Books*Reviews*Etc: TESTIMONIES OF THE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED

Anatomy of Innocence

TESTIMONIES OF THE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED

Number: 9781631490880
Release: February 21, 2017
Author: Anthology
Availability: Print-Book
Genre: Suspense
Tags: Biographies & Memoirs, * Susp: Action / Thriller
Publisher: Liveright

Recalling the great muckrakers of the past, an outraged team of America’s best-selling writers unite to confront the disasters of wrongful convictions. Long thought to be statistical anomalies in an otherwise sound justice system, wrongful convictions—we are just beginning to learn—happen with frightening regularity. But very few people understand just how they happen and, more importantly, the consequences. Now, the groundbreaking anthology Anatomy of Innocence tells the extraordinary stories of more than a dozen innocent men and women who were convicted of serious crimes and cast into the maw of a vast and deeply flawed American criminal justice system before eventually, miraculously, being exonerated. Here, each “exoneree” is paired with a high-profile mystery and thriller writer (including Lee Child, Sara Paretsky, Laurie King, S. J. Rozan, Brad Parks, and others) to produce a unique collaboration. By joining such master storytellers with exonerees, and with the inclusion of additional reflections from Barry Scheck and Scott Turow, Anatomy of Innocence presents the tragedy of wrongful conviction with a stark and fiery clarity. (NIGHT OWL REVIEWS)

EDITED BY:

LESLIE S. KLINGER is the Edgar Award winning New York Times best selling editor of over twenty books in the mystery field. He lives in Los Angeles. LAURA CALDWELL is the award winning founder/director of Life After Innocence at Loyola University Chicago and the author of fourteen novels and a critically acclaimed nonfiction work about a wrongful incarceration. She lives in Chicago.

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INTRODUCTION BY:

SCOTT TUROW and BARRY SCHECK

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AUTHORS:
SARA PARETSKY
LEE CHILD
PHILLIP M. MARGOLIN
LAURIE R. KING
MICHAEL HARVEY
GAYLE LYNDS and JOHN SHELDON
JAN BURKE
SARAH WEINMAN
GARY PHILLIPS
JAMIE FREVELETTI
JOHN MANKIEWICZ
S.J. ROZAN
BRAD PARKS

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MY THOUGHTS
Times have changed from the gods deciding who was guilty or innocent to present day of humans making the decision. It is almost always uncertain if someone is guilty or innocent. But a decision must be made and in doing so, sometimes mistakes are made. Innocent people go to prison and sometimes, the guilty are set free. QUOTE: "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" by William Blackstone, (1760's) Now readers will look at that quote differently. It's up to you as to your interpretation. The innocent are supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." Some sentenced before the 1920's were exonerated with the DNA development. As time went on DNA testing became more sophisticated and it was found that there were more innocent behind bars than expected. The authors take exonerees' stories and give them to the reader to see how someone can be wrongfully convicted and serve time for something that they didn't do. Sometimes they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, at times, they may have been the escape goat. A lot of times, it isn't known why they were convicted. Perhaps the evidence was overwhelmingly against them. Here we are given 15 stories of exonerees who told their stories to different authors. Fifteen stories that you can sit in the courtroom and decide how these atrocities happened. This happens everyday. Someone is arrested, does jail time, goes to court and is judged by a jury of their peers and sometimes convicted, sometimes not. This happens more than the reader would care to know. The book gives us all some serious stories to think about. I, myself was shocked that this happens more than I ever thought. The book gives you a little history on the DNA usage from the time of development to present day. But even with the DNA, mistakes are still made. The finger can't be pointed at one person as the book shows. It takes a lot of people from victims, those being accused, witnesses, officers, judges, juries, social workers and the list goes on. Don't get me wrong. Everyone convicted and does time isn't innocent and everyone who is convicted and does time isn't guilty. Read this amazing book and decide for yourself. These authors give the reader so much to consider. Amazing book by exonerees and authors. Don't let this one go by.

I received a copy of this book from the authors and Night Owl Reviews and voluntarily decided to review it.

I would give this book 5 STARS.

GOODREADS REVIEW