The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham (English)

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Grisham's first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet. Those who believe in "innocent until proven guilty" or that the criminal justice system is fair will be shocked and infuriated.

FORMATHardcover LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES • "Both an American tragedy and [Grisham's] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true."—Entertainment WeeklyJohn Grisham's first work of nonfiction: a true crime masterpiece that tells the story of small town justice gone terribly awry.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. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.In 1982, a twenty-one-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 jailhouse 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.Don't miss Framed, John Grisham's first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, co-authored with Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey.

Author Biography

John Grisham is the author of numerous #1 bestsellers, including The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Innocent Man, The Whistler, The Boys from Biloxi, and many more. His books have been translated into nearly fifty languages. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction. Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system. He lives on a farm in central Virginia.

Review

"A gritty, harrowing, true-crime story."—Time"A triumph."—Seattle Times "Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his best-selling fiction."—Boston Globe"Grisham's pared-down prose and matter-of-fact voice make for tense reading."—People"Skillfully told . . . An important book."—Atlanta Journal-Constitution"Meticulously researched . . . a compelling narrative."—Entertainment Weekly"John Grisham's latest book has the usual touches fans have come to expect from the master of the legal thriller: suspense, shock, even a wrongful conviction and near execution. But this time, the tale is true."—Associated Press

Review Quote

"A gritty, harrowing, true-crime story." -Time "A triumph." -Seattle Times "Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his best-selling fiction." -Boston Globe From the Paperback edition.

Description for Reading Group Guide

The Innocent Man unfolds with the taut suspense, intriguing characters, and vivid scenes that have made John Grisham one of the most widely read novelists in America. But this time, he's reporting on actual eventsand a courtroom drama that results in a real-life nightmare for all the wrong people. Sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit, Ron Williamson experienced a flagrant miscarriage of justice so regrettably common in criminal prosecutions across the country. His story will leave you hungering for answers; whether you read it with a group of friends or as part of a forum, The Innocent Man is not a book you will want to keep to yourself. This guide is designed to enhance your discussion of Ron Williamson's story, furthering the conversation begun by John Grisham. We hope it will enhance your experience of this chilling walk with the accused.

Discussion Question for Reading Group Guide

1. What were your initial impressions of Ron Williamson? How did your attitudes toward him shift throughout The Innocent Man ? 2. Discuss the setting of Ada, Oklahoma, as if it were one of the characters in the book. What were your opinions as Grisham described Ada's landscapea vibrant small town dotted with relics of a long-gone oil boomand the region's history of Wild West justice? 3. In your opinion, why was Glen Gore overlooked as a suspect? Were mistakes made as a result of media pressure to find justice for Debbie Carter and her family? How did Dennis Fritz's knowledge of the drug scandal affect the manhunt? Was injustice in Ada simply due to arrogance? 4. How was Dennis different from Ron? Why didn't Dennis confess, while Tommy Ward and Karl Fotenot did? Did refusing to confess help Dennis in the long run? 5. As you read about the court proceedings, what reactions did you have to the trial-by-jury process? Have you served on a jury, or been a defendant before a jury? If so, how did your experience compare to the one described in The Innocent Man ? 6. What are the most significant factors in getting a fair trial, or an intelligent investigation? Does personality matter more than logic in our judicial system? How would you have voted if you had heard the cases against Ron and Dennis? 7. How does new crime-lab technology make you feel about the history of convictions in America? What might future generations use to replace lie-detector tests or fingerprint databases? What are the limitations of technology in solving crimes? 8. How did the early 1980s time period affect the way Debbie's last day unfolded, and the way her killer was hunted? Would a small-town woman be less likely to trust a Glen Gore today than twenty-five years ago? Were Ron's high-rolling days in Tulsa spurred by a culture of experimentation and excess? 9. How did the descriptions of Oklahoma's death row compare to what you had previously believed? What distinctions in treatment should be made between death-row inmates and the rest of the prison population? 10. What is the status of the death penalty in the state where you live? What have you discovered about the death penalty as a result of reading The Innocent Man ? 11. In his author's note, Grisham says that he discovered the Ada saga while reading Ron's obituary. What research did he draw on in creating a portrait of this man he never knew? In what ways does The Innocent Man read like a novel? What elements keep the storytelling realistic? 12. Discuss the aftermath of Ron's and Dennis's exoneration. How did you balance your reaction to the triumph of Ron's large cash settlement (a rare victory in such civil suits) and the fact that it would have to be paid for by local taxpayers? 13. The Dreams of Ada (back in print from Broadway Books) figures prominently in Ron's experience, though the men convicted in that murder are still behind bars. What is the role of journalists in ensuring public safety? Why are they sometimes able to uncover truths that law enforcement officials don't see? 14. Grisham is an avid baseball fan. How did his descriptions of Ron playing baseball serve as a metaphor for Ron's rise and fall, and his release? 15. To what extent do you believe mental health should be a factor in determining someone's competence to stand trial, or in determining guilt or innocence? 16. In his author's note, Grisham writes, "Ada is a nice town, and the obvious question is: When will the good guys clean house?" What are the implications of this question for communities far beyond Ada? What can you do to help "clean house" in America's judicial system?

Excerpt from Book

Chapter 1 The rolling hills of southeast Oklahoma stretch from Norman across to Arkansas and show little evidence of the vast deposits of crude oil that were once beneath them. Some old rigs dot the countryside; the active ones churn on, pumping out a few gallons with each slow turn and prompting a passerby to ask if the effort is really worth it. Many have simply given up, and sit motionless amid the fields as corroding reminders of the glory days of gushers and wildcatters and instant fortunes. There are rigs scattered through the farmland around Ada, an old oil town of sixteen thousand with a college and a county courthouse. The rigs are idle, thoughthe oil is gone. Money is now made in Ada by the hour in factories and feed mills and on pecan farms. Downtown Ada is a busy place. There are no empty or boarded-up buildings on Main Street. The merchants survive, though much of their business has moved to the edge of town. The caf

Details ISBN0385517238 Author John Grisham Short Title INNOCENT MAN Pages 368 Language English ISBN-10 0385517238 ISBN-13 9780385517232 Media Book Format Hardcover Illustrations Yes Year 2006 Residence MS, US Birth 1955 Subtitle Murder and Injustice in a Small Town DOI 10.1604/9780385517232 Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2006-10-10 NZ Release Date 2006-10-10 US Release Date 2006-10-10 UK Release Date 2006-10-10 Place of Publication New York Publisher Random House USA Inc Publication Date 2006-10-10 Imprint Doubleday & Co Inc. DEWEY 345.76602523 Audience General We've got this

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