Anatomy of Innocence: Testimonies of the Wrongfully Convicted

by Laura Caldwell (Editor), Leslie S. Klinger (Editor), Scott Turow (Introduction), Barry Scheck (Introduction)

Overview

Recalling the great muckrakers of the past, an outraged team of America’s best-selling writers unite to confront the disasters of wrongful convictions.

Wrongful convictions, long regarded as statistical anomalies in an otherwise sound justice system, now appear with frightening regularity. But few people understand just how or why they happen and, more important, the immeasurable consequences that often haunt the lucky few who are acquitted, years after they are proven innocent.

Now, in this groundbreaking anthology, fourteen exonerated inmates narrate their stories to a roster of high-profile mystery and thriller writers—including Lee Child, Sara Paretsky, Laurie R. King, Jan Burke and S. J. Rozan—while another exoneree’s case is explored in a previously unpublished essay by legendary playwright Arthur Miller. An astonishing and unique collaboration, these testimonies bear witness to the incredible stories of 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, and miraculously, being exonerated.

Introduced by best-selling authors Scott Turow and Barry Scheck, these master storytellers capture the tragedy of wrongful convictions as never before and challenge readers to confront the limitations and harsh realities of the American criminal justice system. Lee Child tells of Kirk Bloodsworth, who obsessively read about the burgeoning field of DNA testing, cautiously hoping that it held the key to his acquittal—until he eventually became the first person to be exonerated from death row based on DNA evidence. Judge John Sheldon and author Gayle Lynds team up to share Audrey Edmunds’s experience raising her children long distance from her prison cell. And exoneree Gloria Killian recounts to S. J. Rozan her journey from that fateful "knock on the door" and the initial shock of accusation to the scars she carries today.

Together, the powerful stories collected within the Anatomy of Innocence detail every aspect of the experience of wrongful conviction, as well as the remarkable depths of endurance sustained by each exoneree who never lost hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631490897
Publisher:	Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publication date:	03/28/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	568,979
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Laura Caldwell is the award-winning founder/director of Life After Innocence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and the author of fourteen novels, including the Izzy McNeil series, as well as Long Way Home. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Leslie S. Klinger is the multi-award-winning author of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, New Annotated Dracula, New Annotated Frankenstein, and The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, Volumes I and II. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Introductions

The Ultimate Horror Scott Turow ix

The Unreal Dream Barry Scheck xv

Foreword Laura Caldwell Leslie S. Klinger xxiii

1 The Knock on the Door: The Arrest Gloria Killian (California exoneree), as told to S.J. Rozan 1

2 The Trip to Doty Road: The Interrogation David Bates (Illinois exoneree), as told to Sara Paretsky 15

3 The Evidence Closes In: The Trial Ray Towler (Ohio exoneree), as told to Laurie R. King 29

4 Just One: The Verdict Michael Evans (Illinois exoneree), as told to Brad Parks 49

5 Descent: Entering Prison Ken Wyniemko (Michigan exoneree), as told to Michael Harvey 71

6 The Fortune Cookie: The Lessons Learned Kirk Bloodsworth (Maryland exoneree), as told to Lee Child 83

7 A Study in Sisyphus: Serving Time Audrey Edmunds (Wisconsin exoneree), as told to Judge John Sheldon and Gayle Lynds 103

8 The Wrong Man: The Cruelties of Fate Alton Logan (Illinois exoneree), as told to Jan Burke 127

9 Luck and the Death Penalty: Community Involvement An essay about Peter Reilly (Connecticut exoneree) Arthur Miller 147

10 Staying on Track: Surviving Incarceration Ginny Lefever (Ohio exoneree), as told to Sarah Weinman 155

11 The Bloody Yellow Shirt: Obtaining Help William Dillon (Florida exoneree), as told to Phillip M. Margolin 171

12 The Long Wait: Legal Appeals Jeff Deskovic (New York exoneree), as told to Gary Phillips 183

13 The Last Bad Morning: Exoneration Antione Day (Illinois exoneree), as told to Jamie Freveletti 197

14 Moving Forward: Postrelease Jerry Miller (Illinois exoneree), as told to John Mankiewicz 211

15 Every Day is a New Beginning: Life After Innocence Juan Rivera (Illinois exoneree), as told to Laura Caldwell 233

The Innocence Network 239

Acknowledgments 241

Bibliography 243

Editorial Reviews

01/16/2017
Caldwell and Klinger collect 15 “Kafkaesque” stories from exonerated convicts, as told to popular writers of mystery and crime fiction. Sara Paretsky narrates the chilling ordeal of a man threatened and tortured by Chicago PD into a false confession and incarcerated for 11 years. Laurie R. King provides the account of an Army veteran who was convicted of raping a child after being misidentified by witnesses and police operating under the influence of racial bias. In a previously unpublished essay, Arthur Miller argues against capital punishment, using the example of a teenager wrongfully convicted of murdering his mother. The exonerees report PTSD, humiliation, suicidal ideation, and “soul-crushing monotony” while in prison. For one individual who served 25 years, it didn’t end there, as he was forced to register as a sex offender, wear an ankle monitor, and avoid children before his exoneration. Each chapter is introduced with a brief synopsis of what went wrong and ends with an editors’ note containing facts and figures related to issues like prison overcrowding, DNA testing, the evolution of forensic science, and the scourge of inadequate legal counsel. With these stories, the authors and editors provide a list of symptoms for an illness that is plaguing the justice system, bringing desperately needed awareness to the issues involved in wrongful convictions. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Filled with the triumphs and tragedies of the wrongfully convicted, Anatomy of Innocence is an important book. Every story barrels at us and should both challenge and scare us. They are haunting, harrowing and hopeful."

Michael Connelly

03/01/2017
The Innocence Project has become very influential in freeing wrongfully convicted persons using DNA testing and other legal tools. This book describes the organization's work as exemplified in 15 case studies of actual exonerations written by best-selling authors. Editors Caldwell (director, Life After Innocence, Loyola Univ. Chicago; Long Way Home) and Klinger (editor, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes) commissioned original work from authors including Sara Paretsky and Arthur Miller. The narratives are brief but gripping, addressing common themes regarding unsubstantiated arrest, official misconduct, prison horrors, and postrelease shocks. Chapters conclude with notes providing informative context and statistics drawn from the National Registry of Exonerations and other government and research sources. A spirit of advocacy pervades the work, which ends with a listing of national and international organizations affiliated with the Innocence Project. This volume complements Damien Echols's Life After Death, a more personal story of wrongful conviction. VERDICT This anthology of short true crime stories provides a unique perspective on the flaws of the U.S. criminal justice system and its forgotten victims. It will appeal to serious true crime readers and others interested in a richer understanding of the subject. [See Prepub Alert, 8/26/16.]--Antoinette Brinkman, formerly with Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville

Library Journal

06/01/2017
A collection of first-person accounts from individuals who were wrongfully arrested and convicted. Told to mystery and true crime writers such as Lee Child, Sara Paretsky, and Jan Burke, these stories highlight the defects in the police, investigative, and legal system that lead to the prosecution and incarceration of innocent people. Themes such as false confessions, mishandled evidence, and, in highly publicized cases, the desire to quickly finger a suspect rather than find the actual criminal run through the work. Each chapter describes a case (for instance, in 1973, Peter Reilly was arrested for allegedly killing his mother), explains how the individual was exonerated, provides background on the author, and features an editors' note with statistics on false convictions. The brutal reality of police torture and prison life is addressed matter-of-factly. Information on the Innocence Project and member groups by state is appended. Black-and-white photographs of the people profiled are included, along with an update on their lives since exoneration. VERDICT A valuable resource for students interested in the legal system and social justice.—Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Library, WA

School Library Journal

★ 2016-11-23
A unique collection of 15 wrongful conviction sagas bound to shake faith in the American criminal justice system.In the past three decades, books about wrongful convictions have become so numerous that they form their own genre. The advent of DNA testing for law enforcement purposes validated the previously discredited statement that American prisons are filled with innocent inmates while the actual perpetrators remain unpunished. Few of the books, however, match this skillful anthology, assembled by Life After Innocence founder Caldwell (The Dog Park, 2014, etc.) and Edgar Award-winning mystery editor Klinger (editor: In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914, 2015, etc.), in which exonerated individuals tell their stories to high-profile authors, most of them known for their fast-paced crime novels. While the names of the exonerees may be unfamiliar to general readers, the names of the authors are better known: Sara Paretsky, Lee Child, Laurie King, and more. Scott Turow and Barry Scheck provide the introduction. Each of the 15 chapters is worthy. Perhaps the chapter combining the highest level of storytelling with the most gut-wrenching detail is Brad Parks' account of Illinois exoneree Michael Evans, wrongfully convicted of the sexual assault and murder of a 9-year-old girl; he served 26 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect involved in these wrongful convictions. Parks' account focuses on the jurors who reached the wrong decision, including the chairwoman of the jury, who felt all along that Evans was innocent. Other chapters emphasize dirty cops, craven prosecutors, flawed forensic evidence, mistaken eyewitness testimony, lying jailhouse snitches, noncompassionate judges, and more. One across-the-board theme is the hell of serving prison time while innocent, with seemingly no way out. A searing, unforgettable anthology, with valuable insights provided at the end of each chapter by the editors.

Kirkus Reviews