Sometimes you have to wonder if there is a shred of decency in the human heart. Framed, the non-fiction collaboration between novelist John Grisham and Jim McClosky of Centurion Ministries, is a shocking exposé of criminal cases in which innocent people went to prison because law enforcement officials deliberately twisted the facts or ignored evidence to justify their own theories.
The book is packed with proof that police and detectives bullied, threatened, and frightened people into confessions. Prosecutors offered jailhouse snitches reduced sentences in return for testifying to lies. When evidence contradicted their assumptions, they ignored or suppressed it. As a result, innocent people spent years, even decades, in prison. One man was executed for a crime that never occurred. All this happened so that ambitious medical experts and legal authorities could advance their careers.
Some people went to jail because they witnessed crimes and reported them. Others were convicted on hearsay evidence, racial prejudice, groundless opinions, or unreliable forensic tests. In one instance a prosecutor took vengeance on a juror who refused to vote guilty because the evidence against the defendant was inconclusive. In two cases the convictions stood even after the real killers confessed.
Not all the accused were above reproach. Some demonstrated bad character. Others had criminal records which added to juror prejudice against them. Thankfully, organizations such as Centurion Ministries and the Innocence Project went to bat for some of the victims. Lawyers worked without compensation to prove their innocence. But even after their acquittals the freed prisoners struggled the rest of their lives from trauma. Framed proves that no citizen is safe from a legal system whose authorities cannot be held accountable.
When I heard about this book I immediately seized on it because of John Grisham’s well-earned reputation. His novels are idealistic, and he avoids the vulgarity that clutters so much of modern literature. Framed, however, quotes explicit foul language and graphic sexual details, apparently in an effort to present the facts of these cases honestly. In my view, the authors’ good intentions diminish their reputations. Therefore I must limit my rating to an overly generous four stars.
Featured by Chevron Ross
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Weapons of Remorse The Seven-Day Resurrection The Samaritan’s Patient
