And then you see a startled Matheson sit up in bed. It has been a nightmare. However, the criminal accusations against him are still very real. Matheson is beginning to wonder if he does have a split personality. How could all of these people be wrong?
This was a very creepy film showing how innocent people can get caught up in the criminal justice system. Even with the changes in technology and forensics over the past 35 years I think it is still probably worth a look today if you can find it. I don't know why this film currently has such a low rating.
