Judge Turns Down Appeal of Jesse Friedman, Subject of Documentary
A federal judge has ruled against Jesse Friedman, the subject of the documentary Capturing the Friedmans, who was seeking to reverse his guilty plea to child molestation on the basis of new evidence.
U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert said Friedman filed his appeal too late, Newsday reports. Friedman pleaded guilty in 1988 to molesting children during computer classes at the home where he lived as a teen with his father in Long Island. His appeal sought to reverse his plea based on evidence uncovered in the 2003 film that one of the children accused him after undergoing hypnosis.
Seybert’s Jan. 4 ruling cited a rule requiring an appeal to be filed within one year of the time its factual basis could have been found through due diligence. She said Friedman’s lawyers knew in 1988 that a therapist had helped children give details of abuse.
