Burden of Proof: The Case of Juan Corona

by Ed Cray

This book covers the crimes and prosecution of Juan Corona, who was convicted in 1971 of the murders of 25 itinerant laborers in California's agricultural country.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

386 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1973

About the author

Cray was a longtime freelance writer who has been published in many of the country's leading newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Cray is the author of 18 published books, including General of the Army, a biography of George C. Marshall; Chief Justice, a biography of Earl Warren; and most recently Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie. He has organized an international Consortium for the Study of Biography.

Cray joined the School of Journalism faculty at the University of Southern California as an adjunct instructor in 1976 and is now a tenured professor.

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astounding read that explains a great deal about the Juan Corona case, the state of serial-murder investigation in 1970, and a variety of collateral social-cultural issues. It's a sort of study of how many things can go wrong in a single criminal case. Although the book was written by a member of the defense team, the mistakes made by defense counsel are just as clear as those made by the prosecution, and it's really neck and neck until they reach the finish line. For more detail on how the jurors reacted to all this judicial mayhem, read JURY by Victor Villasenor. One cannot be understood fully without the other, in my opinion.

[Katie]

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