Customer Reviews

Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just finished reading Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story, by Abbe Smith. As a tax attorney for the past ten years, I was surprised by how much I could identify with the book's description of issues that criminal defense lawyers typically face. Like criminal defense lawyers, I fight the government, but in the form of the IRS and state tax departments. Although my clients don't face prison sentences, they do face large tax bills and penalties. I am often in the position of having to urge clients to agree to financial settlements rather than go to court, even when they have a good case. The system can be troubling, personally. One of this book's lessons is that perserverance pays.

Abbe Smith's book also opened my eyes to the possibility that there are many people in America who are wrongly imprisoned but do not have a chance of being exonerated through DNA evidence. This book has inspired me to get involved in such a case in my state, on a pro bono basis. At a time when I am looking for something to inspire more passion in my professional life, I feel called to an area of the law that I never considered before. What could be more meaningful and fulfilling than fighting for an innocent person?

This is an incredible book which shows the real problems with the criminal justice system. The reviewer who criticizes Ms. Smith for believing in her client's innocence has clearly missed the point. Most criminal defense attorneys would find it much easier to defend a guilty client, and in fact some of the most skeptical people I have ever met are public defenders. The most important thing about this book is that Ms. Smith constantly reexamines her point of view and potential emotional conflicts, and is incredibly honest with the reader.

If you're looking for a book that you won't be able to put down for too long, get this one. The story is very compelling and is told in a way that is very easy to read and get into. The story of Patsy is one that will have you wondering how it happened to her, while appreciating the passion that Abbe Smith exhibited in taking on her case. A must read for those interested in learning more about our criminal justice system.

I really am enjoying reading this book, which is clear, compelling and poignant...and sheds light on a much-ignored fact about our court system, the numbers of innocent people who get convicted by dubious eye-witness testimony..

I have a personal connection to the story, so it was informative to me in regards to how this case was handled.

For someone who doesnt read books too much, this bood caught my interest and it is a real life story. I have had dinner with the author who is a lawyer and extremely bright.

"A CAPTIVATING, EMOTIONALLY INTENSE INVESTIGATION of the complicated relationship between truth and the justice system."
- Kirkus Reviews (starred)
[from the book of back jacket]

Case of a Lifetime is the story, or fable, of a lawyer who develops deep feelings for a guilty client and because of those feelings she obsessed for more than 20 years trying to have her client exonerated. To the casual reader who is capable of using logic and reason, the subject of the book, Patsy Kelly Jarrett, comes across as likely guilty, despite her repeated claim of being innocent. To a reader with some direct insight into the murders and robberies that are part of this book, the subject, Patsy Kelly Jarrett, is definitely guilty.
The author went to great lengths to find people who would accept her version of the client's story and after 20 plus years, those people were still few and far between. What the author did not do was pursue people who would have information that contradicts the claims of innocence.
The author will use both sides of the "one witness" debate. She is against it when it contradicts her client's story, but she is in favor of it when it can be used to add credence to her client's fable. She can't have it both ways.
The book is a blend of fact and fiction. The facts the author detailing her efforts on behalf of the client. The fiction is the story that the client tells. Patsy Kelly Jarrett is a convicted murderer. That was affirmed at her trial and reaffirmed through the many appeals, clemency hearings, and parole hearings. Thankfully the American justice system worked.