Ghost of the innocent man
Subtitle: a true story of trial and redemption
By: Benjamin Rachlin
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2017
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 387
ISBN-13: 9780316311496
Subjects: Administration of Criminal justice; Trials, litigation; Judicial error; Prisoners; False imprisonment; Case studies; Trials (Rape); Rape; Criminal investigation
Description: "When the final gavel clapped in a rural southern courtroom in the summer of 1988, Willie J. Grimes, a gentle spirit with no record of violence, was shocked and devastated to be convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Here is the story of this everyman and his extraordinary quarter-century-long journey to freedom, told in breathtaking and sympathetic detail, from the botched evidence and suspect testimony that led to his incarceration to the tireless efforts to prove his innocence and the identity of the true perpetrator. These were spearheaded by his relentless champion, Christine Mumma, a cofounder of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. That commission-unprecedented at its inception in 2006-remains a model organization unlike any other in the country, and one now responsible for a growing number of exonerations."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-376) and index.
Table of contents: title: Prologue: 1987; title: Firm and unequivocal; title: Chris; title: Only a few additional weeks; title: Lake; title: K and O; title: Rosen; title: Some ideas of persecution; title: Newman, Coleman, and Weitzel; title: The benefit of every reasonable inference; title: A problem for everyone; title: One of those cases; title: Nobody could be against this; title: In favorable times and difficult times; title: Their different individual viewpoints; title: We must use our judgment; title: The elephant in the room; title: Does not admit to crime; title: An extraordinary procedure; title: A situation not of his making; title: We recommend the closing of this file; title: Some concerns about his medical condition; title: Any cases where evidence had gone missing; title: In three dimensions; title: I can tell that this lady have went over my case; title: Everybody knows he didn't do it; title: The first real test; title: They will try to get me to sign papers; title: The last avenue I can think of to pursue; title: He spoke about going through changes; title: Send him a questionnaire; title: If they had anything, it can't match nothing from me; title: What she said happened, happened; title: A lawyer I've never met; title: A type of panel I've never seen; title: A long time coming; title: Cases of innocence still open.