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In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was... read more

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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,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

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.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Wrongful convictions occur every month in every state in this country and the reasons are all varied and all the same -- bad police work, junk science, faulty eyewitness identifications, bad defense lawyers, lazy prosecutors, arrogant prosecutors.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • Hopt v. Utah, the Supreme Court ruled that a confession is not admissible if it is obtained by operating on the hopes or fears of the accused, and in doing so deprives him of the freedom of will or self-control necessary to make a voluntary statement.
    Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers
  • In 1897, the Court, in Bram v. United States, said that a statement must be free and voluntary, not extracted by any sorts of threats or violence or promises, however slight. A confession obtained from an accused who has been threatened cannot be admissible.
    Highlighted by 28 Kindle customers
  • IN 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a case known as Bishop v. United States, ruled that the conviction of a mentally incompetent person was a denial of due process. Where doubt exists as to a person’s mental competency, the failure to conduct a proper inquiry is a deprivation of his constitutional rights.
    Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers
  • Debbie Carter, a twenty-one-year-old local girl who’d graduated from Ada High School a few years earlier and was enjoying the single life.
    Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers
  • Mike and Terri Carpenter both worked at the Coachlight, he as a bouncer, she as a waitress.
    Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers
  • Glen Gore, stopped by and asked Debbie to dance. She did, but halfway through the song she suddenly stopped and angrily walked away from Gore. Later, in the ladies’ restroom, she said she would feel safer if one of her girlfriends would spend the night at her place, but she did not say what worried her.
    Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
  • Tommy Glover knew Debbie well because he worked with her at a local glass company. He also knew Gore.
    Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
  • IN A famous 1963 decision, Brady v. Maryland, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution.”
    Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
  • Gore, who didn’t own a car, had bummed a ride to the Coachlight with an acquaintance named Ron West,
    Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers
  • Toni Ramsey worked at the club as a shoe-shine girl.
    Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers
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Organizations edit see section history

  • Innocence Project: From wikipedia: "The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization that is committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice."

First Sentence edit see section history

The rolling hills of southeast Oklahoma stretch from Norman across to Arkansas and show little evidence of the vast deposits of crude oil that were once beneath them.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Chapters 1 - 17
Author's Note

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. John Grisham (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. John Fontana (Designer) - Cover Design
  2. Royalty-Free/CORBIS (Photographer) - Cover Photo

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Doubleday
Country: United States
Publication Date: October 2006
ISBN: 978-0385517232
Page Count: 435

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: KF224.W5535 G75 2006
  • Dewey: 345.76602523

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Presumed Innocent
  • Coeur d'Alene Waters
  • Safe in Heaven Dead

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