Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story
Encyclopedia
Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story is a 1993
television film directed by Bill Corcoran. The film, which is based upon a true story, garnered generally positive reviews. However, it was criticized for exploiting a real incest
case for entertainment use.
case, involving a three-year-old girl, Christie, who is being molested by her father. She initially refuses to take the case, explaining that she isn't familiar with cases involving sexual abuse
. She is later convinced by the child's mother, Darlene Holland, but the trial proves to be difficult. Nine months later, she is heavily invested in the case, which involves her private life. She trouble sleeping at night and is often bothered by flashbacks of her own past. Whenever she tries to make love with her boyfriend Mark, she suffers panic attack
s. She eventually attacks David Holland, the man charged, in the courtroom and is therefore sent to jail for two days.
Shari fears she has ruined the case, but Darlene insists on holding her as her lawyer. The judge, however, puts her on probation
and forces her to seek psychological help. She contacts psychiatrist Joan Delvecchio and admits to her that she is constantly hearing typing sounds. She reveals that as a child she was physically abused
by her mother, and that her father had done nothing to protect her. Her sister Linda thinks therapy would be good for her, explaining that there must be a reason that she never wore make-up and always wore baggy clothes. At court, David is prohibited from seeing his daughter for six months. Shari is furious that thereafter, he is allowed to see her again, claiming that he then will keep on raping
her. Meanwhile, in therapy, Joan notices that Shari shows the same symptoms as rape victims, but thinks it could be explained by her mother's abuse.
When Mark finds out she has taken another incest case, he leaves her. She turns to her parents, but her mother blames her for having driven Mark away. Her therapist makes her write a letter to her mother. When writing, not only does she express the hatred she feels for her mother, but also reveals that she is an incest victim herself, having been abused by her father for years. She starts to remember everything and finds out that she buried the abuse so deep that she didn't consciously remember it. In sessions, Joan helps her remember the entire truth and eventually Shari tells that her father raped her after typing, which explains the sounds of typing she heard. She confronts her parents, but they respond with outrage, claiming they will never forgive her for the accusation.
Linda refuses to believe her as well and has trouble even accepting the possibility. At work, her new client withdraws and Christie is hospitalized. Frustrated, she is determined to change the law, allowing incest victims to sue their parents whenever they want to, without a statute of limitations
. She contacts Stephanie Chadford, another lawyer who tried to change the incest law. This requires her to step to the media, telling her own story. She is immediately estranged from her sister and disowned by her parents. Meanwhile, the process of changing a law proves to be exhausting, taking up to six years to even qualify in court, and her emotional involvement upsets her partners, who eventually fire her. In the end, however, the law changes, with Shari's help.
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
television film directed by Bill Corcoran. The film, which is based upon a true story, garnered generally positive reviews. However, it was criticized for exploiting a real incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
case for entertainment use.
Plot
Situated in the early 1980s, Shari Karney is a successful attorney, assigned to an incestIncest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
case, involving a three-year-old girl, Christie, who is being molested by her father. She initially refuses to take the case, explaining that she isn't familiar with cases involving sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
. She is later convinced by the child's mother, Darlene Holland, but the trial proves to be difficult. Nine months later, she is heavily invested in the case, which involves her private life. She trouble sleeping at night and is often bothered by flashbacks of her own past. Whenever she tries to make love with her boyfriend Mark, she suffers panic attack
Panic attack
Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset and of relatively brief duration. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, reach a peak within 10 minutes, and subside over the next several hours...
s. She eventually attacks David Holland, the man charged, in the courtroom and is therefore sent to jail for two days.
Shari fears she has ruined the case, but Darlene insists on holding her as her lawyer. The judge, however, puts her on probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
and forces her to seek psychological help. She contacts psychiatrist Joan Delvecchio and admits to her that she is constantly hearing typing sounds. She reveals that as a child she was physically abused
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
by her mother, and that her father had done nothing to protect her. Her sister Linda thinks therapy would be good for her, explaining that there must be a reason that she never wore make-up and always wore baggy clothes. At court, David is prohibited from seeing his daughter for six months. Shari is furious that thereafter, he is allowed to see her again, claiming that he then will keep on raping
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
her. Meanwhile, in therapy, Joan notices that Shari shows the same symptoms as rape victims, but thinks it could be explained by her mother's abuse.
When Mark finds out she has taken another incest case, he leaves her. She turns to her parents, but her mother blames her for having driven Mark away. Her therapist makes her write a letter to her mother. When writing, not only does she express the hatred she feels for her mother, but also reveals that she is an incest victim herself, having been abused by her father for years. She starts to remember everything and finds out that she buried the abuse so deep that she didn't consciously remember it. In sessions, Joan helps her remember the entire truth and eventually Shari tells that her father raped her after typing, which explains the sounds of typing she heard. She confronts her parents, but they respond with outrage, claiming they will never forgive her for the accusation.
Linda refuses to believe her as well and has trouble even accepting the possibility. At work, her new client withdraws and Christie is hospitalized. Frustrated, she is determined to change the law, allowing incest victims to sue their parents whenever they want to, without a statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
. She contacts Stephanie Chadford, another lawyer who tried to change the incest law. This requires her to step to the media, telling her own story. She is immediately estranged from her sister and disowned by her parents. Meanwhile, the process of changing a law proves to be exhausting, taking up to six years to even qualify in court, and her emotional involvement upsets her partners, who eventually fire her. In the end, however, the law changes, with Shari's help.
Cast
- Melissa GilbertMelissa GilbertMelissa Ellen Gilbert is an American actress, writer, and producer, primarily in movies and television. Gilbert is best known as a child actress who co-starred as Charles Ingalls's second daughter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, on the dramatic television series Little House on the Prairie...
as Shari Karney - Kate NelliganKate NelliganPatricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
as Stephanie Chadford - Shirley DouglasShirley DouglasShirley Jean Douglas, OC is a Canadian television, film and stage actress and activist. Her acting career combined with her family name has made her recognisable in Canadian film, television and politics.-Personal life:...
as Vivian Karney - Dick LatessaDick LatessaRichard Robert "Dick" Latessa is an American actor.Latessa was born in Cleveland, Ohio to a mother who was an automotive upholstery maker. Latessa made his Broadway debut in The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N in 1968...
as Jack Karney - Rosemary Dunsmore as Rose Beckman
- Stewart Bick as Mark
- Ellen BurstynEllen BurstynEllen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
as Joan Delvecchio - Kenneth WelshKenneth WelshKenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his...
as Judge Norton - Patricia KalemberPatricia KalemberPatricia Kathryn Kalember is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Georgiana "Georgie" Reed Whitsig on the NBC drama Sisters , Susannah Hart Shepherd on the popular 1980s television show Thirtysomething and as Judge Karen Taten on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit .- Life and...
as Linda Karney - Kirsten Kieferle as Darlene Holland