Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart

In 1990, Gregory Smart was murdered. His wife, Pamela, was convicted of conspiring to kill him and is in prison for life with no chance of parole. Smart's coconspirators, young men from the high school where she worked, took plea bargains and have served time. Smart's trial was the first one fully televised, with extensive local news coverage as well as books, TV shows, and feature films retelling the story. Filmmaker Zagar (In a Dream) argues that the notoriety and putting cameras in the courtroom changed the behavior of all participants in a way that may have been damaging to the interests of justice. He uses actual trial footage, local news clips, and movie scenes to lend credence to the notion that Smart was tried on TV before she ever reached the courtroom. Interviews with journalists, attorneys, a freed accomplice, and Smart herself reveal various points of view but no new exonerating information.