Jury Duty, plus a Bone Valley update

Crime Writers On...True Crime Review

Leading off: After all of his appeals options have been exhausted, Leo Schofield has one last path to freedom. A Florida parole board agrees to consider his application for release. Setting aside his claims of innocence and focusing on his conduct during 35 years of incarceration, the board offers some hope. In the bonus episode of “Bone Valley,” Gilbert King and Kelsey Decker examine the board’s nuanced ruling and talk to Leo about what lies ahead.

Moving on: Documentarians are granted unfettered access to a civil trial and the deliberations of its jury. The panel includes Ronald Gladden, who takes his role earnestly. What he doesn’t know is that the judge, the lawyers, and his eleven fellow jurors are all actors. When alternate juror James Marsden - played by the real James Marsden - gets the jury sequestered, Ronald remains unaware of the elaborate charade as he interacts with quirky characters, ridiculous situations, and bizarre testimony.

“Jury Duty,” available on Amazon’s Freevee, wraps its scripted trial in a real life comedy of manners featuring an unsuspecting everyman. But Ronald surprises both the audience and the producers with his heartwarming tolerance to the idiosyncratic jurors, the oddball defendant, and the nutty set pieces engineered for his benefit.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "JURY DUTY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 8 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.

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