Three trials, a Bob Dylan song and 18 years later, Carter's conviction was overturned by a federal judge, who said the prosecution had withheld evidence. Artis, who refused to incriminate Carter despite offers of a reduced sentence, was released after 15 years. In January, Lozzi, now of Beverly Hills, Calif., was at the Golden Globe Awards when Washington won Best Actor for his remarkable performance in director Norman Jewison's biopic. He doesn't mention that the thieves who identified Carter and Artis later recanted, asserting that DeSimone, and others who used racial slurs, pressured them into their original statements, according to The New York Times. One burglar later returned to his original accusations.
Complexity enriches life and fiction.
Such rationality doesn't address the agony that the relatives of the Lafayette Grill victims must feel. But Lozzi insists it makes no difference that Carter spent nearly two decades in prison, long enough, perhaps, to soften the most hardened soul. What does seem political is Lozzi's vengeful campaign, which seeks to deny an artistic award to a deserving artist for reasons entirely unrelated to art. But punishing an individual performer for an entire film's falsehoods is unfair, whatever the motivation. Seeking revenge on the actor who's just playing the guy you despise is absurd.