Seven Seconds | |
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Created by | Veena Sud |
Based on | The Major by Yuri Bykov |
Brenton Butler case | |
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Decided | November 21, 2000 |
Verdict | Not guilty on both counts |
Court membership | |
Judge(s) sitting | Waddell Wallace |
In an instant, life is forever changed for Brenton Butler and his family. After a white cop accidentally hits and critically injures a black teenager, a northeastern city explodes with racial tensions, an attempted cover up and its aftermath, and the trial of the century. Written by ahmetkozan
In preparation for her role as a prosecutor, British actress Clare-Hope Ashitey (KJ Harper) spent time with Jersey City PD and prosecutors, the NYPD, New York City District Attorneys, etc. She also attended late-night court arraignment hearings in Jersey and Manhattan. See more »
Seven Seconds. (TV series) Seven Seconds is an American crime drama streaming television series, based on the Russian film The Major written and directed by Yuri Bykov , that premiered on February 23, 2018, on Netflix. The series, created, executive produced, and showrun by Veena Sud, follows the people involved in investigating the death ...
Peter Jablonski, a white police officer, accidentally hits and critically injures Brenton Butler —a black teenager from Jersey City —with his car. Jablonski calls his friends on the force to the scene. They assume Brenton is dead and a cover up ensues. Racial tensions explode in the face of injustice and the absence of quick resolution of the case.
According to Ashitey, the complexity of her character is part of what makes her story so powerful. It allows her to be seen as a real-life super hero as opposed to the fantastical images portrayed in projects like Black Panther.
For Ashitey, who was born and raised in London and raised by Ghanaian parents, there was a steep learning curve while preparing for this role.
While the subject matter of Seven Seconds is dark and intense, there were some happy moments on the set and one of the highlights for Ashitey was getting to work with Regina King.
Amid a rogue cover-up of a cop-involved hit-and-run, the victim's family searches for answers while a troubled prosecutor digs for the truth.
As KJ and Fish continue to investigate, an increasingly nervous Pete considers his options. DiAngelo goes in search of a possible witness.
While Fish pursues an elusive lead, KJ struggles to have a painful conversation with the Butlers. Pete and DiAngelo butt heads.
Latrice attempts to conjure a memory. KJ visits her father. Fish plays hardball with a witness. Pete contemplates the cost of his morals.
As cops come under suspicion, Marie receives a surprise visitor, Isaiah worries about Latrice’s stability, and Seth asks an old friend for help.
DiAngelo offers an olive branch, but it may be too late. KJ and Fish clash with stonewallers. Pete's grocery store trip doesn't go as planned.
As community outrage over Brenton's death grows, Latrice's grief takes her down a dark path. Meanwhile, KJ makes a painful confession.
Rice was carrying a replica toy gun; Loehmann shot him almost immediately after arriving on the scene. Two officers, Loehmann and 46-year-old Frank Garmback, were responding to a police dispatch call regarding a male who had a gun.
Rice appears to move his hand, an action police experts concluded was Rice reaching for his waist band but disputed by expert reports released by Rice family attorneys, before Loehmann jumps out of the car and immediately shoots Rice from a distance of less than 10 feet (3.0 m).
In 2017, following an investigation, Loehmann was fired for withholding this information on his application. A review by retired FBI agent Kimberly Crawford found that Rice's death was justified and Loehmann's "response was a reasonable one". The incident received both national and international coverage.
On March 15, 2017, 911 dispatcher Constance Hollinger was suspended for eight days for failing to inform the responding officers that Rice was "probably a juvenile" and that the gun he had was "probably fake".
On April 25, 2016, the lawsuit was settled in an effort to reduce taxpayer liabilities, with the City of Cleveland agreeing to pay Tamir Rice's family $6 million ($5.5 million to Tamir Rice's estate, $250,000 to the child's mother, and $250,000 to the child's sister).