For those who defend the death penalty, The Innocent Man is the book to read, for it is the true account of several innocent men wrongly accused in a small town where the justice system and the police work depend on personal beliefs and prejudices. The narrative, however, centers around one man, Ron Williamson, who was picked by the Oakland A’s of 1971 in a major league draft from Ada, Oklahoma.

While the hero is the pride of his town and his father, his brash and overconfident demeanor and his heavy drinking interferes with his becoming a big star, and for several years, he suffers, going from one minor league to another. After he loses his pitching arm, Williamson returns to Ada with several bad habits like drinking, drugs, and women. His irresponsible lifestyle, brashness, and probably underlying mental illness stops him from keeping a job or settling down.

When a 21-year-old waitress is raped and murdered, Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz are suspected by the police, specifically by the district attorney. After five years of so-called police work, they are arrested and charged with the murder of the waitress. As the result of botched-up evidence, wrong interpretation of the scientific data, and deficient public defenders, the trials resemble a circus and Williamson ends up getting the death penalty. After a long time on death row, he is cleared and set free, but Ron Williamson is a broken man.

understanding criminal justice and how it can fail an entire nation.

the way the author took an objective, careful look at the troubled justice and mental health systems.

the writing style maybe because I am used to this author's gripping fiction. With the exception of the first chapter, which reads like any other Grisham novel, the rest of the text is full of narratives, a long explanation of Williamson’s backstory, definitions of the judicial terms, and highly detailed discourses of the way the law works; therefore, at times, the story sounded only a step away from a law journal.

sympathy for Ron Williamson because he is, in his core, a good, decent man. I was also angered at the disrespect for human life and at the failing of our justice and mental health systems.

John Grisham was born in 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. After majoring in accounting at Mississippi State University, he graduated from law school and specialized in criminal defense. From 1983 to 1990, he served as a state representative. When his first novel A Time to Kill became a success, he turned to writing. Some of his novels eventually were made into movies.
His books are: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Brethren, The Summons, A Painted House, The Innocent Man, and Playing for Pizza.

it is persuasive and thought-provoking enough to leave a lasting impression with the reader, and also, for the understanding it brings to how the guiltless can be convicted and how the reparation and rehabilitation processes are made to fail after a convict is released from prison.

This story not only depicts a faulty justice system, but also, a failing mental health care for criminals or the indigent alike. Unless the death penalty is free from abuse and criminal justice is evenly and justly administered, many innocent people and our justice system will suffer.

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Created Nov 13, 2007 at 7:05pm • Submit your own review...