The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
by John Grisham
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Book Summary Information
Author: John GrishamEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-10
ISBN: 0385517238
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
Book Review: Disturbing and Brilliant: Grisham At His Best!
Summary: 5 Stars
John Grisham has demonstrated once again why he is one of the greatest writers of our time in his courageous study of the American Legal System in this thrilling yet disturbing expose' titled 'The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town'. With great insight and a sharp direction to the blindness of injustice, Grisham portrays not just the life of two innocent men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, both convicted of a crime they were not guilty of, but more importantly, the author demonstrates how our criminal justice system, though considered by many to be the best in the world, is filled with great fault and injustice due to the fact that the very same system we trust is at times run and operated by individuals who are not concerned with the truth but with self promoting record keeping . . . for some law enforcement - getting the arrest . . . for some prosecutors - getting a conviction. In directing his overall efforts at the discrepancy and faults of the U.S. criminal justice system, author Grisham is very clever in picking the heartbreaking stories of Mr. Williamson and Mr. Fritz since the small town politics and "cowboying" of law enforcement that unfortunately occurs from time to time is not immune to larger populated cities. Ada, Oklahoma, the town where Mr. Williamson and Mr. Fritz were tried allowed the author to put the local system under a careful microscope . . . and just like politics being local with a grander scheme, so too is this country's legal system.
In raising the benchmark by citing the horrendous case of former baseball star-in-waiting, Mr. Williamson, Grisham shows the beauty of the American dream: the pursuit of your dreams followed by the efforts in obtaining your goals followed by the inevitable fall from grace and the limited support of an unforgiving society at times keen on the blind eye of injustice. After his departure from Ada, Oklahoma to the major league baseball farm systems of the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees to peruse a potential big-league career, Mr. Williamson eventually returns home due to a career ending injury (a great statement made by Grisham to young athletes pursuing their dreams; get your education). Broken with shattered dreams, Williamson ignites himself by embarking on a world of self-destruction many former athletes are all too familiar with: drugs, booze, unemployment, etc. Soon after, Williamson along with his partying friend, Dennis Fritz, is arrested for the murder of a local waitress and are essentially railroaded with great urgency through the justice system: the local prosecutor and corrupt police officers not interested in finding out the truth. With precision, Grisham shows how a limited investigation by local police and prosecutors interested in furthering their own career by obtaining guilty convictions for both Williamson and Fritz. Williamson is order to be executed and Fritz ordered to spend his life in prison. The prosecutors were able to obtain the convictions despite no credible evidence. This is nothing new to our legal system. It darn well should be, though.
And so it goes in today's American legal system; too many innocent persons being found guilty of crimes they didn't commit and too many individuals are being coerced to take a plea for something they did not do in order to stop the insanity of prosecution . . . especially when the prosecutor's office has an unlimited amount of funding to make the charge, and the typically charged person has limited financial resources to defend themselves. I also want to point out Mr. Grisham rightfully makes it a point that the vast majority of those who work in the legal system are honest men and women trying to make a positive difference in the world. Not all players are self-egomaniacs: but their negligent influence on the system has deformed the very nature of 'blind justice'. Earlier today, and to my surprise and shock, I just read a fascinating story coming out of Chicago about two brothers, Brian Gaughan Jr. and Kevin Gaughan, who were being charged by local law enforcement with minor crimes of trespassing that were eventually turned into assault on a police officer. The facts appear that the two boys were victims of police brutality, as indicated by the fact the arresting police officers resigned from their job. ABC, CBS, and NBC news have all reported that the Gaughan brothers soon after their arrests filed a civil suit against the local Marengo, Illinois police and the State police of Illinois in juxtaposition with their ongoing and two year old legal battle defending their innocence. Once this happened, the State of Illinois police involvement in this small-town case elevated to mind-boggling levels, as both prosecutors from Illinois and the State Police of Illinois began to throw wave after wave of financially crippling motions and actions against the two young boys - and shockingly threatened the stand-up civil servant parents of the two boys: Brian Gaughan, Sr. (a well respected firefighter and local IAFF president working in Cook County, Illinois), and Carolyn Gaughan (a corrections officer working in McHenry County, Illinois) with criminal prosecution of their own unless the large and seemingly rightful lawsuit against the State of Illinois is dropped. In correlation to what Mr. Grisham has clearly written in 'The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town', the Gaughan brothers case and many others like it across this great nation scream out: Where is the accountability of out of control prosecutors and law enforcement officers? What system or controls can be put into effect to better serve those who have been victims of crimes (remembering that if an innocent man is convicted of a crime, then the guilty party is still at large)? What can, if anything, individuals facing tsunami like prosecution do in retrospect to a system set up more like a cattle ranch interested in getting the steer off the land and into a cage than seeking out full justice? Where is the accountability in a system so many individuals in society believe in and why is it that many citizens are freely willing to simply take as final truth what is reported by police or on in the news?
I applaud Mr. Grisham in his aim at the big picture that is the injustices of the American legal system and in taking aim at demonstrating how the system itself is in need of great reform and how without a more checks and balance system in place, there exists an all too much frequency for innocent men and women to be convicted of a crime regardless of their innocence. An interesting point by Grisham and one that I feel must be addressed, is how at times self-serving prosecutors use the financial inability of a criminally charged individual to plea to a conviction of a lesser charge in order to better serve their own prosecutorial record. In many ways, Grisham takes a giant swing at the machine that is the criminal justice system and the multi-billion dollar industry that has been created. Clearly, prosecuting crime in the U.S. has become a big business in this country, as opposed to much more needed efforts geared at rehabilitation and social re-entry. A second issue that Grisham brings out is how the use of DNA has changed the landscape of this country's prosecution of those who have been charged with a crime. With legal advocates such as lawyers Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld bringing out DNA oriented truth vehicles such as 'The Innocent Project', the issue of prosecutors using more purposefully and openly DNA is widely held as an important part of the investigation process for certain crimes.
'The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town' is more than a case study of the faults of the American legal system. This is a story of strength and perseverance. It is a skillfully crafted story written in Grisham's familiar southern style of the nature of the human soul and spirit. It is a story of right v. wrong and good v. evil. Mr. Grisham has outdone himself in this non-fiction story of the wonderment, pain, and most of all the fragileness of human life. An absolute must read . . . a must think . . . and critically, a call for dialogue to make a change for better accountability in the policing system we need to trust. The brotherhood and sisterhood of the men and women who wear a shield are made up of some of the finest individuals and leaders in our society. I am personally most grateful to many and have family members who work in different areas of law enforcement. What John Grisham has pointed out is that the limited actions of individuals not acting on their duty as members of the court can and will continue to jeopardize the legal system in the United States. It is up to both those who work in law enforcement and those who work independently outside of the system, including the press, to point to issues that can change the system for the better. Similar to what George Washington said the night of his first presidential inauguration on the steps of Federal Hall in New York City that `liberty is a great experiment entrusted to the American people', it is clear that the American justice system is a continual experiment continually evolving. It is up to the keen efforts of individuals working within and from outside the system to hold accountable this great experiment called liberty - which the criminal justice system is a part of. In John Grisham's The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town we have an extraordinary book by an extraordinary man who happens to write - and make us think a bit more.
Summary of The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
John Grisham?s first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet.In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A?s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory.
Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits?drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.
In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder.
With no physical evidence, the prosecution?s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.
If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.
John Grisham tackles nonfiction for the first time with The Innocent Man, a true tale about murder and injustice in a small town (that reads like one of his own bestselling novels). The Innocent Man chronicles the story of Ron Williamson, how he was arrested and charged with a crime he did not commit, how his case was (mis)handled and how an innocent man was sent to death row. Grisham's first work of nonfiction is shocking, disturbing, and enthralling--a must read for fiction and nonfiction fans. We had the opportunity to talk with John Grisham about the case and the book, read his responses below. --Daphne Durham
20 Second Interview: A Few Words with John Grisham
Q: After almost two decades of writing fiction, what compelled you to write non-fiction, particularly investigative journalism?A: I was never tempted to write non-fiction, primarily because it's too much work. However, obviously, I love a good legal thriller, and the story of Ron Williamson has all the elements of a great suspenseful story.
Q: Why this case?
A: Ron Williamson and I are about the same age and we both grew up in small towns in the south. We both dreamed of being major league baseball players. Ron had the talent, I did not. When he left a small town in 1971 to pursue his dreams of major league glory, many thought he would be the next Mickey Mantle, the next great one from the state of Oklahoma. The story of Ron ending up on Death Row and almost being executed for a murder he did not commit was simply too good to pass up.
Q: How did you go about your research?
A: I started with his family. Ron is survived by two sisters who took care of him for most of his life. They gave me complete access to the family records, photographs, Ron's mental health records, and so on. There was also a truckload of trial transcripts, depositions, appeals, etc., that took about 18 months to organize and review. Many of the characters in the story are still alive and I traveled to Oklahoma countless times to interview them.
Q: Did your training as a lawyer help you?
A: Very much so. It enabled me to understand the legal issues involved in Ron's trial and his appeals. It also allowed me, as it always does, to be able to speak the language with lawyers and judges.
Q: Throughout your book you mention, The Dreams of Ada: A True Story of Murder, Obsession, and a Small Town. How did you come across that book, and how did it impact your writing The Innocent Man?
A: Several of the people in Oklahoma I met mentioned The Dreams of Ada to me, and I read it early on in the process. It is an astounding book, a great example of true crime writing, and I relied upon it heavily during my research. Robert Mayer, the author, was completely cooperative, and kept meticulous notes from his research 20 years earlier. Many of the same characters are involved in his story and mine.
Q: You take on some pretty controversial and heated topics in your book--the death penalty, prisoner?s rights, DNA analysis, police conduct, and more--were any of your own beliefs challenged by this story and its outcome?
A: None were challenged, but my eyes were open to the world of wrongful convictions. Even as a former criminal defense attorney, I had never spent much time worrying about wrongful convictions. But, unfortunately, they happen all the time in this country, and with increasing frequency.
Q: So many of the key players in this case are either still in office or practicing attorneys. Many family members and friends still live in the same small town. How do you think The Innocent Man will impact this community and other small rural towns as they struggle with the realities of the justice system?
A: Exonerations seem to be happening weekly. And with each one of them, the question is asked--how can an innocent man be convicted and kept in prison for 20 years? My book is the story of only one man, but it is a good example of how things can go terribly wrong with our judicial system. I have no idea how the book will be received in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma, or any other town.
Q: What do you hope your readers will take away from The Innocent Man?
A: A better understanding of how innocent people can be convicted, and a greater concern for the need to reimburse and rehabilitate innocent men after they have been released.
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