MOVIE REVIEW: CRIME AFTER CRIME

When lawyers Nadia Costa and Joshua Safran first encountered Deborah Peagler, she already had served 20 years of a 25-years-to-life sentence for involvement in the 1982 murder of her pathologically abusive boyfriend. Taking advantage of a California law that allows reconsideration of cases involving battered women, the lawyers embarked on a pro bono journey to free her that would last eight years and unearth a reeking trail of perjury, prosecutorial misconduct and political malfeasance.

Recording every success and setback, the wrenching documentary "Crime After Crime" favors the personal over the political, creating a no-frills portrait of a stoic and remarkably unembittered woman. Interviews with Peagler's family and that of the victim paint a horrific picture of domestic violence at a time when shelters were rare and restraining orders difficult to obtain.

Equally horrific, however, is the swamp of systemic failure and official misconduct that the director, Yoav Potash, declines to excavate too vigorously. Although his execution is barely cinematic -- he initially gained access to the prison as a legal videographer -- his moral outrage is magnificent, swelling from hushed to howling without the help of narration or posturing from unfailingly dignified Peagler or her quietly dedicated lawyers.

There may well be, as one of her lawyers claims, "thousands and thousands of Debbies across the U.S.," but this particular one makes it difficultto leave the theater with dry eyes and an untouched heart.