Click below to watch five minutes of clips from the film
THE ACCUSED
PRODUCTION COMPANY: BRINKWORTH FILMS
NETWORK: A&E (USA)
FORMAT: 2 X 1 HOUR
In 2017, AJ was accused of killing both his parents, shooting them at point-blank range while they slept.
We were granted access to AJ, his family, and his legal team, filming them over several years as he faced trial for capital murder. Too young for the death penalty, AJ was found guilty and recently sentenced to 40 years in prison
This was an extraordinary project to be part of. As a documentary maker, you often gain access to incredible places, but being able to watch a Texas capital murder trial up close and then go home at night with the accused to ask him how he feels, was an incredible privilege.
AJ was just 16 at the time of the murders. His father was a former Miami Dolphins football player, making it a high-profile case. Every news outlet wanted to speak to AJ, but we were the only team with exclusive access. He was under house arrest throughout the trials, and he allowed us to film him at home with his surviving family and his legal team.
The evidence in the trial was always against AJ. He was in a locked house with an alarm system suggesting that no one else could have been in the house at the time of the murders. Additionally, he was a young black man in a wealthy, predominantly white Texan neighbourhood.
