Yahoo Lifestyle ‘48 Hours’ Correspondent Erin Moriarty Shares Surprising Effects Of True Crime’s Popularity
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Unlike many mystery-of-the-week hosts, Erin Moriarty, a lawyer turned true crime luminary on the CBS series “48 Hours,” has followed cases for years, sometimes decades. While viewers like a well-constructed mystery with a beginning, middle and end, she’s learned that not all cases are that tidy.
“You may not get a resolution the first time you go out and shoot something,” Moriarty told HuffPost, and she appreciates that “48 Hours” has given her the opportunity to continue to follow up on those cases.
In her 24 years with the show, she’s developed strong bonds with people falsely convicted of crimes and exposed official misconduct that resulted in shaky convictions. She’s now returned to a case that she’s been covering since 1999, and she says it is the one that’s troubled her the most. “Murder in the Orange Grove,” her podcast, which debuted on Sept. 18 and is releasing episodes weekly, takes a new look at the conviction of Crosley Green. It’s all in keeping with the good she believes true crime coverage can do: serve as a watchdog for police investigations, support victims of violence or injustice and help regular people understand the reality of the U.S.’s powerful criminal justice system.
“There are negatives, no question,” she said, nodding to criticisms that the genre can exploit tragedy for entertainment. “But if it’s done properly, I think there’s a real benefit to true crime reporting.”
Green was sentenced to death even though there was no evidence to connect him to the 1989 robbery and fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Florida man, Moriarty said. The story took a wild twist when Moriarty initially tracked down first responders, who offered a different take on the crime scene than what prosecutors presented at trial. Green’s conviction was overturned, but the case didn’t end there. He was ordered back to prison this month after the conviction was reinstated on appeal. His only options for freedom that Moriarty believes is deserved are parole or clemency.
Though there’s no resolution, Moriarty said she’s proud of what her reporting has accomplished.
“If we had not started on Crosley Green’s case 25 years ago, number one, he might have been executed,” Moriarty said. “A law firm picked up the [case] after the American Bar Association saw our first story. So I’m proud of that. What I’m not proud of is that he’s still in prison, but I am proud that we made a difference.”
By sticking with a story, she said, her reporting has often taken her in surprising directions.
“48 Hours” played a role, for example, in exonerating Ryan Ferguson. The Missouri college student served 10 years in prison based on his friend’s false memory that the two had murdered a journalist in a parking lot. “48 Hours” presented trial footage to the appeals court of the friend’s testimony that diverged substantially from his initial confession to police, which along with a new lawyer and Ferguson’s own testimony, helped turn the tide, she said.
“That’s the reason why I’ve never left ‘48,’ because the idea, if I can go to the executive producer, saying, ‘Look, there’s this new development. We’ve got to do this. This person may get out.’ There are as many people enthusiastic about doing it as me. It is. It is a gift to be able to work on a show that allows you to stay on a story.”
Moriarty’s unrelenting commitment to exposing unethical police tactics — like those employed in the Ferguson case — can starkly contrast to other true crime shows that are overly favorable to official narratives. And the show’s audience has caught on.
Moriarty contrasted viewers’ reactions to two coerced confession cases, featured decades apart on “48 Hours,” as a sign of how skeptical they have become about police interrogations.
In 2005, “48 Hours” covered the case of Marty Tankleff, who was convicted in 1990 of killing his parents, based in part on his written confession in a police interview, which he later recanted and refused to sign. (He served 17 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2007.)
“When I did this story, people would write to me saying, ‘He definitely killed his parents, because there’s no way you could get me to confess to something I didn’t do,’” Moriarity said.
“Now flash-forward to 2015,” she continued, when “48 Hours” started covering the case of Melissa Calusinski, whom police pressured to confess on camera to the death of a child in a daycare center.
After that episode aired, Moriarty said she received emails from viewers saying it was clear that Calusinski’s confession had been coerced. Moriarty said she believed that evolution was due to the show’s years of stories on problematic police practices; true crimes fans have paid attention.
“They’re open to the idea that police make mistakes, or worse, cut corners. Prosecutors make mistakes, or worse, keep crucial information and evidence from the defense,” she said. “So I think we are getting better. I might be a little optimistic here, but I do see a change, and I like to think that some of it is because we cover true crime and people are so interested in it.”
Advances in DNA technology have also exposed how regularly the criminal justice system has gotten it wrong. Moriarty added that the scrutiny that true crime fans have put on cases has inspired a “real trend” by prosecutor’s offices around the country to establish conviction review units. Shows like “48 Hours” have also played a role in spotlighting the failures of the system.
“We highlight the wrongful convictions, we show where they go wrong, and I think it makes it more difficult for a prosecutor or a cop to get away with it,” she said.
On the flip side, Moriarty has covered numerous cases in which police officers and prosecutors with great integrity have dedicated decades of their lives to seeking justice.
“I see it all,” she said. “I see bad cops, I see bad prosecutors. But then I come off this story [the latest “48 Hours” focused on the search for a serial killer’s victims], and I’m so touched by these investigators who are being very careful.”
Moriarty believes police work is “getting better” with the widespread use of technology like DNA testing and surveillance cameras, as well as the public’s focus on crime news. And the public at large has a better understanding of the legal system because of crime media, she added, resulting in better jurors.
“I might be a little optimistic here,” she said, “but I do see a change, and I like to think that some of it is because we cover true crime and people are so interested in it.”
That spotlight can be overwhelming for some victims’ family members, but for others, media coverage can be cathartic or empowering.
“It is really important for some victims to be able to talk about what’s happened to them, and so for them, these stories are really important,” Moriarty said. “They want people to know what they’ve been through. They want to save people from having the same pain and tragedy, and they would say true crime done properly has value.”
Whether talking with victims’ family members, attorneys or people in prison, Moriarty said she feels like her work at “48 Hours” is what she’s born to do.
“I really love these cases, and they’re all so different, and you have an opportunity to make a difference,” she said. “That’s a thrill.”