Jaundiced Eye, The (1999) - Details

This harrowing documentary chronicles the decade long trials and emotional traumas incurred by a gay Michigan man, Stephen Matthews, and his straight father, Melvin Matthews, who were wrongfully accused by Stephen’s ex-girlfriend and her homophobic boyfriend of molesting Stephen’s son. Despite the fact that there was no physical evidence (although accusations included the torturous use of a machete), both Stephen and Melvin Matthews were sentenced to 35 years in jail. A chlamydia test which swayed the jury, was later revealed to give false positive results and lacks forensic value for use in sexual abuse cases. Eventually released from incarceration on this fact, both men went into the world to find that the prosecution wanted to put them on trial again.