Criminal Procedures in The Innocent Man by J. Grisham

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Table of Contents

Summary of the Plot
The Evaluation
Reference

Summary of the Plot

The main plot mostly centers on the life of Ron Williamson, who can be considered the primary suspect in the investigation of the book. Having returned to the small city of his birth after an unsuccessful baseball career, accidentally became involved in a murder case (Grisham, 2007). His life took a sharp turn for the worst in the time prior to the murder of Debra Carter, leading the man to suffer from depression, alcoholism, and being involved with drugs (Grisham, 2007). The circumstances surrounding his life were perfect for the police to put the blame for the recent murder on him, and the evidence found on the scene of the crime scantly connected Williamson with it too. Furthermore, his friend Dennis Fritz was also involved in the story, for much of the same reasons as the other man.

The Murder

In 1982, a murder took place in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma. A woman by the name of Debra (Debbie) Carter was dead in her apartment. It was reported that the woman visited the bar she worked at before that night, leading to the police investigating the potential connections to it. The initial overview of the murder confirmed that the woman died from suffocation, as well as noted instances of her being beaten and raped (Grisham, 2007). The police have to lead the investigation for five years, with no solid evidence to prove their guilt of any individual. Desperation to make an arrest or potentially find the real killer has led the investigators to jump and any potential possibility of an arrest. In particular, the police decided to focus on two men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz as the potential suspects (Grisham, 2007). The connection between them and the murdered Carter was flimsy at best and substantiated by a combination of a witness record and his general reputation both held in the community. The initial questioning after the murder also concerned the two men, but no solid physical evidence was found to signify their involvement. Williamson was questioned using two separate polygraph tests, both of which showed no signs of guilt. The main witness of the case was Glen Gore, who repeatedly asserted both men were seen frequenting the bar Carter worked at. Williamson has had a history of drug use and mental health issues, both of which made him a suitable potential candidate for being a murderer. Glen Gore and has stated that Williamson was seen arguing with Carter on the day of her death, leading the police to believe he was the most prominent suspect (Grisham, 2007). The man was also characterized as making the victim uneasy, also by Gore. A need to quickly solve the case after a five-year period and a lack of leads have driven the police to ignore many of the possible factors regarding the murder in the vein of focusing on Williamson and Fritz. Another contribution to the murder conviction Williamson has received was a testimony from a prison whistle-blower connected with the police, who has reported the man confessing to the murder while serving his time for another crime in jail (Grisham, 2007). Terri Holland has been an informant for the police force for a continuous period of time and was a major contributor to both Carter and Haraway cases. The woman has since been found to state false testimonies to the authorities for rewards.

Additional Circumstances

In addition, it can be noted that the occurrence of a similar murder near the period of the investigation may have contributed to the investigation’s haste. Just a few years prior, Donna Denice Haraway was dead after being reported missing and being shot in the head by an unknown assailant. Two men were similarly accused of murder, followed by both of them admitting to having committed the crime (Grisham, 2007). While their testimonies have been vague at best, and have actively contradicted the findings of the police, both men were convicted of murder and put to life imprisonment. The admissions, similarly to the Carter case, were justified by dream testimonies and rushed through the court system.

Investigation and Investigation Conduct

Physical Evidence in the form of hair was also found, thought to have possibly belonged to the killer. Hair samples gathered from the scene of the crime were identified to have belonged to at least one of them, an assertion that held the conviction together (Grisham, 2007). During the process of the investigation, both men were repeatedly questioned and pressured by the police, as a way to ensure a guilty verdict could be made. Williamson has recalled a dream where he had committed murder during the process of being investigated, which was admitted into court as evidence of the crime and possible admission of guilt.

The Convictions

By the end of the long-stretched investigation, Williamson was sentenced to death, while Fritz faced a life prison sentence. The former was put on death row where he remained for 11 years until the sentence was halted by the court. Numerous appeals to court were made during that time by the man, all of which were denied (Grisham, 2007). Only through a number of connected petitions, public unrest, and further investigation from the interested parties, was the truth uncovered. The execution was stopped just 5 days before its scheduled date. A petition for The sentencing largely relied on witness testimonies from Gore and Holland, whose words were unreliable and unsupported by the other findings of the police. Eleven years after the event, the two men have acquitted of their charges thanks to the use of DNA testing, which proved that the hair samples found on the murder scene did not belong to them. The DNA examination of the hair instead implicated the key witness to the case, Glen Gore, who later admitted to the murder and was put in prison for life.

The Evaluation

Police Conduct

The police have appeared to be extremely uncoordinated and incompetent in solving this case, collecting evidence, analyzing it, as well as interacting with the potential people involved in it. Their investigation of the murder scene has to lead to them finding evidence of the rape and murder, but the assumptions of guilt and charges thrown against the potential suspects after the fact we’re not as well-made. From the very beginning, the police were led to assume the involvement of Williamson and Fritz, who were nothing more than acquaintances to Carter, and have not had any sufficient evidence found against them. While releasing them initially, the police had repeatedly pursued them as suspected afterward, lead on by the testimonies of Gore and Holland. Holland was an unreliable source and a person in direct and consistent contact with the police, and a person that could gain significant benefits from rushing a police arrest. Her testimony against Williamson was likely motivated by ideas of personal gain, and should not have been presented as a vital part of the case. Furthermore, the testimony of Glen Gore, a person closely related to the murder investigation ever since its beginning. Glen has provided his version of the events stating that Williamson was seen arguing with the victim on the day of her murder, continuously pushing his persona as the one responsible for the event. He has further implicated Fritz as well, also on a rather weak excuse of the man frequenting the same bar.

Glen Gore as Murder Suspect

Glen Gore has been a person closely associated with the investigation since its beginning, the one mainly responsible for the witness testimonies against the two men. The man has also had a history of violent and criminal behavior, which was overlooked by the investigation. The man’s continued presence and potential involvement in the case were also ignored, as the police were chasing other suspects without properly questioning or investigating the possibility of Gore as a suspect. The hair found on the murder scene had been misanalyzed, being attributed to either Williamson or Fritz, while later testing revealed it to have been Gores. It should be also noted that not enough attention was paid to the scene of the crime. The body was found in a naked state, with ketchup used to write a message on her body. The words are written on Carter’s corpse and walls, and the kitchen table was used to implicate two other men, named Graham and Smith. Both were found to have not been involved in the case, but, notably, had had relations with Glen Gore. The connections between the names written and gore were fully overlooked, and no further decisions to consider Gore as a possible murderer.

Overall, it can be said that the police and the investigators involved in this case have displayed gross incompetence when working, neglecting some parts of the evidence collected and misinterpreting others to push a comfortable agenda. Palm prints collected in connection with the murder were not properly utilized leading to the police have not been able to gather the necessary proof to lead a good investigation. The witnesses in the case were all largely unreliable and either had external motivations for lying to the police or could themselves be involved in the murder. The bar of evidence and testimony admitted to the court in connection with the murder was very low, and every piece of proof connecting Williamson and Fritz to the event was unreliable at best. The police have used recollections of Williamson’s dream as evidence of him committing a murder, which could not have possibly been considered an admission of guilt. The procedures for testing and identifying biological evidence were also used against the two men, with the possibility of hair samples matching presented as valid and crucial pieces of evidence. The erroneous nature of the case was finally resolved 11 years later, with the confession and arrest of Glen Gore, who was found to be the real criminal in the event. The use of DNA recognition was crucial in determining his guilt, as well as the testimonies of the people around him. It is extremely important to uphold the standards of quality in police procedure, as a way to ensure that the events of the Carter murder never take place again.

Reference

Grisham, J. (2007). The innocent man: murder and injustice in a small town. Modan Publishing House.

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