MEDIA REVIEWS

The Innocent Man

By John Grisham
Doubleday, 2006, 360 pages

The Innocent Man is John Grisham’s rendition of the wrongful conviction of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz. As an admirer of Grisham’s easy, story-telling writing style, I was initially skeptical about whether I would be as easily captivated by his non-fiction venture. I was not disappointed. 
The tale begins with the gruesome murder of a young woman, Debbie Carter. Her murder horrifies the sleepy town of Ada, Oklahoma. Ron Williamson, a former sports hero whose dreams of playing in the major leagues were washed away by his appetite for alcohol, is an Ada resident whose odd behavior, a result of his emerging mental disorder, makes him the primary suspect in the crime. Law enforcement and the prosecution team quickly decide that the murder must have been committed by two people. The investigation begins with a foregone conclusion – Ron Williamson and one of his friends committed the murder. Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz are convicted of Debbie Carter’s murder based on “dream confessions,” testimony from other prisoners, and the re-examination of a bloody hand print undertaken four and half years after the murder.
This is a compelling account about an overzealous effort to find the murderers and bring them to justice, without regard to due process and despite a lack of evidence. Regardless of your personal opinions or beliefs about the death penalty, Grisham’s account of this investigation and result will encourage individual readers to question and ponder our criminal justice system and the treatment of criminals on death row. These issues are especially thought-provoking for an attorney. 
Although I know that you can never predicate an outcome in the courtroom, I still found myself appalled by the events recounted in this book. There were so many missed opportunities during the prosecution of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, and it is interesting to consider what you could have or would have done differently as an attorney involved in this case. 
Of special interest is the Author’s Note at the end of the novel which describes Grisham’s reasons and eventual decision to undertake the writing of The Innocent Man.
Grisham’s rich character analysis of the unlikely protagonist, Ron Williamson, is clearly aided by the first hand interviews and cooperation of Ron Williamson’s family, friends, and the judges and attorneys involved in the case. Ron Williamson’s life was defined by the 12 years he served a sentence for a crime he did not commit; and although most of Grisham’s novels end on an optimistic note, he does not manufacture a happy ending to a real-life tragedy. 

Family Law Depositions

By John F. Nichols, Sr. and Joe Phillips
Juris Publishing, Inc., 2006

Reviewed by Patricia N. Carter

In an extraordinary act of organization, John F. Nichols, Sr. painstakingly categorized his past depositions in family law cases by topic. A publisher heard about this feat and asked him to put the result in a form useful to other practitioners. Family Law Depositions is that result.
Part reference manual and part how-to guide, the book is an offering in the Juris Publishing Deposition Series.  The authors, John F. Nichols, Sr., and Joe Phillips, are both well-respected and experienced litigators, with Nichols being particularly well-versed in family law cases.
Family Law Depositions contains much of value for both the new or general practitioner, as well as the more experienced family law attorney. For the new or general practitioner, the book provides a guide to pre-deposition preparation and strategy, for both the attorney conducting the deposition and the attorney defending the deposition. It offers notes on discovery practice in addition to preparation of the attorney, the client and the witness (including expert witnesses). It even contains sample information sheets for clients to complete and a sample witness-instruction sheet. The book also delves into the very mechanics of deposition taking, including detailed question-and-answer forms from actual depositions conducted by the authors.
While the more experienced family law practitioner can certainly benefit from the sheer organizational force of Family Law Depositions, even more value lies in the numerous unusual fact scenarios covered in the book. These will provide a good “jumping off point” for preparing for depositions in more complex cases and those involving rarer causes of action.
Family Law Depositions also contains helpful practice notes throughout, leading any practitioner through proper deposition practice, and providing background information, strategy, and supporting case law.
For ease of reference, Family Law Depositions is organized both by topic—jurisdictional disputes, custody proceedings, property proceedings, marital torts and post-divorce actions—and by witnesses to be deposed—parties, experts, social workers, private investigators, teachers, tutors and more.  Each possible witness in each topic is addressed with comprehensive, question-and-answer examples from real depositions.  It is truly the kind of resource that can only come from experience.
According to the authors, Family Law Depositions is intended as a guidepost for the preparation, planning, and strategy for taking family law depositions. It succeeds, and it should be a part of every family law practitioner’s library.

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