The Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction

Some wrongful convictions occur despite the noble intentions of everybody involved.  Unfortunately, others occur because of misconduct by police or prosecutors more interested in closing a case than in their sworn duty to justice.

If you have never studied the anatomy of a wrongful conviction, you might feel shock at the illogic involved, the failures by those in authority to heed warning signs.  Perhaps the best way for an armchair observer to grasp the enormity of the misconduct is to study book-length accounts written by knowledgeable authors.

By far the biggest-selling, most accessible account is the book “The Innocent Man” by John Grisham.  He examines a murder in Ada, Oklahoma, that led to the wrongful convictions of two men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz.  Normally, I would advertise wrongful conviction case books by lesser-known authors, and I will mention some of those books in the future. Instead, I am publicizing a book by an author who needs no further acclaim or income.  Grisham has earned lots of money by writing mystery novels, some of which have become Hollywood movies.

I mention his book partly because of the aforementioned accessibility–you can find it in hardcover, trade paperback and pocket paperback versions.  You can find it used, you can find it online, as well as in bricks-and-mortar shops selling mostly new books.  I also don’t begrudge Grisham any of his earnings.  He is exceedingly generous with his wealth, including donations to the Midwestern Innocence Project that I help direct as a volunteer.

If you have never studied a wrongful conviction in-depth, you will quite likely be shocked at what you read between the covers of “The Innocent Man.”  You might even think you have picked up the newest Grisham novel.  But you haven’t.  Nothing is made up in Grisham’s account.