Customer Reviews

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and the American Justice System

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This book is the most in-depth examination at the Carter case. Dr. Wice had unprecedented access to original court transcripts and interviewed everyone involved in the courtroom proceedings, including prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys and judges.

A case as divisive as this naturally produces two distinct, mutually-exclusive groups. One side believes that Carter was an entirely innocent man and framed by a racist regime; the other believes that Carter was an unrepentant thug and murderer who was only released because celebrities got involved.

The facts, however, lie somewhere in the middle. Dr. Wice goes the extra distance to carve away the hyperbole and assumptions and examine the court case itself. Readers and reviewers who have already made up their mind about the case will be disappointed that it does not merely feed their expectations. Both sides have displayed a lack of empathy and intellectual honesty over the last thirty years.

The book's larger purpose is to explore the fundamental problems of our adversarial justice system. Because the prosecution and defense are trying to win the case, rather than arrive at the truth, there is a great potential for justice to be sacrificed.

At the book's conclusion, Dr. Wice states that it is impossible to state with complete certainty whether Carter committed these murders. Again, our judicial system is not based on uncovering objective truth, but only in determining whether a person is guilty or not guilty according to the rules of the game. It is Dr. Wice's conclusion that, not only were the rules of the game violated by both sides, but that the game itself is the problem.

Well, what a disappointment. 95% of this book is a re-telling of the Lafayette Bar murder case. 5% is a surprisingly superficial discussion of the shortcomings of the American judicial system. On the plus side, this is the most detailed, blow-by-blow account of both of the trials and the numerous appeals, the changes in testimony, the key witnesses, the red herrings, and the legal issues raised. But the writing is not good enough to rise above tedium.

To be fair, it would be a challenge to explain the changing testimony, the way the lies and the charges of bribery and corruption keep revolving back on themselves, like a hall of mirrors. Were the police intimidating the defense witnesses, or were Hurricane Carter and his friends intimidating the prosecution witnesses? Was Al Bello's crucial testimony bought by the police with promises of reward money, or was his recantation bought by Carter's friends with promises of a secret bribe?

I'd like to explain what troubles me about this book -- but how to do it without getting bogged down with nit-picks?

Try this quote on for size: "But within the Paterson community, the police, prosecutors and judicial system were united in their commitment to keeping Carter in prison for the rest of his life. To them, he was an abrasive, violent person who might one day catalyze the rage of the city's black community and who thus needed to be silenced -- he was to them an embarrassment and a villain rather than a hero." (204) Wice writes this, and apparently believes it, while at the same time acknowledging that prosecutors believed they had the guilty men (204) and while admitting he doesn't know whether Carter committed the murders or not! (202)

You'd think there would be extensive documentation and close reasoning to support the notion that (a) Carter was an activist and (b) the police were persecuting him because of it. But of course there isn't. While the tone of the book is skeptical of prosecution motives or eyewitness testimony, it accepts without question Rubin Carter's version of events, many of which were recently repeated in an error-filled movie.

The book repeats that young Rubin Carter was assaulted by a pedophile and was sent to juvenile detention for defending himself. The book repeats that Carter was on the verge of being paroled from juvenile detention when a vengeful guard (whom Carter had beaten savagely for a pedophiliac advance on a young inmate) framed him, thus ruining his chances for release. Wice believes Carter's story of how, as a young army recruit, he got into a no-holds-barred fight with his sergeant -- and was not punished. He repeats that a rash remark printed in the Saturday Evening Post led to police harassment and Carter's eventual frame-up for murder.

Well, if you'll believe that, you'll believe..... that when Carter was getting out of prison after serving time for mugging three people, he received offers from boxing managers from all over the world with "promises of rich contracts, up-front money and attractive jobs." And the reason that Carter rejected all those offers in favor of an amateur manager who was a New Jersey prison guard was because.... "he knew (the guard) fairly well." (33)

If, while doing the research for this book, Professor Wice had read the original Saturday Evening Post article, instead of relying on Carter's version in the 16th Round, he would have read a different version of the knifing incident that sent Carter to juvenile detention, and a different version of his escape. Like his alibi for the night of the murders, Carter's story of his juvenile escapades has also changed over time.

The book does list points that are favourable to the prosecution case. It mentions that Carter's alibi fell apart, for example, and even mentions the letter Carter wrote from prison, laying out the false alibi story, but it's clear where the author's sympathies are. I don't understand why, when Carter supporter Carolyn Kelley says Carter beat her savagely, Wice calls this an "alleged" assault, but when Carter says he was beaten by his own father (who is no longer around to defend himself) there is no "alleged" about it.

Here's a hilarious example of the book's bias:

"(After his transfer to Rahway Prison, Carter) was uninterested in participating... (a)lthough Carter had a few minor scrapes with the guards and other inmates, he primarily studied the law and wrote his autobiography. He was cited a dozen times for disciplinary infractions, but most were early in his stay, BEFORE THE STAFF AND OTHER MEN HAD ACCLIMATED THEMSELVES TO CARTER'S RIGID REGIMEN. (my emphasis)(74)

Um, Professor Wice, was the prison system supposed to adapt itself to the star inmate or was the star inmate -- oh, never mind.

Wice says of the prosecution: "they were rarely able to substantiate their conclusions with direct evidence." (67)

The same could be said of Carter's claim that he was a black activist or that he was framed. There is no evidence. And while the case against Carter for triple murder is mostly circumstantial, there is a case to be made -- with direct evidence -- that Carter has not always been truthful about himself. Unfortunately, this book didn't look deeply enough.