Mrs. Vanlandingham from across the street heard the commotion and came running, still holding a dish towel. She arrived just as the sheriff, Nix Gridley, wheeled into the parking lot and slid in the gravel.
I’m in shock now. I’m not believing this, Mitch. This is like a bad dream, only much worse.” “And this is only the beginning.
He had blown the trumpet for so long that no one heard it anymore.
I needed forgiveness, because there were lots of sins in my past. I needed peace, because I’d been at war my entire life. I needed love, because I hated everybody. I needed strength, because deep inside I knew how weak I was. I needed happiness, because I’d been miserable for so long.
Meanness does not inspire loyalty.
The relief came from the sudden realization that she had just been freed from a job she despised.
Since most law-abiding citizens had no contact with the parole system, it was not a priority with the state legislatures. And since most of the state’s prisoners were either poor or black, and unable to use the system to their advantage, it was easy to hit them with harsh sentences and keep them locked up. But for an inmate with a few connections and some cash, the parole system was a marvelous labyrinth of contradictory laws that allowed the Parole Board to pass out favors.
In white America, prisons are good places where bad men pay for their crimes. In black America, they are too often used as warehouses to keep minorities off the streets. Otis.
But a year in jail for an innocent man is pure luck in our system.
As Mike Roberts watched Tommy enter the building, he could not imagine that the boy was taking his last steps in the free world. The rest of his life would be behind prison walls.
A preconceived conclusion can exist and slant the findings toward that suspect.
Nor did she like society’s way of presuming she was unhappy because she had not found the right guy.
He made a mistake, one that would send him to death row and eventually cost him his freedom for life.
It was the eyes, the cold black eyes with layers of black wrinkles around them. Great eyes. Unforgettable eyes. His hair was white and thin on top with thickets around the ears, and the whiteness contrasted sharply with the rest of his face. When he spoke, the eyes narrowed and the black pupils glowed fiercely. Sinister eyes. Knowing eyes.
About a month later, Riggins changed his mind. In an interview with the police, he said he was incorrect about Ron Williamson, that in fact the man he heard doing the confessing was Glen Gore.
I’ve lost my love for money. It’s the curse of the devil.
Hopt v. Utah, the Supreme Court ruled that a confession is not admissible if it is obtained by operating on the hopes or fears of the accused, and in doing so deprives him of the freedom of will or self-control necessary to make a voluntary statement.
Hearing the truth is like grabbing smoke in our family,” Joel said.
Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch in 1920. Mickey Cochrane never played again after taking one in the head. Tony Conigliaro was a certain Hall of Famer, then he got beaned in the eye. I.
They were dumbfounded. The man was thoroughly incapable of admitting a mistake or grasping the reality of the situation.