Framed, John Grisham, Jim McCloskey, authors; John Grisham, Jim McCloskey Michael Beck, narrators.
This book is a departure from the novels that John Grisham is known for, but it still is about the justice system. In this book, he and his co-author highlight the misuse of the justice system by those in positions of power. With the cases they represent, they show how helpless the ordinary person is when it comes to fighting the system. It is designed to trap you, even when you are innocent. If those in charge want to solve a case, they will be hell bent on finding a victim to pin the crime on, regardless of whether or not the evidence convicts them. They will manipulate the evidence, the witnesses, the juries and even the accused. Threats, physical abuse, lies and bribes are not unknown to these representatives of our justice system.
This is a non-fiction presentation of cases that highlight several instances of miscarriages of justice, and they are the tip of the iceberg. There are too many corrupt judges, politicians, law enforcement officers, witnesses, jailhouse snitches, etc., that come together to mock our system of justice. Too often, in order to solve a case, there is a rush to judgment, even in the absence of evidence. Then, once falsely accused, judged and sentenced, there is a resistance by all involved to accept any new evidence that refutes the conviction, which defies common sense, since it is known that people lie, misrepresent, falsely identify, and wrongfully have accused many of crimes they have not committed. Often, witnesses to the same crime will offer different versions of what actually happened. Sometimes, they have ulterior motives.
The effort to exonerate the wrongfully convicted is a long, expensive, arduous experience that often fails because the system often refuses to allow the introduction of new evidence, and when it does review it, it often denies the lawyers permission to present it to the juries. One would think that all the information available would be made available, so the accused really does get a fair trial and a fair jury verdict, but the system is made up of many selfish, self-serving officers of the court. There are corrupt prosecutors, unqualified expert witnesses, law enforcement officers that bend the rules to solve the case regardless of evidence of guilt or innocence, and there are judges that refuse to admit their own errors of judgment.
The wrongfully accused are victims of overzealous lawyers, prosecutors, judges and investigators. Their innocence seems immaterial if the facts can be manipulated to make them appear guilty, because then they must be guilty. The most important result is solving the crime regardless of the methods used, the evidence presented, or the guilt or innocence of the accused. It is like a snowball rolling downhill; the cases take on lives of their own, proceeding with their own momentum to the conclusions already decided upon by those who are in charge. They figure that the cost, time and effort expended takes precedent over the wrongfully charged victim of this justice system. They have their “man”, they solved the case and can chalk it up as successful. The one goal is to incriminate the person charged, regardless of their alibis, innocence or guilt, regardless of the lives ruined and the lies told; they simply want to obtain a conviction. Reversing the conviction is never on their radar. They see themselves as infallible.
After reading this book, all I could think about was the lack of moral compass in so many people. They were willing to lie, ruin lives, condemn the innocent simply for their own selfish needs. Yet, we all know that a jury can only rely on the evidence presented. So why is all the evidence not presented? Why does the judge refuse to allow it or the lawyers refuse to reveal it, if justice is the ultimate goal? If a pompous judge refuses to hear new evidence or allow it to be heard, it is simply not heard. The verdict may then be unjust because the complete truth has been hidden from them. In the effort not to taint the jury, the burden of proof is often non-existent, and yet there will be a conviction as the judge forces the jury to keep on deliberating until they achieve a verdict, with or without proof. To win, deals are made, confessions are coerced, witnesses are bribed, and the wrongfully accused become the victims and are sent to prison for decades for crimes they have not committed because the jury is actually tainted by the lack of truthful and complete evidence.
The exposure of the deceit and the lies of those in the justice system were mind-boggling. The disregard for the lives ruined was beyond belief. Like Stevenson’s “Just mercy” did, this book shines a light on the “injustice system”. Recently we have witnessed the Daniel Penny indictment and trial, the Jussie Smollett conviction and reversal, the Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg effort to find a crime where one does not exist to possibly falsely accuse a former President, the attacks on political enemies, and the misuse of the Department of Justice by too many.
Yes, there are dirty cops, lying prosecutors, unreliable witnesses, unqualified experts, and lawyers that all work against our justice system. Yes, the innocent are wrongfully accused, unsure witnesses are coerced to say the "right thing" to convict, jailhouse snitches are given deals, police are allowed to lie to the people they question, and they often abuse and intimidate the accused into making false confessions to obtain relief from their harassment, intimidation and abuse because they are helpless to stop the interrogation any other way.
The accused in this book are victims of a malignant justice system, and they unjustly suffered the consequences. Most of those responsible were never forced to face any consequences for their actions. As they misrepresented their qualifications, relied on junk science and their own hunches and opinions rather than facts, they did not serve the cause of justice but contaminated it. Why is it so hard for those in power to admit mistakes? Why is it so hard to reverse decisions that are wrongfully decided? Why does an innocent person have to lose decades of life, be executed though innocent, take a deal to get out of jail because there is no other way out? This book highlights the proverb that there is indeed “honor among thieves”. The system protects itself and the guilty protect each other without regard for the innocent or any other human life. Revenge, power, hubris, and arrogance are alive and well in the courts, in the police stations, and in the minds of the investigators, witnesses, and those who enforce the laws. All too often the innocent pleas are disregarded as the guilty go free, and those responsible for the travesties of justice face no consequences.