"Crown Heights" is a movie based on the real-life story of Colin Warner who lived in a small jail cell for 21 years for a murder he did not commit. He was 18 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of killing a 16-year-old boy. Nnamdi Asomugha, the husband of Kerry Washington, star of "Scandal," appeared on "Good Morning America" on Thursday, August 24 to promote the movie.

About the movie

"Crown Heights" opened in theaters on August 18. The 94-minute film focuses on the case of mistaken identity and racism. The movie is named after the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York where Warner and Carl King grew up after their families moved from Trinidad.

They experienced police harassment on the streets of Crown Heights. Then on April 10, 1980, 16-year-old Mario Hamilton was killed by a gunshot to his head, and Warner was wrongly convicted.

Warner, played by Lakeith Stanfield, was released from the Fishkill Correctional Facility in upstate New York after his best friend, Carl King, played by Asomugha, worked for years to free him. Two 14-year-old boys falsely accused Warner as the killer. One of the boys was Hamilton's brother. Warner was sentenced 15 years to life in prison based on what the boys said.

Three things should have kept Warner out of jail. He had an alibi at the time of the shooting, one of the boys changed his testimony, and the real murderer eventually confessed to the crime.

Warner was kept behind bars for more than two decades, which sometimes included up to four-year stays in solitary confinement. During those many years, King never gave up trying to prove the innocence of his childhood friend.

Warner was eventually freed

King became a court process server so he could get into the legal system.

He taught himself to become an investigator. He worked hard to get information to free his friend, but it was a sacrifice. He lost his savings and his marriage. In 2001, King joined with a young lawyer, William J. Robedee, who believed in Warner’s innocence. Together, they found answers and evidence that caused the court to release Warner after 21 years in prison.

King still lives in Crown Heights. He recently started his own non-profit company, Success to Freedom, to help others who have been wrongly convicted.

Warner was awarded $2.7 million in 2009 for his time in prison. He moved to Georgia with his wife and their daughter. He owns a shelter and New York pays him to house about 20 men while they are going through a transition after they get out of jail.
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