Rating: 
Summary: A powerful account of the exoneration of an innocent man
Review: *Circumstantial Evidence* tells the story of Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of a white girl in Alabama. The investigation and trial were marred by sloppiness and dishonesty, and were sidetracked by issues of race and social class. After follow-up investigations and several levels of appeals, McMillian was finally exonerated and released after six years on death row. The aftermath of these events has not been entirely happy. The families of two murdered girls still struggle with the feeling that the justice system let them down. When McMillian was released from prison, his wife left him because of his marital infidelities, which had been revealed during the trial. *Circumstantial Evidence* is an outstanding book. It describes a complex series of events with meticulous detail (but with a good journalist's knack for keeping the story moving forward) and attention to atmosphere. These events took place in the hometown of Harper Lee, who wrote *To Kill a Mockingbird*, and quotations from that book are used as epigraphs to each chapter. Incidentally, *To Kill a Mockingbird* has been criticized of late for the fact that its hero, Atticus Finch, is a white man who crusades to save a wrongly-accused black man. The "Atticus Finch" of *Circumstantial Evidence* is a black lawyer who specializes in Death Row appeals
Rating:
Summary: Circumstantial Evidence
Review: A Great Novel. Circumstantial Evidence reads as if it is fiction, but sadly it's real life. This book has made me re-think my thoughts of the death penalty. A MUST READ.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling story and, sadly, not an unusual one
Review: As a former student of Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer and hero in this book, I was pleased to find such a thorough and compelling account of this amazing case. I have read a number of books about innocent men freed from death row, and this is far and away the best. It provides a look into the strange twists and ominous pressures that seems to be the hallmark of most capital cases. As scary as this story is, the "circumstances" that landed Walter McMillan on death row can be found in almost all capital cases: unreliable witnesses, pressure on police to solve the case, bias and bigotry. Anyone who thinks they support the death penalty must read this as an example that we can never be sure enough to put someone to death.
Rating:
Summary: From somone who was there, I can testify of the truth found
Review: As a participant, in part of the drama that Mr. Earley depicts I assure all the readers out there that this stuff really happens, and he does uncover the truth more often than not. Karen Pittman McCall
Rating: 
Summary: A True Crime book of Unwarranted Proportion
Review: Bookless, or devoid of any book I cared to read from my TBR (To Be Read ) pile, I was wandering through my local PBE the other day and found this book. Its cover announces that it is the Winner of the Edgar Award for The Best Fact Crime Book of 1995. It looked interesting and, for awhile, it was. This reviewer reads a lot of True Crime books. Joe McGinniss' Fatal Vision deserves its girth. Steve Earley's anti-Death Penalty tome (496 pages) drags on and on and on in Alabama minutia. Despite the mind-numbing plodding, the reader must stay awake and alert as there is no Index in which to refresh one's memory on all the bit players who wander on and off this stage. On page 206, I was overjoyed to see my mailperson appear with new books. Yeah! Later, Earley! Reviewed by TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: Holes in the Constitution
Review: Circumstantial Evidence is the title Mr. Earley gives to this massive and detailed reconstruction of the murder of a Southern Belle, its shoddy investigation by overly ambitious and politically motivated sheriffs, police officers and state investigators, its prosecution by several racially biased county attorneys, its supposed black perpetrator shanghied onto death row for eight years by this good-old-boy justice, his dedicated defender, Bryan Stevenson, who persists with the case to its eventual overturn through years of repudiated requests for habeas-corpus relief, and all the related characters, noble and outrageous, who inhabit Monroe County and those nearby in rural Alabama. Circumstantial Evidence is a gripping title, perhaps, but not an accurate one. There was really no evidence against the man who was arrested by desperate lawmen after several months of vain effort to find a suspect. As is often the case throughout our country evidence against a "suspect" is artfully created through testimony by known villains whose vengeful and self-serving motives form a sub-plot in this true tale that Earley has skillfully rearranged to read like a fictional case history. Unfortunately, it is not fiction. The case was so egregious that after the denial of one appeal, Stevenson went public and attracted Sixty Minutes to do a feature on the case. This unfavorable publicity seems to be the only prod that forced Alabama officials to take a second look. Even so, they dared hold the falsely accused and condemned man for several weeks after the reversal of his conviction. What the reader will learn here is that the rights supposedly secured for us by our Constitution are chimerical for everyone in many places and at times when politics, economics, and bias supersede the patient search for truth. If the reader was surprised or made indignant by the outcome of the Simpson case, he will find much more here to fuel outrage; the case will, perhaps, lend an insight into why the OJ jury voted as it did. Until such county injustice is rooted out--and doing away with the death penalty would remove much unfair prosecutorial grandstanding from our justice system--we cannot say that the Constitution is realized, nor can we say that the Civil War is over.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I have ever read
Review: I always recommend this book to anyone I know who likes a good story. I have not had one person yet who started this book that did not finish it. Its one of the best books I have ever read. It has to be the truth because you can not make this up. The author should have been given the pulitizer prize.
Rating:
Summary: The Injustice Of Our Justice
Review: I thought I knew it all when it came to justice regarding capital punishment. Boy, was I wrong! This book opened my eyes, and made me reevaluate my position on capital punishment in modern America. The tale of murder,opportunity,greed,lies, and injustice in rural Alabama presented in this book with gripping clarity made me sad,entertained,hopeless, and confused. I am still hurt so to say that even after the battle we have fought to put ourselves above lowly animals,we still act like them anyways. This book has everything in it. Innocence, racism, drugs, power,sex, lies---and yeah murder. It reads more like fiction. Winning the 1996 Edgar Award for best true crime was not enough. This book deserved more for bringing to light the frailties of our justice system. Excuse me, I have to cry some more!
Rating: 
Summary: Inside looking out....
Review: Since I am one of the characters involved I can truly say that Pete Earley captures the events more precise than those of us on the inside looking out. The chilling things he describes are true, and the scary part is they are still happening, everyday. It is a must read for anyone truly interested in how the justice system Really works.
Rating:
Summary: TRUE LIFE "TOO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD"
Review: The murder occurs in the town that provided the setting for the book "Too Kill a Mockingbird." Earley is an extremely talented writer whose style makes it impossible to put this book aside. It is written in chronological order, which makes it comparable to fiction novels. The story is a tale of police blunders, hidden evidence by the police, lying witnesses and jilted girlfriends. It will make you question the guilt of current death row inmates because district attorney's and cops will commit felonies to win a conviction. I read the book because Ann Rule spoke very highly of his writing ability and she was 100% correct. He is one of the best non-fiction, though he could probably cross over to fiction, writers in the world. The murder remains unsolved, though police think they know who killed her, because of a lack of evidence. Bryan Stevenson has received national honors for his work with death row inmates, McMillan has never regained the small tree business that was lost after his conviction. He does day labor in the same town. None of the police officers were charged since investigation "mistakes" were considered to be "honest mistakes."
|
