Customer Reviews

Deliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book

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

 

 

I am not a lawyer and yet I still enjoyed Rod Smolla's book, Dangerous Intent, immensely. The book was so informative and entertaining that I felt compelled to respond to the baffling "review" submitted by J. David Truby. I'm afraid I disagree with Mr. Truby across the board. I bought and read this book because, in light of the outbreak of violence in our country coupled with the constant threats to individual rights (I don't think one has to be a lawyer to appreciate the importance of Freedom of Speech), I thought Smolla's book might prove especially enlightening and relevant. It did. Though the book reads like a well-paced novel (Smolla interweaves highly emotional encounters with friends, family, and colleagues along wit his explanation of the issues) the main thrust of the book is its thoughtful and objective analysis of First Amendment law.

Mr. Truby's character assissination of the author is his most baffling assertion. Smolla fills the book with self-effacing humor and vulnerable disclosures about the emotional and intellectual complexities involved with is taking a highly unpopular (with First Amendment colleagues) stance to acknowledge the gray ares of free speech (teaching and enthusiastically encouraging citizens to become hitmen, Smolla argues,is not protected by the First Amendment.)

In this age of fast and furious sound bites signifying nothing, it seems especially important that we, regardless of time constraints, try to take deeper and more detailed looks at key public issues. The random acts of violence that pervade this country have brought us to a collective crisis point. Perhaps policy makers could use some help. It's time for all of us, not just talk show hosts and political candidates, to enter the conversation.

Deliberate Intent was not only fun (I laughed out loud several times) but satisfying: I received an education on this key issue which the newspapers and talk shows seem unwilling or unable to give. I strongly recommend Deliberate Intent to all readers and strongly recommend as well that Mr. Truby take a second glance at the title page of the book on which he based his comments to see if we're discussing the same work!

Jerry Lombton

I often find myself starting another book when I'm in the middle of 12 others, but sometimes one of them is good enough to hold my intention to the exclusion of the others. Deliberate Intent was one. It is the story of a first amendment attorney who crosses over to join a civil suit against the publisher of a book called "Hit Man - A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors." The book was used as a guide for a triple murder. It was worth reading just for the excerpts from Hit Man. They are absolutely shocking.

I understand why some reviewers said this is a book for lawyers: the author often digresses by relating dialogs he had with his students at a law school. I'm not a lawyer, but I found these digressions educational and they usually ended up somehow relating to the story.

I give this only four stars because it wasn't as good as Civil Action to which I give 5 stars.

Rod Smolla's book has only been on the market two months and already many readers are vastly separated in their opinions relative to Smolla's actions and opinions.

One review labels Deliberate Intent as "a book for lawyers by a lawyer." While the premise behind the book - a First Amendment lawyer switches sides to sue the publisher of a how-to-commit-murder book - is a controversial one, the book itself is well written.

In today's litany of reviews, it seems that if the reader's opinion of the writer's position is positive, so too is the opinion of the overall book. The reverse is also true.

In this case, the issue at hand is controversial -from a legal standpoint. From a literary perspective, Smolla hits the proverbial nail on the head. This book is about American law plain and simple. It's about the struggles of law, of lawyers and plaintiffs and defendants and judges and the Constitution. It's this struggle that is captured so well in Deliberate Intent.

For the novice legal reader, Smolla interjects passages from his law classes in a perceived effort to educate the novice reader on legal ideology and procedure. This technique works, making the text easy to understand for those uneducated as to the normal legal wranglings associated with civil law.

This book is not a legal textbook and, thus, is not bogged-down with countless case histories, footnotes and attributions.

Few readers will be able to put the book away upon completion and not think of the outcome and continued debate over the First Amendment and its legal implications for all of us.

The story (which, of course, was true) is very engaging; however, the book had several flaws that hindered my enjoyment:
- There was an excessive amount of typos--all were the kind spell checkers don't catch (e.g. "peels of laughter").
- Details were left out that caused confusion (e.g. how did the Department of Justice report become part of the record on appeal?).
- The law school scenes stretched credibility--all the students' answers were close to perfect analysis, which is not the norm. Clearly class dialogue was edited for the book, but it gave an erroneous impression of the law school class environment.
- The end of the book should have left out the "apology" for making money on the case, which came across sounding somewhat disingenuous. It appeared the author considered the apology obligatory; but if so, why did he throughout the book bring up how impecunious he was? The whole topic could have been left out with no loss, and some gain in focus. Or, the author could actually have been honest and admitted that of course he's human and the possibility of a large payout was a motivating factor. Even altruistic law professors-turned-plaintiff's-lawyers must eat, and it's nothing to be ashamed of (and comports with American values) to risk your time and effort on the possibility of a large reward.

A publishing house turns a tidy profit on a "how to" book--about how to be a contract killer, that is. A man hires somebody to kill his wife and handicapped son for insurance. The murder is committed using the "how to" book as a blueprint. What is a First Amendment free speech absolutist to do?

That is the burden of this book and its author, Rod Smolla, a professor of law at William and Mary's law school. With every fiber of his being, Smolla believes in the First Amendment and unfettered free expression. Then, he takes on the case of the victims' next of kin against the publisher...and winds up doing battle against the assembled might of the First Amendment bar in federal court.

It's all here. Smolla is a good story teller and he has put together a good narrative of the thrust and parry, point and edge of the case. His character sketches of the lawyers involved and the defendant publisher are wickedly funny. He spares no one, friend or foe (at one point, he says that his co-counsel on the case suffers from "narcistic fibrosis.") The writing style is crisp and fluid. Smolla weaves into the book meditations on the clash of rights with obligations, the different schools of jurisprudential thought from the Natural Law to Legal Realism, the vicissitudes of judges and judging, and the tension-filled process of creating a legal theory and the record to back it up. I was so engrossed in the story I had no idea I was actually learning something!

As an aside to lawyers and law students, this could be the best basic book on legal process and legal practice since the "Buffalo Creek Disaster." If you like this book, check out Patrick Cleary's book on the R.A.V. cross-burning case before the Supreme Court.

Deliberate Intent is a personal account of a lawyer devoted to the idea of First Amendment. As a true believer in free expression, when he was approached to serve on the legal team that sued Paladin Press for the publication of Hit Man, a manual for the successful hired murderer, he was very reluctant. However, after some efforts he agreed and this book tells the story of his legal, intellectual and emotional involvement in the affair. The reader feels Smolla's commitment to free expression and, at the same time, also Smolla's conviction that this book exploits all that is right about free speech to inflict evil and thus it places itself outside the boundaries of the First Amendment. The account is very personal, sometimes TOO personal (a more stringnet editor would leave some parts of Smolla's diversions outside this fascinating book) but it is a very engaging book that I, personally, read cover to cover without a break. Now I teach it in my free speech classes.

This book is about as perfect as you can get! Mainly a true story of a lawsuit against Paladin Press for publishing the book HIT MAN, it is a very entertaining read for such a gruesome subject. Sweeping through law school discussions, 1st Amendment history, and the details of the US Court System, this is a real page turner. The details of the lawsuit, the personalities, the judges, including one whose elderly father was murdered in his own driveway just a few years before this case started, are all fascinating! So for a tour through the law and the truly horrific murders of 3 completely innocent people, and even the streets of LA and Motown records, and much more, this one is tough to beat!

This is a well written and structured book which takes what most people would consider a dull subject and makes it interesting and entertaining for any reader. The subject is the book Hit Man and whether it was protected by the First Amendment.

The author develops the case from beginning to end in a very readable way and uses his teaching class examples to educate non legal readers in the issues of law being debated.

I am a non lawyer and am not American but I have much better understanding of the issues and the First Amendment. The author wrote the book in such a way that I gained this understanding in an entertaining and very readable way.

The use of character development for each of the lawyers involved also gave the book life and relevance to non lawyers.

This is one of those few books that can be considered 5 star.

Before writing my review, I must disclose that Rod Smolla was my professor for 2 classes during law school and one of my favorite professors. That is why I bought the book. I don't like nonfiction. I don't really like books about the law. I read about the law every day. I didn't expect to enjoy the book, but figured it would be something I would wade through because I knew the author. I was wrong. This book is compelling.

The crime at the basis of the court case is heart breaking and the book HitMan (which I have also read) is as offensive as anything I have ever read. The author portrays the victims and the convicted killers with appropriate compassion and vilification and makes their story come alive. But I found much more interesting the battle within the author over his involvement in the case. He gave lawyers a human face, one that the legal profession so desperately needs.

I recommend this book to lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Understanding the complexities of the legal arguments is really not the centerpiece of the book. It is a story about a lawyer, as interesting and plot-driven as any fiction story. My only problem with the book is that I wish I (and my classmates) were as intelligent and articulate as the classroom discussions made us look. :)

Only a devious, self-serving lawyer would enjoy this book. That's because it would take one to recognize the one who wrote it.

This book is heavily one-sided, plays dangerously close to the ethical edge and does not include gobs of case law and other information that would damage the author's main agenda. But, as I noted, this is a book for lawyers by a lawyer.

His main thrust is a paen to the liberal mindset that any wrong-doing is always someone else's fault. Ironically, this book is a step-by-step manual on how to be a modern day ambulance chaser and how to pick the lean pockets of anyone with money, e.g., Paladin Press, a small, locally owned business.

Smolla ignores that the case never came to final trial because a gutless insurance company was pressured to sell out its client. Paladin Press and its legal team were confident that they would have won this case.

Smolla ignores or does not care about the damage he and his nightmare team of fellow lawyers caused to the Bill of Rights, all in the name of their ultra liberal agenda and sales of his book.

One cogent question remains in my mind from the book. In a courtroom meeting, the defendant in this asinine case asked Smolla how many pieces of silver it took for him to sell out. Smolla refused to answer.

I guess this book is his ultimate answer.

God protect our Constitutional freedoms from greedy monsters like Rod Smolla and his fellow legal leeches.

Of course, all of this is only my opinion, and, gasp, I could be correct.

J David Truby Professor Emeritus