The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

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The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

by John Grisham

3.62 · rating details · 15,662 ratings · 2,249 reviews

In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the big leagues, Ron stumbled, his dream broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron's home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evide...more

Hardcover, 360 pages

Published November 14th 2006 by Doubleday (first published January 1st 2006)

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Dec 28, 2007

Daniel rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: The World!

I've enjoyed a few Grisham's in my day, and of course seen a few of the films... But this book is stunning, and it's his first non-fiction.

I myself practice criminal law, and of course if you asked me, I'd say there are bad cops out there, and bad prosecutors, and bad defense attorneys and bad judges, but I would not have imagined the devastating travesty that unfolds on these pages.

This is a story of small town justice going way south. It wasn't vigilante but it wasn't ...more

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Jun 06, 2010

babyhippoface rated it

Shelves: grown-up-stuff

If you're going to read this, don't stop there. Go online and read Bill Petersen's account as well. It's only fair. And after all, "fair" is what this book is all about, right?http://www.billpetersondistrictattorney.com/

The Innocent Man alternates between a compelling account of a murder investigation and a tedious account of a man's stupidity/petty criminal activity/insanity.

I had great respect for John Grisham until I read both this book and responses to the ...more

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Mar 31, 2009

Nenette rated it

· review of another edition

The pull of this story is the fact that it is not fiction. The book was tagged as something every American should read…..but this is not happening only across the USA. It is a very sad fact that applies globally. After I’ve read this, I am left with a couple of thoughts about law enforcement personnel who would go to extreme measures to solve a case even at the expense of prosecuting the non-guilty – can they really be that bad to the core, or are they just so much in a hurry to resolve a ca...more

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Dec 07, 2008

Trevor Poe rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone who like true stories

Recommended to Trevor by: My mother

Set in the quiet Bible Belt town of Ada, Oklahoma, The Innocent Man is a very well written novel about a man named Ronald Williamson, who was wrongly accused of a murder. Grisham describes the town perfectly when he says, “Had it not been for two notorious murders in the early 1980s, Ada would have gone unnoticed by the world.” In this book, the author, John Grisham, takes you through all of the details of the murder and explains why Ron Williamson was wrongly accused.

Ron Will...more
Set in the quiet Bible Belt town of Ada, Oklahoma, The Innocent Man is a very well written novel about a man named Ronald Williamson, who was wrongly accused of a murder. Grisham describes the town perfectly when he says, “Had it not been for two notorious murders in the early 1980s, Ada would have gone unnoticed by the world.” In this book, the author, John Grisham, takes you through all of the details of the murder and explains why Ron Williamson was wrongly accused.

Ron Williamson lived in Ada, Oklahoma, where, as a young boy, he fell in love with the sport of baseball. In high school, he was on the all-state baseball team. He also had a friend on the baseball team named Bruce Leba who got Ron into drinking. After high school, Ron had many failed attempts at the pros after playing many seasons with the New York Yankee minor league team.

Living back in Ada, Oklahoma, Ron’s obsession of playing professional baseball led to depression, and he was soon diagnosed with a mental illness called bipolar disorder. His lifestyle became precarious and irresponsible. Grisham says, “Ron went bar hopping trying to take home a different girl every night.” This got him accused of numerous rapes by numerous girls. He then started bar hopping with a man named Dennis Fritz. One of their favorite bars to go to was the Coachlight.

Dennis Fritz lived in Ada with his daughter. He became friends with Ron and quickly began bar hopping with him. After a fight one night in which neither could remember what it was about, Dennis left Ada and went to live with his mom in Kansas City. In Kansas City he kept busy by painting houses. His friendship with Ron was just a memory until they were arrested for the murder of Debra Sue Carter.

One night at the coachlight when Ron and Dennis were not there, a girl named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered after being seen with Glen Gore. On very little evidence, Ron and Dennis were taken in as prime suspects. On trial with lying witnesses and corrupted evidence, Ron and Dennis were prosecuted with little help to defend them.

The main theme of this book is that there are many flaws in our justice system and those flaws can lead to injustice that destroys many lives. Grisham makes the reader really think about our justice system and how it can be corrupted.
The strength of this book is that is was told with many detailed facts of the murder case. It also shows how unfair and poor the police system is in Ada, Oklahoma. It makes one wonder just how many other incompetent police forces exist throughout our country.

The weakness of this book is that it was not very exciting or mysterious. You pretty much know from the beginning what is going to happen at the end of the book. I did not like this book because I like books with a lot of suspense and excitement in them, and this book had neither.

Page Count: 435

Genre: Non-Fiction(less)

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Mar 05, 2009

Karen & Gerard rated it

Shelves: grisham, survival, suspense, thought-provoking

This is a very disturbing nonfiction book about our judicial system, a heinous crime and a wasted life. It showed how several innocent men were convicted of murder and that in reality, one is really guilty until proven innocent rather than the other way around. It is a very sad documentary about a talented high school athlete who really ruined his life with drinking, drugs and got framed for murder, and developed mental and physical illness. It's unbelievable how these innocent men spent 12 year...more

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Apr 12, 2008

Steve rated it

Great book ... well, I like all the book by Grisham. "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." All we need is a few more good men and women in America. :-)

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Aug 15, 2008

Bonnie rated it

Shelves: reviewed-books

I preferred this (and Time to Kill) because he deviated from his usual "prescriptive" writing.

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May 27, 2011

booklady rated it

Recommended to booklady by: Joyce Hopper

Shelves: 2009, biography, books-on-books, history, non-fiction, crime

Originally I wanted to give this book five stars for its readability, research and relevance. My primary reservation was the overall disturbing nature of the book. It's about an horrendous travesty of justice in my own state against two innocent men which explored the all-too common occurance of incarceration and even execution of those who never had anything to do with the crime(s) in question.

Upon doing a little more research, I discovered that the author Mr. Grisham, may not hav...moreOriginally I wanted to give this book five stars for its readability, research and relevance. My primary reservation was the overall disturbing nature of the book. It's about an horrendous travesty of justice in my own state against two innocent men which explored the all-too common occurance of incarceration and even execution of those who never had anything to do with the crime(s) in question.

Upon doing a little more research, I discovered that the author Mr. Grisham, may not have not done the sterling job I thought he did in researching and presenting the facts in this case. Or perhaps, I should say, he did his research very well, but he let his own personal agenda carry him away at times in how he presented those facts--that agenda being that corrupt officials allow themselves to be pressured into putting the innocent behind bars.

In this book, Mr. Grisham seems bent on creating a classic villian out of the prosecutor, Bill Peterson. After finishing the book, I happened upon Mr. Peterson's view of the situation which offers a different perspective on Grisham's protrayal of events in his book. According to Peterson, The Innocent Man isn't non-fiction because Grisham failed to portray Peterson's side of the story, leaves out critical information and 'compromised (the truth) in favor of dramatic license'. Reading just some of what Peterson says at his website, I'm inclined to agree with him.

That Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz deserved and were denied justice, I have no doubt. That the events unfolded quite as they are portrayed by Grisham, I have more than a few.

=========================================

Heard John Grisham speak about The Innocent Man Murder and Injustice in a Small Town on the 13th of October 2009 at Oklahoma City University School of Law. The book itself concerns the wrongful conviction of two men in Ada, OK but in Mr. Grisham's address he said that wrong arrests and executions are a national phenomenon and problem.

It was a worthwhile event which not included a fascinating talk by the noted author but also selections from the play, The Exonerated A Play. (less)

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Jun 18, 2008

Karen rated it

This book is a change from John Grisham's normal books, it is the account of a true event that was lived by the people in a small town in Oklahoma.
The characters in this book were wonderful, interesting, multi-layered and very engaging or very horrible. The fact that these are real people not fictional characters makes them even more interesting.
Two women within a very short time were murdered in this small town, the main goal of the police and D.A. was to find someone to blam...more

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Jan 20, 2008

Basham! rated it

I wasn't going to put this book here because, well, it's Grisham and I'm just reading it for class. Still, for those unfamiliar with the criminal justice system, who despise public defenders, or take their liberty for granted, this book is a good introduction.

Early in his book, Grisham relates a 1909 incident from the “colorful” history of the small Oklahoma town of Ada (the main setting in the book). It is striking story of vigilante action triggered by the murder of a local farme...moreI wasn't going to put this book here because, well, it's Grisham and I'm just reading it for class. Still, for those unfamiliar with the criminal justice system, who despise public defenders, or take their liberty for granted, this book is a good introduction.

Early in his book, Grisham relates a 1909 incident from the “colorful” history of the small Oklahoma town of Ada (the main setting in the book). It is striking story of vigilante action triggered by the murder of a local farmer. Four men are dragged out of jail, punished without the protections of a fair trial, and the local government reprints a picture of the lynching on a postcard. With this, Grisham then points to a modern “lynching” attempt by focusing mainly on one man, Ron Williamson, who came to suffer the injustice of being wrongfully convicted.
This book is about the conviction and exoneration of Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz (convicted as an accomplice) in a small town in the United States. In 1988, Williamson was convicted of murdering a young woman despite the astonishing lack of evidence. Williamson was a local baseball prodigy that never progressed beyond the minor leagues. Over time, this failure pushed Williamson further into alcoholism and mental illness, leading to strange behavior that did not go unnoticed by the locals of Ada. When it was time to find the murderer of a young waitress in town, many of the townspeople pointed to Williamson as the prime suspect.
From the beginning, it is clear that the title of the book, The Innocent Man, is not meant ironically. The mystery of this book is how people like Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz can be convicted of a murder where there is a such scant evidence while a more obvious suspect is left uninvestigated. The research involved, as to be expected from a writer of Grisham’s best-selling status, is not statistical or very academically thorough but anecdotal.
Grisham is not objective. Bill Peterson, the Ada District Attorney, is arrogant and shameless and the local cops are corrupt and narrow-minded. To the extent that Grisham solves the mystery, so to speak, he does briefly get into the unreliability of other police practices, such as, lie-detector tests and hair samples. Unfortunately, Grisham barely scratches the surface in explaining how such injustices can come about, even anecdotally. (He spends an inordinate amount of time recounting Williamson’s baseball “career,” for example).
This book conjures the common refrain that the basis of the U.S. criminal justice system is that it is better to let a guilty person go free than to put an innocent man in prison. The system is replete with safeguards to remove the accused from such horrors as lynching where local townspeople succumb to little more than personal prejudices, strong emotions, and violent tendencies. Grisham has written about how the system has truly failed. It is unlikely that there is a person who does not recognize the flaws of our adversarial and impersonal legal system. The criminal justice system is an institution like any other that can never escape the vagaries of human logic and prejudice. Where the injustice is so flagrant, however, as Grisham demonstrates (by both showing and, in a common literary faux pas, repeatedly telling the reader), everyone should take notice. The case of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, exonerated by the fortuitous introduction of DNA technology and an excellent team of defense lawyers, begs the question: how could this happen in the modern America? Even worse, how many others remain in prison as a result of wrongful convictions? It is unlikely that an unremarkable town like Ada, which Grisham notes is much like any small town in America, is alone in its broken criminal justice system.

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Jan 01, 2008

Kate rated it

Shelves: non-fiction, books-i-own, true-crime, favorite-writers

Grisham's first foray into the world of true crime/non-fiction writing is a stunner. Literally, we could not stop reading it. The book is the story of a mentally ill young man in Oklahoma who is accused and convicted of a murder he did not commit. There is no doubt from the first that he and his friend are innocent, but due to inept defense lawyers, crooked prosecutors and investigators, and a skewed system of justice, two men are convicted of the murder and sent to prison. Ron Williamson awaits...more

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Mar 28, 2009

Luann rated it

Shelves: 2009, adult, nonfiction, shelf-a-thon1

John Grisham's nonfiction book of "murder and injustice in a small town" is well written, well researched, and completely engrossing. It's hard to believe that so many could be wrongly convicted of such heinous crimes, yet the evidence is there that it has happened. Scary. The hope is that we will learn from past mistakes and not allow things like this to happen so easily to innocent people.

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Nov 21, 2008

Rebecca rated it

I preface this review by saying that John Grisham is one of my favorite authors of all time. Despite that, this was possible the worst book I have ever forced myself to finish. I finished it only because it was a Grisham novel, but it was downright awful. It is my understanding that this was Grisham’s first non-fiction book. It is his research and retelling of a man who is wrongly convicted of murder and put on death row. The book reads like a poorly written legal memo with insane amounts o...more

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Nov 10, 2008

Elly Brekke rated it

Recommends it for: Sarah and Suzanne

Sarah, read this book ! ! This is Grisham's first work of non-fiction, and what a grabber it is. Ada, Oklahoma - small town - wrongful murder convictions. Grisham lays out the life of a young boy with a bright future, who develops a mental illness, complete with drug and alcohol abuse. He's the town crazy, so he gets nailed when the police are out to put someone in jail for a horrific rape and murder of a young resident. You won't believe what happens to the young man, and several others lik...more

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Apr 18, 2010

The Writer added it

This novel was gripping albeit the long narration here and there – and that until I reached the middle part of the book where they put few pages of photographs of the “characters” in the novel. That’s when I knew that this wasn’t a fiction after all – and that the story is real and that it actually happened to someone.

…..and then the novel or the book – whatever you might call it – influenced me even more the further I went reading. How could someone be exposed to such injustice that...moreThis novel was gripping albeit the long narration here and there – and that until I reached the middle part of the book where they put few pages of photographs of the “characters” in the novel. That’s when I knew that this wasn’t a fiction after all – and that the story is real and that it actually happened to someone.

…..and then the novel or the book – whatever you might call it – influenced me even more the further I went reading. How could someone be exposed to such injustice that nobody ever thought of questioning it. Sure, justice is blind, here it’s even blinder.

The story started with the murder (and brutal rape) of a young woman named Debbie Carter in a sleepy town called Ada in Oklahoma. Everyone – who saw her that night – witnessed few times that she was seen talking with a local boy called Glen Gore and was repeatedly seen angry at the boy.

However, when she was found murdered the next morning, nobody ever thought of pointing their fingers at him. You might ask the big question. Why? Every men in the vicinity of the bar where she worked – were requested to submit semen and hair sample but Gore wasn’t – until three years later.

The suspicion fell into the lap of Ada’s former baseball star-cum-no-good-of-a-man Ron Williamson. Suffering from post-star syndrome, his mental condition was unstable and his excessive drinking didn’t help his reputation of snatching local women from different bars. He had been charged of rape / attempt of rape twice before although he wasn’t convicted.

With Williamson under the spotlight, his former drinking buddy Dennis Fritz was also dragged into the picture. The former school teacher – who had been through tragedy when he found out his wife murdered in the porch – must once again experience the nightmare with long hours in the court to prove his innocence.

Needles to say the investigation and the trials were misled and soon enough Williamson were handcuffed and dragged into death row cells – where his mental instability affected him even worse.

This book – like I said – is gripping. You wouldn’t be able to imagine how these people would have felt locked inside for something that they never did. Williamson and Fritz were finally released 11 (?) years after being locked in prison thanks to the DNA investigation system that was non-existent before the 1990s.

It is indeed an eye opening book – to see through the flaws of American judicial system and what has probably happened throughout the years, before DNA testing technology came into the picture. How many innocent people have been executed? We never know!(less)

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Apr 01, 2009

Roshea rated it

Shelves: legal-non-fiction

This is John Grisham's first and only non-fiction book. It is about the injustice experienced by Ron Williamson who was wrongly convicted of murder and consequently spent 11 years on Oklahoma's death row before advances in DNA technology proved him innocent. This book highlights the flaws in America's death penalty laws. Grisham meticulously documents the harrowing and deplorable treatment experienced by death row inmates by cruel and sadistic prison guards. This book invoked a lot of anger and ...more

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Feb 15, 2009

Stephen rated it

I usually don't like these kind of books. I started reading it because I was bored. I finished it in one day.

The book is about a man Roy Williamson. He was a small town boy who had high asperations. He was drafted into the MLB, and had hope to make the majors one day. Life through him some curveballs and he flamed out of baseball. He then dedicated his life to drinking and drugs.

This is not what kept me reading. What ket me drawn was that he was wrongly convicted for a l...more

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Jan 10, 2009

Antof9 rated it

Shelves: 2009-read, americana, couldn-t-put-it-down, mysterious

Having just finished Martin Chuzzlewit, which took forever, I wanted to read something I knew would go quickly. This was just the ticket! As fast-paced as his fiction, with a little bit less intrigue, this was really interesting.

I suppose any "true crime" story will always be compared to In Cold Blood, and I'm doing it, too. However, where ICB knows what happened and follows the killers from day one to the bitter end, this one follows the unjustly accused, and the crime ...more

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Dec 06, 2008

Janie rated it

This book is a departure from Grisham’s usual fare. For one thing, it’s non-fiction. Also, the style is more direct. He sticks to the bare facts, which in themselves are shocking.
Ron Williamson was falsely accused and sentenced to death for a woman’s murder in Ada, OK in 1981. A man with serious mental illness made much worse by isolation and incarceration, he spent 11 years on death row, protesting his innocence the whole time. The police had nothing but circumstantial evidence, hair samp...more

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Jan 06, 2012

Jennifer Perdue rated it

I think one of the things I missed most about this book was the John Grisham charm. He still added his touches to the story, but you could tell it wasn't his story.

Still, I am shocked and saddened at what happened in this story. Not only the inhumane treatment that Ron suffered at the hands of the guards at McAlester, but just in general that he and Dennis sat in jail and on Death Row for almost twelve years before they were proven innocent. I was outraged everytime I saw Bill Peterso...moreI think one of the things I missed most about this book was the John Grisham charm. He still added his touches to the story, but you could tell it wasn't his story.

Still, I am shocked and saddened at what happened in this story. Not only the inhumane treatment that Ron suffered at the hands of the guards at McAlester, but just in general that he and Dennis sat in jail and on Death Row for almost twelve years before they were proven innocent. I was outraged everytime I saw Bill Peterson's name, knowing that he surely had screwed something else up. I can't believe he's still the District Attorney in Ada! I was shocked everytime Judge Jones made yet another bad ruling. From not pointing out that maybe Ron wasn't mentally competent, all the way to the ridiculous ruling he made on the Brady issue. What a disaster! And then for two Appeals Courts to uphold the death sentence was incredible. What pleadings where they reading? Obviously not the same ones as Judge Seay's office, since they saw the incredible injustice.

I am glad that Greg Wilhoit got back on his feet, as did Dennis Fritz. It saddened me to hear that Ron never really found his way after baseball. And I am still deeply disturbed by the fact that Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot are still serving life prisons as I sit here typing this. The entire story, I was actually more caught up in their ordeal and though John Grisham said early on that when Tommy went into the police station for his lie detector test, it was the last time he'd be a free man, I still read the entire story thinking that must have been a typo. Surely he and Karl would be freed as well. :( That whole town appears to be a disaster. I know it's not just Ada, it's just that this time they had the spotlight on them. Bill Peterson surely isn't helping matters. His name alone makes me angry.

I still can't believe how many people still believed that Ron and Dennis were guilty even when DNA evidence proved their innocence. Some people are so set in their ways that they can't look at the obvious. I hope in today's time, with DNA being used so often, that they now know how definite the proof is, and that they know finally that these two are innocent. Of course Peterson ranting and raving about how they were still suspects surely make it harder for the townspeople to believe that they were innocent. I look at that photo of Ron and Dennis when they were set free, and indeed you can see the hatred and the anger in the faces of the people in the courtroom. It's very sad.

Overall, a good book, one worth reading, though I thought it was a little slow moving. Too much time spent on Ron and Dennis' lives growing up and not enough time spent on the trial. And hears hoping one day by some miracle, Ward and Fontenot are released.(less)

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Dec 03, 2011

Annette Prall rated it

This book is a gripper. But please, please, please, do not read it without committing to follow it up by reading the rebuttal by the main antagonist as has been suggested by another reviewer:

http://www.billpetersondistrictattorney....

This book should not be classified as non-fiction. Grisham is an amazing novelist, but apparently failed to do thorough research for this book. Grisham's anti-death penalty agenda is obvious. However, I couldn't help but note the irony tha...more

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Oct 28, 2011

Chrissy rated it

The book is well written and hard to believe it is non-fiction. The story shows gross misconduct with the sloppy police work, lazy judges and lawyers that just didn't give a damn about the innocent men. It seems they were all quick to point fingers and speed an unfair trail along so that they could put someone behind bars and send the "guilty" to death.

One could never imagine a worse hell than what the victim had to go through before being killed and their faimly of having ...more

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Oct 13, 2011

Collin Orril rated it

I really like this book, and it shows many point of views as well. This setting of this book is in Oklahoma around the year 1981. The main plot of this novel is a woman named Debbie Carter is brutally murdered in her apartment, and two are men are suspected of doing this. The two men that are being accused of murder is a baseball player for the Oakland A's named Ron Williamson and his buddy Dennis Fritz. Ron Williamson has played baseball all of his life and when he got hurt he went b...more I really like this book, and it shows many point of views as well. This setting of this book is in Oklahoma around the year 1981. The main plot of this novel is a woman named Debbie Carter is brutally murdered in her apartment, and two are men are suspected of doing this. The two men that are being accused of murder is a baseball player for the Oakland A's named Ron Williamson and his buddy Dennis Fritz. Ron Williamson has played baseball all of his life and when he got hurt he went back to his hometown and started getting drunk and aggressive.
The characters in this novel are, Debbie Carter, Ron Williamson, Dennis Fritz, Glen Gore, the family of Debbie Carter, and the Police. Ron Williamson just got out of a short jail sentence and I guess he was looking for someone to take his anger out on, so he picked Debbie. Dennis Fritz was an accomplice to Ron and helped him rape, and kill Debbie. When the Police had went to the crime scene the day after the murder they found that Debbie was not just raped and murdered but, the found rope marks on her and a rag shoved down her throat at least 6 inches. So, the men who did this were very brutal and aggressive.
In the crime scene, the police found writings on the wall that were made in lipstick and fingernail polish. The writings had names on them and had threatening details. Some of the writings said that people are going to next if they come for them. The apartment that Debbie Carter lived in was now a pile of trash. Her apartment had all kinds of things thrown across the room and things were out of order, broken glass, plates, and cups were all destroyed. Debbie's Aunt was the one who cleaned most of the mess up and helped the police with the crime scene.
Meanwhile, at the court hearing, the judge found out that they found some of Dennis Fritz's hair was at the crime scene and his blood was found inside of Debbie Carter. He also committed perjury and the judge did not give him the death penalty but gave him life in prison. On the other hand, Ron Williamson was still the primary suspect. Ron had many trials during a 5 year dispute and nobody could get enough evidence. Eventually, the technology got better and the forensic scientists found traces of Ron's semen on Debbie Carter and at the crime scene. Ron was sent to his last trial, where the judge granted him the death penalty.
In conclusion, I think people should just be honest about what they do and how they do it. If you make a mistake, whether it is good or bad, you have to face the consequence. If Ron Williamson knew he raped and murdered Debbie Carter, he should have confessed. A lot of time has passed between the murder and the execution and we finally have a result.
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Sep 14, 2011

Cj W rated it

Shelves: non-fiction, murder-mystery

Innocent until proven guilty.

This is what the American court system is all about.

The promise of justice, the upholding of the judicial system, to right wrongs, to convict and sentence those who hurt others.

This could never be wrong. Innocent people will be proven innocent, after all, that is what everyone wants right? To find the right person the committed the crime and to make them pay. Right?

Wrong.

This is the first non-fiction no...more

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Sep 14, 2011

Kw rated it

The (still) district attorney in Ada, OK has mounted a huge defensive blog, but I am still convinced that he exhibited incredible arrogance and a total disregard for the flimsiness of his
"evidence" in prosecuting Ron Williamson in this sad tale of a life gone out of control.
Williamson had a myriad of problems - mental illness, drug and alcohol issues, unrealized ambitions regarding professional baseball, and more, but his pleas of innocence were completely ignored, and that...more

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Sep 08, 2011

Amanda rated it

I'll be honest: it took a while to get into this book. I got bored with all the back story and put it up for a while until I had nothing else to read. Then, someone came into my work a few days ago.. we were talking about Ada, where I went to school, and somehow this story came up. He told me he knew Ron Williamson, one of the two main victims in this book, and his view - and I knew I had to finish it. Once I saw it from another view, it was much more entertaining.

This is the true stor...more

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Aug 21, 2011

Kjrstin rated it

"In 1982, a twenty-one-year old cocktail waitress in Ada, OK named Debra Carter was reaped and murdered, and for reasons that were never clear the police suspected Ron Williamson and his friends Dennis Friz. The two were arrested and charged with capital murder.

The prosecution's case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilt and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.

I...more

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Aug 03, 2011

James Korsmo rated it

Grisham's latest legal thriller, The Innocent Man, is a work of non-fiction. In it, Grisham brings to life the story of Ron Williamson, a troubled young baseball star who is convicted for the brutal rape and murder in Ada, Oklahoma. Grisham follows this true story of a brutal rape and murder in a small town. Progress on the investigation is slow, but finally, after a couple years, suspicion comes to rest on two men, Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz, and they are arrested for the murder...moreGrisham's latest legal thriller, The Innocent Man, is a work of non-fiction. In it, Grisham brings to life the story of Ron Williamson, a troubled young baseball star who is convicted for the brutal rape and murder in Ada, Oklahoma. Grisham follows this true story of a brutal rape and murder in a small town. Progress on the investigation is slow, but finally, after a couple years, suspicion comes to rest on two men, Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz, and they are arrested for the murder. And after a closely-watched trial, are convicted, and Ron is sentenced to death. Meanwhile, the killer, whose name was in the police record from the first night, still hasn't even been interviewed by the police.

It is sometimes said that truth is stranger than fiction, and this book illustrates it. One would continually get the feeling that Grisham was stretching things too far--police wouldn't be so misguided; one person's life couldn't be so tragic--except that it is true. The crime scene investigator exhumes the victim's body a couple of years after her death to try a new match with a bloody palm print found at the scene. The first time it was compared with the victim, shortly after her death, it was ruled that it couldn't be hers. But after a couple years, the examiner decides that the smudged palm print does in fact match with the print of the exhumed body (meaning it's not the print of a suspect, which is significant since it doesn't match up with any of their suspects, including Ron or Dennis), and go on to arrest their two suspects. The miscarriage of justice continues throughout the trial phase, with hearsay and supposition leading to conviction and death sentence.

Only after many years in jail, and a very perceptive legal clerk and justice finally noticing the weakness of the case as it makes its way through the mandatory appeals process does the truth come out. And Ron, a man who has lived for years in horrible conditions on death row, is finally freed.

Grisham's book is a good one, and it can favorably stand up to comparison with is fiction. But it also raises some important questions. First, Ron wasn't able to afford the quality of defense that could counter the resources of the prosecution, especially when it came to expert witnesses and forensic evidence, so how does our legal system ensure a fair trial. Second, what do we do with people who are innocent but convicted? And, even more importantly, how do we insure that innocent people don't end up on death row (at this same time another pair from the same town ended up on death row while also innocent of their crimes)? It's some good food for thought about the death penalty itself . . . what is the price for killing innocent people? Is it too high for the state and for our society?

The Innocent Man is a great read, detailing a dramatic and often painful miscarriage of justice in a small town. It raises great issues and also helps get into the life of one troubled man in a troubled town.(less)

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Jul 26, 2011

Patti from Charlotte added it

There is no doubt that John Grisham is a powerful author whose numerous fictitious novels probe deeply into complex relationships and legal matters. This work of non-fiction, "The Innocent Man," certainly fits his standard style very well, because, as he noted in the postscript, "not in (his) most creative moment could (he) conjure up a story as rich and as layered" as this one. Ron Williamson, a future baseball star from Ada, Oklahoma, had the same high hopes that his fami...more

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May 13, 2011

Kirby added it

Ok, I have now just finished the book, The Innocent Man. It was a great story of how a little town man got caught up in something, even a big town man couldn't fight. Now since there was so many details i'll just briefly summarize it. Ron a small town kid was bound for the big leagues. But through high school he had some speed bumps, but he made it. Then once in the big leagues Ron had trouble and after his fourth season had to call it quits since he got cut. Then once back in Ada, hometown, he ...more

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About John Grisham

"Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel.

Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a ...more"Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby—writing his first novel.

Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn't have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.

One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.

That might have put an end to Grisham's hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career—and spark one of publishing's greatest success stories. The day after Grisham completed A Time to Kill, he began work on another novel, the story of a hotshot young attorney lured to an apparently perfect law firm that was not what it appeared. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.

The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham's reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham's success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller.

Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, and The Broker) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 225 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man. The Innocent Man (October 2006) marks his first foray into non-fiction.

Grisham lives with his wife Renee and their two children Ty and Shea. The family splits their time between their Victorian home on a farm in Mississippi and a plantation near Charlottesville, VA.

Grisham took time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return, after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honoring a commitment made before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer: representing the family of a railroad brakeman killed when he was pinned between two cars. Preparing his case with the same passion and dedication as his books' protagonists, Grisham successfully argued his clients' case, earning them a jur(less)

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