Viola Davis & Debra Martin Chase Produce Drama Based On Prosecutor Kym Worthy

Viola Davis, who portrays tough-as-nails law professor/defense attorney Annalise Keating on ABC’s breakout hit How To Get Away With Murder, is set to produce another ABC drama project about a powerful female lawyer, this time on the other side of the courtroom aisle.

Davis and her producing partner Julius Tennon have teamed with producer Debra Martin Chase (Sparkle) for Conviction, a legal drama inspired by the life of Kym Worthy, the chief prosecutor of Wayne County, MI, known as the toughest woman in Detroit. The script is being written by Jason Wilborn (Damages), with Jeff Melvoin (Army Wives) on board as showrunner.

Davis and Tennon executive produce through their JuVee Productions, Martin Chase through her Martin Chase Prods. ABC Studios, where Martin Chase Prods. has an overall deal, is the studio. Also executive producing are Kim Swann and Leah Keith who brought Worthy’s story to Hollywood, and Melvoin, while Wilborn serves as co-executive producer and Martin Chase Prods.’ Charles Pugliese as producer. Worthy is a consultant.

Worthy became the second African-American to serve as a county prosecutor in Michigan when she was appointed as chief prosecutor of Wayne County in 2004. She is known for a number of high-profile cases, like filing charges against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and  her campaign to clear a massive backlog of 11,000 unprocessed rape test kits in Detroit.

In addition to Conviction, Swann is developing several projects with Worthy as her producing partner. Keith is adapting her novel A Rented Life into a feature. At ABC and ABC Studios, Martin Chase Produs. also has a limited series in development based on the book Catherine The Great by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Massie with a script by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael Cristofer (Gia).

Wilborn, Melvoin, JuVee Productions, and Martin Chase Prods. are repped by CAA.  Keith, Swann, and Worthy are represented by ICM.