"Justice for None" - Book Review

Last month I received an email from a PR firm (News and Experts) asking if I would read and review the book "Justice for None" by author Jessica James.  I'm sure some of the other criminal defense blawggers out there received a similar request.  "Why not," I thought.  After all, I have ample time to read on my daily commute.  So they sent me the book and I put it aside until yesterday.

Before I provide my thoughts on the book, let me just say that I'm sure that I regularly violate the rules of proper grammar and punctuation on this blawg.  My writing is not perfect and I doubt it ever will be.  But..... my blawg posts are not bound and published and they certainly are not being professionally publicised, so surely that entitles me to some mistakes here and there.

As a published author myself (of a children's book, however), I understand how important a good review can be.  Unfortunately, I cannot provide such in this case.  I would prefer to write a positive opinion, but the misspellings (e.g. Pittsburgh spelled as Pittsburg) and other grammatical errors (e.g. subject-verb agreement, punctuation) in the Preface and first chapter of this book prevent me from offering a laudatory opinion.

As a disclaimer, I admit that I only read the Preface and first chapter, but it made me believe that my time would be sorely wasted if I continued on.  I was so distracted with the mistakes (my OCD tendencies kicking in), that I could not even focus on the substance (which, from what I could tell, was complete propaganda about how police officers, prosecutors, and judges are evil conspirators against justice).  I'll leave it at this, in my opinion (which is probably not worth that much), "Justice for None" is not "For Y'all."

This Sounds Familiar - John Grisham on Presiding Judge Keller

I've been reading John Grisham's new book The Confession.  In it, Grisham takes a shot at Texas' capital punishment scheme and some of the major players.  Without giving away too much, the book is about an innocent man who is about to be executed for a murder to which he confessed, but did not commit.  As I was reading about the last minute court filings, I told me wife, "I bet the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is going to deny one of the filings because it arrives too late."  Sure enough, the Texas Defender Group sends a runner to the court's offices on the day of the execution and, at 5:07 pm, she is denied access and is unable to make her filing.  The Presiding Judge, who Grisham paints as a callous and calculating figure, meanwhile, is at an Austin tennis club playing tennis with a very wealthy campaign donor.

I haven't read the rest of it yet.  I just found it interesting to see Grisham use Judge Keller and the Richards execution in his book.  So far, the book is chocked full of legal cliches designed to titillate the average reader.  It is not exactly original.  But I like Grisham's books for the most part, so I reckon I'll keep reading.  If he's truly a death penalty advocate, however, and he really wants to win people to his side through this book, he'll let the innocent man die.  We'll see.

Great Reading for Defense Attorneys

About a year ago, a colleague of mine recommended that I read Vincent Bugliosi's novel "And the Sea Will Tell."  Of course, I recognized the author as being the prosecutor of the Manson murder conspiracy trial about which he later wrote the book "Helter Skelter," but I was unaware of any other books he had written  So I read it.

I have to say, it was simply amazing.  The background story before the criminal trial is compelling in itself, but to read about the way Mr. Buglisoi researched and prepared for the trial (as a defense attorney) was truly remarkable.  His closing argument in the case was the work of a legend.  In my opinion every criminal trial lawyer (especially defense attorneys) should read this book.  I plan on reading it again soon.

Just thought I'd pass this along for what it's worth.  I read at least 3 books a month, so if you have any recommendations, leave them for me in the comments.  I'll read anything.  Thanks.