How accurate is 'Just Mercy'? The real case behind Michael B. Jordan's Bryan Stevenson movie

"Just Mercy," the new film about crusading attorney Bryan Stevenson (played by Michael B. Jordan), focuses on Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a wrongfully convicted death-row inmate from Monroeville, Alabama – the birthplace of Harper Lee, whose beloved novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" dealt with a lawyer fighting to free an innocent African-American defendant.

The location, and the reaction of proud locals who resisted Stevenson's efforts to free McMillian, were true.

"It was ironic to have people in the community tell me, 'You’re a lawyer, you should go to the "To Kill a Mockingbird" Museum,'" Stevenson says. "I had the same response every time: 'I'd love to, but I’m really busy freeing an innocent black man who has been wrongly convicted of a crime and facing execution.' The disconnect between romanticizing that story and indifference to injustice in a real wrongful conviction, that very much parallels my story."

Jordan, who also executive produced "Just Mercy" (in theaters now in New York and LA, opens nationwide Friday), based on Stevenson's 2014 memoir of the same name, thought it vital to lean into the truth.

"After meeting the man and understanding his work, to tell an honest portrayal is the only morally correct thing to do," Jordan says.

Here's how that goes down in "Just Mercy."

Our 'Just Mercy' review:Performances by Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx elevate predictable legal drama'

Walter McMillian was nearly put to death for a crime he did not commit

One of young lawyer Stevenson's first and most incendiary cases after founding the non-profit Equal Justice Initiative was McMillian, who had been sentenced to die in 1988 for the murder of an 18-year-old white woman on dubious evidence. After a day-and-a-half trial, the jury ignored multiple black witnesses who testified that McMillan was at a fish fry at the time of the crime. 

As shown in the film, McMillan was ordered held on death row even before his trial started. 

"It’s the only case I have ever worked on where my client spent months on death row, before ever having been convicted," says Stevenson. "The newspapers would refer to him as 'death row defendant Walter McMillan.' All of that led to the conditions that would make the wrongful conviction almost inevitable. That’s very accurate to what happened to Walter."

Bryan Stevenson was intimidated and threatened during the case

Just as in the film, Stevenson received death threats for his work. "You're trying to do the right thing, trying to obtain justice and your life is being threatened," Jordan says.

Stevenson says a scene where prison guards subjected him to a strip search took place. Likewise, he was pulled over and held at gunpoint without provocation by police. 

"I had police officers pull their weapons out, point the gun at my head, and say, 'Move and I’ll blow your brains out,' " Stevenson says. "Sadly, it’s a scene that’s familiar to a lot of people in this country."

Eva Ansley (played by Brie Larson) plays a large role in the film's fledgling Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes. Now operations director of EJI, Ansley has been an integral part since the organization's beginnings. 

Some EJI actions depicted during McMillian's long fight for freedom involved other lawyers. But for the sake of storytelling, these deeds were incorporated through Larson's Ansley.

"When we had to figure out how to represent the other work, it was easy to decide that it should be represented through Eva’s commitment and the work she has done," Stevenson says.

A pivotal '60 Minutes' expose really did turn the tide for McMillian

McMillian's case eventually drew national attention and was the subject of a 1992 "60 Minutes" expose that showed how flimsy the case was against the convicted man awaiting death by electrocution.

"Perception is everything. To be able to put the facts out there for the world to see brought the pressure of society and helped wrongs get righted," Jordan says. "That '60 Minutes' piece helped Walter McMillian get off death row."

In 1993, Alabama's Court of Criminal Appeals heard his case again. After turning down four previous appeals, the court ruled that McMillian had been wrongfully convicted. McMillian was freed after six years on death row and remained close with Stevenson until his death in 2013.

While the timeline of the case was condensed for story reasons, Stevenson says he was relieved and impressed with the filmmakers' efforts for accuracy. 

"It was remarkable," says Stevenson, who can laugh about one aspect of Jordan's realistic portrayal. "I told Michael the one area where he didn't have to be authentic was my body. He didn't have to lose the "Black Panther"/"Creed" body. He could keep all of those abs to play me. I wanted him to go on a warrior diet."