Rating: 
Summary: This book stinks!
Review: I read this book from cover to cover and learned how little this author cares about factual accuracy. The supposed wrongly convicted defendent had quite an interesting little history of violent and criminal behavior. Let's look at what Ed Humes overlooked when forming his bias: 1) The murderer was arrested for spousal abuse in 1989 when his victim/wife called the police and accused the defendant of assaulting her in their home. She later asked that the charges be dropped. 2) The murderer's son told the police that his father had been violent to him and once tied Mrs. Dunn up. 3) After the murderer's arrest for murder, he wrote two large checks totaling $688,000 to his daughter to try and drain his wife's accounts before her assets were frozen. 4) The murderer hid his wife's jewelry and had it sold after her assets were frozen. These hardly strike me as the actions of an innocent man. I would recommend reading the rebuttal first for free at http://www.co.kern.ca.us/da/mean/intro.htm and take your money to buy James Stewart's Blind Eye--it's a much better read and has substance.
Rating: 
Summary: Hune's book backs up personal experience
Review: I was first turned on to Hume's book this winter by my brother, who was in the middle of horrendous accusations against him made by the same DA's office featured in Mean Justice- again for purely political reasons. There was absolutely no evidence against my brother, and yet the case continued to the bafflement of everyone but the DA's office. Although it was a misdemeanor charge (and could have been pled "no contest" with a relatively small fee), my brother spent thousands of dollars in lawyer fees to finally clear his name. In addition to this case, one of the people accused in the child-molestation ring was a friend of mine from high school, and I know what agony his entire family went through until the case was finally dropped after a couple of years. This book is for real, and it is scarier than anything Stephen King could write, because if it could happen to the two people I know, both of whom were totally innocent, it could happen to ANYONE. Hume's expose has the Kern County DA's office squirming in it's elected seat, and rightly so.
Rating:
Summary: IT CAN'T BE DONE ANY BETTER THAN THIS
Review: I was originally attracted to this book by a news article, which quoted a couple of its subject prosecutors' lame defenses to the book's claims. To other reviewers' use of the word "incredible", I'd counter that Mr. Humes did his homework, and produced a compellingly credible work here. As an investigator, I know that the subject case and background cases researched for this book are rare ONLY in the context that so many glaring prosecutorial abuses were found in so (relatively) few cases. The types and tactics of prosecutorial misconduct which are impeccably documented in this book DO occur almost routinely in our justice system, and not only in such sensational or heinous cases. I'd like to see this book become required reading for every agent of that system. (As an instructor of the investigative arts, I WILL adopt it as required material.) It sheds light on the REAL way cases are developed and presented, and on the perspectives and legal provisions that leave room for horrific application of the laws we expect will protect us. Had the Kern County District Attorney's and Sheriff's offices documented their cases so well and so fairly, there would be no need for them to now be defending their reputation from books like this. Perhaps it is fortunate, for them, that few writers are able to document, let alone assemble, such an intricately supported criticism of their performance. (the use of background cases and local social color puts the story in context with the real world, most impressively.) I was also pleased to see a truly accurate portrayal and articulation of the dynamics of police investigations, and their differences from the ways of private investigators. The complimentary portrayal of P.I. Laura Lawhon's work was also refreshing, after reading the contrived and misleading depictions of private investigators, male OR female, in fictional mysteries. This is REAL stuff, the way it REALLY works. This book has been a long time coming, but Mr. Humes made the wait worthwhile. We should pay close attention to his work, and thank him for it, profusely. This IS as good as it gets. Mr. Humes is "the man"!
Rating:
Summary: Too true to leave my name!
Review: I would love to leave my name, but since I live near Kern County, I think it would be unwise. The author shares with us a dreadful story of how poor detective work, coupled with an over-zealous D.A., compromised our justice system and put a likely innocent man in jail. This book is a must read for every American: Let's just hope that Bakersfield has the courage to get the D.A. out of office and start with someone who believes in law and order; not just order.
Rating:
Summary: Power gone awry
Review: I've been interested in issues of criminal justice, particularly those of the witch hunts of the last several years. You know, there was the McMartin trial, a joke of astronomical proportions. Then there were "recovered memory" cases, and those of the alleged Satanic conspiracies. It seems the Prince of Darkness has emissaries here on earth abducting our kids, eating those he's forced us to abort, and on and on and on. Trouble is, as even senior FBI investigators have admitted, there's no evidence to suggest that these atrocities ever took place. No bodies, no dark rooms, no blood. Hmm. Makes a guy wonder.Then I talked with an acquaintance who's interested in some of the same subject matter. After our discussion, I looked at Amazon.com and found this volume. First, allow me to confess that I nearly gave the book four stars. I did so only because there is so much detail as to be almost overwhelming. But then I had to give it five (or more, if it were possible!) The detail is more than necessary for reasons which follow. The text is ostensibly about the trial of Pat Dunn. He was a former high school principal whose wife died under mysterious circumstances. The prosecutors in Kern County, California, were so zealous that they performed what was the TRUE subject of the book: prosecutorial misconduct. That is, indeed, where the subject digressed from merely Pat Dunn. It seems the law enforcement apparatus of that county has a reputation for being "tough on crime." So tough, alas, that there were countless people going to jail. First that was the massive--yes, Satanic Conspiracy trial. Hundreds were sent to jail for a long, long time. The prosecution used dubious questioning tactics of children, social workers who should have been in the local home for the bewildered--again, on and on. Then a young black athlete was convicted under equally dubious circumstances. Then others. I could get tired of putting, "on and on" here so assume it's a phrase I'd use more if I even had to. By the way, most of those convictions had been overturned; all, so far, except Pat Dunn's, despite the lack of any evidence to convince a sane court of his guilt. Then there's the issue(s) of the convicted criminals whom the prosecutors made deals with to convict the accused--while the prosecutors kept details of such deals out of views of the defense and the juries. (I add something the book barely mentioned: if there are obviously innocent people in prison because of prosecutors more intent on winning then on finding the truth, then there are the guilty who are still among us! That alone is a criminal offense for which the prosecutors should be prosecuted!) Among the conclusions of the book is that such misconduct seems to be happening all over the US. Indeed, the accused are losing their right to appeal; in G.W. Bush's Texas, the state with the greatest number of executions, exculpatory evidence was not permitted after a limited time so that evidence enough to free a convicted murderer could no longer be presented as evidence. So an obviously innocent men was put to death. There's so much in the book I'm not even sure where to go with it. The text certainly affirms my acquaintance's observation that probably 15 percent in prison haven't done anything. (That proportion is suggested by the book too to apply to the death penalty. Many on death row have been freed over the last few years due to the misconduct of the prosecutors and the courts. And that doesn't even include the many whom the state has put to death who were not guilty.) Who is criminal given those stats? The second of the book's appendices consists of several pages of convictions obtained through the prosecutorial misconduct that is the real subject of the book. That itself is an eye-opener. (The first appendix, incidentally, is a list of the convictions and how many are still in prison after retrials or the cases having been thrown out in Kern County itself--many after the accused have spent incredible times in prison after bogus convictions. That information alone should cause the impeachment or resignation, and conviction of those parties to the courts of that county!) The author concludes that the system is rigged to sustain itself. Try to find courts who've overturned convictions even when the prosecutor was exposed as a fraud who should have been jailed for his/her performance in the trial. They exist but they're few and far between. To me the point of the book is that there MUST be a price to pay for the prosecutors and even judges for the sort of misconduct the book so amply demonstrates. I mean, these people are supposed to be public servants. Instead, they're public menaces, making a sham out of anything remotely "just." (Ironically, the Kern County DA, who claims to be a Republican, is more akin to a Soviet bureaucrat than most in positions such as his!) I think, in fact, that the most severe punishments should be reserved for those who abuse their authority like those described by the book. Read this important book and make your own decisions as to how to punish these criminals, who are more a "lead" in the book than Pat Dunn. But be prepared to have your assumptions of American criminal "justice" challenged.
Rating:
Summary: His ability to describe others' thought processes is amazing
Review: Intelligent and exciting. I am proud of Humes for all of his work
Rating:
Summary: Too well written. It will give you nightmares.
Review: Is being stupid and clueless a criminal offense? Apparently it is in Kern County, California. Pat Dunn may be guilty of being foolish, naive, and inflexible, but that does not a murderer make. If you believe that convicting someone of a crime is the same as solving the crime, you're in for a terrible surprise. Mr. Hume writes convincingly of a "justice" system more concerned with clearing their casebooks than making sure the guilty are brought to justice. The notes about Texas Governer Bush's refusal of clemency in spite of new evidence of innocence (as well as prosecutorial misconduct) are especially frightening. It really makes you wonder, what kind of medieval attitude is at work in this country? As I read this book, I kept thinking that for every person wrongly convicted, there is a guilty person walking free. This kind of prosecutorial zeal sure doesn't make me feel safer. Mean Justice is well written. Read it and weep.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read.
Review: It's been a while since I've read the book, but I wanted to share some of the general impressions that I had of this book when I read it. By showing the example of inadequate police work in one community, the author is able to raise many questions about the legal system in America. Plenty of evidence is given in this book which shows that a person was convicted for murder and likely sits in prison unjustly. Anyone who believes that justice is always served in our court systems should read this book to learn how various factors can come together to work against possibly innocent persons. This book is important, intriguing, and difficult to put down.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read.
Review: It's been a while since I've read the book, but I wanted to share some of the general impressions that I had of this book when I read it. By showing the example of inadequate police work in one community, the author is able to raise many questions about the legal system in America. Plenty of evidence is given in this book which shows that a person was convicted for murder and likely sits in prison unjustly. Anyone who believes that justice is always served in our court systems should read this book to learn how various factors can come together to work against possibly innocent persons. This book is important, intriguing, and difficult to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Nominated for an Edgar Award
Review: Mean Justice is a brilliant investigation of one man's wrongful murder conviction and the broader subject of prosecutorial misconduct, a national disgrace. This is a big story, a national story, though it's setting is somewhat provincial, which to me makes it all the more interesting. It is also a riproaring story, which is why this book was just named a finalist for the prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Fact Crime. I have examined the prosecutorial response to this book, and it is a laughable piece of propaganda that ignores or distorts Humes' findings. Most disgraceful is the fact that this propaganda was financed by tax dollars! A national magazine recently examined the allegations in this piece of propaganda and found it so lacking in veracity that it killed the story. If you want the truth, read Mean Justice. If you want fiction, the Kern County District Attorney has plenty!
|
