The American judicial system is broken. Its foundation has never been sustainable, and as a result, people often fall through the cracks and are left to waste away in prison cells. Luckily, as technology has advanced, justice groups have been able to use new forms of evidence to get convictions overturned, setting some who have been wrongfully convicted free.
In the new Fox drama, Proven Innocent, Empire co-creator Danny Strong, along with David Elliot and Stacy Greenberg, explore the lives of the wrongfully convicted, and how the stain of conviction can never truly be washed away.
Set in Chicago, Proven Innocent follows Madeline Scott (Rachelle Lefevre) a defense attorney who, as a teen, was convicted along with her brother of murdering her best friend, Rosemary Lynch. After spending ten years in prison before eventually getting her conviction overturned, Madeline went to law school before returning to Chicago to open the Injustice Defense Group with her law partner Ezekiel ‘Easy’ Boudreau (Russell Hornsby), communications director Violet Bell (Nikki M. James) and private investigator Bodie Quick (Vincent Kartheiser). Though she’s eager to help free innocent people, Madeline is also determined to take down the man who put her in jail, corrupt powerhouse prosecutor Gore Bellows (Kelsey Grammer), while uncovering what really happened to Rosemary.
Ahead of the show’s premiere, Shadow and Act flew to Chicago to visit the Proven Innocent set. We sat down with Russell Hornsby to discuss the series, why he was hooked from the first script and why certain roles are suddenly falling in his lap.
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