Johnson stands by his claim that he is innocent and never committed the crime he was being punished for. As the documentary makes a strong case on him part the audience is led to believe him, and it gives a message that anyone could end up in his position. The penitentiary warden expands on this:.
"Edward Johnson is in a position that could happen to anybody, your sons and daughters, it could happen to anybody".
Even after Johnson's prosecution, the warden is shown making a speech:.
"I was told Edward Earl Johnson's final words; he said that he was innocent but that he bore no ill-will to anyone".
The documentary causes its audience to have empathy with Johnson and feel sorry for him; it allows them to believe that it could happen to anyone. It is clear that using these techniques the documentary is subjective, showing that capital punishment is barbaric and endangers the innocent.
The scenes throughout the documentary contain emotive material used to arouse the audience and bias them against capital punishment. The documentary begins with showing a group of majority black inmates laboring in a field with officers on horseback patrolling them. This immediately depicts the idea of black slavery in plantations and human cruelty. This racism is displayed several times throughout the documentary via quotes and statistics. One such statistic is displayed on black background with daunting music: .
"A black man accused of killing a white is four times as likely to be executed as a white accused of killing a black". .
One particularly powerful scene is where the gas chamber is being tested, the documentary shows a rabbit being led in with a cage and cyanide pellets are dropped and rabbit is killed. The documentary uses the helpless rabbit to show the cruelty and brutality of capital punishment.