Very compulsive viewing without any foul language . Obviously this was police corruption at its height as Laurie Bembeneck had been a whistle blower and reported sexual and racial discrimination to a lawyer.Result was she was sacked and in order to make a living she was even a part time Playboy Bunnie. Meeting a detective at a night club and one thing leading to another they were married in a matter of weeks not even inviting any parents or whatever. All Laurie knows about his ex wife is what he told her-there were 2 kids she had custody of and in fact he had no rights at all and was being paid so much per month he had very little left after apartment rents etc.This was the first sign of him not being what he seemed as Irretrevable Breakdown wouldn't allow her to have claimed so much. But whatever she ends up being murdered and both of them had a motive. So the police department see the door open for Revenge,she is sent down for life and he's out of it clearing off and remarrying after she doesn't refuse the divorce. The trial of course is a farce as we learn later when another lawyer discovers evidence was suppressed or even fabricated in an attempt to put her at the scene of the crime. During her years in prison she had a Prison Visitor who eventually asked her to marry him.He also talked her into escaping which she did and the two of them went to Canada.After photos were seen on America's Most Wanted somebody reported her as being in their town with a man.Both arrested she got another 5 years on her sentence and given a years solitary. Meanwhile the public are coming out on her side in droves and another lawyer uncovers vital evidence.But the police are unwilling to open the case up again-various Appeals had failed-and she was advised to plead No Contest.Which means she hasn't admitted Guilt but not Innocence either. However it works and she's eventually out after realising that she would never get Parole unless she admits she did it and is sorry. No one has ever been caught for the murder

TV-drama based on Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek's memoir about her years in incarceration after being convicted of killing her husband's ex-wife. Bembenek, a small-town rabble rouser, sometime-model and ex-cop, clearly gets the filmmakers' sympathy here, and the piece is most assuredly one-sided; however, the mind-boggling legal injustices done to her are incredible, and the leading role is carried off almost without a hitch by a very forceful Tatum O'Neal. After a strenuous opening, which is framed in flashback for no apparent reason, both the direction and O'Neal's performance improve, and the supporting players are excellent throughout. Not a compact telefilm (it runs 4 hours with commercials), but a consistently interesting one. Tatum is sympathetic, hard-headed, feisty and moving; the look on her face at the end seems to make all the legal hell almost irrelevant.

If you are a Tatum O'Neal fan this is a must see movie. The story is based on true events and is amazing and very entertaining. The story is about a small town gal accused of the death of her husband's ex-wife. Yeah I know what your thinking, see one like it before... but wait. There is police cover up and and a lot of wrong doing to see that Lawrencia Bembenek (Tatum O'Neal) is charged in the case. The story is full of twists and becomes a huge media event. The acting by everyone is very good. And even though the movie is long, there is nothing bad about watching Tatum and seeing her face for 3 hours! Hope to see lots more of her in the future. If there is only one actor or actress i would like to meet, it would be Tatum O'Neal.

This film sort of reminded me of I Want To Live. A phony movie claiming a female criminal is innocent. Why is it that so many people felt sorry for Lori? She was fairly tried and convicted. Her case is a "miscarriage" of justice only in the sense she brutally killed someone and only served a little over 10 years for it. There were witnesses and a mountain of evidence against her that she was really the one who killed Christine Schultz.