JG Publishing
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES - "Both an American tragedy and [Grisham's] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true."--Entertainment Weekly
John Grisham's first work of nonfiction: a true crime masterpiece that tells the story of small town justice gone terribly awry.
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. 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 twenty-one-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.
Don't miss Framed, John Grisham's first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, co-authored with Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9780385340915
EAN:
9780385340915
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
400
Authors:
John Grisham
Publisher:
JG Publishing
Published Date: 2007-20-11
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The tragic story of the late Ron Williamson, Dennis Fritz and the cast of lawyers, judges, family and friends is stunning, tragic and unbelievable if it wasn’t true.If this book didn’t include the non-fiction line, you would think you’re reading a novel.The images Mr. Grisham brings to life with his writing style puts you in the courtroom and the death row cells. You can almost smell the stress sweat, and you can almost feel the heat and the pain.Ron Williamson died a free man as did Dennis Fritz. God bless them and their families.And thank you, Mr. Grisham for an incredible book.
It's Grisham! I'm a big fan of his non-fiction, but this one just hits harder being true. Great read.
I loved this book.I worked in a County Courthouse in 2 different Offices. Both of them Criminal Offices and Unfortunately I think there are miscarriages of Justice and failures by both some Law Enforcement Agencies and The District Attorney's Office. This was a very well written book on this subject. Unfortunately most of those cases are shoved along the wayside
This book caught me by surprise, I am a big fan of John Grisham, and this book was different from others I have read. I am a retired police officer with ten and a half years as a homicide detective in a large city. I always felt that the prisoners crying “I am innocent”, were just wanting to get out of prison and then sue federally for Civil Rights violation which would equate to a big payday. However, after reading this poor guy’s story, I felt a lot of anger towards everyone that touched this case for all the lying that they did, from the judge down to the arresting officers and everyone in between, a BIG tragedy. In the future, whenever I read about a wrongly accused, I will look at the case with a different point of view. Very well written book.
Everything was as expected and advised
