(June 8, 2019 – Source: Getty Images North America)
*Ava DuVernay and Netflix are being sued by a police interrogation company over a scene in the director’s miniseries on the Central Park Five case, “When They See Us.”
John E. Reid & Associates is the company behind the popular “Reid Technique,” a controversial police interrogation tactic that’s been slammed by critics who believe the method produces false confessions.
In the federal lawsuit filed Monday, the plaintiffs note that unlike the way it’s played out in the series, the technique does not teach any of the illegal things mentioned in the series — like withholding bathroom breaks or parental supervision, per Complex.
“Defendants intended to incite an audience reaction against Reid for what occurred in the Central Park Jogger Case and for the coercive interrogation tactics that continue to be used today,” the lawsuit states, according to Variety. “Defendants published the statements in ‘When They See Us’ in an effort to cause a condemnation of the Reid Technique.”
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When They See Us has been the most-watched series on Netflix in the US every day since it premiered on May 31 pic.twitter.com/jS8IXIh03g
— Netflix US (@netflix) June 12, 2019
As reported by Deadline, Reid & Associates allege that the Emmy winning series “fabricated a scene designed to broadcast to the audience a conversation they made up that included false statements as to the Reid Technique.”
In the fourth episode of the series, NYPD detective Michael Sheehan is accused of using the Reid technique on the Central Park Five.
“You squeezed statements out of them after 42 hours of questioning and coercing, without food, bathroom breaks, withholding parental supervision,” a character tells Sheehan. “The Reid Technique has been universally rejected.”
“I don’t even know what the f**king Reid Technique is, OK? I know what I was taught. I know what I was asked to do and I did it,” Sheehan fires back.
In a letter titled Clarifying Misinformation about The Reid Technique, the firm states that the method is “specifically designed to do everything possible to protect against a person making a false confession.”
They are suing for defamation and want unspecified damages and profits from DuVernay and Netflix. The firm also want “When They See Us” taken off Netflix globally until the line is omitted or changed.
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