MSNBC has announced a new docuseries titled “The Sing Sing Chronicles,” a four-episode investigative piece that will tell the story of Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, an actor from A24’s “Sing Sing” who was exonerated of his wrongful murder conviction on Monday after serving nearly 24 years in prison. The docuseries, directed by Dawn Porter and built on more than 20 years of investigative reporting by NBC News’ Dan Slepian, will also look into the wrongful convictions of five other men who served time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
“The Sing Sing Chronicles” will debut on MSNBC on Nov. 23 and Nov. 24 at 9 p.m. ET. The four-part series will have its world premiere at DOC NYC earlier in November.
“With unprecedented access to one of America’s most well-known prisons, the series sheds light on the criminal justice system by following a journalist and a man convicted of murder and the connection they formed within the walls of Sing Sing Correctional Facility,” according to NBCUniversal.
The docuseries taps into more than 1,000 hours of original footage filmed between 2002 and 2024, centering on Velazquez, who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a retired New York police officer in 1998. He was sentenced to 25 years to life, despite the fact that he did not match the suspect description and had an alibi corroborated by phone records. The reporting on the case, which began with a “Dateline NBC” investigation starting in 2002, unearthed critical new evidence that questioned the prosecution’s case against Velazquez.
During Slepian’s investigation, Velazquez introduced him to several other men who said they were innocent in unrelated homicide cases. Slepian’s reporting on those cases helped lead to those men’s exonerations, but Velazquez remained in prison until he was granted clemency and released on parole in 2021.
The series expands on Slepian’s reporting featured in NBC News’ podcast “Letters From Sing Sing,” which was recognized as a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
“I began my film career documenting public defenders working in the criminal legal system. During that time I saw firsthand how difficult it is for anyone accused of a crime to truly get justice,” said Porter in a statement. “But I could never have imagined the scope and scale of injustice captured by Dan Slepian’s cameras over the course of 20 years. This series allowed me to highlight the work of legal advocates, journalists and the remarkable men who let us tell their stories. We owe the greatest debt to reporters like Dan Slepian who do not turn away when they see injustice unfolding before them. It is an honor to help tell their story.”
Velazquez is a criminal legal reform activist who is a founding member of Voices From Within, an education initiative that addresses the epidemic of crime and incarceration directly through the voices of incarcerated people. He played himself in A24’s “Sing Sing” less than a year after he was released from the titular prison. He told Variety the project is “one of the most important things I’ve done in my life.”
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