John Grisham's first work of non-fiction, an exploration of
small town justice gone terribly awry, in 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 20 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 jaihouse 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.

Ronald Keith Williamson's early life appeared charmed. A successful school and college baseball player, he seemed to have a world of opportunity at his feet. But, after injury put paid to his sporting career, he slowly began to show signs of mental illness, and drifted into a life of petty crime and misdemeanour. When in 1982 a local girl was found raped and murdered, he was in prison serving time for kiting cheques. Whilst there, another prisoner, looking for release, alleged he had overheard him confessing to the killing, and Williamson was arrested for the crime. What followed was one of the most appalling cases of a miscarriage of justice America has ever seen. From the point of his arrest, Williamson was taunted by prison guards who held back the medicines he was prescribed to control his psychiatric problems, meaning that when it came to trial he was distressed and not lucid. At the trial itself he was never given fair representation - his lawyer was not only blind, but had also never handled a criminal case before, and never entered a plea on Williamson's behalf, that he was not fit to stand trial. Williamson was found guilty, and sentenced to death.

Despite many appeals, he was final given a date for his execution - Sept 24th 1994. It was only due to the last minute intervention by a group of appellate lawyers working on his behalf, who sought a writ from the district court judge, that he was given a stay of execution of five days. Here, for the first time, Grisham delves into this story, tracing the man, the case and the trial, and showing how, thanks to this team of dedicated legal professionals, the real truth about the case came to light. Evidence surfaced to completely exonerate Williamson, and he was freed in April 1999. He later won a settlement in court for his conviction, but sadly passed away last year.

Murder and injustice in a Small Town

Reader biography:
Dennis Boutsikaris received an Obie Award for his performance in Sight
Unseen and was Mozart in Amadeus on Broadway. His films include *batteries
not included, The Dream Team and Boys on the Side. He has starred in many
television movies and mini-series, including And Then There Was One, The
Last Don and Chasing the Dragon and was most recently in Sidney Lumet's 100
Centre Street.

2008-08-07 UNBELIEVABLE !!!

This is the first book by John Grisham that I have read.

I found the US legal jargon hard to follow and there were so many names mentioned, and who was related to who, and who was involved with who, and who was making up lies...

Had this been a film or a fictional book, I would have said it was too far fetched!!

The story was tragic, infuriating and beyond belief at some points.

I thorougly enjoyed the book, but as the story was based on real people, it left me with a tinge of sadness.