HBO Documentary Films’ “Nature of the Crime” Debuts December 10 [VIDEO]

The HBO Original documentary NATURE OF THE CRIME, directed by Ricki Stern (HBO’s “Here to Climb” and “My So-Called High School Rank”) and Jesse Sweet (“Killer Robots,” “The Murders Before the Marathon”), debuts Tuesday, December 10 @ 10:00PM ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.

Every day, thousands of people are sentenced to prison with the possibility of parole, which grants release back into their communities. The life-changing decision of whether parole is ultimately granted – and who decides – is an aspect of the U.S. criminal justice system with little oversight that is often shielded from public scrutiny, mired in political considerations, and little understood. In New York state, an average of 11,000 incarcerated people appear before parole boards every year. The majority of them are denied and must remain in prison until the next opportunity to plead their case. NATURE OF THE CRIME follows two men convicted of murder in New York when they were teens, their attorneys, and their family members, as they prepare for their upcoming parole interviews, reflecting on their crimes, their rehabilitation, and the criteria for decisions about their potential release. The film also follows another incarcerated man going through the parole process in Connecticut, a state that recently reformed its process to allow for public observation and additional legal protections.

Over a period of four years, filmmakers Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet follow Todd Scott and Chad Campbell: two men involved in violent crimes as teenagers who have since served more than 30 years of their sentences and have each been eligible for parole for more than a decade. NATURE OF THE CRIME tells the intimate story of these men, detailing their upbringings and the circumstances that led to their crimes and incarceration, exploring whether they deserve a second chance and whether they’re likely to get one. Going deep inside the inner workings of parole boards, with transcripts of parole hearings and insight from former parole board commissioners, the film weighs the odds of gaining freedom when the facts of the crime remain constant, true remorse is hard to judge, and granting parole itself remains a highly charged and politicized issue, often taking place behind closed doors. The film also considers recent scientific research on brain development in teens and young adults, which led the state of Connecticut in 2015 to instate Public Act 15-84, which requires parole boards to take youth as a consideration and allows for new parole eligibility for juvenile offenders. In such a case, Carlos Rebollo, who was 15 years old at the time of his crime and originally sentenced to 45 years, faces the board after 24 years. As Todd and Chad work with their lawyers to prepare for their 6th and 10th parole interviews respectively, NATURE OF THE CRIME becomes a moral inquiry into a penal system that must serve justice to its victims, who still suffer the consequences of a crime, yet show humanity to prisoners who have been deemed rehabilitated and are eligible for release.

Featured Participants: Incarcerated individuals Todd Scott, Chad Campbell, and Carlos Rebollo and their family members; attorneys Rhiya Trivedi, Rochelle Swartz, Judge Richard Healy, and Ron Kuby; former parole board commissioners James Ferguson, Carol Shapiro, and Patrick Gallivan; Connecticut parole board member, Deborah Smith-Palmieri; and President of the New York Police Benevolent Association, Pat Hendry.

Credits: HBO Documentary Films presents NATURE OF THE CRIME, a Break Thru Films Production. Produced, directed, and written by Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet; senior producer, Seth Keal; executive producers, Joe Caterini and Logan Snyder. For HBO: executive producers, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Tina Nguyen.