First edition as new

Interesting and maddening. If there is a hell, I hope there's a special nook for crooked law enforcement and court officers whose desire to win or simply wrap up a case causes innocent people and their families (the accused and the victims) to suffer so much.

I did watch the Netflix special based on this book a year or so ago and am glad I read the book. Much more detail here. Although I thought there was more about Ward and Fontenot in the show compared with the book. I'll have to rewatch it.

If you're a fan of true crime books or books about miscarriages of justice, this one will likely keep you involved and interested. ( )

John Grisham is better known for his action-packed legal thrillers than his nonfiction writing. The Innocent Man is far from action-packed; there are no pulse-pounding car chases or dramatic "a-ha!" discoveries late at night in a law library. Instead, it is a book densely packed with detailed information about how the U.S. legal system really works — and in the case (actually cases) this book examines, how it very much does NOT work.

The innocent man of the title was Ron Williamson, a small-town baseball hero in Oklahoma whose career peaks in the minor leagues. Even as a child there were some warning signs of mental illness, but his failure to achieve his major-league dream exacerbates his illness. He becomes a familiar sight on the streets of his hometown, displaying poor personal habits and hygiene, and talking to himself. He makes people uncomfortable and scares little kids. And all of that makes Ron a perfect candidate to be tagged for the murder of a popular young woman.

The initial investigation of the murder scene was sloppy. The man who was the last person to see the victim alive is not questioned by the police for three years, long after Williamson has landed on death row. Forensic evidence is bungled, and "expert" witnesses prove themselves to be anything but. There's plenty of blame to go around: the local police force, the prosecuting attorney, Williamson's own lawyer, the courts who rejected his appeals. And Grisham makes sure they all get their fair share of "credit" for Williamson and his supposed accomplice serving 11 years on death row until DNA evidence exonerated him.

Grisham made a wise decision to lay out the facts of the case methodically, as if he was arguing the case before a jury. He keeps his emotions in check, only occasionally revealing his anger and contempt for the failures of the legal system to provide the checks and balances that are meant to prevent such egregious errors from happening. Although Williamson is eventually exonerated and freed, there is no feel-good happy ending here.

If you, like me, want to believe that the truth will always win out and that our legal system is primarily concerned with seeing justice done, you may have trouble sleeping after reading this book. ( )

John Grisham nasceu em 8 de fevereiro de 1955, na cidade norte-americana de Jonesboro, no Askansas. Quando criança, sonhava ser jogador de beisebol. Jogou algumas vezes como quarterbackno time de futebol americano dos Chargers, no Colégio Southaven, no Mississipi. Acabou, por fim, escolhendo o Direito como sua área de atuação, tornando-se advogado especializado em defesa criminal e processos por danos físicos. Sempre envolvido em muitos processos, começou a escrever nas poucas horas vagas que sua carreira como advogado lhe permitia. Foi um de seus casos, o de uma vítima de estupro de apenas 12 anos, que o inspirou a escrever sobre o universo jurídico. O resultado foi seu primeiro romance, Tempo de matar, publicado em 1988. Com o sucesso do livro seguinte, A firma, que teve os direitos vendidos para a Paramount Films, o trabalho de escritor deixou de ser apenas um hobby, tornando-se mais importante do que a prática da advocacia. Junto com a mulher Renee e as filhas Ty e Shea, John Grisham divide o tempo entre a casa vitoriana em uma fazenda no Mississipi e a propriedade em uma plantação em Charlottesville, na Virginia. Além da obra de não-ficção O inocente, Grisham escreveu outros 22 romances, todos publicados no Brasil pela Rocco: O advogado, A câmara de gás, A casa pintada , O cliente, A confraria , O corretor, O dossiê Pelicano, Esquecer o Natal, A firma, O homem que fazia chover, A intimação, O júri, Nas arquibancadas, O rei das fraudes, O sócio, Tempo de matar,O testamento, O último jurado, Jogando por pizza, O recurso,O negociador, Caminhos da lei, entre outros títulos.

The justice system goes horribly awry in Ada, Oklahoma. A cautionary tale for any would-be prosecutor. ( )