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The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

AUTHOR Grisham, John; Grisham, John
PUBLISHER Vintage (03/27/2012)
PRODUCT TYPE Paperback (Mass Market Paperbound)

Description
#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.

Show More
Product Format
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9780345532015
ISBN-10: 0345532015
Binding: Paperback or Softback (Tall Rack Paperback (Us))
Content Language: English
More Product Details
Page Count: 448
Carton Quantity: 48
Product Dimensions: 4.10 x 1.30 x 7.40 inches
Weight: 0.55 pound(s)
Feature Codes: Price on Product - Canadian, Price on Product, Illustrated
Country of Origin: US
Subject Information
BISAC Categories
True Crime | Murder - General
True Crime | Law Enforcement
True Crime | Penology
Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 8.1
Point Value: 20
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Guided Reading Level: Not Applicable
Dewey Decimal: 364.152
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
publisher marketing
#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.

Show More
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Paperback