6. The Decision to Confront Sharon Stevens

After their interview requests were ignored, the fifth estate team debated whether to ambush Sharon Stevens in her new home in Joggins, Nova Scotia. Executive producer David Studer recalls consulting CBC policy on jump interviews:

Producer David Kaufman explains his own reasoning for undertaking the encounter. This story seemed to fulfil all three requirements for a CBC jump interview: that the story was significant and in the public interest, that the target played a significant role in the story, and that the target had had an opportunity for a conventional interview. A man was in prison for a wrongful conviction and Sharon Stevens’ testimony had, in large part, put him there. And several attempts had been made to contact her.

With the decision made, a fifth estate team departed for Nova Scotia, with the hopes of interviewing Stevens.

Next: The Jump