Think for a moment: If police asked where you were at nine o’clock last Thursday night, what would you say? Who would back you up? For most of us, it would be a family member. All he had was his doggedness and, as the title of the book says, the truth.Īfter a lot more digging and three years, Chiefie walked out of prison and into his wife’s arms. McCloskey discovered that the witnesses had known one another all their lives their elementary school principal even showed him records of the two in the same fifth-grade class.Ībout this time, McCloskey came to believe God was directing him toward finding justice “for the least of these.” With no legal training and no money, he founded Centurion Ministries. But Chiefie, and then his wife, kept saying it was true, so McCloskey began investigating.Īt Chiefie’s trial, the witnesses themselves, a police officer, and the prosecutor had all insisted the two witnesses were strangers to one another and to Chiefie. Chiefie said he was convicted on the word of two men who lied because they’d made deals with the prosecutor. McCloskey meets Jorge “Chiefie” de los Santos, who was serving a life sentence for murder. In such films, every prisoner insists he’s innocent - usually in a broad Brooklyn accent. Like mine, his mental image of prison and prisoners may have been formed by old Warner Brothers movies on midnight TV. In his first weeks of visiting the prison, McCloskey discovered that almost all inmates admit their guilt. “What I have seen over the last 40 years has shown me the exact opposite.” That prosecutors would never want to put an innocent person behind bars, that judges were interested in the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. At the time, he tells us, “I still believed in the inherent justice of the criminal justice system - that cops had no reason to lie. He was assigned an internship at New Jersey’s Rahway State Prison. McCloskey began what would become his life’s work while studying at Princeton Theological Seminary. Those with darker skin know better because they have seen and lived this reality.” Most Americans, or most white ones anyway, do not believe this. “There are thousands of innocent people convicted and locked away in prison. Grisham, who has vocally and financially supported innocence projects and even written a nonfiction book about one such case, says: In the book’s foreword, noted author John Grisham calls McCloskey “the Exonerator” for freeing 63 people, 23 of them on death row. “They lie, so we lie,” the officer told McCloskey. The problem is not individuals, but a long-existing “ends justify the means” ethos. Many of us have honorable friends and family members who serve. McCloskey acknowledges that police work is dangerous and difficult, and many good people do it. We’re not talking “a few bad apples.”įor the rest of my days, I will remember the passage from When Truth Is All You Have in which a Newark police lieutenant, a 25-year veteran of the force, tells McCloskey that he doesn’t know a single officer who hasn’t lied on the witness stand. Recipe of the month: Orzo Risotto with Roasted Gar.If you’re reading Black Lives Matter-related books about the role of police or white blindness to social problems, this timely book is one for your list.Īs Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries tells his stories of freeing wrongfully convicted persons all over the nation, we learn that witness perjury set up by police and prosecutors and police perjury on the stand are pervasive.Book Review: Jake Brigance Series (A Time to Kill.The Ultimate Family Staycation at Shangri-La Rasa.Other memorable characters include the black county sheriff Ozzie Walls who successfully navigates the divide between white and black, Harry Rex Vonner who most often is despicable but he makes himself useful enough times to be forgiven and Portia Lang, the daughter of a client turned secretary turned law student who rises from the shadows of racial and gender discrimination to prove her mettle. Lucien Wilbanks, Jake's mentor (and sometimes tormentor) is an important character who not only dispenses his pearls of wisdom but also contributes to some light-hearted moments. His wife Carla is a sensible and supportive spouse and I liked that she had a lot more to offer in A Time for Mercy. I really hope to read more of him in the future. He isn't without flaws but his profound sense of integrity makes him a great character. Being a liberal in a sea of conservatives, he makes plenty of enemies despite being well liked in his town. An idealistic lawyer, good husband and doting father, Jake Brigance doesn't hesitate to do the right thing even at the risk of being ostracized from society or compromising his own safety. Among the characters, there are several that are worthy of mention.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |