Siebold apologized, her counterpart agreed to accept the apology.
Siebold apologized, her counterpart agreed to accept the apology.
The New York State Supreme Court found 61-year-old Anthony Broadwater not guilty of rape in 1981 – 40 years ago. The victim of rape was 18-year-old Alice Siebold, who later became a famous writer.
Hot on the heels, it was not possible to find the rapist. A few months later, Siebold told the police that she had met a man who looked like a rapist on the street – it was a black Anthony Broadwater. The police detained him.
On identification, Siebold pointed to another person, but later identified Broadwater during the trial. In addition, the prosecution conducted a “microscopic hair analysis” that indicated the man’s connection with the crime – now this technique is considered unreliable.
Anthony Broadwater was convicted and served 16 years. He always insisted that he didn’t cheat on Alice Siebold. After serving his sentence, Broadwater was listed in the database of sex offenders, could not find a normal job and decided not to have children so that they would not have to suffer from the past attributed to him.
Siebold described her experiences of violence in the autobiographical novel Happy, which brought her first popularity. The author’s next novel, The Lovely Bones, became a bestseller and was filmed by Peter Jackson. When work began on the film adaptation of Happy, questions arose about the story.
The filming executive producer Timothy Mucciante, tells The New York Times, noticed discrepancies between the script and Siebold’s book. Determined to find out how plausible the book describes the trial, Mucciante hired a private investigator.
After examining the evidence, the detective concluded that Broadwater was innocent. Mucciante decided to transfer the collected data to Broadwater’s lawyer and refused to work on the adaptation of Happy.
I wondered not in Alice’s story of the violence she had experienced – it’s a tragedy – but in the second part of the book, which describes the trial: not everything worked out there.
The Broadwater case, released in 1999, was again brought to trial. After examining the evidence, the man was found not guilty, clearing the first-degree rape charge and five related charges.
After the trial, Anthony Broadwater said he hoped Alice Siebold would apologize to him.
I sympathize with her, but she was wrong.
Siebold did just that. A few days after Broadwater’s acquittal, the writer published a post in which she expressed regret that 40 years ago, Broadwater had become a victim of “our imperfect legal system.”
First, I want to say that I sincerely feel sorry for Anthony Broadwater and I deeply regret everything he went through.
I’m glad Mr. Broadwater was finally acquitted, but the fact remains: 40 years ago, he became another black man who was mistreated by our imperfect legal system. I will forever regret what happened to him.
Apparently, Siebold concludes, the man who raped her will never be found. Anthony Broadwater told The New York Times that he accepts Siebold’s apology and is grateful for them.
It is interesting
