My Brooklyn
Synopsis
At the Death House Door directed by Steve James and Peter Gilbert follows the remarkable career journey of Carroll Pickett, the former death house chaplain at the infamous “Walls” prison unit in Huntsville, Texas. From 1982 until 1995, Pickett ministered to 95 men who were executed, including the first lethal injection done anywhere in the world. “Your job,” the warden told Pickett before the first execution, “is to talk to the inmate, comfort him, win his trust and seduce his emotions so he won’t fight on the gurney at midnight.” After each execution, Pickett recorded an audiotape account of that fateful day. No inmate’s execution haunts Pickett more than that of Carlos De Luna, a young man who claimed to be innocent of the murder of a convenience store clerk. In 1989, during the final hours of his life, 27 year-old De Luna came to trust Pickett so much he called him “daddy.” 17 years later, two Chicago Tribune reporters turn up evidence that strongly suggests De Luna was innocent. The film tracks their investigation and the impact Carlos continues to have not just on Pickett, but on Carlos’ sister and a television reporter who had befriended the young man on death row. At the Death House Door is a film about the failures of the criminal justice system; about one man’s spiritual and moral journey; and how this very final act of punishment does not bring closure. As often as not, it just brings more suffering.
