The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John GrishamMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The book is not about 1 innocent man but 2, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz.
John Grisham picked a sad and twisted tail for his first ever non-fiction book. Although Fritz plays a big part in the story it primarily focuses on Williamson and the tragedy that was his tortured life and his unbelievable fall from grace. The injustice and inhuman treatment Williamson suffered through is like no other criminal case I’ve ever heard of or read about.
Most of the time our justice systems get’s the bad guy through good professional investigative Police work. 90% of the time Prosecutors and Judges know the law and will apply it without bias based on solid physical and/or circumstantial evidence or better yet eye witness testimony.
Such was not the case for Williamson and Fritz. In 1982, a 21 year old named Debra Carter from Ada, OK was raped and murdered. The Ada Police Dept. didn’t have any physical evidence and very weak circumstantial evidence and couldn’t link them to the crime. Despite that, 5 years later in 1987 both we’re charged with 1st Degree Murder based on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches.
With a local unsympathetic judge and jury who wanted their pound of flesh Williamson was quickly found guilty and sent to death row with Fritz getting life in prison. Since Williamson had a Police record, severe psychological problems and a troubled past he was the perfect man to nail since the Police and DA’s Office had no other viable suspects.
While I’ve always believed and still do in the Death Penalty this shocking and gut wrenching story really made me wonder just how many men and women go to death row because of crooked Cops, Prosecutors and Judges.
I believe that they get it right most of the time but mistakes happen because we’re dealing with humans and a human legal system. Still if due diligence and proper legal procedures are not followed those responsible should be just as severely punished as those they attempt to prosecute especially in death penalty cases.
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