Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice

Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice

by Bill Kurtis
Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice

Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice

by Bill Kurtis

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Overview

Bill Kurtis, anchor of the wildly popular true-crime TV series Cold Case Files and American Justice, used to support the death penalty. But after observing the machinations of the justice system for thirty years, he came to a stunning realization that changed his life: Capital punishment is wrong. There can be no real justice in America until it is abolished.

In The Death Penalty on Trial, Kurtis takes readers on his most remarkable investigative journey yet. Together, we revisit murder scenes, study the evidence, and explore the tactical decisions made before and during trials that send innocent people to death row. We examine the eight main reasons why the wrong people are condemned to death, including overzealous and dishonest prosecutors, corrupt policemen, unreliable witnesses and expert witnesses, incompetent defense attorneys, bias judges, and jailhouse informants. We see why the new jewel of forensic science, DNA, is revealing more than innocence and guilt, opening a window into the criminal justice system that could touch off a revolution of reform. Ultimately we come to a remarkable conclusion: The possibility for error in our justice system is simply too great to allow the death penalty to stand as our ultimate punishment.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780786734030
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication date: 03/25/2009
Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format: eBook
Pages: 224
File size: 226 KB

About the Author

Bill Kurtis passed the Kansas Bar in 1966, but instead of practicing law he embarked on a thirty-year career as a correspondent and anchorman with CBS Television. In 1985, he formed his own production company, Kurtis Productions, which produces A & E's award-winning Investigative Reports and television's original forensic series, Cold Case Files. Kurtis also anchors A & E's American Justice. He lives in Chicago and Sedan, Kansas.

Table of Contents

Introduction1
Part 1
Case 1Ray Krone
1From the Crime to the Trial27
2Life on Death Row51
3The Appeal75
4How Could This Have Happened?103
Part 2
Case 2Thomas Kimbell
5The Crime119
6The Trial141
7The Appeal179
Conclusion197
Acknowledgments209
Index211

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Scott Turow

engrossing... exhibits the classic hallmarks of the best journalism... and makes addictive reading.

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