On April 21, 1992, just before 6 a.m., Robert Alton Harris stepped into the brightly lit gas chamber at San Quentin Prison. He was able to see an audience through the thick glass window: his brother and a few friends, relatives of his victims, state's witnesses, reporters, even several "VIPs." Forty nine people had gathered to observe Harris die. Yet each saw a very different thing happen that morning.

Harris, convicted of murdering two teenage boys in San Diego after a 1978 bank robbery, was the first prisoner put to death in California in twenty five years. Conducted according to guidelines officially labeled "Procedure 769," his execution drew enormous attention and wide media coverage around the country.

But PROCEDURE 769 looks at the event through the eyes of the witnesses. As Harris' brother Randall; Sharron Mankins, mother of one of Harris' victims; Daniel Vasquez, the warden at San Quentin; psychologist Craig Haney; reporter Wade Douglas and six others share their meticulous accounts, a startling perspective on capital punishment never before examined is presented for the first time.

"Never less than fascinating... Astonishing!"—Variety

"A disconcerting study of the functioning of human observation and memory."—Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival