Adams V. Texas - Hardcover

In a shocking and absorbing narrative, Adams, a former inmate on death row, recounts his wrongful conviction for murder in 1976, his 13 years in a Texas prison, and the protracted legal and political battle to free him. Straightforwardly and without bitterness, Adams--writing with the help of the Hoffers (Freefall, 1989, etc.)--tells how casual acquaintance David Harris, the juvenile murderer of a police officer, identified Adams as the murderer. Although Harris already had an extensive record of serious crime and Adams had no criminal record, and although there was considerable evidence that Adams was not at the crime scene, the press and police regarded Adams's guilt as a foregone conclusion. Adams was convicted and sentenced to death. The prosecutor, Doug Mulder, emerges here as a profoundly unethical man, willing to suppress exculpatory evidence in order to achieve the conviction and death sentence he so desired. Ultimately, it took a decision of the Supreme Court to get Adams off death row (the court ruled that Texas jury-selection procedures predisposed the jurors to condemn Adams to death); however, it took years of further legal wrangling and a confession from Harris (as well as publicity, especially from Earl Morris's film The Thin Blue Line) to persuade Texas authorities to drop the charges against Adams and free him. Adams's description of life in prison is harrowing, and the story of his long ordeal makes one wonder how he did not succumb to despair. A chilling, forthright account of a Kafkaesque nightmare, rendered with a remarkable lack of resentment. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Adams's story gained nationwide attention in Errol Morris's extraordinary film, The Thin Blue Line , which showed how Adams had been convicted in Texas of a policeman's murder, largely due to evidence given by the person who probably was the real killer. The film's acclaim and the attention it brought to the case eventually led to Adams's release from prison, where he had served 12 years. These are the bare bones of the story, yet as this book makes clear, there are many more aspects to it that the film did not, or could not, convey: the pain suffered by Adams's family; the overwhelming indignity and brutality of life in prison; the sheer nightmare of being sentenced to die for a crime he did not commit; and the legal labyrinth he had to steer through before the state would admit that it was wrong. Extremely well written and emotionally involving, this is one true crime book that will stay with the reader for a very long time. Highly recommended for all collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/91.
- Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.