Customer Reviews

Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit

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because you won't be a believer for long.

Kerry Max Cook tells us exactly how it is to be on death row in this country. He paints the picture of being wrongly convicted that chills one to the very core of their being.

If your pro death penalty... you won't be so sure of that belief after reading this.

One has to give this man KUDOS for enduring a 20+ year nightmare. As well as the attorney's that stuck by his side and believed in him and worked pro bono. It takes a hell of a belief system to get through what this man survived.

I recommend this book to everyone, pro or anti death penalty. It is very educational on our justice system, prosecutor misconduct, judges who are blind to "real justice" & Investigators who will stop at nothing to gain a conviction.

TRUST THE EVIDENCE, NEVER TRUST THE AUTHORITIES.

This is a must have book and one that you will recommend over and over. From the prologue you will be hooked. Kerry must be the only person on this earth who could have survived the torment he was faced with. All along Kerry never gave up. I now see that the seemingly insurmountable problems that 99.99% of us are faced with are so ridiculous to be considered impossible. May God be with you Kerry and may this book find its way into the leaders of the TX legal system and bring about the rest and restitution you deserve.
-BP

Kerry Max Cook met young Linda Edwards in 1977 and was invited back to her apartment for a drink, where he left his fingerprints on the sliding glass door. Four days later, Ms. Edwards was found brutally murdered, and Cook was immediately arrested for the crime. In one of the worst examples of police and prosecutorial misconduct in American history, Kerry Max was put to trial with coached prosecutorial witnesses, bunk expert testimony about the "age" (six to twelve hours) of the fingerprint, and suppressed evidence that would have favored the defense. The state declared that Kerry Max was a repressed homosexual (at a time when homosexuality was a mental illness, and in rural Texas, no less) who raped and butchered a female out of repressed rage - a theory, incredibly, they stuck to even during re-trials two decades later, in the 1990's!

Chasing Justice is the story of the framing of Kerry Max by the Texas justice system. The narrative was written in Kerry's own hand (1,200 pages at first draft) and condensed into a powerfully personal 350-page account of life on death row - desperation, abandonment, rape and sodomy, stabbings, and attempted suicide. The prose isn't depressing; rather, Kerry Max just fights on, always waiting for the next turn, building his cadre of supporters. Texas death row has been ruled in federal court to constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Kerry Max fought for a full two decades for his freedom, through three outrageous trials, with not a penny to his name. While the major Dallas newspaper was decrying the railroading of an innocent man, he was convicted again and again and again. To date, he is still not eligible for reparations from the state of Texas because he has not been officially pardoned, which would require the unanimous concurrence several bureaucratic offices unwilling to admit their culpability in the grave trespass of justice against Kerry Max Cook. (By the way, the state spent $5 - $7 million over two decades in their effort to execute Kerry Max).

The reader will question - why Kerry Max? In his book, the author does not devote his energies to answering why, rather, he uses his energy to fight. From some brief research on the case, I have determined that the real culprit hired a very expensive, well-connected good ol' boy lawyer, requiring the police to find another suspect to satisfy the anger of the community. I can only begin to wonder how the Texas justice system conspired for 20 years to keep an innocent man behind bars. During each of his three trials, judges continually approved motions by the prosecutor and denied those of the defense, even to the point at which the court had contradicted itself on which evidence should be suppressed or allowed and for what reason!

Kerry Max's remarkable story is a damning indictment of the death penalty and the Texas justice system. Right before the publication of his memoir, national crime show Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of Dayle Hinman featured forensic experts "solving" the Edwards murder based on false evidence from the prosecution. Even 10 years have Kerry Max's exoneration in the national eye, misinformation is still being spread by those in power. Kerry Max Cook's experiences should serve as clear warning not to blindly accept the word of authority.

In March 2007, I attended a talk by Kerry Cook with a 80+year old nun who asked me to go with her. I did not have a clue the subject, I just went to drive for her. What an eye opening experience hearing Cook talk about his experiences in the small room crowded with college students, some of whom are part of various programs to help those imprisoned who are innocent. I later bought the book and I was angry the entire time I read it and ashamed I am a Texan, but relieved that Texas lawyers were the ones who finally helped Cook get free. Cook's story will change your life; if you are in favor of the death penalty, it will change your mind. If you are on the fence, you will get off it. You know in your heart and by current events that there are many more innocents wrongly on death row, put there by "evil" prosecutors, sheriffs, lawyers, etc., not to mention just sloppy police work. It's a crap shoot how you are treated. Kerry Cook is white, can you imagine how Blacks and Hispanics are treated in the criminal justice system?? I am still reeling and Kerry Max Cook has the rest of his life to have nightmares....

Having just finished reading Chasing Justice I probably should be waiting a few days - or even months - to calm down a bit, but I'm finding that impossible. The anger I feel, not only for what the author somehow managed to endure for over 20 years, but how little has been done by the people of Texas to rid themselves of the continuing menace that infects their legal system makes me wonder what kind of a people we are, to continually put our heads in the sand, ignoring the continuing abuses perpetrated by the police, prosecutors, judges and politicians that are supposed to be serving us.

In one of Cook's final chapters he tells us what most of the main participants are doing today. Aside from a few that have died or retired, all police, prosecutors and judges are still doling out Texas-style justice. The person who all of the legitimate evidence points to as the real murderer is still free. Of course all of the residents of Death Row who were there with Cook have been executed. I realize that this thirst for blood is not just peculiar to Texas - much the rest of our nation isn't that much better - but one would think that if we're going to be handing out the ultimate punishment so frequently, even though it doesn't accomplish anything other than satisfying a savage hunger for revenge, it might be wise to make sure that we get it right and make sure that the innocent don't get flushed down with the guilty. One also has to wonder how the family of the murdered girl managed to go along with the charade all of this time, knowing full well that the wrong man was being persecuted.

It's also interesting that who should make an appearance in this Kafka-like saga other than George W. Bush himself. As Texas Governor between 1995 and 2000 one of the first things he did was to sign off on legislation to make it easier to execute those on Death Row by limiting the appeal process available to them, resulting in him signing off on over 150 executions in 5 years. How many of those men were innocent? Is this where he developed his officials-can-do-no-wrong attitude that he has ruled with since he came into power in 2001? In the case of Texas vs. Kerry Max Cook errors and incompetence led to lies and cover-ups which led to more lies as witnesses were coached into changing stories, forensic evidence misinterpreted and pages from witness accounts "lost." All this so officials in charge of the case wouldn't have to admit that they erred in the first place -something that they've refused to admit to this day. In the case of the Bush Administration vs. the U.S. - or perhaps it should be the World - errors and incompetence made after 9/11, accompanied by a huge dose of arrogance resulted in lies and cover-ups which have led us to where we are today. If those parallels aren't enough and we need more all we have to do is throw in a huge portion of a public that is willing to accept practically anything that is told to them because we must "trust our leaders."

Kerry Max Cook is an example of what a human being is capable of. He's managed to take those 20 years that were stolen from him and make them meaningful to all of us. He shouldn't be ignored.

I haven't finished the book yet but I congratulate Mr. Cook on turning adversity into a awe inspiring book. I know it's a true tale that has inspired people to change their thinking on the death penalty all over the world. His story personally affected me and I can't wait to finish reading his book.

Kerry's story is the true meaning of having faith. What a well written book that keeps you up reading and begging the courts to give you justice. Thank you for staying so strong so you could help so many that fight these battles on a regular basis in Texas.

Kerry Cook's CHASING JUSTICE is a heartbreaking story of a horrendous act of railroading in East Texas. Sentenced to die for a rape and murder he didn't commit, Cook details the well-documented malfeasance on the part of Smith County prosecutors and others, who ran roughshod over both the law and the civil rights of the accused.

In spite of the sometimes clunky writing and some stilted dialogue, Cook's despair and determination are so genuine, his prison abuse so painful, and his belief so earnest that I was moved to tears. This book, coupled with the recent spate of prisoners cleared by belated DNA results, is a call to action to reform the current legal system.

Moving, thoughtful, and and at times infuriating, Chasing Justice is very highly recommended.

Remembering that this book is biased, it is still obvious that there was a terrible cover-up and miscarriage of justice that caused a man to waste away and sustain inhuman abuse that he didn't deserve. People thought he was a nobody, someone they could lay the blame on and everyone would forget about. It is amazing that several of the law enforcement individuals and the attorneys are still going strong. It is said the the sheriff managed to have this book banned from all book stores in the area, although his own book is available. Chasing Justice is not very well written, but worth reading and reminding us that this can happen in any "good ole' boys" town.

Kerry Cook had a few scrapes with law enforcement as a teenager in a small Texas town - joyriding, kicking out the windows of a store that falsely accused him of armed robbery. Thus, police "knew" they had their man when his fingerprints were found at the scene of a grisly murder.

The abuse of justice started immediately, continued for two decades, and nearly ended with Cook's execution. First it was merely physical - police slamming him into a wall, holding his head underwater in a toilet, arranged beatings by fellow prisoners, refusing showers and clothing, and sleep deprivation to force Kerry to confess. More serious abuses then occurred - withholding evidence from Kerry's attorneys, coaching witnesses to slant/fabricate testimony against Kerry, providing scientifically unfounded testimony that "aged" Kerry's prints to the time of murder, solicited false testimony from fellow inmates that Kerry had confessed - culminating to Kerry's arrival on Death Row in 1978. There Kerry was raped three times, and attempted suicide after each. Then his appeal stalled for eight years, and ultimately was denied.

Finally, things started to go Kerry's way. The prisoner who initially testified Kerry confessed, decided to come clean. An FBI expert provided an affidavit stating that scientific fingerprint "aging" was not possible, information was uncovered that a pathologist had told police that the victim's librarian prior boyfriend had ordered a book describing how she had been mutilated (police ignored, and did not provide to Kerry's defense), the major Dallas newspaper printed a major expose of how Kerry had been railroaded, a foundation funded Kerry's successful re-appeal.

The judge in the retrial, however, prohibited introducing most of this new evidence, the foundation funding Kerry's defense ran out of money (his attorney worked pro bono, but could not afford expert witnesses), and after a mistrial (deadlocked jury) and third trial it was back to Death Row for Kerry.

Fortunately, this conviction was reversed again, and Kerry was offered a "No Contest" plea in exchange for time served. His initial decision was to refuse and go back to trial - however, Kerry accepted the deal after learning that the potential jurors generally thought he had gotten out on a technicality and that they were there to "make it right." Finally, after being freed, results of a DNA test came back, exonerating Kerry and pinning the crime on the librarian originally identified by an eyewitness who had been coerced by prosecutors to change her testimony. Yet, prosecutors continued to contest his exoneration when interviewed.

Kerry, however, is not blameless in this miscarriage. Throughout the trials he lied about how his fingerprints got on the victim's door, instead of simply admitting she had invited him up there. (Kerry claims his father told him not to admit this; however, such an action makes no sense whatsoever.) Finally, while Kerry also should be commended for writing the book himself, continually referring to his parents as "momma" and "daddy" was both infantile and aggravating.

Bottom Line: This book seriously questions the wisdom of the death penalty in America.