The Interrogation of Michael Crowe

Plot synopsis:
This is a tragic tale on several levels; for the family of Stephanie, the murdered little girl, for Michael, the 14-year-old brother who is accused of her murder, and particularly for the police who refuse to accept the possibility that someone else may have killed her.The story focuses on the48 hours of intense and relentless interviews the police use to break down Michael and get him to admit to killing his sister, Stephanie. For hours on end and in interview after interview, the investigators, detectives, and forensic staff continue to push and peck away at Michael, who finally, in his own desperation to end this Kafakaesque ordeal, tells the cops what he states from the beginning of his "confession" is a a complete lie, that he did kill his sister after all.Hey, wonderful! Eleven hours of intense questioning he finally gives in and cooks up a tale to match the evidence, even though he also tells the police that what he is telling them (his supposed confession) is really a lie but that they wat him to admit to it so he does, kindsa. The kid confesses and now the cops are happy campers. Michael himself now believes the pressure will be off him for good. But, being only 14, the poor lamb is being sacrificed without even realising it.His family is horrified, his parents unbelieving that their son could kill his little sister so brutally, she was stabbed 14 times and Michael, just like about every red-blooded American teenage boy, has lots of drawings of knives used in various poses. He plays Dungeons & Dragons, a role-playng game which can become theoretically a bit violent amongst the players and in which many kinds of blades are usedThe cops like Michael for the crime as they saw him as oddly unaffected over his sister's brutal death, and also while walking past her room with the door open 2 hours earlier, he should've seen her body from the doorway to her room.things change, however, when Michael finally has the chance to talk with his parents, who are appalled at the treatment of their son by the police. The cops had a theory, they needed a confession, and they got it. Cops are allowed tto lie, misconstrue, deceive, and do whatever they need to in order to get hte greatly desired confession, the treasure at the end of the yellow brick road.Unfortunately, a woman approaches one of the detectives attending Stephanie's funeral and tells him about her own son's kinfe collection and the fact that one of those knives is now missing. By her tone, we can assume that perhaps this boy may be a friend of Michael's?next scene we see the parents being greeted by neighbor Bill, who asks them did they remember the homeless man who was going around the neighborhood one the night of the murder banging on everyone's doors looking for his ex-girlfriend. Gosh, didn't they remember that guy? and Bill wasn't alone in reporting him to the cops that night, either. Papa says 'what homeless guy'? Cop says 'he's too mentally incapable to have done it and this is sibling rivaly that got out of hand. Mom counters with Mich
etective then tells them that Josh and arron have also been arrested. they also finally agreed to the cops version of events. Josh was the lookout. Arron told them a therorectical how-to of the killing. Michael's parents don't believe the cops, for sure now.To insure the confession is accurate, the cops tape all the sessions. Taping works both ways.
stephanie is about 10With a coerced confession, and with being tried as adults, all three boys are now in what one could call the ultimate 'deep shit'. and they are off to superior court.At one point, mom comes in and asks Michael how was school? as the new term had just begun. His reply: Well, I didin't have to tell anyone about my summer vacation"ultimately, the case gets dismissed without prejudice (which means the case ca be reopened any time) but with a 40-page report stating why the cops think the boys are guilty, they just can't prove it. All the parents, of course Steven & Sharon Crowe file civin suits.... BUT thank god for sexliesandvideotape!!! That is what saves these kids in the end in their battle for the truthIn the end, on 15 May 2002, the CA State Atty gGen office charged Richard Tulte with the murder of little Steph crowe and completely exonerating Joshua Treadway, Aaron Houser, and Michael Crowe in Stephanie Crowe's death At the time this film was done, on completion of production, The Crowe's lawsuit against the Escondido ploice dept along w the DAs office and others involved in the investigation, is still pending.For those who would like to pursue the actual case, here are a few follow-up links:

Tags: brainwashing, murder

Review:
This isn't a horror movie - at least not in the sense of genre.
But it is a truly frightening true story about the abuse of police power.Basically, the story is quite simple.
12 year old Stephanie Crowe is brutally murdered in her own home in Escondido, California while her family sleeps.
Without any real evidence, the police decide that her 14 year old brother Michael must be guilty, they ignore evidence pointing to another suspect and they coerce a confession from him after two days of non-stop questioning, filled with lies about what they supposedly "know," threats if he won't confess and promises of help if he will.
Young Michael then becomes the object of a relentless prosecution by the District Attorney, who finally admits that there is no direct evidence but won't give up the case, instead dismissing it "without prejudice," thus leaving possible future prosecution hanging over Michael's head, and leaving the viewer wondering what's going to happen to this boy, until the final decision is revealed at the end.This is truly an excellent, gripping movie.
Superb performances come from Ally Sheedy and Michael Riley as Michael's parents and - I'll use the phrase again - there's a positively frightening performance from John Bourgeois as Detective Claytor.
Not to be overlooked is young Mark Rendall's performance as Michael.
At times I thought he came across as a bit too mature in his portrayal, but, then again, maybe that was Michael.This isn't a particularly well known movie, but everyone should see it.9/10.
Mark Rendall's Performance.
This is an outstanding performance with a full range of emotion and portrayal of a teen boy, from slightly surly to loving, from confusion through desperation, to damaged, toward recovery.
The scenes of the interrogation itself are among the most harrowing, and Mark is excellent.
Later, the anguish of his experience is captured perfectly in the scene with his mother when she wants him to go to the video store with her.This is a good little movie (congratulations Court TV) with strong performances by all of the cast, including the rather creepy portrayal of the detectives getting their way in the interviews.But for me, Mark's work was splendid..
To Be Falsely Accused is the Worst Thing....especially for a child..
This film recently aired on Court TV and it's a grim true story of how California police used intimidation to attain a false confession from an innocent 14-year-old whose sister was killed.
This family, the Crowes, was victimized twice, once by the killer, and then by the police who destroyed their lives.
This film shows the interrogation filmed in very stark lighting where you can't even see the actors eyes.
Ally Sheedy portrays the mother.
A warning:  this is a VERY depressing film, as the police brand Michael guilty based on the evidence that he likes to play Dungeons and Dragons with his friends.
And it's interestingly relevant as the Central Park jogger case just released 5 innocent kids after 10 years in jail.
How many innocent people sit in prison now falsely convicted?
very, very moving movie.
i felt the full range of emotions as i watched.
and really - isnt that the definition of a truly great movie??there were a couple of FIRST's for me tonight.
it was the FIRST time i watched "The Interrogation of Michael Crowe.
and after rating over 300 different films over the past one and a half years or so, i give this movies my FIRST 10/10.
young Mark Rendell was simply stunning.....
This movie seriously has some of the best acting I've seen especially by the child-Michael Crowe character.
In fact very good acting all around except by the mother character.
But aside from that, the movie is a good conversion from the real life events.
It is a sad event in real life but the story is movie quality.
Again, Good movie GREAT acting.
Again, Good movie GREAT acting.
I highly suggest this to all types of movie lovers..
real life.
its real frightening to know that this has actually happened.
i was watching this film and love true movies, but this one grabs you and pulls you into the world of unknown.
when i was watching this it was so emotional and the real life story just is great to watch and know what has happened.
i enjoyed this film but the power of the police is a bit scary to know that they can do this.
overall i enjoyed the film.this film is great to watch and is the best real life film i have seen so far.
it was a great film about the real life case of this.
the actors make the film what it is.
when these things happen in real life it is a sad story.
i have looked up the film on the internet and have become interested in this story..
If you've read all the other reviews, you know what the story line is so I won't go into that.
What I will say is that the production and writing of the movie itself were excellent--I didn't realize CourtTV made such high quality productions.
I expected as much out of Ally Sheedy, but the boy who played Michael deserves all the kudos he has been earning.
The supporting characters were also very good.This movie should be viewed by aspiring law students and probably anyone who is interested in personal freedom!.
Especially for a T.V. Movie..
This movie was absolutely stunning.
Although Michael Riley's performance as Stephen Crow was a little dull, the rest of it was fabulous.
Mark Rendall, who played Michael Crow, was unbelievable.
And Ally Sheedy, who played Cheryl Crow, was excellant, as usual.
The real murder took place VERY close to my home, and the accuracy was unbelievable.
This was the one of the most accurate murder cases I've ever seen.
Overall, I give this movie 9/10..
this movie was based on a true story knowing that, it was really hard to watch it, knowing that this actually happened.
My grandparents were watching it and i walked in half way through it, i didn't get to watch it very long.
the story line and everything was awesome but i had to walk away before i broke the television.
i mean really....this actually happened and its awful....if it wasn't a true story and we knew that stuff like this didn't really happen it would have been all the more wonderful but like i said it is true and did happen and it happens everyday in one way or another.........so in my conclusion it was great well the part i watched but make sure there isn't anything around that would break your TV if you throw it hard enough, when you're watching it!!!.
Firstly what a great, emotional performance from the young man playing Michael.I would love to say I'm shocked by this story, but having looked into so many myself, it isn't that surprising at all.
Certainly reminders of the Jon Benet Ramsay case, but with vast differences in wealth and how the family were treated immediately.
One of the best TV movies ever made.
The main reason I liked the film is because it provided such a contrast to mainstream claptrap.
It is shocking how complete the saturation is, with regards to major networks' hour-long cop dramas.
Portrayals of virtuous authorities dominate the airwaves, while the the exact opposite saturate real life.
Inept, lazy cops sit in coffee shops and shoot unarmed people in the back.
To be a good interrogator, values and scruples are detrimental characteristics.
Given carte blanche to use whatever dirty tricks they can devise to achieve confessions, regardless of innocence or guilt, killers are allowed to roam while blindsided taxpayers get sent to anal rape prison for life.
I find it hard to believe that "Law & Order" and "CSI" are so popular while films like "The Interrogation of Michael Crowe" wallow in relative obscurity on Lifetime and Court TV.
This film makes one wonder, why are the major networks so commonly lying to us?
The people that worked on "Michael Crowe" deserve a big pat on the back, and those that work on the mainstream lies should be ashamed of themselves.
This film made me realize that I want to do something about injustice.
Ally Sheedy is HORRIBLE actress.
I couldn't get beyond the extremely hideous performance of Sheedy- she I s so unbelievably bad ; I was embarrassed for her).
Unfortunately, this made for TV movie is based on fact.
Police use entrapment methods all the time.
The lesson to take away from this is: NEVER talk to the police and never watch Ally Sheedy EVER!.
There were Excellent performances by all characters in the movie .I had never heard of this true story before but it is very intriguing portrayal of the heart wrenching tragedy that the California Crowe family endured back in the 1990,s...
It displays the abusive investigative methods and powers of a shoddy police investigation that had no compassion or support for the victim and family ...I didn't really see that it was shot in Ontario Canada until looking it up here ...
Basically I am here to say if you haven't seen this movie .....
When I have the chance to see these kind of movies, I feel ridiculous about all our national fiction, here in Italy.
We never, and I stress never, had and will have the courage to treat a story of "normal"  abuse of justice, in a so complete, right, correct, wonderful way.
The actors, starting from Mark, Ally, and all the others are simply incredible.
But when you reach a so high level of quality, it's obvious the all factors converge to create a masterpiece: the story, the writing, the direction, and more generally "the eye".
I can't think that in the same moment, here in Italy they make us sit through things like "Beautiful" , "The good Pope" (a pope almost Superman), "Don Matteo" (a priest almost Superman), "the big brother 3d series",(five for flounders locked in a house 24 hours under cameras...
Is it possible we don't express here so strong writers, and actors, and directors as in "The interrogation of Michael Crowe?"?
These cases happen here too.
"The interrogation of Michael Crowe" is one of the best fictions I've never seen, and I usually "must" watch a lot of  fiction, so I can say.
good depiction of actual events.
When twelve-year old honor student Stephanie Ann Crowe was in the process of being stabbed and murdered in her bedroom in Escondido, California in January 1998, she probably had no idea that this review would be written.
Here's how it happened: Despite having numerous reports from Crowe family neighbors of a mysterious and suspicious transient in the vicinity on the night in question, the police assumed because of Stephanie's fourteen-year old brother Michael's claiming to have passed her room without seeing her dead body in the middle of the night and because of his participation in role-playing games that he must be the perpetrator.
He and his surviving sister were put in protective custody and each day he was taken, unbeknownst to his parents, to the police station for questioning.
The police used psychological brutality in many forms and finally broke Michael down, convincing him to confess.
Michael had to spend many stressful months in prison but was eventually exonerated.
This is an excellent depiction of police misconduct.
Although the film doesn't mention it, the fact that Michael's mother, portrayed by Ally Sheedy of Brat Pack fame, is Cheryl Crowe might make many viewers think of Sheryl Crow (note the different spelling), the famous singer of such songs as "All I Wanna Do", "Every Day is a Winding Road", "If it Makes you Happy", "Leaving Las Vegas", "Soak up the Sun" and "Strong Enough".
However, most viewers will be probably be more interested in the issues that the film raises.
The main child actor is astonishingly good; a really heart-rending performance.
A couple of the cops are good too.
Great to see Ally Sheedy again.
Unfortunately, the script is too on-the-nose and the lawyer is a really bad actress, so it brings it all down to a 3-star (out of 5) film.
Overall, it's sort of entertaining in a "disease-of-the-week" TV movie kind of way, but there are many better films you could be watching....
true story TV movie.
Cheryl (Ally Sheedy) and Stephen Crowe (Michael Riley) are loving parents to Michael, Shannon, and Stephanie in Escondido, California.
The police is puzzled by the lack of evidence of a break-in and suspicion immediately falls on the family.
Detective Baker interviews transient Richard Tuite for an unconnected issue and doesn't even consider him for the case.
With relentless interrogation and trickery, they gain false confessions from Michael, his friends Joshua Treadway and Aaron Houser.Based on the real murder in 1998, this TV movie is at a lower level.
It would be melodramatic if there isn't a real story behind it.
The interrogations are tough to watch due to their inherit unbalanced dynamics.
In a way, the audience is stuck inside the room along with Michael and that has some benefits.
Its pretty sad when stuff like this happens, unfortunately it happens more often than one might think, and whats even sadder is in this day and age, more than 10 years after DNA has been recognized in courts as a perfect match, that some people still believe that innocent people are guilty, even when their DNA can prove they are beyond any reasonable doubt innocent.
People will still be looking at this kid that know him and say, "Oh he murdered his sister" , I know this for a fact, a person in a town not far from where I live spent over 10 years in jail for a murder he did not commit, it wasn't until DNA could be used in Canadian courts that he could completely prove his innocence, he was also browbeaten into a confession, but even with the DNA linking the murder to someone else (who has yet to be found) people in his community think the guy is still guilty.
And the fact he had actually met the girl he was accused of killing a couple of times, the place he lives in is about 5000 people at most, probably less at the time of the girl disappearing.
I live in a town of about 15,000 and have met thousands of people in the town I live in over my lifetime, so if one of them gets murdered, am I gonna be on a suspect list?.
After School Special Type Movie, Very Biased Viewpoint.
It's interesting how many people with only a media's perspective of an incident can be so sure of how an event actually occurred.
This movie's presentation is based on taking one side of a traumatic and complex case and virtually no presentation of the other side.
As far as shock value, the movie does a good job.
But anyone who took the time to look at all sides of this actual case would find the movie laughable and inaccurate.
It mocks a reputable and highly regarded police department and discounts the actual work done in the case.
What this case and movie did successfully prove is that the possibility of an innocent person going to jail and a guilty one being set free is entirely possible.
Michael Crowe could very well be guilty and Richard Tuite could very well be innocent.
The legal system isn't perfect and makes mistakes.
There is reasonable doubt in both cases and Tuite never should have been convicted, even if he is guilty.
The evidence against Crowe was more convincing than against Tuite.
Anyone truly interested in the facts of this horrible and very complicated case need to look much deeper than this one-sided viewpoint and dig into the actual prosecution's case against Crowe (and later Tuite) and see what they find.
The Crowe family are shocked and unsettled when 12-year-old daughter Stephanie (a brief, but memorable appearance by Anna Mary Wilson) gets brutally murdered in their home late at night.
The police suspect Stephanie's surly, naive 14-year-old brother Michael (superbly played by Mark Rendall) of the killing and pressure him into making a confession.
Michael's distraught mother Cheryl (an outstanding portrayal by Ally Sheedy) and sympathetic father Stephen (a fine Michael Riley) don't believe the charges and take legal action to get Michael released from jail.
Director Don McBrearty, working from a gripping and thoughtful script by Alan Hines, relates this startling true story of injustice, the untrustworthiness of the police, and how the law can work against us instead of for us with commendable skill, taste and restraint.
The first-rate acting from a uniformly sterling cast rates as another significant asset: Rendall is a revelation as the scared and confused Michael, Sheedy and Riley are equally terrific as his parents, plus there are sturdy supporting performances by Hannah Lochner as Michael's sweet younger sister Shannon, John Bourgeois as the severe, intimidating Detective Claytor, and Rosemary Dunsmore as shrewd defense attorney Dorothy Sorenson.
I loved this movie I thought it was great.
I think Ally Sheedy was mildly convincing as the mother, but I would have preferred to see someone with more talent such as Michelle Pfeiffer play her.
But overall the acting, costumes, script, production, directing, and photography were wonderful.After an intruder named Richard Truits breaks into the Crowe's home and kills Stephanie the oldest daughter the police immediately jump to the conclusion that Micheal is guilty and shame him into a confession.
Later however, he gets a really good public defender who gets him and his accused friends acquitted of the crime.Although, at first they did not know he was the killer, I'm surprised that they did not question the guy since he was found in their neighborhood that morning.