The Innocent Man

The Innocent Man, by John Grisham, is an excellent book based on a true story. This is Grisham’s first non-fiction work, and it is on the same level as his novels. I have greatly enjoyed every Grisham novel I have read, and this true life tale is no exception. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the criminal justice system in general and the death penalty in particular. Grisham has done extensive research and it shows on every page.

The Innocent Man chronicles the life and trial of Ron Williamson, accused of raping and murdering a young woman in Ada, Oklahoma. Ron signed with the Oakland A’s in 1971 and dreamed of making it in the big leagues. But an arm injury and bad habits destroyed his dreams and he returned home to live with his mother in Ada, depressed and isolated. His life consisted of drinking, bar-hopping, womanizing and sleeping twenty hours a day.

When Debra Sue Carter was raped in murdered in 1982, the police eventually put Ron on the top of their suspect list. For five years they looked for evidence against Ron and his friend Dennis Fritz, and ended up putting together a case against them based on bad forensic science, lazy police work, forced confessions, and questionable testimony from jailhouse snitches. Since Ron and Dennis were poor, they could not afford counsel and were assigned public defenders who were incompetent, overworked, underpaid, and unconcerned. As a result, Dennis received life in prison and Ron was given the death sentence.

Ron constantly professed his innocence and couldn’t understand why the police and the prosecutor were out to get him. Hard drinking, drugs and the stress of the trial and life on death row slowly eroded Ron’s sanity and his health. Just days before his execution he received a stay of execution and a new trial. His and Dennis’ convictions were overturned based upon new DNA evidence that clearly excluded them from the crime. The real criminal was finally brought to justice nearly twenty years after the crime.

Ron lost over a decade of his life by being falsely accused and condemned, along with his sanity and health. After being exonerated, Ron was so scarred that it was nearly impossible for him to live a normal life. He finally died in 2004.

This book challenged me in several ways. First, it made the problems in our judicial system real and tangible. It is one thing to see corruption and incompetence portrayed in movies and on TV, but it is quite another to see it in real life. It makes me pause and consider how widespread corruption and incompetence have infiltrated our judicial system. While I believe there are a lot of good people in the system doing incredible work, there needs to be some major changes made to weed out the bad and repair the damaged systems that do exist.

Second, one statement made in the book summarizes one of these problems: “Once a poor person gets sucked into the judicial system, it is almost impossible for him to get out.” [Not an exact quote.] Wealthy people rarely get the death penalty, and race probably has a large influence, though this book didn’t address it since most of the characters were white. The main factor is poverty, since those who can’t afford a lawyer tend are at the mercy of the system, which has very little mercy. When police and prosecutors are pressured to “solve” high profile cases, the poor often can’t defend themselves against false accusations and bad police work. And once a poor person is “marked” as a criminal, he will always be a criminal in the law’s eyes.

Third, the problems with the death penalty are powerfully portrayed in this story and they must be dealt with. Many death row inmates are mistreated, as Ron was, often in the form of taunting from guards, denial of medical services, and poor living conditions. One might have little sympathy for the suffering of hardened criminals, most of them murderers, but when innocent people get sent to death row, then it becomes massive injustice. Christians should be deeply concerned about these issues and not let prejudice and fear keep us from seeking and demanding justice.

Finally, some of the key characters in this real life story relied upon their Christian faith to make it through this ordeal. While many view “jailhouse conversions” with suspicion, we can’t rule out all professions of faith as spurious. While Ron’s faith was weak and insincere in his early life, the testing of his faith made it real and sincere. The faith of his sisters was also instrumental in their ability to weather the many ordeals and continue to be a source of help and support for Ron. Ron also had support from other Christians and he was able to help and support other prisoners as well. When Ron was exonerated, the church in which he grew up refused to acknowledge and support him. While it is understandable that many in the community and the church still felt Ron was guilty, it was unchristian to snub him and refuse to support him.

I highly recommend that you read this book and think about its implications. You can also check out a lot of this information on the web by searching for “Ron Williamson”, “The Innocence Project”, and “Dennis Fritz”. Check out this website: http://www.innocenceproject.org/.