The Story of Dan Bright: Crime, Corruption and Injustice in the Crescent City

by Justin Nobel, Dan Bright, Clive Stafford Smith (Foreword)

Everybody knows New Orleans, but nobody knows this New Orleans. At sixteen years old, Dan Bright was the head of a New Orleans drug empire. As his operation grew, it was only a matter of time before he attracted the attention of the criminal justice system, which would stop at nothing—including framing Dan for murder—to get him off the streets. Dan’s capital murder trial lasted only one day. The District Attorney’s office used false testimony and fabricated evidence to lead the jury to their ultimate Daniel Bright was guilty and deserved the death penalty. This incredible true story unflinchingly shows the injustice of the legal system, as well as the base corruption on display at Angola prison, where Dan spent ten years fighting his wrongful conviction and struggling for a right supposedly guaranteed to all a fair trial. In 1995, Dan Bright was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Murray Barnes after the prosecutors and the FBI withheld key evidence at Bright's trial. Bright was twenty-six years old at the time. He spent nine years in prison, including four years on death row, before the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed his conviction in 2004. Justin Nobel is a freelance magazine journalist. His stories have appeared in Newsweek, Time, Oxford American, Tin House and Virginia Quarterly Review. His articles have been selected for publication in Best American Travel Writing 2011, Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014 and Best American Travel Writing 2016. Justin lives in New Orleans. "Gritty and raw, Bright’s narrative is as fascinating as it is disturbing for what it reveals about the dark, racist underside of the American justice system. Compelling reading." —Kirkus Reviews "First and foremost, it's a cage-rattling exposé of the corrupt criminal justice system of New Orleans. It's also an honest account of criminal life within a major American city."—Scott Neuffer, Foreword Reviews

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Crime

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2016

About the author

Justin Nobel writes on science and environment for US magazines, investigative sites, and literary journals. He has been published in Best American Science and Nature Writing and Best American Travel Writing. A book he co-wrote with a death row exoneree, The Story of Dan Bright, was published in 2016 by University of New Orleans Press. His 2020 Rolling Stone magazine story, "America's Radioactive Secret," won an award from the National Association of Science Writers and inspired this book. Justin's writing has helped lead to lawsuits, public dialogue, academic research and been taught at Harvard's School of Public Health.

Reviews

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

"People think poverty is all about being poor. No, poverty is a money making machine, and prisons are where the investors cash in on their investments."

[Michael Tisserand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really two remarkable books in one. The first half deals with one man's rise to prominence as a top player in the New Orleans drug trade. The second half deals with the conviction of the same man for a murder he did not commit. The writing throughout both sections is fresh, gritty and horrifying, and the issues that the book raises about guilt and innocence, and society and the individual, linger long after the final chapter of this story is told.

[Hannah Pilley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway, and couldn't wait to begin it. I was extremely interested in the story centered around true life in New Orleans as I am a fellow Louisiana resident. The little bit I knew about the book centered around the story of crime and cover-ups in New Orleans. However, as I thumbed through the book as soon as I received it, I was shocked at the extreme profanity that jumped out at me. At a closer look, not only was there shocking use of profanity, but very explicit sexual details. This was NOT what I expected in a non-fiction book. Granted, it was told in the author's own words, but I did not feel I deserved to be subjected to such language and conduct in order to learn the facts of this tale. I was severely disappointed, as I was looking forward to reading the true story.

[denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Bright

this book is awesome!!! i do not condone using drugs or selling them, i especially do not condone an unjust legal system! this man spent ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit, these prosecutors and policemen that were involved need to pay him for those lost ten years.
i would love to know where you are and what your doing now. hope your life is on the right track and you have found happiness.

[Abram Himelstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so proud to have had a hand in publishing this book. Of the 250 I have published, this is probably the most important, and definitely one of the greatest true stories ever told.

[Juliana Philippa]

Free on Kindle! https://www.amazon.com/Story-Dan-Brig...

[Marcia Adversalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful read. Well worth your time.

[David Cowen]

Okay Book. Worth the Read.

[Karen Mirabito · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome book, you know as you grow up there are people out there that are to put it mildly..."not honest ". But when you have a government system that is there to protect you and it is so dishonest it makes you question everything... I am thankful for my little bubble that I grew up in but at the same time I am so sorry it took me so long to see that there is so much corruption, that is if you look hard enough. All I can say is " I wish I knew then what I know now." And maybe I could have made a difference. God Bless you Dan Bright... not that I agree with your early profession, but you did deserve honesty and a fair trial.

[Sandy Priester · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize that I am swimming against the tide here,
but I do not find much of this book to be believable.