Lifetime will be able to broadcast Romeo Killer: The Christopher Porco Story on Saturday as scheduled, a judge ruled today.
NY Supreme Court Associate Justice Elizabeth Garry stayed all injunction relief in an order . The network had its emergency appeal granted after filling it Wednesday in the New York State Appellate Division, Third Department. The victory overturns the jailhouse injunction that another NY Supreme Court Judge, Robert Muller, granted Porco on Tuesday to prevent the depiction of his case airing this weekend. Porco claimed that the TV movie was a violation of his rights to his image and name. Porco is currently serving 46 years to life in prison for killing his father and trying to kill his mother. Lifetime now intends to show a documentary Beyond The Headlines: The Real Romeo Killer after the movie Saturday.
This week’s injunction not only pulled the plug on airing the film but also stopped Lifetime from promoting it, meaning the network would have had to pull its online ads and TV spots immediately — something Lifetime said was damaging to its reputation. “A preliminary injunction will have a devastating financial and reputational impact on Lifetime, with millions of dollars in investment, lost revenues, and untold harm to its brand,” Lifetime stated in its appeal Wednesday, adding, “Lifetime has spent over two million dollars acquiring the United States and International rights to the movie, and nearly one million dollars promoting the premiere of the movie on March 23, 2013,” the network noted. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 10.
