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Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption
"A crisply written page turner."-NPR
During the last two decades, more than two thousand American citizens have been wrongfully convicted. Ghost of the Innocent Man brings us one of the most dramatic of those cases and provides the clearest picture yet of the national scourge of wrongful conviction and of the opportunity for meaningful reform.
When the final gavel clapped in a rural southern courtroom in the summer of 1988, Willie J. Grimes, a gentle spirit with no record of violence, was shocked and devastated to be convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Here is the story of this everyman and his extraordinary quarter-century-long journey to freedom, told in breathtaking and sympathetic detail, from the botched evidence and suspect testimony that led to his incarceration to the tireless efforts to prove his innocence and the identity of the true perpetrator. These were spearheaded by his relentless champion, Christine Mumma, a cofounder of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. That commission-unprecedented at its inception in 2006-remains a model organization unlike any other in the country, and one now responsible for a growing number of exonerations.
With meticulous, prismatic research and pulse-quickening prose, Benjamin Rachlin presents one man's tragedy and triumph. The jarring and unsettling truth is that the story of Willie J. Grimes, for all its outrage, dignity, and grace, is not a unique travesty. But through the harrowing and suspenseful account of one life, told from the inside, we experience the full horror of wrongful conviction on a national scale. Ghost of the Innocent Man is both rare and essential, a masterwork of empathy. The book offers a profound reckoning not only with the shortcomings of our criminal justice system but also with its possibilities for redemption.
During the last two decades, more than two thousand American citizens have been wrongfully convicted. Ghost of the Innocent Man brings us one of the most dramatic of those cases and provides the clearest picture yet of the national scourge of wrongful conviction and of the opportunity for meaningful reform.
When the final gavel clapped in a rural southern courtroom in the summer of 1988, Willie J. Grimes, a gentle spirit with no record of violence, was shocked and devastated to be convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to life imprisonment. Here is the story of this everyman and his extraordinary quarter-century-long journey to freedom, told in breathtaking and sympathetic detail, from the botched evidence and suspect testimony that led to his incarceration to the tireless efforts to prove his innocence and the identity of the true perpetrator. These were spearheaded by his relentless champion, Christine Mumma, a cofounder of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. That commission-unprecedented at its inception in 2006-remains a model organization unlike any other in the country, and one now responsible for a growing number of exonerations.
With meticulous, prismatic research and pulse-quickening prose, Benjamin Rachlin presents one man's tragedy and triumph. The jarring and unsettling truth is that the story of Willie J. Grimes, for all its outrage, dignity, and grace, is not a unique travesty. But through the harrowing and suspenseful account of one life, told from the inside, we experience the full horror of wrongful conviction on a national scale. Ghost of the Innocent Man is both rare and essential, a masterwork of empathy. The book offers a profound reckoning not only with the shortcomings of our criminal justice system but also with its possibilities for redemption.
387 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2017
148 people are currently reading
2456 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Rachlin
2 books50 followersBenjamin Rachlin grew up in New Hampshire. He studied English at Bowdoin College, where he won the Sinkinson Prize, and writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he won Schwartz and Brauer fellowships. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in The New York Times Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, TIME, Orion, Pacific Standard, LitHub, and Five Dials. He lives near Boston.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
September 10, 2017
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption by Benjamin Rachlin is a 2017 Little, Brown and Co. Publication.
"Our dangers do not lie in too little tenderness to the accused. Our procedure has been always haunted by the ghost of the Innocent man convicted. It is an unreal dream.”
This is an astounding nonfiction accounting of a Willie J. Grimes’ wrongful conviction in 1988, the beginning of ‘The Innocence Project’, and the long, hard fought battle to free an innocent man of a crime he did not commit.
As we know, our perceptions and trust in our judicial – law and order – system has changed drastically over the past several decades. With DNA evidence exonerating so many wrongfully convicted people, the system has come under even closer scrutiny, to the point where even hardcore believers in capital punishment no longer advocate for it, not because they stopped believing in the death sentence, but because they are worried to death that an innocent person might die for a crime they didn’t commit.
While, a good majority of those sitting in prisons are guilty of the crimes they are accused of, there are more and more cases like Willie Grimes coming to light. Part of the reason why is because of forensics, and high -profile cases picked up by the media. But, credit must be given to ‘The Innocence Project’, as well.
While all of these cases are absolutely heartbreaking, the case of Willie Grimes is especially hard to take. Willie worked two jobs and was in a stable relationship. But, when an elderly woman was raped, Willie was misidentified as the perpetrator, and the investigators knew it and helped the erroneous information along.
Willie did what he could to fight his conviction, even while he suffered though horrible depression and illness.
The one bright spot for Willie and others in his position was the interest and involvement of Chris Mumma, who picked up his file.
The road was long, filled with disappointments and setbacks, but after twenty-four years in prison, Willie was finally exonerated.
This book highlights the ways wrongful convictions can occur, with law enforcement not following up, ignoring facts, creating evidence, coupled with eyewitness mistakes, in regards to identification, or with the defendant having limited legal recourse.
In the hurry to close cases, a multitude of mistake can happen, investigations are lazy/ dirty/messy- or alternative suspects are not pursued. It is a travesty. Not only do the innocent lose years of their lives they will never be able to get back or do over, but justice is not being served.
How many other women were raped because the wrong guy was convicted? How many people are walking around free as a bird, after having committed a crime, while someone else is languishing in prison or worse- on death row?
This is a very thought-provoking book, which is extremely well written and organized. It stays on topic without straying off course or going on long diatribes or preachy soap box sermons. The author keeps the book pretty much about Willie Grimes and his life in prison, how he coped, how he fought, and about Chris Mumma and the Innocence Project who noticed all the discrepancies in Willie’s case and worked to bring his plight back into the court system. Once someone is behind bars, it is very, very difficult to get a conviction overturned or get a new trial, even when there is overwhelming evidence of innocence.
Thankfully, in Willie’s case, everyone’s hard work paid off and he managed to get his moment of redemption.
Willie’s story angered me, frustrated me, and it was certainly a depressing and gloomy journey, but at the same time, I was buoyed by time and energy people put in to see that Willie’s case was finally heard.
Overall, this book is an important book, one of justice denied and justice found. There are thousands of people in prison for crimes they did not commit. It is as important as ever to prevent anyone from spending a day behind bars for a crime they are innocent of, and to incarcerate those who are guilty of those crimes, which makes organizations like The Innocence Project necessary.
4.5 stars
"Our dangers do not lie in too little tenderness to the accused. Our procedure has been always haunted by the ghost of the Innocent man convicted. It is an unreal dream.”
This is an astounding nonfiction accounting of a Willie J. Grimes’ wrongful conviction in 1988, the beginning of ‘The Innocence Project’, and the long, hard fought battle to free an innocent man of a crime he did not commit.
As we know, our perceptions and trust in our judicial – law and order – system has changed drastically over the past several decades. With DNA evidence exonerating so many wrongfully convicted people, the system has come under even closer scrutiny, to the point where even hardcore believers in capital punishment no longer advocate for it, not because they stopped believing in the death sentence, but because they are worried to death that an innocent person might die for a crime they didn’t commit.
While, a good majority of those sitting in prisons are guilty of the crimes they are accused of, there are more and more cases like Willie Grimes coming to light. Part of the reason why is because of forensics, and high -profile cases picked up by the media. But, credit must be given to ‘The Innocence Project’, as well.
While all of these cases are absolutely heartbreaking, the case of Willie Grimes is especially hard to take. Willie worked two jobs and was in a stable relationship. But, when an elderly woman was raped, Willie was misidentified as the perpetrator, and the investigators knew it and helped the erroneous information along.
Willie did what he could to fight his conviction, even while he suffered though horrible depression and illness.
The one bright spot for Willie and others in his position was the interest and involvement of Chris Mumma, who picked up his file.
The road was long, filled with disappointments and setbacks, but after twenty-four years in prison, Willie was finally exonerated.
This book highlights the ways wrongful convictions can occur, with law enforcement not following up, ignoring facts, creating evidence, coupled with eyewitness mistakes, in regards to identification, or with the defendant having limited legal recourse.
In the hurry to close cases, a multitude of mistake can happen, investigations are lazy/ dirty/messy- or alternative suspects are not pursued. It is a travesty. Not only do the innocent lose years of their lives they will never be able to get back or do over, but justice is not being served.
How many other women were raped because the wrong guy was convicted? How many people are walking around free as a bird, after having committed a crime, while someone else is languishing in prison or worse- on death row?
This is a very thought-provoking book, which is extremely well written and organized. It stays on topic without straying off course or going on long diatribes or preachy soap box sermons. The author keeps the book pretty much about Willie Grimes and his life in prison, how he coped, how he fought, and about Chris Mumma and the Innocence Project who noticed all the discrepancies in Willie’s case and worked to bring his plight back into the court system. Once someone is behind bars, it is very, very difficult to get a conviction overturned or get a new trial, even when there is overwhelming evidence of innocence.
Thankfully, in Willie’s case, everyone’s hard work paid off and he managed to get his moment of redemption.
Willie’s story angered me, frustrated me, and it was certainly a depressing and gloomy journey, but at the same time, I was buoyed by time and energy people put in to see that Willie’s case was finally heard.
Overall, this book is an important book, one of justice denied and justice found. There are thousands of people in prison for crimes they did not commit. It is as important as ever to prevent anyone from spending a day behind bars for a crime they are innocent of, and to incarcerate those who are guilty of those crimes, which makes organizations like The Innocence Project necessary.
4.5 stars
March 17, 2018
3.75 stars
This non-fiction book deals with the bad conviction of Willie "Woot" Grimes in 1988 for the rape of an elderly white woman in North Carolina. Grimes, a black man, had plenty of alibis for the time frame of the crime, but the prosecution chose to go on the ever changing eye witness testimony of the victim, who was also unable to recognize the alleged perpetrator's picture. Willie was incarcerated from 1988 until his release in 2012 for a crime he did not commit.
DNA was not available in 1988. Once the victim mentioned a mole on the perpetrators face - however never sure which side of the face it was on - prosecutors never looked any further than Willie. He had a mole on his face. Fruit was missing from a bowl in Carrie Elliott's kitchen, with an apple core and a banana skin thrown on the ground outside her apartment. Those were never collected for fingerprinting, nor was the bowl where the fruit came from. Prosecution claimed a single hair belonged to Willie - one hair among the 80 collected in Elliott's bedroom - and with DNA not established yet there could be no positive identification of a hair. These are just skimming the surface of the bad crime scene investigation and the supposed evidence that was used against Willie Grimes at his trial.
Willie spent the next 18 years exhausting appeals and trying to prove his innocence. Until his file fell into the hands of Chris Mumma and Kendra Montgomery-Blinn in 2006. It was through the development of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission that Willie gained his freedom, six long years later. It was through their exhaustive efforts and DNA - which had started to be used in trials in 1989, one year after Willies conviction, that finally set him free and convicted the rightful assailant of the Carrie Elliott rape, Albert Turner.
Many states have Innocence Projects now. But in 2012 there were only 97 people exonerated in the US. By 2015 there were over 1700 exonerated, with at least one in every state. By the time this book was published in March of 2017 the number had passed 2000 and today exoneration's are adding up weekly. It is thought that many many innocent men and women have be executed before their files could be studied and their evidence reevaluated.
Between mistaken eye witness testimony, bad crime scene evaluation and evidence collecting, thousands of DNA samples wasting away in evidence boxes, the total loss of evidence, bad police work, crooked police and prosecution, overworked or under experienced defense attorneys, the lack of money, and not having a good strong alibi anyone, absolutely anyone, can be arrested for a crime. That is scary. That is reality.
Parts of this book read like a novel, parts were much more dry. You know going in that Willie Grimes was exonerated. However reading the facts of his story and trying to come to terms with him losing 24 years of his life kept you reading. The fear that it could be you or a loved one pushes you to try to glean every single possible thing from this book that you can in hopes that if - if - it ever happens to you or to a loved one that you will have some basis of understanding to help guide and absolve you from something you never even did.
This non-fiction book deals with the bad conviction of Willie "Woot" Grimes in 1988 for the rape of an elderly white woman in North Carolina. Grimes, a black man, had plenty of alibis for the time frame of the crime, but the prosecution chose to go on the ever changing eye witness testimony of the victim, who was also unable to recognize the alleged perpetrator's picture. Willie was incarcerated from 1988 until his release in 2012 for a crime he did not commit.
DNA was not available in 1988. Once the victim mentioned a mole on the perpetrators face - however never sure which side of the face it was on - prosecutors never looked any further than Willie. He had a mole on his face. Fruit was missing from a bowl in Carrie Elliott's kitchen, with an apple core and a banana skin thrown on the ground outside her apartment. Those were never collected for fingerprinting, nor was the bowl where the fruit came from. Prosecution claimed a single hair belonged to Willie - one hair among the 80 collected in Elliott's bedroom - and with DNA not established yet there could be no positive identification of a hair. These are just skimming the surface of the bad crime scene investigation and the supposed evidence that was used against Willie Grimes at his trial.
Willie spent the next 18 years exhausting appeals and trying to prove his innocence. Until his file fell into the hands of Chris Mumma and Kendra Montgomery-Blinn in 2006. It was through the development of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission that Willie gained his freedom, six long years later. It was through their exhaustive efforts and DNA - which had started to be used in trials in 1989, one year after Willies conviction, that finally set him free and convicted the rightful assailant of the Carrie Elliott rape, Albert Turner.
Many states have Innocence Projects now. But in 2012 there were only 97 people exonerated in the US. By 2015 there were over 1700 exonerated, with at least one in every state. By the time this book was published in March of 2017 the number had passed 2000 and today exoneration's are adding up weekly. It is thought that many many innocent men and women have be executed before their files could be studied and their evidence reevaluated.
Between mistaken eye witness testimony, bad crime scene evaluation and evidence collecting, thousands of DNA samples wasting away in evidence boxes, the total loss of evidence, bad police work, crooked police and prosecution, overworked or under experienced defense attorneys, the lack of money, and not having a good strong alibi anyone, absolutely anyone, can be arrested for a crime. That is scary. That is reality.
Parts of this book read like a novel, parts were much more dry. You know going in that Willie Grimes was exonerated. However reading the facts of his story and trying to come to terms with him losing 24 years of his life kept you reading. The fear that it could be you or a loved one pushes you to try to glean every single possible thing from this book that you can in hopes that if - if - it ever happens to you or to a loved one that you will have some basis of understanding to help guide and absolve you from something you never even did.
Read
August 18, 2017Here is my review of this book on NPR. http://www.npr.org/2017/08/13/5420625...
May 3, 2024
This is the true story of Willie Grimes, a man unjustly convicted of rape, a crime he did not commit. It also covers the creation of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, and the work they did that eventually led to his exoneration. It starts with the crime, and this part is horrible but over quickly, then moves to the series of events that led to Grimes’s arrest. It proceeds to trial, which would be completely unbelievable if one did not know it is all true. The author then provides details of his long incarceration, how he maintained his sanity, and his attempts to get a new trial. This proved to be more difficult than it should have been, and calls into question how the US legal system could allow such a miscarriage of justice in the first place. It also, unfortunately, shows how difficult it can be for a person of color to be treated fairly. It showcases the difficulties involved in eyewitness testimonies. The sections on the NCIIC get a little tedious, but the parts about Grimes are well-told and heartbreaking. The trial occurred in 1989, before DNA evidence became part of the normal routine, so I am hopeful that these types of obvious mistakes can be minimized if not eliminated. Recommended to those interested in the American criminal justice system and its shortcomings.
January 5, 2018
Library Biography #23 (My library shelves this as a biography but I wouldn't put it in that category)
This book is really a two-for-one. Rachlin tells the story of Willie Grimes, alternating chapters describe Chris Mumma's inception and formation of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. At first, I did not like the alternating chapters, because neither story had anything to do with the other. As the book progresses, the reader is able to see how both stories intertwine and then become one. After finishing the book, I do appreciate the author taking the approach that he did.
The story of Willie Grimes is so unnerving. Not only is Grimes convicted of a crime that he did not commit, but his treatment while incarcerated really perturbed me. Every chapter we here about how Grimes is continually transferred from one prison to the next, to which there is no explanation as to why. He is barred from taking classes because he maintains his innocence. He is given points against his record for such minor offenses - like having 2 portable radios because the last prison allowed 2 and the new one only allowed 1. Not to mention that he receives a life sentence for rape - which seems absurd when you consider many rapists receive extremely short sentences. When you learn that real offender was in and out of jail the entire time - he never sees a harsh sentence like the man they arrested for his offence. How does this even happen in the first place?
Although the website for the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission shows that they have only been able to bring about a dozen cases to consideration, and that maybe half or so of those have led to exoneration, I do believe that this sort of commission is necessary across the 50 states. The author does not really get into depth on what extent or what steps the different states have taken to this effect, it would have been interesting to know progress from other states. It seems, at this point, much of innocence work has fallen on the shoulders of interested Universities and Colleges.
Very interesting read, much of the book does comment on Ronald Cotton's case in North Carolina. I happen to own the book on his case and will be reading that next.
This book is really a two-for-one. Rachlin tells the story of Willie Grimes, alternating chapters describe Chris Mumma's inception and formation of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission. At first, I did not like the alternating chapters, because neither story had anything to do with the other. As the book progresses, the reader is able to see how both stories intertwine and then become one. After finishing the book, I do appreciate the author taking the approach that he did.
The story of Willie Grimes is so unnerving. Not only is Grimes convicted of a crime that he did not commit, but his treatment while incarcerated really perturbed me. Every chapter we here about how Grimes is continually transferred from one prison to the next, to which there is no explanation as to why. He is barred from taking classes because he maintains his innocence. He is given points against his record for such minor offenses - like having 2 portable radios because the last prison allowed 2 and the new one only allowed 1. Not to mention that he receives a life sentence for rape - which seems absurd when you consider many rapists receive extremely short sentences. When you learn that real offender was in and out of jail the entire time - he never sees a harsh sentence like the man they arrested for his offence. How does this even happen in the first place?
Although the website for the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission shows that they have only been able to bring about a dozen cases to consideration, and that maybe half or so of those have led to exoneration, I do believe that this sort of commission is necessary across the 50 states. The author does not really get into depth on what extent or what steps the different states have taken to this effect, it would have been interesting to know progress from other states. It seems, at this point, much of innocence work has fallen on the shoulders of interested Universities and Colleges.
Very interesting read, much of the book does comment on Ronald Cotton's case in North Carolina. I happen to own the book on his case and will be reading that next.
April 9, 2020
Raw.
Riveting.
Powerful.
Riveting.
Powerful.
November 7, 2017
It is not often I read a book that is so moving that I am fighting tears throughout. It is hard to believe that the book is not fiction, as it is heart-breaking reading about all that Willie Grimes endured. Would highly recommend this book.
September 12, 2017
The case of Willie Grimes is shocking, how he was ever convicted in the first place is beyond me! This book opens with the horrendous crime and quickly after follows the arrest of Grimes – I was gripped from the very first page! The treatment of Grimes in his arrest was appalling, the trial itself, and the evidence presented (and not presented) was shocking, to the point where it’s hard to believe this is a true story. With no legal training, you can see from a mile off, this was a miscarriage of justice – you have to read it to believe it, it was simply shocking and appalling.
Incorporated throughout this book are brief looks at other people who were wrongfully convicted and wow, they are just as, if not more, shocking. So shocking it’s scary – it seems you don’t even have to be in the area the crime was committed to be convicted of it, and the next thing you know, you’re serving a life sentence! We can try to seek comfort in the belief that wrongful convictions are rare, but they’re not as rare as you think.
Grimes would likely still be in prison if it were not for Chris Mumma’s determination for justice that led to the creation of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. At times, the parts of the book dedicated to the creation of this commission and the work Mumma and her colleagues did could be a bit long winded. And if you’re not familiar with how thing work in the US, eg. Senate and legal jargon, these bits may make slow reading. I fully understand the importance of the work being carried out but the information on forming the organisation was a bit heavy at times.
There’s no denying Willie Grimes and his quest for freedom is the heart and soul of this book. As you read it, you grow to admire Willie, throughout it all, he held no ill will towards anyone, he just wanted to go home to his family. Reading about his experience in prison was a shock to my system, how can inmates be shipped from prison to prison to prison, many times, placed too far from their friends and family to have them visit.
I always maintain that true crime stories are more chilling than any fiction, and Ghost of the Innocent Man is proof of that. These miscarriages of justice are a chill you can’t shake off – as I read more of these books, I see a trend, these crimes happened so long ago but it’s only recently, within the last 10 years, that these wrongs are being righted. But you can’t give a man back 25 years of his life!
If you are interested in books about wrongful convictions and the workings [and failings] of the criminal justice system, I recommend you read this book.
*My thanks to the publisher (Little, Brown and Company) for granting me access to a digital copy of this book via Netgalley*
Incorporated throughout this book are brief looks at other people who were wrongfully convicted and wow, they are just as, if not more, shocking. So shocking it’s scary – it seems you don’t even have to be in the area the crime was committed to be convicted of it, and the next thing you know, you’re serving a life sentence! We can try to seek comfort in the belief that wrongful convictions are rare, but they’re not as rare as you think.
Grimes would likely still be in prison if it were not for Chris Mumma’s determination for justice that led to the creation of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. At times, the parts of the book dedicated to the creation of this commission and the work Mumma and her colleagues did could be a bit long winded. And if you’re not familiar with how thing work in the US, eg. Senate and legal jargon, these bits may make slow reading. I fully understand the importance of the work being carried out but the information on forming the organisation was a bit heavy at times.
There’s no denying Willie Grimes and his quest for freedom is the heart and soul of this book. As you read it, you grow to admire Willie, throughout it all, he held no ill will towards anyone, he just wanted to go home to his family. Reading about his experience in prison was a shock to my system, how can inmates be shipped from prison to prison to prison, many times, placed too far from their friends and family to have them visit.
I always maintain that true crime stories are more chilling than any fiction, and Ghost of the Innocent Man is proof of that. These miscarriages of justice are a chill you can’t shake off – as I read more of these books, I see a trend, these crimes happened so long ago but it’s only recently, within the last 10 years, that these wrongs are being righted. But you can’t give a man back 25 years of his life!
If you are interested in books about wrongful convictions and the workings [and failings] of the criminal justice system, I recommend you read this book.
*My thanks to the publisher (Little, Brown and Company) for granting me access to a digital copy of this book via Netgalley*
December 15, 2020
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption is both a very intimate story and the larger story of what can happen when Justice goes sideways. Using the rape conviction of Willie Grimes as both the focus to the example of backdrop of the larger story of the Justice system. These two threads of this wonderful book weave together a story of both horror and hope. How once the system convicts a person, exactly how hard it could be to exonerate a truly innocent man.
What the book asks is how does an innocent man get convicted and how does the system respond when he tries to exonerate himself. Flipping back and forth between what Willie Grime is experiencing and the larger story of trying to change an unwilling system, the reader is given both a good look at the big picture without ever losing the cost paid by an innocent individual.
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption is both hopeful and tragic. There are good people trying their very best to prevent what happens and the tragic still puts innocent people behind bars. Benjamin Rachlin does an excellent job of explaining how perplexing the overall system works despite efforts to prevent wrongful convictions. From start to finish, this is a human story with both the heartache of the wrongly convicted and the inability of the larger system not being able to admit to mistakes. He also does a yeoman's job of explaining how a fair trial is not what one expects and why post conviction relief is so rare.
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption is well worth the time and is an excellent read.
What the book asks is how does an innocent man get convicted and how does the system respond when he tries to exonerate himself. Flipping back and forth between what Willie Grime is experiencing and the larger story of trying to change an unwilling system, the reader is given both a good look at the big picture without ever losing the cost paid by an innocent individual.
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption is both hopeful and tragic. There are good people trying their very best to prevent what happens and the tragic still puts innocent people behind bars. Benjamin Rachlin does an excellent job of explaining how perplexing the overall system works despite efforts to prevent wrongful convictions. From start to finish, this is a human story with both the heartache of the wrongly convicted and the inability of the larger system not being able to admit to mistakes. He also does a yeoman's job of explaining how a fair trial is not what one expects and why post conviction relief is so rare.
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption is well worth the time and is an excellent read.
July 4, 2019
I'll be surprised if this book doesn't make it to the big screen some day because it has award-winning-Hollywood-movie written all over it.
I've read a fair share of true crime stories revolving around problems with the criminal justice system and this book holds up very well with the rest; each book I've read seems to highlight a different issue. Here the story is mainly about weaknesses in the system itself and how they were exacerbated by laziness (possibly greed) and system rigidity. (An excellent book that focuses on corruption and incompetence in a small police department is "Tulia" by Nate Blakeslee.) The prologue and opening chapter expertly depict the crime and the trial. From there the author introduces a parallel story and weaves the two in alternating chapters. I won't say more to avoid spoiling the rest.
Willie Grimes is the perfect guy to anchor a story about wrongful conviction. He's throughly likable and completely innocent (not a spoiler). I didn't always love the Chris Mumma chapters although she does deserve much praise. Likewise, some of the Willie Grimes chapters felt a little tiring for their repetitiveness but the author's point may have been to tell the full story of his suffering and in that regard he succeeded.
The author deserves credit for addressing the myriad points of view from various participants in the criminal justice system (largely in the Chris Mumma chapters) to give the reader a wide perspective. Later chapters highlight a victims' rights group. An excellent book that I think was the first (or maybe one of the earlier books) to address the impact of violent crime on the victim and their family is "Victim" by Gary Kinder.
I've read a fair share of true crime stories revolving around problems with the criminal justice system and this book holds up very well with the rest; each book I've read seems to highlight a different issue. Here the story is mainly about weaknesses in the system itself and how they were exacerbated by laziness (possibly greed) and system rigidity. (An excellent book that focuses on corruption and incompetence in a small police department is "Tulia" by Nate Blakeslee.) The prologue and opening chapter expertly depict the crime and the trial. From there the author introduces a parallel story and weaves the two in alternating chapters. I won't say more to avoid spoiling the rest.
Willie Grimes is the perfect guy to anchor a story about wrongful conviction. He's throughly likable and completely innocent (not a spoiler). I didn't always love the Chris Mumma chapters although she does deserve much praise. Likewise, some of the Willie Grimes chapters felt a little tiring for their repetitiveness but the author's point may have been to tell the full story of his suffering and in that regard he succeeded.
The author deserves credit for addressing the myriad points of view from various participants in the criminal justice system (largely in the Chris Mumma chapters) to give the reader a wide perspective. Later chapters highlight a victims' rights group. An excellent book that I think was the first (or maybe one of the earlier books) to address the impact of violent crime on the victim and their family is "Victim" by Gary Kinder.
August 23, 2017
Injustices with a quiet giant, Willie J Grimes.
Unsettling on its revelations, informative on the history of injustices.
Will Grimes will stay with the reader for some time for his patience against the injustice.
This work will have you ruminate on the ones that have been sentenced to death innocents unjustly lost.
They may be some respite in knowing Grimes was one of the lucky ones that was freed eventually.
The life to and fro from prison to prison, the inadequate representations and care, and lack of chances of parole despite the weak evidences against him.
The lack of proper due care or maybe even due respect to process evidences, all things preceding and after his arrest.
Race could come into this failure, but the lawyers representing him had two others, two white males, who where also exonerated after some time of incarceration also mentioned in this book in not so much detail, this book is more about Grimes’s sphere.
Various chapters walk the world around Grimes, his incarceration, his poverty and the pursuit of truth and freedom.
There is also some telling on how the North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission was formed and its first few successful exonerations which started the cogs working for some justice upon a part of this earth.
A well done representation and informative investigative writing on a tragic case of innocent charged as guilty.
https://more2read.com/review/ghost-of-the-innocent-man-by-benjamin-rachlin/
Unsettling on its revelations, informative on the history of injustices.
Will Grimes will stay with the reader for some time for his patience against the injustice.
This work will have you ruminate on the ones that have been sentenced to death innocents unjustly lost.
They may be some respite in knowing Grimes was one of the lucky ones that was freed eventually.
The life to and fro from prison to prison, the inadequate representations and care, and lack of chances of parole despite the weak evidences against him.
The lack of proper due care or maybe even due respect to process evidences, all things preceding and after his arrest.
Race could come into this failure, but the lawyers representing him had two others, two white males, who where also exonerated after some time of incarceration also mentioned in this book in not so much detail, this book is more about Grimes’s sphere.
Various chapters walk the world around Grimes, his incarceration, his poverty and the pursuit of truth and freedom.
There is also some telling on how the North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission was formed and its first few successful exonerations which started the cogs working for some justice upon a part of this earth.
A well done representation and informative investigative writing on a tragic case of innocent charged as guilty.
https://more2read.com/review/ghost-of-the-innocent-man-by-benjamin-rachlin/
December 31, 2019
This was so hard to read but also such a good book. Heartbreaking but also uplifting
December 4, 2017
What I wish I had selected as my book club pick.
October 1, 2017
This book shares a lot of elements with other stories of exoneration. Willie Grimes was abused by our justice system the way so many others have been. It really does make me wonder what if anything can be done to put more safe-guards in place to protect citizens. It is tragic.
It took me a long time to connect with this book. So much fact finding but so little outrage. Finally the lawyers that assisted in Grimes's exoneration displayed the outrage I was feeling and I was able to connect.
Things that I like about this book include the amount of fact finding I just complained about. In reality that's really important to me in this type of investigative reporting. A good deal of information is coming from first hand accounts and that's important too. References are made to Ronald Cotton another exonerated man I had recently read about. It is a very well written book.
I would recommend this book for individuals who are seeking case studies with errors in cross-racial eye witness identification, mishandling of evidence, tunnel-vision and how it applies to crime investigations, and the reliability of photo array line-ups.
It took me a long time to connect with this book. So much fact finding but so little outrage. Finally the lawyers that assisted in Grimes's exoneration displayed the outrage I was feeling and I was able to connect.
Things that I like about this book include the amount of fact finding I just complained about. In reality that's really important to me in this type of investigative reporting. A good deal of information is coming from first hand accounts and that's important too. References are made to Ronald Cotton another exonerated man I had recently read about. It is a very well written book.
I would recommend this book for individuals who are seeking case studies with errors in cross-racial eye witness identification, mishandling of evidence, tunnel-vision and how it applies to crime investigations, and the reliability of photo array line-ups.
May 28, 2017
Thanks to Edelweiss, I read this as a pre-pub. I have always been interested in the justice system and was fascinated by Picking Cotton and Grisham's Innocent Man. Legally, innocence is not enough to overturn a jury conviction. What kind of sense does that make?
What makes this book different from the other two books is that it tells the story of the development of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission along side the story of Willie Grimes. Willie's story is sad but with a good ending. The Commission tells a story that needs to be told to a much bigger audience. Why don't more states develop this type of commission? I hope Rachlin can get this story out there and it sparks a demand for more action.
What makes this book different from the other two books is that it tells the story of the development of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission along side the story of Willie Grimes. Willie's story is sad but with a good ending. The Commission tells a story that needs to be told to a much bigger audience. Why don't more states develop this type of commission? I hope Rachlin can get this story out there and it sparks a demand for more action.
September 17, 2017
What a remarkable book. The entire gripping story is gleaned from 25 years worth of notes, transcripts, forms, files, interviews and testimony. No one's name has been changed because it's all a matter of public record. If transparency is what you want, then this style of non-fiction investigative journalism will deliver that on every page.
The book starts off telling two stories: The conviction of Willie James Grimes in 1989 for a rape in Hickory, NC; and the formation of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission (NCIIC) which is the first and ONLY commission of its kind in the entire United States. In ten years, the NCIIC has exonerated 10 wrongly convicted inmates.
The chapters alternate between the two stories, which eventually converge when inmate Willie Grimes eventually connects with Christine Mumma, who was the driving force behind the formation of the NCIIC. As a young lawyer fresh out of law school clerking for the Chief Justice of North Carolina's Supreme Court, I. Beverly Lake, Christine began flagging cases that looked like wrongful convictions. She was frustrated by the fact that appeals were only matters of procedural considerations and NOT about actual innocence. She convinces this conservative Judge to work with the liberal academics of North Carolina's Innocence Project to form a working group that eventual swelled to 30 members from DA offices, sheriff's departments, police departments, defense attorneys and even members of victim's rights group. It was rocky, contentious, messy and hard.
The story of the birth of the NCIIC is every bit as gripping and frustrating as the wrongful conviction of Willie James Grimes. We know from the beginning of the book that he is innocent of this crime of rape which happened in Hickory, NC, in 1988. This was at a time when DNA testing was in it's infancy and not used as a primary tool in crime investigations. Willie Grimes is convicted based on the testimony of the 69 year old victim and the testimony of a specialist in hair identification - which would later be totally discredited as a reliable tool for identifying perpetrators.
The author, Benjamin Rachlin, walks us through incompetencies at every level - in excruciating detail - from the initial investigation of the crime, to Willie's many moves among multiple prisons for no apparent reason, to psychiatric reports that are breathtaking in their presumptions, misinformation and misdiagnosis.
The inhumanity of the criminal justice system screams from every page. And the author is simply relaying the information contained in volumes of reports about every tiny aspect of Willie's life inside the North Carolina prison system. It's also a walk through 25 years of pharmacology in the U.S. This man entered prison taking no medications whatsoever, and the list of prescription medications and the amounts he was given in the almost 25 years he was a prison is mind boggling. The fact that he had advanced prostate cancer that was overlooked despite constant medical supervision is just one of a long list of incompetencies that plagued this man's life.
This book is simultaneously infuriating and frustrating and also incredibly inspiring. What happened to Willie Grimes is not some rare case. Far from it. As of March 2017, there have been over 2,000 exonerations in the U.S. - at least one in every state. And that is the tip of the iceberg. Keep in mind that the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission has no counterpart in any other state. There are Innocence Projects scattered across the country doing what work they can, and there are some Conviction Integrity Offices in places like Dallas and Houston. But the North Carolina Legislature formed this commission and FUNDED this commission and gave them legal authority to decide if a convicted defendant is actually innocent.
The protagonists in this book are Willie J. Grimes and Christine Mumma. Where their stories converge is the heart of this book. The NCIIC decided to investigate his case - a fascinating look at how they conducted that investigation - and then made their case to the 8 member commission, which voted unanimously to send it to a 3 judge panel. After living every minute with Willie in prison, and watching the machinations of Christine to invent something that had never been done before, I think I held my breath through the last chapters of the book.
This book is so real. The writing is excellent. Benjamin Rachlin masterfully weaves all this "information" into a compelling story. And he's not in it. That is the other remarkable aspect of this book - the absence of the writer's presence. That is a talent not to be overlooked. I'm not sure a lesser writer could have turned 24 years of prison reports into a page turner of a book. This author did that.
I love this book. It makes me crazy to think that we have allowed this to go on. It makes me crazy to think that after a decade of showing the effectiveness of this kind of commission that NO OTHER STATE has followed North Carolina. Why? Do we really not care enough about the integrity of our system of justice to warrant replicating a proven model that has saved the wrongly convicted from death row and life sentences? WTF?
Read this book and then get really really mad. Get up on your high horse and take a wild ride to your state capitol and advocate for your legislature to DO THIS THING!
The book starts off telling two stories: The conviction of Willie James Grimes in 1989 for a rape in Hickory, NC; and the formation of North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission (NCIIC) which is the first and ONLY commission of its kind in the entire United States. In ten years, the NCIIC has exonerated 10 wrongly convicted inmates.
The chapters alternate between the two stories, which eventually converge when inmate Willie Grimes eventually connects with Christine Mumma, who was the driving force behind the formation of the NCIIC. As a young lawyer fresh out of law school clerking for the Chief Justice of North Carolina's Supreme Court, I. Beverly Lake, Christine began flagging cases that looked like wrongful convictions. She was frustrated by the fact that appeals were only matters of procedural considerations and NOT about actual innocence. She convinces this conservative Judge to work with the liberal academics of North Carolina's Innocence Project to form a working group that eventual swelled to 30 members from DA offices, sheriff's departments, police departments, defense attorneys and even members of victim's rights group. It was rocky, contentious, messy and hard.
The story of the birth of the NCIIC is every bit as gripping and frustrating as the wrongful conviction of Willie James Grimes. We know from the beginning of the book that he is innocent of this crime of rape which happened in Hickory, NC, in 1988. This was at a time when DNA testing was in it's infancy and not used as a primary tool in crime investigations. Willie Grimes is convicted based on the testimony of the 69 year old victim and the testimony of a specialist in hair identification - which would later be totally discredited as a reliable tool for identifying perpetrators.
The author, Benjamin Rachlin, walks us through incompetencies at every level - in excruciating detail - from the initial investigation of the crime, to Willie's many moves among multiple prisons for no apparent reason, to psychiatric reports that are breathtaking in their presumptions, misinformation and misdiagnosis.
The inhumanity of the criminal justice system screams from every page. And the author is simply relaying the information contained in volumes of reports about every tiny aspect of Willie's life inside the North Carolina prison system. It's also a walk through 25 years of pharmacology in the U.S. This man entered prison taking no medications whatsoever, and the list of prescription medications and the amounts he was given in the almost 25 years he was a prison is mind boggling. The fact that he had advanced prostate cancer that was overlooked despite constant medical supervision is just one of a long list of incompetencies that plagued this man's life.
This book is simultaneously infuriating and frustrating and also incredibly inspiring. What happened to Willie Grimes is not some rare case. Far from it. As of March 2017, there have been over 2,000 exonerations in the U.S. - at least one in every state. And that is the tip of the iceberg. Keep in mind that the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission has no counterpart in any other state. There are Innocence Projects scattered across the country doing what work they can, and there are some Conviction Integrity Offices in places like Dallas and Houston. But the North Carolina Legislature formed this commission and FUNDED this commission and gave them legal authority to decide if a convicted defendant is actually innocent.
The protagonists in this book are Willie J. Grimes and Christine Mumma. Where their stories converge is the heart of this book. The NCIIC decided to investigate his case - a fascinating look at how they conducted that investigation - and then made their case to the 8 member commission, which voted unanimously to send it to a 3 judge panel. After living every minute with Willie in prison, and watching the machinations of Christine to invent something that had never been done before, I think I held my breath through the last chapters of the book.
This book is so real. The writing is excellent. Benjamin Rachlin masterfully weaves all this "information" into a compelling story. And he's not in it. That is the other remarkable aspect of this book - the absence of the writer's presence. That is a talent not to be overlooked. I'm not sure a lesser writer could have turned 24 years of prison reports into a page turner of a book. This author did that.
I love this book. It makes me crazy to think that we have allowed this to go on. It makes me crazy to think that after a decade of showing the effectiveness of this kind of commission that NO OTHER STATE has followed North Carolina. Why? Do we really not care enough about the integrity of our system of justice to warrant replicating a proven model that has saved the wrongly convicted from death row and life sentences? WTF?
Read this book and then get really really mad. Get up on your high horse and take a wild ride to your state capitol and advocate for your legislature to DO THIS THING!
September 23, 2017
By telling the story of Willie Grimes, mistakenly imprisoned for a rape he didn't commit, this book illustrates the rampant problem of innocent people incarcerated in error. The groundbreaking North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (NCIIC) has also freed countless innocent prisoners since, as have similar groups in other states. This book illuminates the problem and the devastating consequences. Each case not only ruins the lives of the wrongfully convicted but allows the guilty to remain free. It is impossible to review all cases or assure this never happens again but great strides have been made using new technology, such as DNA analysis, and the diligence of the Innocence projects to fight the problem.
September 17, 2018
I really enjoyed this. I expected it to go through the facts of Willie Grimes' imprisoned life and the case to free him. This book does that and more. The book alternates between the life of Willie Grimes and the story of the formation of the Center on Actual Innocence. The level of detail on meetings of the center was fascinating. I loved that part of the story.
As for the story of Willie Grimes, you get a deep sense of the life of a long term prisoner: moving between prisons, caseworkers, medications, all the things they missed on the outside (most of his close family died while he was falsely imprisoned). You know how when you read an article about the release of a person after decades in prison you expect anger, but they aren't angry? The book does a good job of showing how a prisoner over time learns to hold no grudges, to be at peace with himself and the world, to accept fate (even as he continues to work for his release). It's satisfying to watch the personal growth.
As for the story of Willie Grimes, you get a deep sense of the life of a long term prisoner: moving between prisons, caseworkers, medications, all the things they missed on the outside (most of his close family died while he was falsely imprisoned). You know how when you read an article about the release of a person after decades in prison you expect anger, but they aren't angry? The book does a good job of showing how a prisoner over time learns to hold no grudges, to be at peace with himself and the world, to accept fate (even as he continues to work for his release). It's satisfying to watch the personal growth.
October 13, 2017
This is the story of the Innocence Inquiry Commission in North Carolina and the case of Willie Grimes who was imprisoned for 25 years for a rape that he did not commit. He was not allowed to attend the SOAR classes for sex offenders because he would never admit to a crime that he was innocent of. He is finally free. This book shows how an innocent man was convicted on the flimsiest of evidence and on no investigation of the crime.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
January 2, 2019
I loved this book. It was extremely educational - our criminal justice system has some serious issues. Might be the best in the world, but that doesn’t make it perfect by a long stretch.
Reading about Willie Grimes broke my heart. I found myself wishing I’d volunteered for the Innocence Project in law school. There are WAY too many Willie Grimeses out there.
Great read if you’re interested in criminal justice, wrongful conviction, perseverance or the human condition.
Reading about Willie Grimes broke my heart. I found myself wishing I’d volunteered for the Innocence Project in law school. There are WAY too many Willie Grimeses out there.
Great read if you’re interested in criminal justice, wrongful conviction, perseverance or the human condition.
November 21, 2017
When the book started, I was not impressed. The story felt fractured with too many characters. Once I got into the story and figured out the main players, I could not but the book down. I was not familiar with this story, so the details of it were so tragic to me. Looking forward to more books by this author
October 25, 2017
Amazing story. Unbelievable. Didn't realize the statistics of how many innocent people have been convicted. But a story of hope of how things can be corrected and changed.
November 29, 2018
This is by far the most interesting book I've read (well, technically, I listened to it) on the subject of wrongful convictions. I would highly recommend it!
May 5, 2018
Riveting read about a man who was wrongly convicted for a crime, his time in prison, and how his innocence was finally proven.
August 15, 2019
This book deserves 10 stars. Heavy but worth it.
January 4, 2018
Absolutely one of the best books I have read this year. It is the story of Willie Grimes who was wrongly convicted and incarcerated for twenty four years. His story alone is amazing. But the book also covers advances in investigative techniques and most importantly, the creation of North Carolina's unique Innocence Inquiry Commission. Christine Mumma is the unsung heroine of this story. Highly recommend.
May 10, 2020
Heartbreaking, inspiring, very well written.
October 8, 2017
A great read about the perseverance of one man, his family and a program called “NCIIC” to get a wrongful conviction overturned. I won a free copy of this book from LitHub. Thanks, truly enjoyed.
November 27, 2018
It doesn’t take much for a life to go to hell. When folks are overwhelmed and don’t do their jobs as they ought, in some professions, people pay for their lethargy with their lives.
October 6, 2017
GHOST OF THE INNOCENT MAN, basically reportage, in not the kind of thing I generally read. Which is paradoxically a big part of the reason I bought and read it. Something of an impulse buy. It certainly helped that the hardcover has a gushing blurb from Richard Ford on the back (evidently Rachlin studied under Ford). I have often said that I think documentary films that are primarily informational in nature would have their stories better served by books. GHOST OF THE INNOCENT MAN is precisely the kind of book I have in mind. We are certainly used to documentary exposés on purported wrongful convictions and the legal rigamarole surrounding them. From Errol Morris's revolutionary and brilliant THE THIN BLUE LINE to the to-me-completely-unwatchable Netflix hit MAKING A MURDERER, most of us have at least some familiarity w/ these stories and the ways they can be packaged. Generally these stories involve some degree of advocacy on behalf of somebody presumed wrongfully convicted. There are no shortage of books that do the same. GHOST OF THE INNOCENT MAN fundamentally pursues another kind of advocacy altogether. Wille Grimes, the man falsely convicted of rape who is at the centre of this story, spent twenty-four years unjustly imprisoned in North Carolina and was subsequently exonerated because of (ultimately - there are many parties involved here) that state's unique Innocence Inquiry Commission. Rachlin's book threads together the story of Gimes' trial and subsequent years behind bars w/ the story underpinning the formation of the commission that would ultimately secure his release. The commission story begins long after Grimes has been imprisoned, so the timelines begin by interpolating in an incongruous fashion only to merge late in the book. This involves a commendable demonstration on writerly dexterity. The book is above all a feat of structure and execution. Its primary goal, aside from telling what is inarguably a compelling story (or rather two compelling stories), is to advocate for the formation of comparable commissions in other states. The National Registry of Exonerations in the United States continues to make clear that innocent people are convicted in alarming numbers. The fact that North Carolina is the only state that has institutionally empowered a commission to right these wrongs would seem itself criminal.
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