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'Trial 4': Netflix's Sean Ellis docuseries has viewers claiming Boston cops still 'corrupt' and racism 'runs deep'

'Trial 4' is as timely a watch as it can ever be as America continues to grapple with issues of systemic racism and corruption within the police force

Netflix's new limited docuseries 'Trial 4' focuses on the story of a man who says he was wrongly convicted of murdering a police officer when he was just 19 years old. The eight-part docuseries will feature Sean Ellis as he faces his fourth trial — 25 years after he was first tried in 1995 — as he may end up going back to prison. Ellis had been previously sentenced to life and was released when new evidence came to light.

Ellis had spent 22 years in prison after being convicted of the 1993 murder of Boston police detective, John Mulligan. He was put on trial three times within the space of a year, and now faces his fourth trial, which could see him back in prison for life. After his first three trials for armed robbery and first-degree murder, Ellis, aged 19 at the time, was found guilty in 1995 and sentenced to life.

In 1998, in light of news reports that Mulligan and his colleagues — who also interfered in Mulligan's murder investigation — Kenneth Acerra, John Brazil, and Walter Robinson were, in fact, corrupt, led Ellis to file a motion for his new trial which was denied. His second motion for a new trial was accepted in March 2013 and the retrial was scheduled for 2018. Before a new District Attorney took the office in Suffolk County, the charges against Ellis were dropped, as the DA's office claimed the case was not as strong.

'Trial 4' is as timely a watch as it can ever be as America continues to grapple with issues of systemic racism and corruption within the police force amid calls for defunding and/or reforming the police. For viewers, the docuseries offered a look at one example of how Black people receive the short end of the law and how much harder they have to fight to prove their innocence. Much of the docuseries focused on the corrupt practices of the Boston Police Department and the officers who were exposed for those practices.

Viewers pointed out one disturbing aspect: they believe that the city's police department is still as racist. One viewer tweeted, "These white Boston cops are as racist as they were back in the 1990s in these present-day interviews. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so disgusting #Trial4." Another wrote, "Watching @netflix documentary #trial4 today made me realize once again why I got the hell out of Boston and will never move back. Institutionalized Racism is so entrenched in that city it’s not even funny. Smh #boston."

A viewer opined, "Same dude who thinks the blacks were exaggerating police use of force thinks Mulligan was not a corrupt cop. SHOCKER #Trial4." Another wrote, "This Trial 4 documentary on Netflix about the wrongfully convicted Sean Ellis is infuriating. Absolutely disgusted at the corruption displayed by the Boston Police Department during this case, I always knew this city’s racial tensions ran deep but this is unacceptable." A user tweeted, "Trial 4 #Netflix about the wrongful conviction of Sean Ellis. Another example of how the Criminal Justice System plots & entraps #POC. Absolutely disgusted at the corruption displayed by the @bostonpolice during this case. Then they ask why the public is asking for reform/defund."

All episodes of 'Trial 4' are now streaming on Netflix.