The Prosecutors: A Year in the Life of a District Attorney's Office

by Gary Delsohn

A behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of America's overburdened criminal justice system is revealed through the eyes of John O'Mara, a tough, streetwise homicide investigator, and Jan Scully, a former sex-crimes prosecutor turned D.A., as they deal with a series of shocking crimes, real-life legal dramas, and controversies over the course of a year. 30,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Law, True Crime, Legal, Audiobook, Crime, Biography

368 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of like the second half of a Law and Order episode, only without the PC.

The Prosecutors try mainly two different cases. One is a shooting that happened during a robbery, and is all very cut and dried.

The other is about a member of the terrorist group that kidnapped Patty Hearst, robbed banks, and oh yeah, killed a few people. The prosecutors do everything they can not to prosecute because of political connections. There's a section where the prosecutor tries to explain why he doesn't want to prosecute to the murder victim's husband, which is just barf inducing. The Two Tier justice system definitely exists.

[Katherine Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping it would discuss more about the ins and outs of a DA office. This was mostly court transcripts from three major cases in Sacramento in 2001. Interesting nonetheless.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to read. I was interested in it, but I wasn't sucked in. I could easily leave it untouched for months. I wasn't motivated to pick it up again. When I did, I'd read just a few pages at a time.

The content was intriguing, but the writing didn't do the content any favors. I think my biggest challenge was long-ish chapters with zero space breaks in the chapters. All I saw was pages of unending, unbroken text, and if I was tired I just put it down rather than reading to the end of a chapter.

Delsohn also ends up quoting big chunks from the trials. The effect is that it reads like a court transcript.

He had great characters to work with and lots of drama, but the writing itself was dry.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but unexceptional examination of the subject.

[Lundy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about The Prosecutors in a roundup on narrative fiction. Similar to books like Courtroom 302 and No Matter How Loud I Shout, Gary Delsohn spent a year taking an insider’s look at the justice system.

In this instance, he spends a year in the Sacramento’s District Attorney’s Office. In that year, prosecutors will try several men who were involved in a robbery where a young man was shot and killed. They’ll deal with a man who hung his girlfriend on video tape, an immigrant who murders his wife, two-year old son and several other members of his family.

Overall, it was a pretty interesting fly on the wall account of what it’s like to prosecute. It was often grim due to the nature of the crimes the DA’s office dealt with.

However, I felt like at times the book lacked the overall depth of Courtroom 302 and No Matter How Loud I Shout, which both included extensive research and placed the issues in greater context. However, I realize that The Prosecutors seemed like it was envisioned as an inside look at justice along the lines of a non-fiction Law & Order.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book of my shelf for some inspiration for my Criminal Law class. I didn't realize how much it would take me back to criminal law practice ... and remind me why I got out of it. I did get some good ideas for teaching, but I can just picture walking through the dingy courthouse with each page. I think this should be required reading for any law student considering criminal law, it definitely helps de-romanticize it. It's the harsh reality of our criminal justice system, which isn't pretty at all. G-d bless the people that do it, but attorneys really shouldn't do it for more than ten years. Just leads to cynicism and you lose the ability to look for justice.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think any of this is really surprising to someone who is an attorney, but it is probably good insight into what prosecutors deal with on a daily or yearly basis at a DA office. It covers a few high profile murder cases including a shaken-baby case, the end result of the Patty Hearst and Symbionese Liberation Army murders, a murder in the process of burglary, and a rape-murder. This book gives a slight glimpse into the lives of attorneys outside of their cases. Frankly, this book read too much like a condensed court transcript. The cases were interesting though and could very well have been put into a case law book.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read, especially for a prosecutor/defense attorney or law student interested in criminal law (or pretty much anyone interested in “true crime” books). I am a prosecutor in the Sacramento area, so I am familiar with a lot of the people, places, and crimes described in the book. Overall, I felt Delsohn did a good job. His descriptions of tragic cases never reek of sensationalism, nor are they gory, yet his style gets the message of mayhem across and exudes concern for victims' families without being schmaltzy. This is an incredible insider's view of all the players in local Sacramento law.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The facts of these cases alone would have made for a fantastic read. Unfortunately, Gary Delsohn is not a strong writer. His senseless repetition of facts and aggravating tendency to compose horrible run-on, convoluted sentences did these stories a great disservice. That said, the cases are compelling and the pages are turned relatively quickly. It is easy to feel for the victims' families and you find yourself genuinely concerned in the outcome of the trials. Overall: a decent book that had potential to be outstanding.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book although the author's style of writing made the story difficult to follow on a few occasions. However, as the cover promised me, this book provided an interesting insight into how a district attorney's office works by examining the treatment of some high-profile cases out of Sacramento during 2001. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in true crime, criminal justice, or government in general.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but I think it's because the district attorney's office detailed is the Sacramento County DA's Office. I live nearby and many of the cases detailed were already familiar to me.

This book definitely shows how a prosecutor gets involved in a case, & it becomes a part of them.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written. Gives interesting in sites into the politics of prosecuting a case. As well as how cases where "everyone know who did it" can go un-prosecuted. An educational window into the legal system.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall this was a decent book but very uneven. Some of the cases were interesting and I think it gave a pretty decent but limited idea of the inner workings of the criminal division of the Sacramento DA's Office. There are probably several better books on this general subject.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it since my brother wrote it!

[Emily Monroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting cases, but not strong writing on my opinion. You can tell he normally writes short newspaper stuff