Conviction

Christopher Paget #4

by Richard North Patterson

When the body of eleven-year-old Thuy Sen is found in San Francisco Bay, the police swiftly charge Rennell and Payton Price with her grisly murder. A twelve-person jury, helped along by an incompetent lawyer for the defense, are quick to find the brothers guilty - and to sentence them both to die for their crimes.

Twelve years later, Payton is days from his execution, and overworked pro bono lawyer Teresa Peralta Paget, her husband Chris, and stepson Carlo, a recent Harvard law graduate, become convinced not only that Rennell didn't receive a fair trial, but that he's innocent. Racing against the clock and against insurmountable legal obstacles, Teresa, Chris, and Carlo desperately try and stop the execution of an innocent man.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Legal Thriller, Thriller, Crime, Audiobook, Legal

463 pages, Hardcover

First published January 25, 2005

About the author

Richard North Patterson is the author of fourteen previous bestselling and critically acclaimed novels. Formerly a trial lawyer, Patterson served as the SEC’s liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and has served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and women’s rights. He lives in San Francisco and on Martha’s Vineyard.
Macmillan.com Author Profile

Awards
Edgar Award, 1980, Best First Novel for The Lasko Tangent

Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, International Award, 1995 for Degree of Guilt

http://us.macmillan.com/author/richar...

Reviews

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book starts very slowly, but like a good Roy Orbison song it builds to a fantastic crescendo. Patterson takes on the death penalty in this book and the story does make you think. After the slow start the plot twists and turns many times, some of them unexpectedly. Highly recommended.

[Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus] · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audiobook - 17:48 Hours - Narrator: Patricia Kalember
1.0 out of 5.0 stars - DNF
I tried - for over six hours I tried, but eventually I knew I couldn't tolerate eleven more hours of what became a fairly boring story, despite the author's noble intent of opposition to the death penalty in the USA.

[Allysia Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too much detail. The book could have been half the size it was if they left out some of the court room and conference call details they included. They only reason I finished it is because that's the kind of person that I am but I am sorry I wasted my time with this one. And it ended the way you thought it would, which was disappointing.

[James Glass · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept this book in the car and read it when I waited at the post office, restaurants, and other places where I had to wait in line.
Rennell Price has fifty-nine days left to live, after spending fifteen years on California's death row along with his brother, Payton. They're both charged with the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl.
Terri Hatchett is an attorney working on the case to halt the execution of Rennell--a client she believes to be innocent of the crime.
Terri has to overcome a number of obstacles--the original lawyer who took the case fifteen years earlier was high on cocaine during the trial and never had a defense for Rennell because he believed his client to be guilty. But at Terri struggles to find something to stall the execution, she discovers who the real killer might be. In a race for time, she most prove Rennell is innocent before the final hour.
This book has a lot of characters and plot twists in which Patterson connects so eloquently. He's a master of writing.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 2 out of 5]

My 4th RNP book, and probably my last. Conviction focuses on the late-stage death penalty legal process, which according to Patterson in the Afterword is actually more complicated and byzantine in real life than it is in his work of fiction. RNP seems dead set against capital puniushment from the start, and to sway the reader's favor he stacks the deck a bit with a warm-hearted convicted felon who may potentially be innocent of a heinous crime - so disgusting that I won't share the details here - but is caught up in the wheels of justice. A former trial lawyer himself, Patterson certainly understands the legal process and is able to explain it clearly to the reader using real-life laws and legal decisions although at times the technical details are far from fascinating. Every RNP book I have read (the entire Christopher Paget series) features characters that are generally well-developed, although his "bad guys" are always a little too cartoonishly bad, and a well-researched plausible storyline. The problem is his prose, which drones on way too long at times especially in the unimportant areas such as describing the setting, and the overall depressing tone of his narrative which wallows in grief and sorrow like no book I've read since The Grapes of Wrath. And if you're going to write a book about a divisive issue such as capital punishment it might help to be a little more even-handed at times during the process.

[Richard Oosse · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really loved Patterson's early books with the characters Christopher and Terri Paget. But this was nothing but a misfire; so boring from start to end that I could barely finish the thing. None of the courtroom shenanigans take place in an actual courtroom, mind you, but at hearings and on conference calls; characters seem to be forever filing petitions instead of actually doing anything interesting or exciting. This may be how the law really works but it doesn't make for compelling reading.

There's also a healthy dose of class snobbery running through this in almost every chapter. At this stage in their careers, the Pagets are quite rich and well known and Patterson never hesitates to remind us of this. Details of their high life flow from every scene as the lawyers hang on their boat or lounge in their mansion while discussing their hard luck client. By the end of the book, you'll know more about fine wine and gourmet meals of the rich than death penalty cases.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legal drama at its best. Patterson's books are always so well-researched and insightful that I come away feeling that I've learned something about the subject area, in this case death penalty litigation. There is great depth to his characters as well because he develops different characters in different books but they all inhabit the same fictional universe, so a minor character in one book has a full back story in another. Overall, this was a great book. 4.5 stars.

[Michelle (meshe) Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very difficult for me to read. It's about a death row inmate and his lawyers attempts to have his execution stayed.
My feelings and thoughts regarding the death penalty have changed over the years. The recent execution in Georgia made me start thinking about it again. I was at the library browsing the shelves and ran across this book. I've read many of RNP''s novels and like his style so I picked this up and started it. It's a difficult subject to read about.
The book follows Renell Price's attorneys through the days preceding his scheduled execution. It takes you through the crime and the investigation and trial. The subsequent maneuvering through the justice system. I sincerely hope that the Supreme Court of the US isn't as petty as this book portrayed them.

[Stephanie Potts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never read anything quite like this before. It was very intense. I can see why many folks thought it was too long, too much legal detail. I work in a different field of law and found it very interesting. It was hard to get through the end, kept hoping for a miracle for Rennell. It moved me to tears.

[Aqsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
There should have been a warning on the cover of this book that only people interested in American law should try and read it. Half of the time I was struggling to keep myself focused.
There were things that I had no knowledge of before reading it and I was better off without knowing them.

[Lisa Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

bog downs in legalese....

[Nira Ramachandran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would love to give it five stars and would have too, if it wasn't for the really grim context. Not for a queasy reader.

[David]

250 pages longer than it needed to be, with a dissatisfying (if, likely, realistic) conclusion. Too too too much lawyers’ procedure.

[Foodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I didn't do that little girl" is all Rennell Price has ever said in his own defense. Fifty nine days is how long he has to live - after spending fifteen years on death row for the horrifying sexual assault and murder of nine year old Thuy Sen, whose body was found floating in San Francisco Bay.
Richard North Patterson has a knack for churning out bestsellers that are intensely dramatic and thought provoking. After 12 novels on topics ranging from gun control to late-term abortion to Watergate-style corruptions, his latest thriller, Conviction, deals with the most complex and emotional of legal debates - the machinery of capital punishment. Terri Paget, the lawyer who takes up Rennell's case, has to stop his execution and prove his innocence by fighting against the labyrinthine and counterintuitive laws governing the death penalty. The dark side of America is depicted - where streets are lined with crack addicts, where all blacks appear to be the same to whites, and where racism, pedophilia and domestic abuse are rampant. This, along with issues revolving around mental retardation and legal agendas, are woven intricately into the narrative in a manner that will shake you to the core. But emerging from all the grimness are instances of tremendous human strength and characters that will be impinged upon your memory forever. As Terri delves into the investigation and trial that took place fifteen years ago, she starts to understand the reasons why Rennell was never been able to defend himself adequately. Terri has just two months to derail what increasingly seems like the inevitable execution of Rennell, who she claims is retarded. The law states that state cannot execute convicts with IQs below 70, Rennell's is found to be 72...is the two point difference the deciding factor between life and death for the hulking, sad-eyed black man? The key witness has died, the physical evidence is too degraded to test for DNA, but as Terri prepares for a last appeal, fresh evidence is uncovered, suggesting that another man committed the atrocity fifteen years ago. But once the wheels of capital punishment have been set in motion, there are legal battles and agendas reaching from California to the highest court in the nation, leaving the defendant as a mere afterthought. Presumed innocent is now presumed guilty. The question is: Will the serious doubts about Rennell's guilt be enough to save him from the lethal injection?

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters were outstanding and the plot was good, but neither could make up for the over sell of the author's viewpoint. Instead of over 500 pages, it should have been 250-300. I felt way too many times I was drowning in quicksand. Then suddenly it would get good before back to the boring legal mumble jumble. Patterson needs to take some lessons from Grisham to hold a reader's interest. And Grisham always gets his views over without tiring his reader.

[Caroline Mcphail-Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story that can haunt a readers days as thoughts of justice, fairness, equality, history, love, hate, power, violence, truth, lies, control, politics, court, lawyers, legal system, society and oh so much more jockey for moral victory, if that's possible.

Patterson has woven a tale that could be taken from any headlines across the country and will leave this reader pondering the implications for many a day to come.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#4 in the Christopher Paget series.

Christopher Paget series - Terri Paget, post conviction lawyer, tries to halt the execution of Rennell Price, one of two black brothers convicted of killing an Asian girl during a sex crime. As she gets to know him, she becomes convinced he is retarded and innocent, but the clock is ticking. Cameos by President Kilcannon and Chief Justice Carolyn Masters.

[Penny Bankston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book! Legal drama of the first order. A young girl suffers an horrendous death. The identity of the perpetrators seems clear; the evidence is solid. Two brothers are charged and convicted to death. Fifteen years later, as the date of execution is approaching, criminal defense attorney Terri Paget has agreed to take one more close look at the guilt or innocence of one of the brothers, Rennell. As she digs in, the evidence of guilt no longer seems so clear, and she becomes convinced of his innocent.

But California (at least in 2005 when this book was released) has numerous, nearly impenetrable roadblocks for overturning a death penalty conviction. As time ticks down to the date of execution, Terri and her team race to save him. They appeal the conviction through every avenue available.

What is so riveting about this novel: Paterson, an attorney himself, takes you into the offices of the prosecutor and defense as they struggle with their consciences and develop their arguments, into the courtroom as the drama of conflicting testimonies plays out, and into the chambers of Supreme Court justices as they negotiate and strategize. California’s death penalty law is extremely complex, but Paterson, while taking the reader well into the weeds, makes the complexity accessible. If the statistics he cites on death row inmates are accurate, they are sobering indeed - predominately Black from disadvantaged and abusive backgrounds, often with low IQ - a population least able to enlist competent defense counsel or to aid in their own defense. This book will force you to confront your own perspectives on the death penalty.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terri, Carlos & Chris Paget are three lawyers working on a last ditch effort to save a man from the death penalty. Like most of the death row inmates he is poor, had inadequate representation and African American. He also may be retarded. Struggling through an unsympathetic court system and a maze of draconian legislation, the family tries to save what they believe is an innocent man. One piece of legislation that is mentioned, the Antiterrorism Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) is real, signed by President Bill Clinton. There is tension in the Paget family as Terri's daughter was the victim of the same kind of crime her client is accused of. North is a lawyer and a good writer. A recommended reading list follows the novel

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never shy away from extra-long books. My two favorites are over 1,000 pages. But this one was way too long and way too boring. It was heavy-handed and long-winded. I have read books by this author before and liked them, but this was really disappointing. The author's note says he simplified a lot of the complicated legal matters to make them more palatable for readers. I believe it, but they are still dry and confusing to lay people like me. The worst part is that you read nearly 600 pages, get through all the boring legal crap and the freaking guy dies anyway! Not worth it. If you want to read a good book about the death penalty, read The Green Mile instead. I wish I'd re-read that instead of spending a week on this.

[William Sutherland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really "like" the book as the subject matter is capital punishment. However, it was an important book. As usual, Richard North Patterson takes a legal issue and makes it human. He reuses some characters, but it is not necessary to read other books that they appear in. His stories can stand alone, but it does make it interesting to see these characters reappear. I would recommend this book.

[Jerry B · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Conviction”, our first RN Patterson, is a very tough but quite suspenseful legal thriller. It is all about the death penalty – and makes a strong case, without a lecture per se, for abandoning it. The plot revolves around two brothers, Payton and Rennell, on death row, convicted fifteen years earlier for the brutal and depraved sexual murder of a 9-year-old girl. The exact manner of death was so disturbing that to us it cast a pall over the novel that requires reader effort to put aside to continue with the tale.

Defense attorney Terri Paget, with help from (lawyers) hubby and step-son, takes on the task of one more look-see appeal with 59 days until Rennell’s execution – the other brother declines to pursue. She quickly learns the case against Rennell is almost completely circumstantial, and heavily dependent on the testimony of another criminal and low-life Eddie Fleet, who claimed that Rennell called him to transport the dead body to the bay ere Rennell deposited the victim into the water to wash away. Over time, the lawyers feel that version of the story is almost completely untrue; and that Rennell is so intellectually challenged that he had no mental wherewithal to stand up for himself, other than, any time asked, to deny doing the deed.

The novel then proceeds through 400 pages of trial and appeal rehashes from the past; the appeals going forward once the team is now virtually certain of Rennell’s innocence (and of his probable mental retardation); and even a final appeal to the US Supreme Court, where we get an interesting insider’s view of what goes on in those supposedly sacred-from-politics chambers. It takes until nearly the final page to learn if Rennell will live or die.

We felt the author did an outstanding job illuminating the many angles and issues surrounding the process of executing a prisoner. It is difficult to complete the novel without questioning whether in good conscience such a “remedy” ever makes sense or can be justified given all the political, social, and moral aspects of substantiating such an ultimate penalty. To have achieved that end while engaging and entertaining us speaks volumes about this exemplary book – difficult but commendable.

[SharlzG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was challenging for me on many levels - I had things happen to me personally when growing up & then began my career working in the legal industry training towards becoming a paralegal until I became disappointed & disheartened with what the legal system had grown to become.

I believe that the law should be about protecting the innocent but due to crafty lawyers with either their own personal/professional agendas, or wallets filled by high paying clients, it's become so stretched and warped that the system is forever trying to plug holes on the grounds of "doing the right thing" by the "victims" but in reality they are just making the mess even worse & in the end it's the people that the law is designed to protect, the innocent, that are losing out to money, politics, & personal agendas.

This story, though fiction, perfectly highlights this mess & what happens when someone comes alone that challenges the ethical & moral compass of a heavily mutated "justice" system. How does the system respond when their processed is challenged based on morality over legality. Do they stubbornly stick their heads in the sand, blame someone else or pass the buck. Or do make a decision to act based on the founding principal or protecting the innocent irrespective of race, colour, creed, religion, social standing, educational standard, bank balance, etc.

My opinion based on my personal experiences is that vengeance will never eliminate the pain, emotion, injustice of any crime that was committed to you. I see the death penalty not as punishment, but as an act of vengeance. I personally could not live with myself if someone was executed on account of something they did to me or that effected me because then their death becomes my responsibility & my personal weight to bear. This story affirms to me as to why that is the right way to feel irrespective of what a bloated, distorted, & non-cohesive legal system tells me. And though I found it at times disturbing & at times traumatic, I'm glad that I finally made it to the top of my "to read" pile.

[Marca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Against the death penalty much, Mr. Patterson? Like John Grisham in “The Confession,” Patterson crafts a story that makes a case against the death penalty. The Price brothers and a friend are serving time for the sexual assault and murder of a nine-year old neighbor girl. The brothers are sentenced to death and the friend gets off with a plea deal. Fifteen years after the sentencing, Attorney Theresa Paget is tasked with saving one of the brothers, Rennell, from the death penalty. After meeting with him, Theresa believes that Rennell has a low I.Q. (referred to as retarded in the book), which would legally prevent him from being put to death. Theresa goes about trying to prove Rennell’s disability, and ultimately his innocence, with the single-minded laser focus that makes everyone around her crazy. Family members are ignored, other cases go wanting, but Paget will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing, to save Rennell. Rennell is not a sympathetic character. He was apparently at the crime scene; forensic evidence places him there. He does not say or do much. All he will say is “I did not do that little girl.” Rennell seemed very one-dimensional so Paget’s passion for him (not his case) left me scratching my head. The courtroom scenes went on and on and on and on. It was as if we were actually in the courtroom listening to every word and every motion. Dragged a bit for me, but I am not a lawyer. The story also goes back and forth in time and reenacts scenes in the minds of different characters, so it was hard to keep track of what was real or imagined. (Listened on audio - hard to backtrack.) I am still not really sure which of the three defendants killed the little girl. Race and politics are also at the forefront. The Price brothers are black, low-income, and had criminal pasts at the time of the murder so they were dispatched quickly through the courts to death row. Lots of big issues here. The death penalty, good-ole-boy politics, social inequities, and others; the book is loaded, but worth reading.

[Old Man Aries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un romanzo "difficile". E' questa la prima definizione che mi viene in mente. Non tanto per la narrazione"," deliziosamente scorrevole com'è abitudine di Richard N. Patterson"," bensì per l'argomento trattato. Dopo essersi concentrato sui vari aspetti della politica statunitense dalle primarie in poi"," dopo aver scritto legal thriller incentrati su quelle violenze che spesso e volentieri rimangono nascoste per poi esplodere all'improvviso"," Patterson ha deciso di parlare di uno degli argomenti più spinosi che possa affrontare uno scrittore americano: la pena di morte. Il modo in cui ne parla è nel suo solito stile: attento ai particolari"," il più fedele possibile alla realtà (con le classiche semplificazioni necessarie in un romanzo) ma"," soprattutto"," ben attento ad approfondire le convinzioni ed i sentimenti di chi è a favore e chi contrario alla condanna estrema"," senza nascondere quale sia comunque il suo punto di vista. E' un argomento che forse per noi italiani è meno sentito"," ma che in america rappresenta un punto veramente dolente e controverso"," così come sono controverse leggi che"," anche se si potesse dimostrare l'innocenza di un condannato"," non è detto che ne permetterebbero la sospensione dell'esecuzione. Assurdo ma vero. Interessante è anche la scelta"," in molti punti"," di sfruttare la tecnica del Flashback per ripercorrere le vicende che hanno condotto agli ultimi 59 giorni del condannato a morte da cui il libro prende il titolo: scelta interessante perché il rischio di confondere o annoiare il lettore era forte"," sfida pienamente vinta dall'autore. La trama? Teresa Paget"," avvocato"," si trova ad affrontare l'ultima difesa per un nuovo condannato alla pena di morte con l'accusa di un grave delitto: l'uomo è affetto da una forma di ritardo mentale e non solo l'avvocato Paget si convince che non deve essere giustiziato"," ma che sia addirittura innocente di quel crimine. Consigliato.

[Carol Fellenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling story about the death of a young child. The legal story is long but it makes you want to keep reading to grind out the end result.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

CONVICTION examines the legal nightmare of the California appeals procedure. In 1987 two brothers were convicted of the brutal rape and murder of a nine year old girl. Their lawyer was cross-addicted to booze and cocaine, but he did offer a defense which was legally adequate. although it was really just good enough to get them executed. Fifteen years later, one brother is executed, and now there is a slim chance that the appeals process can save the other brother.

The brother who remains on death row suffers a significant degree of retardation, and this was not properly addresed in the original trial. To the court, he was perceived as an unrepentant, angry black male, and the state of California will not execute anyone with an IQ under 70, and Renell scored a 72, so he was good to go.

The important fact to remember is that the appeals process only seeks to determine if the defendants were treated fairly in the original trial. The question of 'guilt or innocence' is not an issue for the appeals court, and in this particular case, the fact that one of the defendants had such a low IQ implied that he had not been treated fairly. This is the basis for his right to an appeal, even though new evidence points to the fact that he was not even involved, this is largely irrelevant.

I read three quarters of the novel, and then skimmed to the end, because I got bogged down by the endless minutia of the appeals process. You will learn a lot, but I don't even think many lawyers fully understand this procedure.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a blog post I wrote in 2005:

Richard North Patterson's latest book, Conviction, is an intense look at capital punishment. The protagonist, lawyer Terri Paget, takes on the death row case of Rennell Price. Price is a young black man who was convicted, along with his brother, of killing a 9 year old girl during a sexual assault.

As Paget reviews the evidence, she comes to believe that not only is Rennell innocent, he's also retarded and that fact kept him from ever receiving proper counsel or effectively defending himself.

The case goes to the Ninth Circuit (those liberal types in California) then on to the Supreme Court while Paget and her crew try desperately to get the evidence to prove Price's innocence.

Patterson gives a lot of insight into how the death penalty process in California and the Federal courts plays out. Regardless of your beliefs, this book will make you think long and hard about the death penalty.

On a personal note, I used to be in favor of the death penalty but now I'm not so sure. There are some truly heinous crimes and I have no compunction about ending the lives of the perpetrators when the evidence is overwhelmingly clear. But, there are too many cases where it's just not cut and dried and the possibility exists that the state could kill an innocent person. I think I now subscribe to the belief that it's better to keep them all alive on the state's dime than to kill even one innocent.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard North Patterson did not disappoint with this novel. In addition to educating the reader about the legal system, another of Patterson's strengths is character development. I came to care very much for Rennell, the death row inmate. And I was sickened by the circumstances that contributed to his lot in life. One reader rated this book a "1" because there wasn't much action, too boring, too much paper pushing. Sadly, that's what overturning a death penalty is all about. What I found eye opening and frustrating is that, in the end, overturning a death penalty is not about whether or not the convicted is innocent. It's about process, procedure, and technicality. Once the conviction has been upheld by appeals court and state supreme court, even new evidence that will likely cause reasonable doubt is no longer a criterion. Governors concerned about not wanting to appear soft on crime refuse to grant clemency, even in cases of reasonable doubt. This book should be required reading for high school social studies classes to stimulate discussion on the death penalty.

[Betsy Ashton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patterson's Conviction is a diatribe against the death penalty played out in conference calls, petitions filed with various courts and visits to a condemned man on death row.

Earlier books featuring Chris and Terri Paget have been fast paced. This one is not. While Patterson makes his case that the death penalty should not be carried out against a mentally retarded man, the way he makes it divided our household.

My husband and I listened to the book on a long car trip during the holidays. He found the endless repetition of legal filings with various courts of appeal, including the Supreme Court, tedious. I found some of the minutiae of the legal system interesting, but it's very repetition sapped the energy out of the book.

Heavy themes should have made the book a disc turner. It didn't.

So, my husband gave the book two stars, I gave it three. Since I'm writing the review...