Bone Valley by Gilbert King 5

 

"This isn't simply a story about guilt or innocence. It's about what happens when the legal system locks itself into a version of events and refuses to let go, even when the facts no longer support it. Sometimes an injustice isn't the result of prosecutorial oversight, or bias. Sometimes it's something else---a calculated series of choices: quiet, deliberate, and capable of destroying a life."

    -Gilbert King, from the Prologue

This a true story of the worst travesty of justice I've ever known. In Lakeland, Florida,1988, 22-year-old Leo Schofield was accused of killing his 18-year-old wife, Michelle. He declared his innocence from the very beginning. He had an unprepared defense attorney, and they faced an unethical, or worse, prosecutor. The investigation was shoddy, critical evidence was ignored and there was a serious rush to judgement and even official misconduct. Leo was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. 

In multiple appeals, new prosecutors and judges seemed determined to uphold the guilty verdict regardless of any new evidence. Fast forward 30 years and Gilbert King hears Leo's story and along with an assistant Kelsey Decker begins his research into this perversion of justice. They would invest some 6 years on the project as Leo remains in prison being disappointed time and again.

I found this story gripping and all the more so as I got to know Leo. I've rated it a 5. I read King's Devil in the Grove, a Pulitzer winner, several years ago and it was a similar story of outrageous injustice in Florida. King mentions Bryan Stevenson's book Just Mercy which I have also read. All have made a lasting impression on me. Photographs at the end of the book make Leo's story even more personal.

This is like a true crime story but with a moral imperative. I couldn't help but think: what if the jury had recommended the death penalty? Totally different story!