I read this book 2-years ago and it changed my opinion about the justice system and how are justice system adjudicates the law. The Innocent Man, is John Grisham's first true story, and well written at that. Ron Williamson had a great future ahead of him. He was a baseball player, who was first to be picked by the State of Oklaholma Major League baseball draft in 1971. He was from Ada Oklaholma and moved from Ada to play baseball.
He returned to Ada 6-years later because he injured his arm, and had problems with drinking, and doing drugs. Signs of mental illness began to show, and he did not know what was wrong with him. Debra Sue Carter was a 21-year-old cocktail waitress at a bar near where Ron lived. In 1982, she was raped and murdered. Ron Williamson was suspected, along with his friend Dennis Fritz.
They were both charged with capital murder. Ron was sentenced to death, while Dennis got life. After reading this book, I no longer believe our justice system is fair. Reading this book also changed how I feel about the death penalty. Ron Willianson lived a very sad life.
He fought for his innocence and living with his depression made his life at times unbearable. This book is one of Grisham's best, and this book being his first true story, he needs to write many more of them. I give this book a perfect 10. This book will open your eyes to how cruel of a world we live in. This book will also make you sympathize for how mental illness can dibilitate someone. This book fascinated me and infuriated me.
John Grisham was a criminal defense lawyer, and had a passion for writing. All of his books have been best sellers. Grisham returned to the court room in 1996. Before he retired from being a lawyer, he represented a family of a railroad brakeman , who was killed because he was pinned by two cars. He won the case and earned the family a reward of 683,500 dollars. This was the biggest victory of his career.