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210_6 | The prosecution presented a different witness who had not testified previously. He was Danny Taylor, a junior at the school, who had worked briefly as a custodian but was fired before the crime. Taylor claimed that Brandley had once commented – after a group of white female students walked past them – "If I got one of them alone, ain't no tellin' what I might do." |
210_7 | Dr. Joseph Jachimczyk, medical examiner for Harris County, testified that the victim had died of strangulation and that a belt belonging to Brandley was consistent with the ligature used in the crime. In closing argument, District attorney James Keeshan mentioned that Brandley had a second job at a funeral home and suggested that perhaps he was a necrophiliac and had raped Fergeson after she was dead — an argument that could not have been made in good faith because Keeshan had a report stating that Brandley only did odd jobs at the funeral home and had never been involved in the preparation of bodies for burial. The defense objected to Keeshan's remark as inflammatory, but Judge John Martin overruled the objection. |
210_8 | Post-conviction
Eleven months after Brandley was convicted and sentenced to death, his appellate lawyers discovered that exculpatory evidence had disappeared while in the custody of the prosecution, including a Caucasian pubic hair and other hairs recovered from Fergeson's body that were neither hers nor Brandley's. Also missing were photographs taken of Brandley on the day of the crime showing that he was not wearing the belt that the prosecution claimed had been the murder weapon. The missing evidence was all the more troubling in light of the pretrial destruction of the spermatozoa. |
210_9 | Much was made of the willful destruction and disappearance of the potentially exculpatory evidence in Brandley's appellate briefs, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and death sentence without mentioning the issue. "No reasonable hypothesis is presented by the evidence to even suggest that someone other than [Brandley] committed the crime", said the court. Brandley V. Texas, 691 S.W.2d 699 (1985). |
210_10 | Brenda Medina, who lived in the nearby town of Cut and Shoot, Texas, saw a television broadcast about the Brandley case. Saying she had been unaware of the case until then, she told a neighbor that her former live-in boyfriend, James Dexter Robinson, had told her in 1980 that he had committed such a crime. Robinson had previously worked as a janitor at Conroe High School. Medina said she had not believed Robinson at the time, but now it made sense. At the neighbor's suggestion, she went to see an attorney, who took her to see District Attorney Peter Speers III, who had succeeded Keeshan in the job when Keeshan ascended to the Texas District Court bench. Speers quickly concluded, or so he said, that Medina was unreliable, and therefore that he had no obligation to inform Brandley's lawyers. The private attorney she had consulted thought otherwise, however, and brought her to the attention of the defense. |
210_11 | State habeas corpus sought
After obtaining Medina's sworn statement, Brandley's lawyers petitioned the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a writ of habeas corpus. The court ordered an evidentiary hearing, which was conducted by District Court Judge Ernest A. Coker.
Before calling Medina to testify at the evidentiary hearing, Brandley's defense team called Edward Payne, father-in-law of Gary Acreman, one of the school custodians who had testified at both Brandley trials and who was now suspected by the defense of having been a co-perpetrator of the crime with Robinson. Payne testified that Acreman had told him where Fergeson's clothes had been hidden two days before the authorities found them. |
210_12 | After Medina related details of Robinson's purported confession, Brandley's lawyers called John Sessum, the custodian who had testified at the first trial but not the second. Sessum's testimony was in sharp contrast to what he had said at the first trial. He now said he had seen Acreman follow Cheryl Fergeson up a staircase leading to the auditorium and then heard her scream, "No" and "Don't." Later that day, Acreman warned Sessum not to tell anyone what he had seen. But Sessum said he did tell someone: Wesley Styles, the Texas Ranger who was leading the investigation. That was a mistake. Styles, according to Sessum, responded by threatening him with arrest if he did not tell a story consistent with Acreman's. |
210_13 | Community activism and result
Despite the accumulation of new evidence, Judge Coker recommended that Brandley be denied a new trial – a recommendation perfunctorily accepted by the Court of Criminal Appeals on December 22, 1986. But by now civil rights activists, including Reverend Jew Don Boney, had coalesced and raised $80,000 to help finance further efforts on Brandley's behalf. The Rev. Boney was the Chairman of the Houston, Texas-based "Coalition to Free Clarence Lee Brandley" and spearheaded community efforts to have Brandley receive a fair trial. Boney was interviewed on numerous national news outlets and brought significant media and community attention to the case. National Advocate James McCloskey, of Centurion Ministries in Princeton, New Jersey, also took on the case. |
210_14 | Working with a private investigator, McCloskey soon obtained a video-taped statement from Acreman stating that Robinson had killed Cheryl Fergeson and that he had seen Robinson place her clothes in a dumpster where they were found; that is how Acreman knew where the clothes were before they were found. Although Acreman soon recanted that video statement, two witnesses had come forward attesting that they had heard Acreman say he knew who killed Fergeson, that it was not Brandley, but that he would never tell who did it. Based on these statements, with Brandley's execution only six days away, Coker granted a stay.
A fair hearing
After further investigation, Brandley's lawyers petitioned for another evidentiary hearing, which the Court of Criminal Appeals granted on June 30, 1987. The new hearing was conducted by Special State District Judge Perry Pickett. Robinson, Acerman, and Styles testified for the prosecution, each seeming to help rather than hurt Brandley's case. |
210_15 | Robinson admitted he had told Brenda Medina in 1980 that he had killed the young woman in Conroe, but claimed he had said that only to frighten Medina. She had been pressuring him because she was pregnant, he said, and he simply wanted her to stop pestering him. Acreman stuck by what he had said at both trials, although he admitted that Robinson had been at Conroe High School the morning of the murder. Incidentally, Robinson and Acreman, unlike Brandley, had Type A blood — consistent with the spot on Fergeson's blouse.
Texas Ranger Styles, while denying he had done anything improper, acknowledged that even before he had interviewed any witnesses, Brandley was his only suspect. When pressed about why he had not obtained a hair sample from Acreman to compare with the Caucasian pubic hair and other hairs found on the victim, Styles stammered, "Let's say I didn't do it and it wasn't done, and why it wasn't done, I don't know." |
210_16 | On October 9, 1987, Judge Pickett recommended that the Court of Criminal Appeals grant Brandley a new trial, declaring: "The litany of events graphically described by the witnesses, some of it chilling and shocking, leads me to the conclusion the pervasive shadow of darkness has obscured the light of fundamental decency and human rights." Picket went on to say, that in his thirty-year career, "no case has presented a more shocking scenario of the effects of racial prejudice, perjured testimony, witness intimidation [and] an investigation the outcome of which was predetermined." The Court of Criminal Appeals, after sitting on the case for 14 months, finally accepting Picket's recommendation with a sharply split en banc decision on December 13, 1989 (Ex Parte Brandley, 781 S.W.2d 886 (1989)). |
210_17 | The prosecution appealed, delaying disposition of the case another 10 months. But within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court's denial of certiorari on October 1, 1990 (Texas v. Brandley, 498 U.S. 817 (1990)), they dropped all charges. A few months later, Brandley was ordained as a Baptist minister, and a few months after that he was married. The officials involved in the case were not disciplined, nor did they apologize. Prosecutors in the case still insist they convicted the right man.
See also
List of exonerated death row inmates
List of wrongful convictions in the United States
Notes
References
Davies, Nick (1991). White Lies: The True Story of Clarence Brandley, Presumed Guilty in the American South, |
210_18 | Gordon, Cathy (1986). "Woman's Testimony May Help Death-Row Inmate." Houston Chronicle. July 18.
Gross, Alexandra
Haines, Herbert (1996). Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-Death Penalty Movement in America, 1972–1994. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
United States Congress Committee on the Judiciary (1994). Innocence and the Death Penalty: Assessing the Danger of Mistaken Executions. Washington, DC.
Radelet, Michael, Hugo Adam Bedau et al. (1992). In Spite of Innocence. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
External links
2018 deaths
Overturned convictions in the United States
1951 births
People from Conroe, Texas
People wrongfully convicted of murder |
211_0 | Ohad (Odi) Ashkenazi (born December 22, 1971) is an Israeli TV and Theater director, comedy and entertainment creator, producer and writer.
Early life and education
Ashkenazi was born in the city of Kireon, Israel to Orina Raanan and Professor Israel Ashkenazi. His maternal grandfather was Mordechai Raanan; the former Irgun district commander in Jerusalem and his paternal grandfather was Shlomo Pinchas Ashkenazi; author and researcher of Judaism.
Growing up, Ashkenazi was a member of the Israeli National theater group, "Habima Teen", and also a part of "Friends of the Habima" a society of theater professionals engaging the Habima Theater resources with special theater projects throughout the community. |
211_1 | Ashkenazi served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as a paramedic. In 1993, Ashkenazi attended the Beit Zvi School of Performing Arts; a leading arts academy in Israel. In 1994, he was awarded with a scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and relocated to the United Kingdom, where he achieved his director diploma at the Drama Studio London. |
211_2 | TV career
In 1999, while he was already part of the Beit Lessin Theater team in Tel Aviv, Ashkenazi was chosen to direct the Israeli Theater Academy Award ceremony. The success of this event led Ashkenazi to direct the next two consecutive annual ceremonies. In 2000, he directed the annual Golden Heart Fundraiser event: "Variety Children Organization" produced by the Reshet Broadcasting Company. In 2001, he returned once again to direct the Annual Golden Heart ceremony as well as the Israeli film Academy Award. That same year, Ashkenazi directed the Keshet Broadcast Company "People of the Year Awards". In 2002, he directed the "Sports People of the Year Awards" for the Israeli Sports Channel as well as the talent show "Bravo", produced by the Children's Network Channel and the Telad Broadcasting Company. |
211_3 | During the 2002–2003 TV season, Ashkenazi began his role as the editor for the entertainment talk show "Erev Adir", hosted by Adir Miller for Reshet. He proceeded to work with Miller to develop the hit comedy sitcom, "Ramzor".
Between the years 2004–2006, Ashkenazi served as Head Manager of the Israeli Comedy Channel "Bip (channel)", owned by Keshet Broadcast Company and Hot, an Israeli cable communication group. During that time, he created the successful satire show, "The Strip" (HaRetsua in Hebrew), hosted by Uri Gottlieb. The show lasted 4 years and 189 episodes. |
211_4 | Between the years 2005–2006, Ashkenazi created the Ali G inspired comedy show "Pascal's World". During this time, as Bip Channel Head Manager, he also contributed to the following successful comedy shows: "The Maestro", a reality TV show that followed the life of legendary Israeli Pop icon, Tzvika Pik; "Double Date", a wacky dating show; "Fight for Your Rights", Israel's first ever wrestling show, and "Yom Tov", a stand-up comedy and sketch marathon, starring top Israeli stand-up comedians. |
211_5 | Between the years 2006–2007, Ashkenazi was part of the Keshet Broadcast Company team developing original comedy, entertainment, and talk shows.
In 2008, Ashkenazi once again joined forces with the Reshet Broadcasting Company and co-created with Yoav Gross the hit show "Comedians at Work". The successful show was placed on prime time television for seven consecutive seasons. The format was sold and later produced in Russia, France and Germany. In 2008, Ashkenazi continued to create and edit another hit comedy show, "Shavua Sof". |
211_6 | Other successful shows Ashkenazi created for the Reshet Broadcasting Company include: "Oblivious", a game show, "Family Business" and "Power of 10". In August 2010, Ashkenazi was appointed Head Manager of the Israeli division of Viacom's Comedy Central Channel. He was in charge of the successful launch of the channel in Israel in 2011, and continued to develop more original comedy shows for the channel including: "Comeback", "The Wedding Seasons", the TV sitcom "Red Band"(Season 2) and a comedy strip called, "The Comedy Central University". Ashkenazi played a pivotal role in the acquisition of future, English-speaking Comedy Central shows. |
211_7 | In 2012, under Ashkenazi's management, the Comedy Central Channel aired two more original comedy shows: "Outlawed", a stand-up comedy show with Roei Levi and Lucy Aharish, and "Singles", a humoristic dating show. That same year, Ashkenazi co-developed the innovative sketch show "The Green Project" alongside acclaimed animator Eyal Be. The show format was later sold to Lithuania, Uruguay, China and other countries throughout the world. It was also in this year that Ashkenazi was invited to join the International Development Team of Comedy Central, led by Jill Offman, the International Head of the Comedy Central brand.
In 2013, Ashkenazi developed the reality sitcom "The Life of Avi The Singer", and the talk show, "Creatures of the Night". In 2014, Ashkenazi began collaborating with internet celebrities and produced the comedy project, "Zero Movie", by internet comedians Or Paz and Tom Treger. That year, Ashkenazi also produced the dating game show, "Babe Magnet". |
211_8 | Theater career
Ashkenazi took his first steps in theater in 1994, as an Assistant Director of the musical "Grease", starring Aki Avni, Zvika Hadar and others. He continued as an Assistant Director of the play, "The Importance of Being Earnest", starring Hanna Maron. Upon his return to Israel following his studies in England, Ashkenazi became one of the youngest in Israel to achieve a Director's role in a repertory theater.
His choice of plays often touched controversial subjects. He directed the play "Burning Blue" by D.M.W. Greer. The play, starring Lior Ashkenazi, and produced by Beit Lessin Theater, dealt with the delicate subject of homosexuality in the American Navy. |
211_9 | In 1998, Ashkenazi translated and directed the musical, "Assassins", by Stephen Sondheim. The extravagant production was also launched at the Beit Lessin Theater. Later that year, the show won the Israeli Theater Academy Award for Best Musical.
That same year, Ashkenazi wrote "Kaytek the Wizard", an adaptation of Janusz Korczak book of the same name.
In 2000, Ashkenazi directed the Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Dinner with Friends" by Donald Margulies, The play was nominated for Best Comedy Award. In 2002, Ashkenazi directed the Be'er Sheva Theater production "Boy Gets Girl" by Rebecca Gilman.
In 2014, Ashkenazi directed a concert version of the musical "Damascus Square" in New York City. The play, written by Sarah Hirsch and Shai Baitel, starred Broadway actors Richard Blake and Tovah Feldush. The musical was displayed on stages at the famous Waldorf Astoria and the Broadway cabaret club "54 Below" |
211_10 | Commercial Theater career
In 1997, Ashkenazi wrote the musical "Hugo", which was produced by the Tevet Production Company. The same year, he also directed the "Oleg Popov Circus" Israel tour, hosted by stars of the Israeli Children's Channel and produced by Talit Productions. In 1999, he translated and directed the musical "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change", a musical comedy with lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts; produced by the Yochelman-Asher Production Company.
Personal life
Ashkenazi met his wife, actress Maria Cregeen when she played the main role in the play "Games in the Backyard", which he directed as part of his final project for The Drama Studio London. Maria Cregeen is the daughter of Peter Cregeen; A British Television executive. The couple have been married since 1998 and have three children together.
References |
211_11 | External links
Head, Development: Ananey Communications, on Variety
The best Israeli satirist you've never heard of, on Haaretz
Tovah Feldshuh, Richard Blake, Bradley Dean, Etai BenShlomo Will Be Part of Workshop of New Musical Damascus Square, on Playbill
Israeli theatre directors
Israeli film directors
Living people
1971 births |
212_0 | Aegan is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action masala film directed and co-written by Raju Sundaram and produced by Ayngaran International. It stars Ajith Kumar and Nayanthara in the lead roles, with Suman, Jayaram, Nassar, Navdeep, and Piaa Bajpai in supporting roles. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja with cinematography by Arjun Jena and editing by V. T. Vijayan. It is based on the 2004 Indian film, Main Hoon Na.
The film revolves around a daredevil cop who, on behalf of his ailing father and the ambition of a lieutenant general, returns to college in Ooty. Whilst protecting the general's daughter, he attempts to reconcile with his stepbrother from his father's marriage. Furthermore, he has to ward off an international criminal who is trying to kill the general, an ex-aide of his who has turned police approver. How the cop manages to solve all three problems forms the crux of the story. |
212_1 | The film opened to Indian audiences on 25 October 2008, coinciding with the Diwali season. Upon release, it received mixed reviews but had a decent run at the box office. The film was dubbed into Hindi language as Jaanbaaz Commando.
Plot
The film's story is based around Shiva, a CB-CID officer, and his efforts to foil the terrorist John Chinnappa. Shiva is simultaneously attempting to mend relations with his father's estranged first wife and his half-brother Narain. However, complications ensue.
Major John Chinnappa is a scientist who had created tablets by operating on human guinea pigs. His ploys have always been controversial but inconclusive due to the lack of witnesses. However, an ex-gang member, General Ram Prasad, became a police approver and is on the verge of revealing John's ploys to the police. However, he is on the run to avoid charges. The case falls to Commissioner Karthikeyan, Shiva's father, who assigns his son to go and help solve the mission. |
212_2 | Karthik tells Shiva to attend college in Tamil Nadu – St. John's College, Ooty – to protect Ram's daughter, Pooja, from meeting with her father. Shiva pleads that he has never undertaken this type of a mission before and does not know much about the current generation. The general points out that, by a strange coincidence, Pooja attends school in the same town where Ram is hiding. Shiva can protect Pooja and look for Ram at the same time. Shiva goes undercover as a student returning to college after many years away from taking care of the family business. He is much older than the other students, who at first make fun of him because of his lack of new-generation styles. He also has to deal with the many goofy teachers as well as Albert Aadiyapatham, the idiotic and forgetful principal of the college. |
212_3 | Soon, Shiva finds Narain, who is later revealed to be his brother. Pooja is Narain's best friend, and she is secretly jealous that other girls can get his attention, but she cannot. Shiva saves Pooja from John's men, who kidnap her, while Narain and others think that it is a prank. He later becomes a sensation among the students and teachers. He befriends Narain and Pooja and falls in love with the chemistry teacher Mallika, after being attracted by her beauty and in a bid to convince other students that he is one of them. During his regular jogging, sessions Shiva spots Ram and chases him until he escapes with the help of an helmet-clad bike rider, who is later revealed to be Narain. Pooja discovers that Narain has been helping her father and feels cheated by him. |
212_4 | Narain tries to apologise to Pooja many times, but she refuses to talk to him. Irked by this, Narain drinks and explains his actions when John's men come again to kidnap Pooja. They beat up Narain, but Shiva comes to their rescue. Narain and Pooja patch up after the fight sequences. Shiva takes Narain to his home, where he learns that Narain is his brother and meets his mother Kasthuri. The flashback sequences describe Shiva's childhood (he is an orphan) and explain why his mother and father live separately.
The next day, when Pooja introduces Ram to Shiva, Shiva arrests him – much to the disappointment of Pooja and Narain. Then everyone in the college, including Mallika, learns that Shiva is a policeman. Shiva then drives Ram straight to John's hiding place, avoiding the traps that he had set. A fight ensues between Shiva and John's men in which John is finally killed. |
212_5 | In the final scenes, Mallika is shown with Shiva's parents and brother, while Shiva has gone to Afghanistan as part of another mission.
Cast
Ajith Kumar as Shiva, a CB-CID officer
Nayanthara as Mallika, a chemistry teacher
Piaa Bajpai as Pooja, Narain's love interest
Jayaram as Albert Aadiyapatham, the college principal
Navdeep as Narain, Shiva's brother
Suman as Major John Chinnappa, a scientist and terrorist
Nassar as Commissioner Karthikeyan, Shiva's foster father
Suhasini as Kasthuri, Shiva's foster mother
Devan as Ram Prasad, Pooja's father
Avinash as John's friend
Cochin Haneefa as Hanifa, Karthikeyan's assistant
Livingston as Kamalakannan, a professor
Sathyan as Mani, a college peon
Sriman as John's bodyguard
Production |
212_6 | Development
In September 2007, early indications suggested that Ayngaran International were set to make a film starring Ajith Kumar and directed by Venkat Prabhu, however the chance went to first-time director Raju Sundaram, in a project titled Akbar. Despite denying the title, Ajith confirmed the project and stating that he had put on weight and grew a beard for his participation in the project. Following the success of Billa, Ajith Kumar waited till the birth of his first child, in January 2008, before commencing his shoot for the film.
The 40-member unit consisting of Ajith, director Raju Sundaram, cinematographer Arjun Jena, action choreographer Stun Siva, and a few stuntmen from Chennai flew to Hong Kong on 14 January 2008 and began their first schedule for a 10-day stint. |
212_7 | The portions in Hong Kong were shot showing Ajith's introduction stunt scene set against the skyscrapers, Hong Kong airport, and the sea with the help of Chinese action choreographers. The crew shot schedules in Theni and Ooty and other locations in South India during the filming. The film finished its talkie portion in early September 2008, and the songs were canned in India as well as parts of Switzerland. The film, initially described as a "musical action comedy". The film previously referred to as Akbar, Ramakrishnan and Anthony Gonsalves was christened as Aegan, a name of Shiva. |
212_8 | Casting
Following the announcement of the project, tentatively titled as Akbar, Shriya Saran was rumoured to be the heroine, following her successful role in Sivaji: The Boss. However, due to differences, Saran was ousted from the project due to her limited call sheets, as she had to fly to and from America where she was then shooting for her Hollywood film, The Other End of the Line. However other indications claimed that Saran was ousted from the project due to her involvement in Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan, in which she appeared in an item number, which Ajith Kumar was unhappy with due to previous feuds with the lead, Vadivelu of that film. Reports indicated that Parvati Melton had replaced Saran but later denied it signalling that she was not approached. |
212_9 | Suhani Kalita was announced as the second heroine of the project but was later removed for unknown reasons. Several Bollywood heroines including Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Ayesha Takia, Ileana D'Cruz, Tanushree Dutta and Sneha Ullal were linked to the role, as well as reports that Shriya Saran would reprise the role after making up with Ajith. The role eventually was given to Katrina Kaif, who was set to make her debut in Tamil films with Aegan, however she later opted out due to callsheet clashes. It was announced that Nayantara would play the role of the heroine in the film, following her role opposite Ajith in Billa. In February 2008, it was confirmed that Navdeep would play a role in the film as well as Suman, who will appear in a villainous role. Malayalam actor Jayaram will also play a role in the film, which will be co-produced by actor Arun Pandian. |
212_10 | Nassar and Suhasini were selected to play the roles of the parents of Ajith, whilst Raju Sundaram's younger brother, Prabhu Deva was given a chance to make a cameo appearance in the film as a dancer but politely refused. Supporting actors Livingston, Sathyan and Sriman also play roles in Aegan, as does model Piaa Bajpai, who appears as the ladylove to Navdeep. Sivakarthikeyan and Arunraja Kamaraj shot for the film for one day as comedians portraying spies, but following changes to the script, their roles were removed. Yuvan Shankar Raja was signed on as the music composer whilst Arjun Jena was the cinematographer for the project and Milan, who did the art direction for Billa, renews his association with Ajith in the film.
Soundtrack |
212_11 | The soundtrack of Aegan was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja as was the film score. It was noticeably, the third time Yuvan was scoring music for an Ajith Kumar film, after Dheena (2001) and Billa (2007), the songs of which had been very popular and went on to become chartbusters.
The soundtrack released on 9 October 2008, at a private ceremony at the Hello FM Studios by composer Yuvan Shankar Raja as the lead cast and the director were away shooting the video for the song in Switzerland. The album features 6 tracks overall, including one of the songs ("Hey Salaa") repeated at the end.
Release
The satellite rights of the film were sold to Kalaignar TV. The film was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board, and was released during the Diwali weekend on 25 October 2008. |
212_12 | Reception
Sify.com claimed that "the trouble with the film is that it looks like an amateurish attempt by debutant director Raju Sundaram" dismissing the climax as "a colossal embarrassment", but adding that "no film is perfect". Ajith Kumar was praised for being "at his best but look[ed] plump and stiff in some scenes where he need to be relaxed and natural", drawing comparisons with a similar feedback from his previous venture, Billa. Nayanthara was said to "look perfect as Mallika, a role that fits her like a glove" with her make-up and costumes "rocking". The reviewer added that "Piaa Bajpai is promising, Jayaram as Principal and Haneefa have been wasted and do little in the way of bringing smiles to the faces of the audience". The review also singles out the performance of rookie cinematographer, Arjun Jena, whose work is labelled as "eye-catching". |
212_13 | Similarly Rediff.com labelled the film as "watchable in parts", giving it negative feedback in comparison with Main Hoon Na. It like Sify, claims that "Aegan loses its spontaneity and meanders between humour and seriousness" in the second half. The reviewer praises Ajith claiming he looks as though he "really did enjoy himself on screen, after a really long time". The reviewer adds that "Nayantara's outfits get smaller and smaller, while the actress herself has nothing more to do than dance in transparent saris and high-heels. Sometimes she looks amused, at others, irritated and bored", comparing her unchallenging roles to previous roles in Sathyam and Kuselan. It criticizes Piaa Bajpai claiming she "hams it to glory", and "makes you want to watch Amrita Rao's naivety in the original", however, it praises Navdeep citing he is "far more natural, but you pity the fact that his role is so small". Rediff also criticized Suman and Sriman labelling their portrayals as "pathetic". In |
212_14 | reference to minor characters, Cochin Hanifa is praised while Suhasini Mani Ratnam's role is said to be "terribly dealt with, robbing her part of any sympathy". |
212_15 | References
External links
2008 films
Films set in Hong Kong
2008 action comedy films
Tamil remakes of Hindi films
Indian films
Films shot in Ooty
2000s Tamil-language films
Films shot in Hong Kong
2008 directorial debut films
2000s masala films
Indian action comedy-drama films |
213_0 | Management & Training Corporation or MTC is a contractor that manages private prisons and United States Job Corps centers, based in Centerville, Utah. MTC's core businesses are corrections, education and training, MTC medical, and economic & social development. MTC operates 21 correctional facilities in eight states. MTC also operates or partners in operating 22 of the 119 Job Corps centers across the country. They also operate in Great Britain, under the name MTCNovo.
Education and training
MTC contracts with the U.S. Department of Labor in operating or partnering in operating Job Corps centers in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, California, Utah, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Hawaii, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. |
213_1 | Corrections and Immigrant Detention
MTC is the third-largest operator of correctional facilities in the U.S. with a capacity to serve more than 31,000 offenders.<ref name="Obituary Dr. Robert L. Marquardt">Obituary Dr. Robert L. Marquardt, Salt Lake City Tribune, January 15, 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.</ref> MTC's philosophy is 'rehabilitation through education'. It claims to offer inmates a wide variety of programming, including GED, adult basic education, substance abuse, life skills, and vocational training. |
213_2 | Twelve MTC correctional facilities have earned American Correctional Association accreditation ACA, meaning the facilities exceed national standards and implement state-of-the-art safety and security policies and procedures. Ten MTC correctional facilities exceed Correctional Education Association (CEA) standards for educational programming. Various MTC facilities are also accredited by the Licensed Substance Abuse Treatment Facility organization, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, and The Joint Commission. |
213_3 | On August 18, 2016, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates announced that the Justice Department intended to end its contracts with for-profit prison operators, because it concluded "...the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services..." than the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In response, MTC's spokesperson, Issa Arnita, said, it was "disappointed" to learn about the DOJ's decision. "If the DOJ's decision to end the use of contract prisons were based solely on declining inmate populations, there may be some justification, but to base this decision on cost, safety and security, and programming is wrong."
Yates said in a memorandum, for-profit |
213_4 | ...prisons served an important role during a difficult period, but time has shown that they compare poorly to our own Bureau facilities. They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department's Office of Inspector General (O.I.G.), they do not maintain the same level of safety and security. The rehabilitative services that the Bureau provides, such as educational programs and job training, have proved difficult to replicate and outsource and these services are essential to reducing recidivism and improving public safety. |
213_5 | A Bloomberg News journalist questioned the findings, as did the National Review'', For-profit prison operators, including MTC, said that the DOJ report lacked objectivity. The O.I.G.'s report noted some difficulties with its conclusions, to wit: "Moreover, we were unable to compare the overall costs of incarceration between BOP institutions and contract prisons in part because of the different nature of the inmate populations and programs offered in those facilities." "We note that we were unable to evaluate all of the factors that contributed to the underlying data, including the effect of inmate demographics and facility locations." Yates's decision was reverted in 2017 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions under the new President Donald Trump administration. |
213_6 | A spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in December 2016 that the Utah-based Management & Training Corporation-operated South Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility will be closed and inmates will be relocated,"...in light of the declining offender population because of the success of the agency's treatment and diversion initiatives." It employed about 115 people.
The federal contract with MTC to operate the Willacy County Regional Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas will end in September 2021. The country is considering operating the facility by itself, which would still be permitted under federal restrictions. |
213_7 | MTC Medical
MTC Medical provides medical and dental care to prisoners at 14 facilities:
Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility, Marana, Arizona
Taft Correctional Institution, Taft, California
Otero County Processing Center, Chaparral, New Mexico
Otero County Prison Facility, Chaparral, New Mexico
North Central Correctional Complex, Marion, Ohio
East Texas Treatment Facility, Henderson, Texas
Bridgeport Pre-Parole Transfer Facility, Bridgeport, Texas
Gadsden Correctional Facility, Quincy, FL
Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility, Post, Texas
West Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility, Brownfield, Texas
South Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility, Houston, Texas
Willacy County Correctional Center, Raymondville, Texas
Imperial Regional Detention Facility, Calexico, California |
213_8 | Economic & social development
MTC created its Economic & Social Development division in 2004. MTC has provided technical assistance in multiple locations around the world. Work has included vocational assessments, small and medium-enterprise development, training for marginalized populations including women and youth, executive training, national skill set development, technical vocational education and training system design and implementation, among many others. Projects have included work in China, Haiti, Iraq, Palestine, South Sudan, Mongolia, Jordan, and Tunisia.
Background
MTC was founded in 1981 by Robert L. Marquardt, (1925-2012) when Morton Thiokol decided to divest its Job Corps training division. Marquardt, who worked for Morton, and his partners, borrowed $3.5 million to purchase the spin-off. |
213_9 | Reported incidents of violence, abuse and poor conditions
Low-security Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility in Eagle Mountain, California: On October 25, 2003, a 90-minute prison race riot erupted. Some 150 mostly Latino prisoners attacked black inmates with meat cleavers, kitchen knives, broom handles, dust pans, rocks, pipes, crutches and fire extinguishers. The private guards retreated, while state correctional officers were called in from distant state facilities. Two inmates were stabbed to death, seven others were critically injured, and dozens more were hurt. Eight short-term inmates were ultimately charged with and convicted of murder. The facility was closed by the end of the year. |
213_10 | Willacy Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas: In November 2007, four MTC employees were charged for using company vehicles to smuggle illegal immigrants through checkpoints. They were allegedly caught smuggling 28 illegal immigrants through the U.S. Border Patrol's Sarita checkpoint, approximately 100 miles north of Brownsville. The immigrants were from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. |
213_11 | Arizona State Prison – Kingman - On 30 July 2010, three prisoners convicted of homicide escaped after MTC workers ignored alarms indicating a breached fence. Two MTC employees resigned afterward, a unit warden and a unit security chief. On September 20, the Arizona Department of Corrections reported the escape went undetected for an unknown period of time because the security system between the perimeter fences, which should have detected the prisoners passing through, had been incorrectly installed, and it had not worked properly for the previous two and a half years. |
213_12 | One escapee was captured 28 hours later after a shootout with law enforcement in Rifle, Colorado. He was eventually sentenced to 48 years in the Colorado prison system. The other two prisoners and their accomplice robbed, hijacked and kidnapped two truck drivers. Three days later, the ringleader hijacked, kidnapped, killed and incinerated two vacationers in New Mexico. He and his fellow escapee and their accomplice were captured within 20 days. A second escapee is now serving a life term in federal prison under an assumed name. In 2014, the jury rejected the death penalty for the ringleader who was sentenced to life, plus 235 years in federal prison. John "Charlie" McCluskey died at the age of 52 on March 7, 2017, at a maximum-security federal prison outside of Florence, Colorado. Their accomplice was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and has been serving it at Fort Worth's Federal Medical Center, Carswell. |
213_13 | Subsequently, Arizona corrections officials stopped sending new inmates to the facility, which they said was "dysfunctional." MTC threatened to sue the state for breach of contract, which had guaranteed the facility 97% occupancy, and for the loss of $10 million in revenue from empty beds. The state renegotiated the contract and paid MTC $3 million.
Willacy Detention Facility in Texas: On June 22, 2011, MTC Security Officer Edwin Rodriguez was arrested, and subsequently charged with the sexual abuse of a female detainee.
Diboll Correctional Center in Texas: In July 2014, a portion of an internal ceiling collapsed in a dayroom. A number of inmates were taken to the hospital, where one was listed as being in critical condition. |
213_14 | Walnut Grove Correctional Facility in Mississippi: MTC was awarded the contract for this facility after the state cancelled that of GEO Group in the summer of 2012.
East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF), the state prison for prisoners with mental illness: In 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the prison and MTC for intolerable conditions. The ACLU described this as an "extremely dangerous facility" where "basic human rights are violated daily." Many prisoners had reportedly been unable to access appropriate medical care, even for life-threatening conditions. The federal trial in April 2018 has been the scene of testimony from numerous prisoners of abuse, killings, suicide, and neglect at this facility. |
213_15 | In November 2014, MTC was named among numerous private firms in corruption charges during the arraignment of Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps; he was charged with receiving $1,900,000 in bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts to private prison and subcontractor firms, which had ties to Cecil McCrory, a Republican former state legislator. According to the indictment, the bribes occurred as the East Mississippi Correctional Facility was descending into "hellish chaos" with gang violence routine, medical care substandard, and corruption rampant among corrections officers. On February 25, 2015, Epps pleaded guilty to tax evasion and taking bribes. He took "about $2 million" in exchange for prison contracts. |
213_16 | After Epps was indicted, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant quickly ordered renegotiation of the $60 million MTC contract to operate three state prisons: Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, East Mississippi Correctional Facility and Marshall County Correctional Facility, and a fourth, Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, which had been managed by the Corrections Corporation of America, now known as CoreCivic, all of which involved McCrory and Epps. MTC had been sued for mistreatment of inmates in two of those prisons. |
213_17 | After his indictment, McCrory had at first plea bargained to lesser federal charges. Before being hired as a consultant by MTC, he had begun working as a consultant to Cornell Companies and GEO, which had paid him $10,000 monthly. MTC subsequently won all four contracts and hired McCrory as a consultant. Upon the disclosure of the federal charges, MTC fired McCrory, claiming they knew nothing of his criminal activities. According to the indictments, MTC confirmed that it paid McCrory $12,000 a month and had hired him at Epps' recommendation. The company stated Epps had not forced it to hire McCrory. MTC spokesman Issa Arnita said that Epps "made us aware of the fee McCrory had charged in the past to other contractors" and had worked for GEO Group, the Boca Raton, Florida for-profit prison firm which held the contracts that were subsequently awarded to MTC. MTC denied any knowledge of alleged inappropriate relationships between Epps and McCrory. The indictment recounts a 2012 |
213_18 | conversation quoting Epps telling McCrory that he had persuaded MTC to hire him, with them to split MTC's payments after taxes. The indictment has Epps saying, "I got us $12,000 per month." |
213_19 | Epps was originally scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2015, but on June 8 federal authorities first announced that the sentencing was indefinitely delayed. McCrory, co-defendant in the Epps case, moved to withdraw his guilty plea and have a trial scheduled. Consequently, the sentencing of Epps was again postponed. The sentencing was delayed by the judge to allow defense lawyers additional time to review materials concerning how much money was gained by 15 corporations paying bribes to the pair. Prosecutors hoped to use the evidence to increase the recommended prison sentences for Epps and McCrory. |
213_20 | On May 25, 2017, Judge Wingate sentenced Epps to 235 months (19.6 years) in federal prison. Wingate, who was appointed to the federal bench in 1985 said, "This is the largest graft operation that certainly I have seen, and I have seen a lot." Wingate cited the Flowood incident as the reason why he gave a sentence that was longer than the 13 years recommended by prosecutors. By July 2017 Epps was moved to Federal Correctional Institution, Seagoville in Seagoville, Texas. Although Epps' sentencing was delayed, Wingate had set sentencing for his co-defendant, McCrory, for Dec. 21–22. |
213_21 | On December 21, 2016, Judge Wingate rejected McCrory's request to withdraw his plea, and set a new date for sentencing. The FBI had testified that McCrory had admitted in their first interview with him to laundering $40,000 in cash for Epps, and that he began wearing a recording device for his conversations with Epps. McCrory was free on bail, and was sentenced to years in prison on February 2, 2017. As of December 17, 2017, McCrory was being held at the Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega, Alabama, with an anticipated release date of April 24, 2025.
In mid-June 2016, in the face of declining prison populations and the removal of juveniles to more suitable facilities, the state announced it would close the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility. That was accomplished on September 16, 2016. It was anticipated to have a devastating effect on the local rural and small-town economy. |
213_22 | Arizona State Prison – Kingman: On January 19, 2015, 23-year-old inmate Neil Early died in a hospital in Las Vegas after being sexually and fatally assaulted in the MTC-operated prison located in Golden Valley, Arizona. A search there found numerous weapons, illegal cell phones, and a quantity of heroin. A guard working a 16-hour shift had been supervising 200 inmates at the time of the attack on Early. Early's parents filed suit for millions against the state, MTC, and a prison medical provider, alleging medical intervention had been delayed after Early was found beaten and sexually assaulted. |
213_23 | Willacy County Correctional Center "tent" prison in Willacy County, Texas: On February 21, 2015, nearly 2,000 inmates rioted over issues such as poor medical care. The prison was rendered "uninhabitable" according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which had contracted with MTC to manage 2,800 inmates. Intervention by federal, state and local law enforcement was required to suppress the riot. The Federal Bureau of Prisons soon removed some 570 inmates. MTC informed the state that all its employees would be laid off by March 9, 2015. In March, 2015, the bonds that paid for the construction of the prison were lowered to "junk" status by Standard & Poors. At the time of the closing, the bond debt balance was about $128 million, and the annual payments due for the bond debt were about $8 million a year. |
213_24 | Arizona State Prison-Kingman: On July 1, 2 and 4, 2015, riots broke out again here, during which nine guards and seven inmates were injured. The state brought in 96 members of its special tactical unit to quell the riot. In August 2015, Arizona governor Doug Ducey terminated the contract with MTC after an Arizona Department of Corrections investigative report revealed the company had "a culture of disorganization, disengagement, and disregard" of DOC policies. |
213_25 | Bids were sought and the state awarded a new contract to Florida's GEO Group, effective December 1, 2015. GEO had contributed $2,000 to Ducey's 2014 campaign for Governor, plus $50,000 more to an Independent expenditure Superpac that exclusively supported Ducey's candidacy. |
213_26 | About 100 Hopkins Park, Illinois residents demonstrated in July 2016 against an MTC proposed immigration prison there. Larger competitors had also been rejected: Corrections Corporation of America in Joliet and Crete, Illinois, and GEO Group in Hobart and Gary, Indiana due to similar protests. Protesters said that Arizona's cancellation of the MTC contract at Kingman state prison was reason not to do business with the company.
Correctional Alternative Placement Program (CAPP) in Kuna, Idaho: In a 24-month period ending in 2016, there were 175 incidents of violence requiring disciplinary action at this 430-bed facility. It is the last for-profit prison in the state since the Idaho Department of Corrections was forced to take over a prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America, following national coverage of massive, fraudulent overbilling, lack of oversight, and six-figure corporate campaign contributions to the incumbent governor. |
213_27 | Willacy County Correctional Center: Willacy County filed a federal lawsuit against MTC in December 2016 for "abysmal mismanagement" of this prison and terrible conditions. Prisoners had rioted in February 2015 (see coverage above.) The Federal Bureau of Prisons had originally contracted to house low-risk, non-U.S. citizen inmates at this CAR prison. In a lawsuit filed in early December, the county claimed MTC failed to properly "oversee, manage, and repair" the facility and "turned a blind eye to the enormous problems that plagued the Prison from its inception." The county had received revenues as high as $2.7 million a year from the prison operation, under its arrangement with the FBOP and MTC. |
213_28 | Before obtaining the CAR contract, the tent prison was an immigrant detention center that was alleged to harbor chronic sexual assault, physical abuse, and medical neglect. In 2011, months after immigration officials ended their contract with MTC, federal prison officials decided to send immigrants convicted of crimes (typically for criminal re-entry) to Willacy. The Texas ACLU had long alleged that private prison contractors running institutions such as Willacy cut corners in order to boost shareholder profits. That invariably led to medical under-staffing and extreme cost cutting, putting both prisoners and staff at risk. In 2014, the group documented complaints inside Willacy that caused it to be dangerous. A prisoner said,
They have a lot of people in here. Sometimes it smells. It's too many people. Some people even talk about burning this place down. They just don't have enough space for all of us here. Sometimes it makes me go crazy. |
213_29 | The suit pleadings said that inmates dealt with conditions so intolerable that some were forced to stay in solitary confinement. MTC posted only a solitary guard to oversee each housing pod on each shift. "The unacceptable conditions caused by mismanagement and its failure to take remediate them led to the riot on February 20, 2015." Ultimately, the BOP forced the prison to be vacated, declaring it "uninhabitable" due to MTC's failures. All 400 employees of the prison were discharged. The pleadings further claim MTC routinely failed to alert government officials about its problems there. |
213_30 | Gadsden Correctional Facility at Quincy, Florida: MTC had the contract since 2010. State Representative David Richardson, a legislative watchdog, made frequent surprise visits over a year and a half to the prison, which holds over 1,500 women. On his initial visit, he found many of the classrooms without teachers, others without required supplies, and he was determined to return. He also found its inmates had endured months deprived of heat and hot water, found their bathrooms flooded every day, and were subjected to water rationing because the sewage system was malfunctioning. |
213_31 | Though the facility had received approval of a $10,000 state-funded purchase of a new water heater, its warden never bothered to authorize the replacement. MTC spokesman Issa Arnita acknowledged that management a year earlier, became "...aware of hot water issues at the facility." He said, "While we've made short-term fixes, the entire system will ultimately need to be replaced." On February 23, 2017, Richardson returned for a scheduled visit accompanied by two other legislators and the director of the Florida Department of Management Services (DMS) which is responsible for overseeing the operations of, and conditions within, private prisons. In the two days before their arrival, institution work crews finally addressed many of the long-backlogged 495 repair orders. The state quickly replaced its on-site monitor. When Richardson returned with two investigators from the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), as requested by the DMS Office of the Inspector General, other problems |
213_32 | were revealed at the prison. Although prisoners said they had been intimidated against complaining to inspectors and feared retaliation, one had sent Richardson a detailed list of 23 serious plumbing problems in just a single housing unit. In February 2017, Richardson requested Governor Rick Scott to direct state officials to take over management of the prison, warning that the health and safety of inmates was at risk. |
213_33 | Mississippi state lawsuits
On February 8, 2017, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed suit against MTC, along with Cornell Companies, Wexford Health Sources, Global Tel Link, Sentinel Offender Services and many others for allegedly engaging in corrupt contracts with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and its former Commissioner, Chris Epps. The lawsuit claims the companies violated Mississippi public ethics, racketeering, and antitrust laws, and it was suing to recover costs and penalties of the corrupt contracts. On 24 January 2019, the Mississippi Attorney General's office announced it had collected a total of $27 million in lawsuits filed against companies accused of funneling bribes and kickbacks to Epps. That amount included $5.2 million from MTC.
See also |
213_34 | 2010 Arizona prison escape
Arizona SB 1070
Arizona State Prison – Kingman
Central North Correctional Centre
Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility
East Mississippi Correctional Facility
Estes Unit
Idaho Department of Correction
Incarceration in the United States
Kyle, Texas
List of detention sites in the United States
List of members of the American Legislative Exchange Council
Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility
Marshall County Correctional Facility
Operation Mississippi Hustle
Red Rock Job Corps Center
Walnut Grove Correctional Facility
Wilkinson County Correctional Center
Willacy County Correctional Center
Willacy Detention Center
James A. Joseph
Lane McCotter
References
External links
1981 establishments in Utah
American companies established in 1981
Companies based in Utah
Davis County, Utah
Private prisons in the United States |
214_0 | Antoine Franklin McColister (born May 11, 1988), better known by his stage name Ace Hood, is an American rapper. He was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was signed to record producer DJ Khaled's label We the Best Music Group in 2008, in a joint-venture with Def Jam Recordings. He has released four studio albums with his most successful of which being Blood, Sweat & Tears (2011) and Trials & Tribulations (2013). The albums contained his highest charting singles, "Hustle Hard" and "Bugatti" (featuring Future and Rick Ross), respectively. In 2016, McColister announced his departure from We the Best Music and is currently working as an independent artist. |
214_1 | Early life
Ace Hood was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and was raised by his mother, who is of Haitian origin, alongside his younger cousin Ty Barton Jr. in Deerfield Beach, part of Broward County. He graduated from Deerfield Beach High School. Following a football injury in the 10th grade, and after realizing he wouldn't be able to go pro, the Broward County native began to seriously consider rapping as a career. Hood teamed up with a local group called Dollaz & Dealz and released a single titled "M.O.E." in 2006. He also began promoting himself via open mic events and talent shows around town.
Musical career
2006–08: Career beginnings and Gutta |
214_2 | In 2007, he met DJ Khaled outside the office of the WEDR 99 Jamz radio station. After Hood gave Khaled an autobiography and his demo tape, Khaled asked Hood to do a freestyle over the instrumental of his song "I'm So Hood" from his second album, We the Best, and later signed Hood to his We the Best Music Group label. Hood was named, along with several others, on the Freshmen of '09 by XXL magazine. |
214_3 | His first album, Gutta, was released in 2008. Singles included "Cash Flow" featuring T-Pain and Rick Ross, and "Ride" featuring Trey Songz. Hood also released mixtapes called Ace Won't Fold and All Bets On Ace. He made a guest performance among several rappers on DJ Khaled's single "Out Here Grindin'", also featuring Akon, Rick Ross, Plies, Lil Boosie and Trick Daddy, which peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is from Khaled's third studio album We Global, and was eventually certified gold by the RIAA. Ace Hood appeared on Wildstyle Radio on WUAG 103.1FM in Greensboro, North Carolina, on September 7, 2008, to promote his album, Gutta, along with DJ Khaled. The album debuted at number 36 on the Billboard 200, selling 25,000 copies its first week. |
214_4 | 2009–12: Ruthless and Blood, Sweat, & Tears
On June 30, 2009, seven months later, Hood released his second album, titled Ruthless, once again on Def Jam. The album's first single was "Overtime", which was produced by The Runners and featured Akon and T-Pain. The album's second single is "Loco Wit The Cake", which was produced by Schife, of the Palm Beach County Karbeen Mafia. The album's guest list includes Rick Ross, Ludacris, Jazmine Sullivan, The-Dream, Birdman, and Lloyd. The album debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200, selling 20,000 copies its first week. |
214_5 | Hood confirmed that his third album will be called, Blood, Sweat & Tears. It was released on August 9, 2011. The first official single, "Hustle Hard", became Ace's highest charting solo single, peaking at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second official single is "Go 'N' Get It". Both tracks are produced by Lex Luger. The third single is "Body 2 Body" featuring Chris Brown and the song is produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. It peaked at number 65 on the Hot 100. The album features artists like T-Pain, Yo Gotti, Kevin Cossom, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne. The album debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200, selling 26,000 copies, becoming the rapper's most successful album so far. He promoted the album with his first concert tour, the Hustle Hard Tour. He also appeared on three tracks from DJ Khaled's fifth studio album, We the Best Forever: "I'm Thuggin'", "Future", and the "Welcome to My Hood (Remix)". |
214_6 | Hood started 2012 by collaborating with Cash Money Records artist Bow Wow on a song called "We Going Hard". He will be appearing on Maybach Music's Self Made Vol. 2 album. Birdman and DJ Khaled signed Hood and We The Best Music Group to Cash Money Records. Hood will be recording his fourth studio album under We The Best and Cash Money Records. He has made guest appearances on tracks by other recording artists such s Talib Kweli, Jadakiss, Brisco, and "The Drill" by The Game, also featuring Meek Mill, which appears on his California Republic. |
214_7 | 2013–present: Trials & Tribulations |
214_8 | For his debut single on the We The Best & Cash Money label, he reunited with Trey Songz after 4 years, to make the early-2000s-styled love single known as "I Need Your Love". Hood released his mixtape Starvation 2 on January 10, 2013. The mixtape features guest appearances from Meek Mill, French Montana and Plies. On January 16, 2013, Hood announced his fourth studio album titled Trials & Tribulations and released the first single from the album titled "Bugatti" featuring Future and Rick Ross. The song is produced by Mike WiLL Made It. On February 6, 2013, the music video was released for "Bugatti" featuring Future and Rick Ross. The song made a hot-shot debut on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 42. "Bugatti" has since peaked at number 33 on the Hot 100, becoming Hood's most successful single to date as a lead artist, and his first top 40 hit since "Out Here Grindin'". On February 19, 2013, it was announced that Trials & Tribulations would be released on July 16, 2013. |
214_9 | On April 7, 2013, in an interview on Power 99 Philly with Mina SayWhat about his "Trials and Tribulations" album, Hood opens up about his family and deciding to go a different route with this album, working with Anthony Hamilton and John Legend and plans to get Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar to feature on the album too. On May 6, 2013, Hood released the remix to "Bugatti" featuring guests DJ Khaled, Future, Meek Mill, T.I., Wiz Khalifa, Birdman, French Montana and 2 Chainz. On June 5, 2013, Hood released the second single called "We Outchea" featuring his Cash Money label-mate Lil Wayne. On June 26, 2013, the final track listing was revealed featuring appearances from Meek Mill, Anthony Hamilton, Chris Brown and Betty Wright. |
214_10 | Hood released his Starvation 3 mixtape on January 17, 2014. The free project included features from We The Best label-mates Vado and Mavado, as well as Betty Wright and Kevin Cossom. Production for the mixtape came from Cool & Dre, The Renegades, StreetRunner, and The Beat Bully, among others. Body Bag 3 was released on August 29. Two months after that, Hood would team up with Rich Homie Quan for a return single titled "We Don't".
In 2021, He joined Love & Hip Hop: Miami.
Personal life
Ace Hood is a Christian and states that he "highly believe[s] in God".
Hood and his previous girlfriend, Shanice Tyria Sarratt, had twin girls, Lyric and Sailor Blu McColister, on May 25, 2011. Lyric died shortly after birth due to health complications. He also has a son.
He proposed to longtime girlfriend Shelah Marie in April 2019; they got married on February 7, 2020.
Discography |
214_11 | Gutta (2008)
Ruthless (2009)
Blood, Sweat & Tears (2011)
Trials & Tribulations (2013)
Mr. Hood (2020)
M.I.N.D. (Memories Inside Never Die) (2022)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Living people
African-American male rappers
Cash Money Records artists
Republic Records artists
Def Jam Recordings artists
Deerfield Beach High School alumni
People from Deerfield Beach, Florida
People from Port St. Lucie, Florida
Rappers from Florida
Southern hip hop musicians
Gangsta rappers
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
African-American Christians
1988 births
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people
American rappers of Haitian descent |
215_0 | American Type Founders was the largest producer of foundry type in the world, not only of in-house designs, but also from designs that came from merged firms. Many of its designs were created or adapted by Morris Fuller Benton, his father Linn, Joseph W. Phinney or Frederic Goudy. |
215_1 | ATF Designs
These foundry types were designed and produced by American Type Founders:
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Abbott Oldstyle (1901, Phinney)
Adonic (1930, Willard T. Sniffin)
Adscript (1914, Benton)
Ad Lib (1961, Freeman Craw)
Agency Gothic (1933, Benton), later digitized as Agency FB by Font Bureau
Agency Gothic Open (1934, Benton)
Alternate Gothic, Nos. 1,2,3 (1903, Benton)
American Backslant (1934, Benton)
American Text (1932, Benton)
Americana series (1965, Richard Isbell), this was the last face ever cut by ATF.
Announcement Roman + Italic (1918, Benton)
Antique Shaded (1914, Benton), cut on a new shading machine invented by Linn Boyd Benton.
Balloon series (1939, Max R. Kaufmann), originally as Speedball.
Balloon Light (Kaufmann)
Balloon Bold (Kaufmann)
Balloon Extrabold (Kaufmann)
Bank Gothic series
Bank Gothic Light (1930, Benton)
Bank Gothic Medium (1932, Benton)
Bank Gothic Bold (1932, Benton)
Bank Gothic Light Condensed (1933, Benton) |
215_2 | Bank Gothic Medium Condensed (1933, Benton)
Bank Gothic Bold Condensed (1933, Benton)
Baron's Boston News Letter (1904, Goudy), a private face cut for Joseph Baron's financial newsletter, matrices cut by Wiebking
Baskerville Roman + Italic (1915, Benton), after the Fry Foundry version.
Benton (1934, Benton), designed as Cambridge, released as Benton, reintroduced in 1953 as Whitehall.
Bernhard Fashion (1929, Lucian Bernhard)
Bernhard Gothic series (1929, Lucian Bernhard)
Bernhard Gothic Light (1929, Bernhard)
Bernhard Gothic Medium (1929, Bernhard)
Bernhard Gothic Light Italic (1930, Bernhard)
Bernhard Gothic Heavy (1930, Bernhard)
Bernhard Gothic Extra Heavy (1930, Bernhard)
Bernhard Gothic Medium Condensed (1938, Bernhard)
Bernhard Modern series (1937, Lucian Bernhard)
Bernhard Modern Roman + Italic (1937, Bernhard)
Bernhard Modern Bold + Italic (1938, Bernhard)
Bernhard Modern Condensed (1938, Bernhard)
Bernhard Tango (1934, Lucian Bernhard) |
215_3 | Bernhard Tango Swash Capitals (1939, Bernhard), known in Europe as Aigrette.
Bodoni series, first American revival of the faces of Giambattista Bodoni.
Bodoni (1909, Benton)
Bodoni Italic (1910, Benton)
Bodoni Book (1910, Benton)
Bodoni Book Italic (1911, Benton)
Bodoni Bold + Italic (1911, Benton)
Bodoni Bold Shaded (1912, Benton)
Bodoni Shaded Initials (1914, Benton)
Card Bodoni (1915, Benton)
Card Bodoni Bold (1917, Benton)
Bodoni Open (1918, Benton)
Bodoni Book Expanded (1924, Benton)
Ultra Bodoni + italic(1928, Benton)
Bodoni Bold Condensed (1933, Benton)
Ultra Bodoni Condensed + extra condensed (1933, Benton)
Engravers Bodoni (1933, Benton), designed in 1926.
Bold Antique (1904, Benton)
Bold Antique Condensed (1908/9 ?, Benton)
Bologna (1946), also cast by Stephenson Blake.
Bookman Series
Bookman swash letters (1936, Wadsworth A. Parker)
Bond Script (1905) |
215_4 | Bradley Text (1895, Phinney), developed from Will H. Bradley's lettering on the Christmas cover of Inland Printer Magazine by either Phinney or Herman Ihlenberg.
Broadway (1928, Benton), capital letters only.
Broadway Condensed (1929, Benton), capitals + lower-case
Brody (1953, Harold Broderson)
Brush (1942, Robert E. Smith)
Bulfinch Oldstyle (1903, Benton), commissioned by the Curtis Publishing Company and prepared by Benton for production from original designs by William Martin Johnson. The “house face” of Ladies’ Home Journal from 1903, offered for general use in 1905.
Re-issued as Whittin Black and Whittin Black Condensed (1960, Benton)
Bulletin Typewriter (1933, Benton)
Bulmer Roman (1926, Benton), based on a face cut by William Martin for the printer William Bulmer in 1790.
Bulmer Roman Italic (1927, Benton)
Canterbury (1926, Benton)
Card Roman (1925, Benton)
Caxton Initials (1905, Goudy), font included twenty-six capitals and one leaf ornament only. |
215_5 | Century series
Century Roman sub-series
Century Roman (1894, Linn Boyd Benton)
Century Broad Face (c. 1897, Linn Boyd Benton), also known as Century No. 2.
Century Expanded (1900, Benton)
Century Italic + Century Bold (1905, Benton)
Century Bold Condensed (1909, Benton)
Century Bold Extended (1910, Benton)
Century Oldstyle sub-series
Century Oldstyle + italic + bold (1909, Benton)
Century Oldstyle Bold Italic (1910, Benton)
Century Oldstyle Bold Condensed (1915, Benton)
Century Catalog sub-series
Century Catalog (1917, Benton)
Century Schoolbook sub-series
Century Schoolbook (1918, Benton), commissioned by textbook publishers Ginn & Company for maximum legibility.
Century Schoolbook Italic (1921, Benton)
Century Schoolbook Bold (1923, Benton)
Cheltenham series
Cheltenham (1903, Bertram Goodhue, Ingalls Kimball, Benton and/or Phinney)
Cheltenham Bold (1903, Benton)
Cheltenham Bold Condensed (1904, Benton) |
215_6 | Cheltenham Bold Italic + Cheltenham Bold Condensed Italic + Cheltenham Wide + Cheltenham Bold Outline (1905, Benton)
Cheltenham Bold Extra Condensed + Cheltenham Bold Extended (1906, Benton)
Cheltenham Inline + Cheltenham Inline Extra Condensed
Cheltenham Inline Extended (1907, Benton)
Cheltenham Oldstyle Condensed + Cheltenham Medium (1909, Benton)
Cheltenham Medium Italic + Cheltenham Extra Bold (1910, Benton)
Cheltenham Bold Shaded + Cheltenham Bold Italic Shaded + Cheltenham Extra Bold Shaded (1912, Benton)
Cheltenham Medium Condensed + Cheltenham Medium Expanded (1913, Benton)
Chic (1928, Benton)
Civilité (1922, Benton), a modern adaptation of Robert Granjon’s face cut in 1557.
Clearface series, designed with the help of his father, Linn Boyd Benton.
Clearface (1907, Benton)
Clearface Bold + Italic (Benton)
Clearface Heavy + Italic (Benton)
Clearface Italic (Benton)
Clearface Gothic (1910, Benton)
Cloister series |
215_7 | Cloister Old Style (1913, Benton), based on the 1470 Venetian face of Nicolas Jenson.
Cloister Italic (1913, Benton), based on the 1501 italic face of Aldus Manutius.
Cloister Bold Condensed (1917, Benton)
Cloister Initials (1918, Goudy)
Cloister Cursive (1922, Benton)
Cloister Lightface (1924, Benton)
Cloister Lightface Italic (1925, Benton)
Cloister Cursive Handtooled (1926, Benton), with Charles H. Becker.
Cloister Black (1904, Benton), usually credited to Phinney, but many authorities give full credit to Benton. It is an adaptation of Priory Text, an 1870s version of William Caslon’s Caslon Text of 1734. Lower-case letters are identical with Phinney's earlier Flemish Black.
Collier Old Style (1919, Goudy), a private type for Proctor & Collier, a Cincinnati advertising agency, matrices cut by Wiebking.
Contact (1944, F. H. Riley)
Commercial Script (1908, Benton)
Copperplate series A continuation of a series originally cast by Marder, Luse, & Co. |
215_8 | Copperplate Gothic Shaded (1912, Benton)
Craw Clarendon (1955-60, Freeman Craw)
Craw Modern (1958-64, Freeman Craw)
Cromwell (1913, Benton), uses capital letters from Benton’s Cloister Old Style.
Cushing (1897, Benton), design suggested by J. Stearns Cushing. (Cushing Antique was a Ludlow face.)
Della Robbia series
Della Robbia (Thomas Maitland Cleland)
Della Robbia Light (1913, Benton)
Devens Script (1898, Phinney)
Dom series (1950, Peter Dombrezian)
Dom Diagonal (1950, Dom)
Dom Casual (1951, Dom)
Dom Bold (1953, Dom)
Dynamic Medium (1930, Benton)
Eagle Bold (1934, Benton), a variant of Novel Gothic, designed for the National Recovery Administration, used on their Blue Eagle posters.
Elmora (1968)
Empire (1937, Benton), no lower-case.
Engravers Bold (1902, also cast by Barnhart Brothers & Spindler, Benton)
Engravers Old English (1906, Benton), based upon Caslon Text and designed in association with "Cowan" or perhaps Phinney. |
215_9 | Engravers Old English Bold (1910, Benton)
Engravers Shaded (1906, Benton)
Lithographic Shaded (1914, Benton + W. F. Capitian), a half-shaded version of Engravers Shaded.
Engravers Text (1930, Benton)
Flemish Black (1902, Phinney)
Franklin Gothic series, the patriarch of American sans-serif faces, named for Benjamin Franklin, America’s greatest printer.
Franklin Gothic (1903, Benton)
Franklin Gothic Condensed + Extra Condensed (1906, Benton)
Franklin Gothic Italic (1910, Benton)
Franklin Gothic Condensed Shaded (1912, Benton)
Freehand (1917, Benton)
Gallia (1927, Wadsworth A. Parker), some sources attribute this to Benton.
Garamond series, based upon the designs of 16th-century type founder, Claude Garamond.
Garamond (1919, Benton), with T.M. Cleland
Garamond Bold (1920, Benton)
Garamond Italic (1923, Benton), with T.M. Cleland
Garamond Open (1931, Benton) |
215_10 | Globe Gothic (c. 1900, Benton), a refinement of Taylor Gothic, designed by ATF vice-president Phinney in 1897 for Charles H. Taylor for the exclusive use of the Boston Globe.
Globe Gothic Condensed + Extra Condensed + Extended (c. 1900, Benton)
Globe Gothic Bold (1907, Benton), credited to Benton, though Goudy claims Phinney commissioned him to do it.
Globe Gothic Bold Italic (1908, Benton)
Goudy Old Style series
Goudy Old Style + Italic (1915, Goudy)
Goudy Title (1918, Benton)
Goudy Bold Italic + Goudy Catalog (1919, Benton)
Goudy Catalog Italic (1922, Benton), sometimes credited to Charles H. Becker or Wadsworth A. Parker by varying authorities.
Goudy Handtooled + italic (1922 Wadsworth A. Parker), alternately credited to either Charles H. Becker or Benton.
Goudytype (1928, Goudy), designed and cut in 1916, not cast and sold until later.
Gravure (1927, Benton)
Graybar (1930, Wadsworth A. Parker)
Grayda (1939, Frank H. Riley)
Greeting Monotone (1927, Benton) |
215_11 | Headline Gothic (1936, Benton), not to be confused with the Ludlow font of the same name.
Hobo (1910, Benton)
Light Hobo (1915, Benton)
Hollywood (1932, Willard T. Sniffin)
Heritage (1952, Walter H. McKay)
Huxley Vertical (Walter Huxley, 1935)
Invitation Shaded (1916, Benton)
Invitation (1917, Benton)
Jenson series
Jenson Oldstyle + italic (1893, Phinney), based on William Morris's Golden Type, matrices cut by John F. Cumming from drawings by Phinney.
Jenson Heavyface (1899, Phinney)
Jenson Condensed + Bold Condensed (1901, Phinney)
Jim Crow (1933), originally cast in 1850s by Dickinson Type Foundry as Gothic Shade. And also as Tombstone, following the ATF merger in 1894.
Kaufmann series (1936, Max R. Kaufmann)
Kaufmann Bold (Kaufmann)
Keynote (1932, Willard T. Sniffin)
Lexington (1926, Wadsworth A. Parker with Clarence P. Hornung)
Liberty Script (1927, Willard T. Sniffin)
Lightline Gothic (1908, Benton), essentially a News Gothic ultra light.
Louvaine series |
Subsets and Splits
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