Documentary examines Wisconsin Innocence Project case

A new true-crime documentary, “Facing Life: The Retrial of Evan Zimmerman,” will air at 8 p.m. on Monday, June 5, on the A&E cable network.

The two-hour documentary follows an Eau Claire County homicide case, which was worked on by University of Wisconsin–Madison Law School professors and students.

“Facing Life” documents Zimmerman’s decision to face the possibility of life in prison rather than accept an offer of freedom that would falsely brand him as a murderer in the homicide.

When Zimmerman’s former girlfriend, Kathy Thompson, was strangled on her wedding night in February 2000, her husband had a perfect alibi — one that made Zimmerman the perfect suspect. Although Zimmerman proclaimed his innocence and police had no physical evidence against him, Zimmerman was investigated, arrested, convicted and sent to prison for life.

Three years later — with help from the Wisconsin Innocence Project — Zimmerman won a new trial on appeal, and with it a second chance to clear his name. But before the retrial, the prosecution offered him a deal: Plead guilty to a lesser charge and go free.

Filmmakers Shane DuBow and David Boodell follow Zimmerman and his defense team through their final trial preparations and then on to a startling conclusion in court, one that speaks both to the high cost of imperfect justice and to the difficulties of fighting convictions secured without the use of DNA.

Zimmerman was represented at his retrial by La Crosse attorney Keith Belzer, who was appointed by the State Public Defender’s Office, along with lawyers and students with the Wisconsin Innocence Project.