Broadwater's case has become a prominent example of the issues within the criminal justice system, particularly regarding wrongful convictions based on unreliable eyewitness testimony and discredited forensic methods.
[1] He served 16 years before being released in 1998, but his life continued to be heavily affected by the conviction as he was required to register as a sex offender, which severely limited his job prospects and social interactions.
[8] When Timothy Mucciante began working as executive producer on a project to adapt Lucky to film, he noticed discrepancies in the portion of her book describing the trial.
[9] He ultimately was fired from the project when he did not provide funding as he had originally agreed, and subsequently hired a private investigator to review the evidence against Broadwater.
The conviction had relied heavily on two pieces of evidence: Sebold's testimony and microscopic hair analysis, a forensic technique the United States Department of Justice later found to be unreliable.
"[14] The manner of Sebold's apology drew criticism from some observers, who noted that it was largely made in the passive voice and did not acknowledge any direct responsibility for Broadwater's conviction.
[15][16] Scribner, the publisher of Lucky, released a statement following Broadwater's exoneration that distribution of all formats of the book would cease.