DER Documentary

Investigation of a Hit and Run with Legal Discussion

From the Pittsburgh Police series
by John Marshall
black and white, 56 min, 1972

Pricing information and conditions

This film follows the investigation of a hit-and-run accident by two officers, with the initial reports, the questioning of people who witnessed the eighteen-year-old suspect, and his girlfriend's subsequent interrogation and statement. A number of factors complicate the case: the suspect was without a driver's license; he reported the car stolen to cover himself; he could not be persuaded to confess; and the girl was pregnant. The police use considerable pressure on the girl, and treat her eventual statement as though it were a confession. (33 minutes)

In A Legal Discussion of a Hit and Run, a Harvard Law School class, led by Professor James Vorenberg, discusses the salient legal points about the police investigation and interrogation and the rights of witnesses or suspects after the class has screened the film Investigation of a Hit and Run. (24 minutes)

These two films are now offered on one DVD, providing a unique educational tool for anyone interested in police procedure and consitutional rights.

Other films in the series:
After the Game
A Forty Dollar Misunderstanding
The 4th and 5th and the Exclusionary rule
Henry is Drunk
The Informant
Inside/Outside Station Nine
Manifold Controversy
901/904
Nothing Hurt But My Pride
Three Domestics
Twenty-One Dollars or Twenty-One Days
Two Brothers
Vagrant Woman
Wrong Kid
You Wasn't Loitering
Youth and the Man of Property