Life and death row. Series 2, Episode 1, Execution

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Summary

Series telling the story of capital punishment through the eyes of young people whose lives have been shaped by it. On March 11 2009, Daniel Lopez was pulled over for driving erratically. The drama...

Series telling the story of capital punishment through the eyes of young people whose lives have been shaped by it. On March 11 2009, Daniel Lopez was pulled over for driving erratically. The dramatic car chase that ensued killed a police officer and 27-year-old Daniel was given the death penalty. Unusually for a death row prisoner, he is resisting all appeals to block his execution - which is due in five weeks time. The state-appointed attorneys for Lopez are arguing that their client is using the justice system as a form of suicide. His family are also pleading with him to fight the execution and stay alive for them. With access to Daniel, his lawyers, his parents and the widow of the police officer that Daniel killed, this film follows the lead up to 'execution day'. Will Daniel go to his death, as he insists he wants to do, or will the people who love him be able to save him? Taking you into the heart of the American death penalty system, Life and Death Row asks - what does this sentence really mean to the people living on death row, and the other people connected to the case? Gaining even deeper access to courts, prisons and capital cases across America, this second series exposes previously unexamined areas from sentencing and prosecution to psychiatry and appeal. Painstaking and impartial, each programme asks urgent ethical questions about justice, the right to life, and the right to kill. Could you testify against someone close to you? What is it like to be drafted onto a jury to decide if someone lives or dies? And can we draw a definitive line between personality and mental illness? Gripping and thought-provoking, the real-life stories featured are packed full of drama, jeopardy and intense emotion.

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