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  May 29

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  Experts

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  Characters

9:45 PM along Memorial Drive. An accidental brush of shoulders between strangers leads to an exchange of words. A spontaneous punch is thrown. A knife is pulled…

21 year-old MIT student Yngve Raustein is murdered as he walks with fellow Norwegian student Arne Fredheim along the perimeter of MIT’s campus, on the banks of the Charles River.

Three Cambridge teenagers — Joseph Donovan, Shon McHugh and Alfredo Velez are charged with the crime. Though they had only spent 15 minutes together before the incident, the Middlesex District Attorney decides to prosecute the case under the joint venture theory, holding all three teens accountable for first degree murder.

Shon McHugh,15, plunged the knife into Raustein without provocation. He is tried in juvenile court and receives a 20-year sentence. He serves less than 11 years in prison.

Alfredo Velez, 18, demanded Fredheim’s wallet after Raustein was stabbed. He took a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony against McHugh and Donovan. He pled guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery and was sentenced to 20 years. He served less than 10 years.

Joe Donovan threw the punch that knocked Raustein to the ground. Three weeks past his 17th birthday, Donovan was automatically tried as an adult under Massachusetts law. He was convicted of first degree felony murder and armed robbery. He received the mandatory sentence for that crime.

Life in prison without the possibility of parole. A natural life sentence.

Donovan has now served 22 years in prison, while Raustein’s killer, Shon McHugh, was set free more than a decade ago.

In 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the mandatory sentence of life without parole for juveniles (under 18) violates the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The Massachusetts Supreme Court must now decide what measures to take regarding inmates serving life sentences for crimes they committed as juveniles.

Donovan now awaits finality. He hopes for re-sentencing or release for time served. His fate hangs in the balance.

This film tells his story.

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  Jason Pugatch Director/Producer

  is a Cambridge native who attended school with Donovan and became interested in his case immediately following the news of the killing. During the years Donovan spent in prison, Pugatch graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, then earned an MFA from the American Repertory Theater Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University and the Moscow Art Theater (officially the longest title for a school, ever).

  After years as a professional actor in New York and Los Angeles, Pugatch turned to writing and directing. His first screenplay became the feature film Coach. He continues to write for film and television while exploring new avenues of filmmaking. His debut short film, The Pact, won the jury prize for Best Narrative Short at the 2012 Napa Valley Film Festival. This will be his first documentary film, one born from an unconsummated need to tell Donovan’s story to the world.

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  Casey Affleck Executive Producer

  Casey Affleck’s onscreen career began in 1988, but his Academy Award nominated work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) gained him wider acclaim in recent years. Affleck’s first major film role was in Gus Van Sant’s To Die For (1995), in which he co-starred with his future brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix and Nicole Kidman. He would go on to appear in two films with his brother, Chasing Amy (1997) and Good Will Hunting (1997), which Ben Affleck co-wrote with Matt Damon. He also co-wrote the screenplay Gerry (2002) with Gus Van Sant and Matt Damon, which received a limited release in the United States. Affleck also received positive critical notice for his work in Gone Baby Gone (2007), and directed Joaquin Phoenix in the film I’m Still Here (2010). Recent work includes Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Out of the Furnace. He is currently producing a series for National Geographic Channel on the process of dying. He is married Summer Phoenix.

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