THE EXECUTION OF WANDA JEAN
2002

March 23, 2002
HBO
USA
English

The West Coast premiere of this documentary was at Cinequest, but I knew it'd be on HBO so I waited. People who went to the Cinequest screenings were really touched. Apparently the director and I think one of the lawyers showed up to talk about the film. What I saw was interesting, never boring, but left me sort of cold. They are preaching to the choir with me as I am against the death penalty in all cases so I didn't have to be talked into that position. Wanda Jean Allen was an Oklahoma lesbian with borderline mental retardation. She killed someone in the early 80s, was paroled, lived with her lover, then shot her in the police station parking lot when the lover threatened to leave her. The legal team was trying to switch her sentence from execution to life without parole. She would become the first woman executed in Oklahoma since the death penalty was reinstated.

The evidence against her is airtight. Her only hope is to show her impaired mental abilities at the time of the crime. She is presented as a woman who never had a chance. Gay in the bible belt, one of 8 kids, abused as a youngster, sent out to steal for food, etc. The heartbreak in this story for me was the optimism of the legal team. They know they have nearly no chance to change the sentence and yet they have to put their best face forward for the media, the family, and Wanda Jean herself. Wanda Jean is quite a character, making sure, on the very morning of her execution, if her best friend and lawyer had a balanced breakfast.

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about in this documentary. It is not substantially better than a Frontline episode or Dead Man Walking, for example.