In John Grisham's first nonfiction book, he disinters the appalling details of a miscarriage of justice in Oklahoma. After a short disappointing career as a major league baseball player, Ron Williamson returned to his hometown of Ada, moved in with his mother, and began to lose his mind. When a young cocktail waitress was raped and murdered, the local police decided to target the mentally unstable Williamson. Using coercive methods and the flimsiest of evidence the District Attorney railroaded Williamson, took advantage of his paranoia and his blind public defender, and eventually sent him to Death Row. With his typically gripping prose and his extensive knowledge of the legal system, Grisham exposes a particularly awful instance of corruption in the legal system.
Product Identifiers
ISBN-10
0385517238
ISBN-13
9780385517232
Key Details
Publication Date
2006-10-10
Language
English
Publisher
Doubleday
Publisher's Note
<b>John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet.<br></b><br>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.<br><br>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.<br><br>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.<br><br>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.<br><br>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., 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.<BR>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.<BR>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.<BR>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.<BR>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., Presents the real-life case of Ron Williamson, a mentally ill former baseball player who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the 1982 murder of a 21-year-old woman in his Oklahoma hometown., The best-selling author of <IT>The Last Juror<RO>, <IT>The Runaway Jury<RO>, <IT>A Time to Kill<RO>, and other tales of legal suspense presents his first work of nonfiction, in a compelling legal thriller. 1,500,000 first printing.
