When A Witness Recants
The story of the three Black Baltimore teens wrongfully incarcerated in 1983 for the murder of a classmate, exonerated 36 years later, delving into the prosecutorial and police misconduct, and the collateral damage on the wrongfully accused and the whole community.
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Monday, May 11, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
Thursday, May 14, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
In 1983, 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett was murdered in a school hallway for his Georgetown Starter jacket, and despite the real killer being identified in documented testimony at the time, the police officer in charge strong-armed multiple witnesses to put the blame on three innocent teenage boys. Thirty-six years later, those boys were finally released, albeit into a world they've barely experienced.
Nicknamed the "Harlem Park Three", Andrew Stewart, Ransom Watkins, and Alfred Chestnut were wrongfully accused and incarcerated for a shooting they hadn't committed, solely because the investigating officer decided it was them, and wouldn't take no for an answer. Despite only being sixteen at the time, they were sentenced to life in prison.
In 2018, after numerous attempts, the case was re-examined, and it was proven that the witnesses were coerced. But was justice served? How do you re-enter society after it betrays you? Inspired by a 2021 New Yorker article by Jennifer Gonnerman, and told over engaging illustration, director Dawn Porter brings this story of corruption, abuse of power, and systemic failure of justice to new audiences, hoping to motivate, enlighten, and educate.
—Marion Bailey
- Director: Dawn Porter
- Country: USA
- Year: 2026
- Running Time: 117 min.
- Producer: Dawn Porter, Jennifer Oko, Miriam Weintraub
- Cinematographers: Bryan Gentry
- Editors: Jessica Congdon
- Music: Osei Essed
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Power of the Dream (2024), Luther: Never Too Much (2024), The Sing Sing Chronicles (2024), The Lady Bird Diaries (2023), Deadlocked (2023), 37 Words (2022), Rise Again (2021), The Me You Can’t See (2021), The Way I See It (2020), John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020), Bobby Kennedy for President (2018), Trapped (2016), Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper (2015), Spies of Mississippi (2014), Gideon’s Army (2013)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: HBO