Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption

Description

"When the final gavel clapped in a rural southern courtroom in the summer of 1988, Willie J. Grimes, a gentle spirit with no record of violence, was shocked and devastated to be convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Here is the story of this everyman and his extraordinary quarter-century-long journey to freedom, told in breathtaking and sympathetic detail, from the botched evidence and suspect testimony that led to his incarceration to the tireless efforts to prove his innocence and the identity of the true perpetrator. These were spearheaded by his relentless champion, Christine Mumma, a cofounder of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. That commission-unprecedented at its inception in 2006-remains a model organization unlike any other in the country, and one now responsible for a growing number of exonerations. With meticulous, prismatic research and pulse-quickening prose, Benjamin Rachlin presents one man's tragedy and triumph. The jarring and unsettling truth is that the story of Willie J. Grimes, for all its outrage, dignity, and grace, is not a unique travesty. But through the harrowing and suspenseful account of one life, told from the inside, we experience the full horror of wrongful conviction on a national scale. Ghost of the Innocent Man is both rare and essential, a masterwork of empathy. The book offers a profound reckoning not only with the shortcomings of our criminal justice system but also with its possibilities for redemption"--Amazon.;Prologue: 1987 -- Firm and unequivocal -- Chris -- Only a few additional weeks -- Lake -- K and O -- Rosen -- Some ideas of persecution -- Newman, Coleman, and Weitzel -- The benefit of every reasonable inference -- A problem for everyone -- One of those cases -- Nobody could be against this -- In favorable times and difficult times -- Their different individual viewpoints -- We must use our judgment --The elephant in the room -- Does not admit to crime -- An extraordinary procedure -- A situation not of his making -- We recommend the closing of this file -- Some concerns about his medical condition -- Any cases where evidence had gone missing -- In three dimensions -- I can tell that this lady have went over my case -- Everybody knows he didn't do it -- The first real test -- They will try to get me to sign papers -- The last avenue I can think of to pursue -- He spoke about going through changes -- Send him a questionnaire -- If they had anything, it can't match nothing from me -- What she said happened, happened -- A lawyer I've never met -- A type of panel I've never seen -- A long time coming -- Cases of innocence still open. Prologue: 1987 -- Firm and unequivocal -- Chris -- Only a few additional weeks -- Lake -- K and O -- Rosen -- Some ideas of persecution -- Newman, Coleman, and Weitzel -- The benefit of every reasonable inference -- A problem for everyone -- One of those cases -- Nobody could be against this -- In favorable times and difficult times -- Their different individual viewpoints -- We must use our judgment --The elephant in the room -- Does not admit to crime -- An extraordinary procedure -- A situation not of his making -- We recommend the closing of this file -- Some concerns about his medical condition -- Any cases where evidence had gone missing -- In three dimensions -- I can tell that this lady have went over my case -- Everybody knows he didn't do it -- The first real test -- They will try to get me to sign papers -- The last avenue I can think of to pursue -- He spoke about going through changes -- Send him a questionnaire -- If they had anything, it can't match nothing from me -- What she said happened, happened -- A lawyer I've never met -- A type of panel I've never seen -- A long time coming -- Cases of innocence still open.