Susan Granger’s review of “THE KILLING YARD” (Showtime TV)
On September 9, 1971, 1200 inmates of New York’s Attica State Penitentiary seized control of the prison in a violent, bloody riot, taking many hostages. On September 13, under orders by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, guards stormed the facility and restored order. Their massacre, an unprecedented barrage of gunfire lasted six minutes, and the police acknowledged having fired no less than 2200 lethal rounds. Until Waco, and with the exception of the Indian massacres in the late 19th century, this assault was the most brutal one-day confrontation between Americans since the Civil War. This story focuses on what happened after the raid as the prosecutor (Larry Day) and district attorney (Christopher Heyerdahl) pin many of the alleged murders on an inmate named Shango (Morris Chestnut), a self-educated, if paranoid, “jailhouse lawyer.” The prosecution strategy involves intimidation, innuendo, guilt by association and character defamation of witnesses. Shango is defended by an aging, ailing attorney (Alan Alda) and his assistant (Rose McGowan), an Attica Defense Fund volunteer, whose dogged determination to prove that no hostages were killed by inmates made this a landmark legal case. It’s a classic courtroom tug-of-war, an intellectual chess match, monitored by a fair and impartial Judge (Tony Nardi). In 1976, Gov. Hugh Carey issued a blanket pardon for everyone involved and sealed New York records concerning Attica for 50 years and, in January, 2000, New York State agreed to a $12 million settlement for inmates and their lawyers.` On the Granger Made-for-TV Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Killing Yard” is a significant 7. It premieres on Sunday, Sept. 23rd at 8 p.m. but – be warned – there are scenes of extreme brutality and bloodshed.
