The Mind of Mark DeFriest

For 33 years, Mark DeFriest has struggled against what he considers to be unjust imprisonment: he has escaped seven times and accrued hundreds of disciplinary write-ups, turning his original four-year sentence into one of life in prison. Known as the "Houdini of Florida" for his multiple and improbable jailbreaks, DeFriest was condemned to Florida's worst prison after a lone psychiatrist reversed the opinions of four court-appointed psychiatrists and declared he was faking mental illness. Over 30 years later, while DeFriest continues struggling to survive in a rigid and unforgiving system, his remaining supporters have forged an unlikely alliance to argue for his freedom.

DeFriest's story is both unique to him – a savant's mind, a notorious escape artist, a misunderstood troublemaker – and increasingly common to American prisoners – long sentences, brutal treatment, few chances for redemption. His surreal odyssey from jails to mental hospitals to some of America's toughest maximum security prisons has uncovered a lingering question: should DeFriest have ever been sent to prison at all?