Books of Interest
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White Lies: Rape, Murder & Justice Texas Style by Nick Davies (Author)
- ISBN: 0679401679
- Publisher: Pantheon Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Publication Date: 1991
- Binding: Hard Cover
From Library Journal
It sounds like a nightmare from decades ago: a black school janitor suspected of murder simply because of his race; evidence in his favor that somehow disappears; intimidated witnesses; judges and prosecutors who conspire to convict; and a death sentence. However, the case of Clarence Brandley--a gross perversion of justice--stings all the more because it happened in the 1980s in Conroe, Texas. Davies, a British reporter, spins a deeply disturbing tale of what was almost a legal lynching, concentrating on the courtroom drama and the lawyers, investigators, witnesses, and a priest who finally grasped justice for Brandley. He also profiles those who sought to keep justice away from him, including more likely suspects. Brandley's story at this time is still unfinished--he is free pending a new trial--and, as Davies eloquently points out, the story will not end as long as racism is still institutionalized in towns like Conroe. Extremely well written, dramatic, and thought-provoking, this is highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/90-- Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
White Lies: Rape, Murder & Justice Texas Style by Nick Davies (Author) - Paperback Edition
Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town
- Hardcover: 327 pages
- Publisher: Villard; 1st ed edition (October 27, 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0679408614
From Publishers Weekly
Winter Garden, Fla., although near Orlando, the home of Disney World, is a small southern community. In 1975 one of the largest businesses in town was the Ziegler furniture store, run by Tommy Ziegler with the aid of his parents, who had founded it. In that store on Christmas Eve, four persons were killed: Tommy's wife, his parents-in-law and a worker. Although wounded by a bullet to the abdomen, Tommy was arrested for the killings. He was convicted of the murders when the single juror who thought him innocent buckled under the pressure of being the lone holdout, according to Finch ( Sugarland ). And, although the jury recommended life imprisonment, the judge handed down a death sentence. Tommy has been on Death Row in Florida for 17 years. With extensive reference to courtroom testimony, Finch argues convincingly for Ziegler's innocence by suggesting that he interrupted a crime in progress at the store and was subsequently framed for the killings. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
NOTE: Tommy Ziegler is still on Florida's Death Row
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
by John Grisham
Doubleday 2006
Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit
by Kerry Max Cook
William Morrow 2007
Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right
by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld
NAL Trade (Reprint Edition) 2003
Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution, and Other Dispatches From the Wrongly Convicted
by Barry Scheck (Author), Peter Neufeld (Author), Jim Dwyer (Author)
Doubleday 2000
Journey Toward Justice
by Dennis Fritz
Seven Locks Press 2006
Surviving Justice: America's Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated
by Dave Eggers (Compiler), Lola Vollen (Compiler), and an Introduction by Scott Turow
McSweeney’s 2005
Wrongly Convicted: Perspectives on Failed Justice
by Saundra D. Westervelt (Editor, Author), John A. Humphrey (Editor)
Rutgers University Press 2001
Presumed Guilty: When Innocent People Are Wrongly Convicted
by Martin Yant
Prometheus 1991
The Dreams of Ada
by Robert Mayer
Broadway (Reprint Edition) 2006
Convicted but Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy
by C. Ronald Huff, Arye Rattner, & Edward Sagarin
Sage Publications, Inc., 1996
American Furies: Crime, Punishment and Vengeance in the Age of Mass Imprisonment
by Sasha Abramsky
Beacon Press 2007