‘Conviction: The Case of Stephen Lawrence’ – ‘Episode 3’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘Conviction: The Case of Stephen Lawrence’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
​
The word justice carries with it a sense of finality and satisfaction, and understandably so. Because time and time again, we’ve seen it come forth for people that have been wronged in life personally and legally and when they receive it… they find peace and closure and speak to how obtaining it at last, will allow for them to move on. Which is why we use this word often in life, to help ourselves and others understand exactly what we are looking for in a particular situation, be it personal or legal and it is why we believe in it so. Since it truly should give us everything, we need to heal from a moment that changed our lives... often for the worse. 
​
But the only problem with this word, is that we put too much gravity into its healing powers. Because sadly, justice isn’t the end all, be all, fixer of problems in our lives or in this world. For sometimes, justice is flawed and never applied properly, and sometimes it is incomplete in nature and well, the complexities and disappointments that come about with justice are top of mind today, because they served as the focus of the series finale of the Acorn TV series, Conviction: The Case of Stephen Lawrence. But what’s amazing about this finale, is that it seemed as though at first, that perfect definition of justice was going to be served up to the Lawrence family, by way of the two key suspects in this ongoing case.

For they were arrested with minimal fuss and charged no problem and when the case went to trial, nothing could stop the momentum that had started. For nefarious voices within the Met were ignored and the prosecution poked serious holes in the alibis of these men, and while the defense did their best to create doubt regarding the physical evidence… the forensic team held strong on the stand. Which in turn, led to a pair of guilty verdicts in the end and satisfaction at last for Doreen and Neville. For something they sought for ages on end had come to fruition and their son finally received some measure of justice and with those two off to jail, it truly seemed as though Clive’s task force was gearing up to bring down the others involved in this heinous crime.

But that is when this story took quite the turn regarding the quest for justice and made it clear that justice can be flawed and broken and unfulfilling at times. Because right before Clive got back to work, he had a meeting with the top brass at the Met, who promptly sent him into retirement. Granted he was over the 30-year service limit, but the message was clear that the damage the department faced over having an officer get the job done decades later, was extensive and now was the time to save face and take the win and move on. Which eventually led to a closing of the case and no further charges brought forth. Giving this saga a bittersweet and frustrating ending for certain, one that hammered home the point for certain. 

However, while that end to Stephen’s story might bring about pure frustration and infuriation for some viewers, that is how this story ended in real-life as well. Which means that this journey through a powerful and meaningful case… is more designed to be an eye-opening tale over anything else. Because it speaks to the fact that the justice system carries flaws for certain, and bias that needs to be removed, and the only way to do that… is major reforms of the system from top to bottom. So that more officers like Clive are on the job over the ones that are keen to overlook a case based on the color of someone’s skin, and while that will be no easy task, this starts the conversation and builds awareness. But make no mistake about it is a shame… that it took the death of another young Black man… to get the conversation going.

---