Bad Decisions?: 10 Famous Court Cases That Went Wrong

by J. Craig Williams

J. Craig Williams takes a more serious look at the modern legal system that relies upon the opinions of everyday people. by examining 10 court cases that stunned the world when the jury foreperson said, "We find the accused guilty" or "We find the accused not guilty."  Everyone remembers where they were when OJ Simpson was acquitted.  But why did the jury make that decision?  What really happened in the jury room?  Did the glove truly call for acquittal?  If the  case was tried today, would the outcome be the same?   What went wrong in the Lindy Chamberlain case--made famous by the Meryl Streep movie "A Cry in The Dark"?  Chamberlain was found guilty of murdering her one-year-old daughter.  But there was evidence that a dingo had actually killed her daughter.  Was it simply a matter of poor defense?  Or did the jury's decision go deeper into the psyche of Australia in the 1980s?    Williams explores these and eight other stunning cases with flawless research and a cutting-edge perspective.  He brings to life the ways in which prosecutors and defense attorneys try to influence a jury with more than just evidence.  He delves into the psychology of jury rooms with his typical wry sense of justice (and humor).  And he reveals the point at which trials have gone off the expected path.   The other cases The Trial of Jesus The Salem Witch trials Rex v. Weems, et al. , The Boston Massacre Trial of Captain Thomas Preston and seven other British redcoats The Tipping Point for the Civil War – The 1859 trial of abolitionist John Brown in Virginia The OK Corral Shootout Trial of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday The Black Sox Trial State v. Scopes ("The Monkey Trial") The Lindy Chamberlain Trial The McMartin Pre-school Trial The O.J. Simpson Trial for the Murder of Nichole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman     Erwin Chemerinsky, the noted Constitutional scholar and now the Dean of the new University of California, Irvine School of Law will write the foreword

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2010