The Innocent Man

Critics

• True Story

  No wonder John Grisham got excited when he found Ronald Williamson’s obituary in the pages of The New York Times. Here was a real person whose life read like one of Grisham’s best-selling legal thrillers: falsely accused of murder in the South, he wa ... (read full critics)

  nytimes published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

• The Innocent Man By John Grisham

  The obituary in the New York Times wasn't particularly long or prominently displayed, but something about it drew the attention of writer John Grisham. The Times article on December 9, 2004, reported the death of Ronald Williamson, an Oklahoma man wh ... (read full critics)

  bookpage published on Wed, 15 Sep 2010

8 Reviews

• 3 people find this helpful

  

  John Grisham's first attempt at non-fiction of the true crime genre reads as good as, or even better than, his legal thrillers.

  I remember many years ago when I took a political science course at the university, the professor explained the difference between the criminal proceedings in the com ... (continue)

  John Grisham's first attempt at non-fiction of the true crime genre reads as good as, or even better than, his legal thrillers.

  I remember many years ago when I took a political science course at the university, the professor explained the difference between the criminal proceedings in the common law (and the US) jurisdictions and that of the French statutory law. In the US, the suspect is presumed innocent and it is up to the prosecutor to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the suspect is guilty. On the other hand, in France, the suspect is presumed guilty and it is incumbent upon the defence counsel to prove his client's innocence. The US system entails the defence counsel to rebut the evidence, hide the facts and bury the truth in order to get an acquittal. The French system has its merits because all parties focus on finding out the truth.

  However, what if the suspect is denied access to a competent lawyer and a fair trial, and the police, the district attorney, the judge and even the jury all unknowingly presume the suspect guilty and conspire to convict him? The presumption of guilt pervades in some parts of the US legal system and innocent people have been put to death.

  This is the case of Ron Williamson, a former Yankee baseball hopeful and mentally disturbed underdog in the town of Ada, Oklahoma, who was convicted of a 1982 rape and murder of a waitress he had never met and was sentenced to death. After rounds of appeals and stays of execution (with one given only 5 days before he was due for the lethal injection), Ron's verdict was finally reversed and he was freed after spending 11 years on death row.

  Grisham gave a very detailed account of the background of the case, the investigation, the suspects, the arrest and subsequent trial proceedings. The investigation and prosecution took place in the 1980s, before the introduction of DNA testing in the 1990s. You will be appalled by how flimsy the evidence was. Ron was convicted purely on tainted circumstantial evidence, including a bogus witness identification and an inconclusive hair sample "match".

  Ron's appeals were consistently denied until his case landed on the desk of US District Court Judge Frank H. Seay, who noted glaring errors and flaws in Ron's trial. Although Ron was finally exonerated by the DNA testing and released, his harrowing experience had scarred him for life and he was never the same man again.

  This is a very sad story and the fact that it is real makes it more tragic. I am flabbergasted by the sleazy tactics used by the Ada police and DA office in framing Ron, the egregious errors made by the Oklahoma crime lab, the clumsy work of Ron's defence counsel, and the clouded judgement of the jury. Their incompetence and mistakes caused them to commit the greatest crime against humanity: sending an innocent man to death for a crime he did not commit.

  In particular, I cannot understand why "snitches" from the prison can act as witness and their statements can be admitted as evidence in court. A large part of the prosecutor's case against Ron was built on Ron's purported statements made to the snitches, i.e. fellow prison inmates who agreed to act as witness for the State in return for a shortened sentence of their own crime. How can these people be taken seriously and how can their witness' statements be admissible in court? Something is terribly wrong with the US legal system. I hope this is not happening anymore or else more innocent lives will be lost.

  I have been strongly against capital punishment since I was a little kid as I understand human beings do make errors and no system is flawless. If the wrongly convicted is kept in prison for life without parole rather than being sent to the gas chamber, the error can still be rectified and the verdict reversed. This book has confirmed my belief.

  Reading this book is a very emotional experience. Not only will you get first-class true crime writing, you will be moved by the unwavering faith and perseverance of all those who helped and supported Ron all these years, and in particular, Ron's sisters who stood by him through thick and thin and persistently clamoured for his innocence. It will give you a glimmer of hope that there are still good people in this world.

  Meticulously researched, this book should be read by everyone, be they a death penalty supporter or not. You will never look at the judicial system of democracy in the same way again.

  P.S. In the book, Ron was quoted as saying the following poignant words:
  "... I asked myself what was the reason for my birth when I was on death row, if I was going to have to go through all that, What was even the reason for my birth? I almost cursed my mother and dad - it was so bad - for putting me on this earth. If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't be born."
  You and I may have said something like this when we had a bad day, didn't feel good or got a bump in life. I now think that we don't have the right to say things like this as we are lucky enough not to have experienced what Ron had been through.

  Is this helpful?

  Tracy W said on Oct 1, 2007 about the Others edition | 1 feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  It made me cringe at the thought of so many people being locked away under false pretences as the US judicial system fails the weak and the poor. An excellent read as Mr Grisham's books always are .

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  Scorpy1 said on Jan 14, 2007 | Add your feedback

• Not my cup of tea. I was misled into expecting a novel about the rise and fall of a would-be baseball pro, but instead it's a nonfiction book about a gruesome murder and the legal ordeal that followed.

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  ary29 said on Dec 21, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

• 

  "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".

  This is a true story you need to know about!

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  W.S. said on Sep 20, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  though i commented it was so so... but this was the first books i picked up for JG. And then i started reading more about his books...

  The innocent man is a true story.

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  Wsu Yi said on Jun 25, 2009 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Scary

  This is a story about a miscarriage of justice, resulting in a mentally ill man being on death row for about 12 years for a crime he didn't commit.
  Scary for being true and very sad but also very moving.

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  Athene1710 said on Jun 30, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

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• English Books
• Hardcover 368 Pages
• Edition: 1
• ISBN-10: 1844137902
• ISBN-13: 9781844137909
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Pub date: Jan 01, 2006
• Dimensions: 1548 mm x 968 mm x 258 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Paperback, Audio CD and Others
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani, Nederlandse Boeken, Norske Bøker

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