Original subtitles

What were our lawyers so upset about?

Mignini was supposed to give them the DNA report

so they can prepare our defense, but they are stalling.

But it's okay. We'll fight and we'll win.

Amanda! We love you!

Don't take her! Don't take her!

Amanda.

Amanda!

No.

No, no.

No.

No!

No.

No.

No, please, please.

No, no, no, no, no, please!

Please, please, no, please.

Please, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no, please, please.

Please, don't take me back, please!

Please, please. Please, no, please, please.

We'll do whatever it takes

to bring Amanda home.

Amanda, like the rest of us,

is extremely upset by the decision.

We're all in shock.

But we are heartened by the support

that she's received from all over the world.

It's gonna take a little bit longer, but she's gonna come home.

Do you think your daughter is entitled to her freedom

because she's American?

Amanda is entitled to her freedom because she is innocent.

She named an innocent man. She's not above the law.

I didn't hear. Was there a question in there?

Did you ask a question?

We're all here for you, honey.

How have you been?

It's nice they made allowances for us to all visit at once.

- Yeah. - Right?

Well, Dad will come for the next shift.

Yeah, that's right, he's, uh...

he's with Carlo and Luciano right now,

just working on experts for the appeal, but he... He'll be here.

You know Dad and his spreadsheets.

We're all slotted

to be at each of your visitations.

Yeah, Delaney and Ashley too.

Until they have to go home for school and stuff.

And we... we'll all be on the phone for every call, okay?

- It's... it's not much, but it's... - Ten minutes every seven days.

It's something.

- Yeah. - I'm moving here full-time.

Yeah, so you'll... You'll always have someone nearby.

Yeah, us computer geeks get to work remote,

so I'm gonna be here so much,

you're gonna get sick of me.

Hey, are you able to call Raffaele?

I mean, he's going through what you're going through, so maybe...

He's in prison for 25 years because of me.

- No. No. - Hey, buddy, come on, it's not your fault.

That's not true, Amanda.

We're... We're gonna beat this on appeal.

Okay, it's not like the U.S. All cases in Italy go to appeal,

and... and Carlo said that decisions

get reversed like 90% of the time.

Yeah, it's gonna be a totally new trial, a new judge,

a new look at their so-called DNA evidence.

- Right, all of it. - Experts to tear it apart.

- A fresh start. - When?

- Well, we hope sooner than later, so... - When?

Well, it could be up to two years.

Okay.

Wow, samba!

Huh?

Dad.

Hey, honey. Sweetheart, are you okay?

What is it?

You want me to get you a doctor?

Please get me out of here.

- Please get me outta here, Daddy. - Honey, honey, I'm trying.

- Listen, I got... Listen. - Please.

- Please. - Listen to me. Listen to me.

Listen, listen, listen, take a breath.

We have got a solid PR plan.

And that's a big deal, it's gonna make a big difference.

- We've got DNA experts. - Okay.

And the head of the Idaho Innocence Project

is writing you a brief, calling total bullshit

on the prosecution's entire case, okay?

- Listen, listen. - Okay.

Next week, when I get back home to Seattle,

- I'm gonna be checking... - No, no, no, no, no, please don't go.

Please don't go.

- Please don't leave me, Daddy. - I don't want to. I don't want to.

- I don't want to, sweetheart. - Please!

- You know I don't. You know I don't want... - Please, save me.

Please, Dad.

I'm trying.

- Dad. - I'm doing everything I can.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

There was no fucking tapestry.

I started to understand how you could feel so stuck

that you could be desperate to escape.

I heard about decisions women made in prison

if they had no other choices left.

Each died from an act of their own creativity.

The most dignified option was bleeding to death.

The steam would keep the guards from seeing in.

You could slit your wrists and sink into oblivion

in a calm, quiet mist.

And it would finally be over.

As an act of mercy, Banti assigned the only other American

in Capanne Prison to be my roommate.

Aw, I like this one.

"Dear Amanda, I've followed your case since the beginning.

"Most of my Bible study thinks you're innocent,

so we have included $50 for your defense."

Which the guards have confiscated.

- Of course, they have. - Uh, what are you doing?

I'm reading your letters.

Somebody's got to.

People in here are lucky enough to get a couple letters a year,

and you have got stacks.

Okay, is that supposed to make me feel better?

Honey, I don't know you.

I don't know what's gonna make you feel better.

But pretending like you're the only one in here hurting?

That's getting old.

Here. Read this. This is a nice letter.

- I'm... I'm sorry, I... - Don't be sorry.

But get the hell out of bed.

I'm not special.

Oh, shit.

Of course you are, honey.

Okay, maybe I'm special

in that I'm the youngest person in here with one of the longest sentences.

But thinking I was special got me here in the first place.

Believing I could talk to the police without a lawyer,

believing that my innocence would actually mean something.

Of course, it means something. It means everything.

You're not supposed to be in prison.

"Supposed to be."

What does that even mean?

Mm.

- Mm-hmm. - Oh, no!

Ah! Oh!

Nothing is owed to us.

Nothing is owed to me.

I'm not the only one in here with a painful story.

Everyone in here had a childhood once...

a life they left behind...

...dreams they won't fulfill.

Oh, Jesus, Deanna, don't do that.

What?

Nothing. For a second you looked...

I thought you were Amanda.

No. Just me.

I'm worried about you, Amanda. You sound different.

- You're... You're not sunny anymore. - No, Mom, there's nothing to worry about.

I'm fine.

Well, I'm sorry I wasn't here for your actual birthday.

Happy 23.

Thank you.

Cecilia baked me a cake.

She smuggled ingredients into the kitchen for, like, months,

and then her and Fulvio slipped it to me.

It was, like, mushed in a garbage bag.

And they sang to me.

It was really sweet, so...

Yeah.

It's nice that Cecilia is looking out for you in here,

but you got a lot of friends back home thinking about you, okay?

Madison, and Brett, and DJ.

Oh, my God, DJ's gonna be an old man with his own family

by the time I get home.

No.

No, come on, you got... you got your appeal.

And it's... it's coming up.

We got experts, we got great independent experts

just waiting to pull the prosecution's case apart.

- You're getting outta here. - Mom, Mom, Mom.

I love you. You... you gotta stop saying things like that.

Like what?

I'm not a tourist here.

I... I have to live here, okay?

- Mentally and physically, I have to. - No, you don't.

You don't, because the Amanda I know doesn't give up.

N-No, no, I'm not giving up.

That's... I'm not... That's... I'm being realistic.

Okay?

Maybe this is the life I get.

I have to be okay with that. I... I have to.

- Amanda. - Ciao, yeah.

Okay.

Look, I'm... I'm... I'm really not trying to hurt you, Mom, I'm really not.

I'm just... I'm trying to say

that I... I might never get outta here.

And as much as I've had to accept my life here, I...

I think you need to start accepting a life without me.

- I have to go. I love you. - Okay. Love you.

I love you.

No!

Edda.

Hey, what's going on? What is it?

I... I can't.

I can't.

- I don't... I don't think I can do this. - What?

- I don't. My... - Okay.

My sweet girl.

- Okay, everything's gonna be alright. - She's gone. Her fight, it's gone.

If I'm gonna...

If I'm gonna lose her anyway, then what's... what's the point?

Just what... what's the point?

- Just... Just put me out my misery. - It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

Chris, just put... Just put me out of my misery.

Chris, please. Please.

It's okay. I've got you.

Chris, please.

♪ A dream that I see, don't kill it, it's free ♪

It's amazing what we allow ourselves

to accept when we have to.

I had made fragile peace with Capanne as my home

when it all broke wide open.

What? What?

"Amanda, my name is Dr. Saul Kassin.

"I've been following your case and wanted to contact you.

"I am an expert on interrogation methods used around the world

"that coerce innocent people

"to confessing to crimes they didn't commit.

I believe this is what happened to you during your interrogation."

- Holy shit! - I know.

Holy shit.

"These interviews are designed to bewilder and deceive a suspect."

- Yeah! - That's you!

It is an entire system of manipulation.

There... There's this one called The Reid Method

that they teach to fucking cops in the U.S.

- Holy shit. - I know.

That is exactly what I said.

Look. "These interviews are designed to bewilder and deceive a suspect.

First, the police ingratiate themselves with a suspect."

They did this. They totally did this to me.

You were the closest one to Meredith. You're our most important witness.

"They make the suspect believe they did something wrong and exploit it."

"A suspect will become compliant when being interviewed

in intentional discomfort for hours."

I have... I have my period.

Do you mind if I go to the bathroom?

Just quickly, please.

"In some cases, this goes even deeper,

and the suspect internalizes their own false memories under duress."

Trauma does funny things to the mind.

"Most people don't know that the police can lie to you.

They do in order to get what they want."

There's hard evidence.

"Many victims of coerced confessions

"spend so much energy blaming themselves.

"If you blame yourself, you must know

"you didn't stand a chance against their method.

No one would." That... That is always what I thought.

If I had just been stronger, if I didn't break down.

- Like, this is exactly what it is. - Hey, hey, hey, hey. Whoa.

Look at all these innocent people he talks about.

Grown men couldn't stand up to this.

You were a 20-year-old kid in a foreign country

being questioned in a language you didn't understand.

I know. People have to know about this, Chris.

- Yeah. - This is something they do.

Like, this is real. They do this.

This could help with my appeal.

What?

You got your cojones back.

Your mom's gonna be so happy.

- This is good. - Yeah.

Amanda.

I got your letter.

Yeah? Did... Did you read it?

A thousand times.

It's a fucking method.

I know, I know.

- Those assholes. - I know. Look, if...

If we can just get the court to understand it,

they'll... they'll have to reconsider everything.

I... I asked Carlo to look into getting this Saul Kassin guy

to come and... and explain it to the judge and jury,

and we... we could raise money, we could... we could fly him out here.

- No, Amanda, Amanda. - I don't know.

- Yeah? - As soon as I got your letter,

I called my father about it.

- Okay, what'd he say? - An Italian judge

will never allow testimony from an American expert in their courtroom.

Well, okay, we'll just get an Italian expert, then.

There are none.

Not for this.

Did you hear about Mignini?

No, what about him?

He was convicted for abuse of office

in the Monster of Florence case last week.

Wait, what? What?

In the first-degree trial, he was convicted

for illegally wire-tapping and much other misconduct

you would recognize very well.

Sentenced to 16 months suspension.

Oh, my God, so... So he can't be our prosecutor, then?

Uh, well, he appealed this judgment,

so it's not for sure if the suspension will happen.

Wait, I'm sorry. So what? In the meantime, he just gets to come after us?

Jesus, this system is so fucked.

Amanda...

when is the last time you spoke to your lawyers?

Like, last week. Why?

Raffa, what? Just tell me. Please, just tell me.

Mignini believes our sentence was too light.

And this time, he will argue for life.

It had been 1,110 days since I was first locked in a cell.

And though I'd slept through many days of imprisonment,

I had never been more awake.

Understanding how I got here ignited many things in me.

Relief, and rage, and the resolve to be active in the trial for my freedom.

And the most dangerous thing of all, I started to feel hope.

Prego.

It had to go differently this time.

Amanda, do you feel confident?

I was back in the same place

with the same players, but I was different.

I had studied my case, I was fluent in Italian,

and I'd be damned if I'd do anything to make them look at me

instead of the evidence.

And with that simple statement,

Judge Hellman was wiping the slate clean.

Yet I was suddenly seized by fear for the first time in years.

Asking myself, "What if?"

What if this jury was going to hear this case without bias,

without the influence of the media or the trial that came before?

What if when presented with Mignini's fiction,

they heard it is just that... fiction?

What if they heard the lies of the police and this time didn't believe them?

But what if they did?

What if all the notoriety the case had received

made things better for me?

But with the Italian justice system on trial now,

what if it was all worse?

What if? What if? What if?

Then, on day 161 of the appeal trial,

day 1,292 of my imprisonment...

...two independent DNA experts were finally here

to rebut the so-called evidence that pointed to my guilt.

What if their findings were as compelling

as I hoped they would be?

What if their testimony changed everything?

The possibilities of "what if" destroying me from the inside out.

As the courtroom watched in awe,

the experts read the last trial's testimony

from Ippolito, head of forensics,

Fazio, who "found" the knife, and other law enforcement

detailing how they collected evidence.

See? They have no shoe protection, no face masks.

And they're going in and going out.

You have just someone standing next to a bloodstain.

Complete nonsense.

- The police made this video? - Yes.

And the mistakes are so bad, their own team

are criticizing it on camera.

So now, they have someone breaking into the house,

smashing a window, for some reason.

Don't you dare.

Don't make your bed.

And break your toothbrush.

Then, you won't come back here.

You know the drill.

You're gonna owe me a new one when I get back.

Dear Mom...

I love you.

I'm writing this letter in case you come home

and I'm not there with you to receive it...

just in case we didn't win.

I want you to know I'm okay.

I'm not dead inside, I promise.

And I don't want you to be dead inside.

Grazie.

The shit we can't control...

the things that make us suffer...

challenge us to be stronger, smarter, better.

We are the only ones who know just how much we and our lives are worth.

And we must choose to make the most of every passing moment.

I've thought of ways to make my life worth it.

And I want you to remember exactly what makes your life worth it.

Don't be lost.

Don't lose yourself.

Read, walk, write, dance.

Breathe, because so will I.

I love you so much.

And remember, it's only you who can make your life make sense.

I think she looks so nervous.

"I was not present at this crime."

The wait could be long. Do you want to sit downstairs?

No, no, I wanna go back to Capanne.

No matter what happens, okay, I'm not going anywhere.

- Okay. - Okay? I'm with you.

- I love you. - I love you.

- Wow. - Ah.

Wow.

Mm.

Uh...

Uh...

Okay.

Just for you.

Okay.

♪ There's a dream that I see ♪

♪ I pray it can be ♪

♪ Look cross the land, shake this land ♪

♪ A wish ♪

♪ Or a command ♪

♪ A dream that I see, don't kill it, it's free ♪

♪ What we can ♪

♪ So we can do ♪

♪ Just one more thing ♪

♪ We can all be free ♪

♪ Maybe not with words ♪

♪ Maybe not with a look ♪

♪ But with your mind ♪

♪ Listen to me, don't walk that street ♪

♪ There's always an end to it ♪

♪ Come and be free, you know who I am ♪

♪ We're just living people ♪

♪ We won't have a thing ♪

♪ So we got nothing ♪

♪ To lose ♪

♪ We can all be free ♪

♪ Maybe not with words ♪

♪ Maybe not with a look ♪

♪ But with your mind ♪