The Innocent Man by John Grisham
Introduction
This essay will be a comprehensive look at The Innocent Man by John Grisham in the first part and an evaluation of the conduct of the police that are characters in the book by Grisham. The comprehensive summary of the book will include: the factors that led the police to focus on Williamson and Fritz as suspects to the Carter murder, the effect that the Harraway murder had on the conduct of the police in the Carter murder investigation as well as the similarities between the two murders, the conduct of Williamson and Fritz throughout the police investigation that may have led to their convictions and the reasons that the convictions were ultimately overturned by the judge.
For the second part of this essay I will focus on the following concerning the evaluation of the conduct of the police: the confessions, issue of the Brady material, Glen Gore as a suspect, the print on the Sheetrock sample and a summary of what I would have done differently if I were in charge of this police investigation.
First, I will begin with a look at an evaluation of the conduct of the police.
Part 1
The factors that led the police to focus on Williamson and Fritz as suspects to the Carter murder is because Williamson and Fritz were at the bar where the 21-year-old Carter was a waitress. The police used false confessions based on dreams that the mentally ill Williamson had, plus false evidence and witnesses who could not be trusted. Fritz’s estranged wife had been murdered and the police assumed that he too was responsible for Carter’s death, although Fritz was not responsible for his late wife’s murder. Fritz also lived with his daughter Elizabeth from that marriage. Williamson and Fritz were not alone in being wrongfully convicted. Ward and Fortenot were wrongfully accused of killing Harraway and this wrongful accusation still did not correct the police conduct, however did aid in the courts. The similarities between the two murders of Carter and Harraway are that both murders had suspects who were wrongfully accused and convicted and then later exonerated with the real accused persons being convicted and given life sentences. The conduct of Williamson and Fritz, particularly Williamson was that he was depressed and out of work as a baseball player. Both of them were heavy drinkers and at the scene of where Carter was working. Not being particularly well-educated and able to stick up for themselves, as well as a target for police, they were unfortunately wrongfully convicted.
Next, I will discuss an evaluation of the conduct of the police in this book.
Part 2
The confessions that the police used for the police investigation were based on dreams that the Williamson and Fritz had. None of the confessions were based on any factual evidence at all. The Brady material was misrepresented in court. Gore turned out to be the real culprit of Carter’s murder and unfortunately due to a deadlock with the jury he was only sentenced to life in prison. The print on the Sheetrock sample was not even properly examined by the police. In summary, I would say that if I were the chief police officer working on this case I would have been a lot more thorough with my investigation and a lot less bias and a lot less presumptive as to who the killers of Carter really were. Convicting anyone of a crime is a serious thing. Doing the crime in the first place is also a serious thing, however once a person is convicted, you really need to make sure that you have the right person. Williamson and Fritz’s lives were ruined from being on death row for so long – and for a crime that they did not even commit. This is an injustice of the legal system and the reason behind it all comes down to bad police work. It is too bad that the police officers involved cannot go to jail for putting Williamson and Fritz in jail wrongfully.
Conclusion
This essay has been a comprehensive look at The Innocent Man by John Grisham. In the first part and an evaluation of the conduct of the police that are characters in the book by Grisham. The comprehensive summary of the book will include: the factors that led the police to focus on Williamson and Fritz as suspects to the Carter murder, the effect that the Harraway murder had on the conduct of the police in the Carter murder investigation as well as the similarities between the two murders, the conduct of Williamson and Fritz throughout the police investigation that may have led to their convictions and the reasons that the convictions were ultimately overturned by the judge.
For the second part of this essay focused on the following concerning the evaluation of the conduct of the police: the confessions, issue of the Brady material, Glen Gore as a suspect, the print on the Sheetrock sample and a summary of what I would have done differently if I were in charge of this police investigation.