Customer Reviews

LAST WORDS FROM DEATH ROW --- The Wall Unit

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

 

 

The story of Leonel Herrera is a picture of a flawed justice system. In Last Words From Death Row, Norma Herrera relates the events of the early 1980s which took place in a small border town in Texas that put an innocent man, her brother, on death row. Reading the story is like suffering through the horrendous ordeal with Norma. She begins by explaining her family's history. Her father, Jose, an abusive man, was a key player in a drug cartel propagated by local law enforcement. He did not hesitate to bring his sons into his saga of corruption and make them key players in it, as well. As Norma opens her home to us, we become familiar with her family through photographs.

Leonel was a cocaine addict and his pitiful situation made him an easy target to be framed. When two police officers associated with the cartel are gunned down due to a failed transaction, the Hidalgo County Police Department wastes no time pinning the crime on Leonel. Arrested and beaten to the brink of death, labelled a cop-killer, Leo immediately went to trial based on false circumstancial evidence. With a corrupt legal system facilitating his trial, he is sentenced to death by lethal injection. A series of mysterious deaths occur afterward while evidence of Herrera's innocence surfaces. Norma and her family began an exhaustive battle against legal technicalities preventing the new evidence to be presented.

This is a true story that evokes strong empathy from the reader. Norma points out repeatedly how easily one of our own family members could be sentenced to death for crimes they had absolutely nothing to do with. Her frustration and sense of helplessness are apparent in her words. The controversy caught the attention of thousands of sympathetic Americans, including celebrities such as Danny Glover, who spoke at rallies organized in support of Leonel and others like him. The story makes a strong argument for those who oppose the use of capital punishment under any circumstances. It presents an alarming reality that forces the reader to question the sanctity of the American judicial system.

Ms. Herrera has opened the well of pain she and her family lived for all to see in her book LAST WORDS FROM DEATH ROW. There are some in The Valley, where the events in her book took place, who seek to defame Ms. Herrera's work. This is understandable, when they experience their own pain in actually reading her book. But, take heed. There are some who have reviewed this book without reading it. People contacted us to try to prevent the publication of LAST WORDS FROM DEATH ROW. These are the people who do not want any truth known other than their own. I encourage them to write their own book about this execution and the events that led to it. I invite them to read LAST WORDS FROM DEATH ROW before they write their "review" in the vain attempt to discredit this book. The death penalty legal community hails it as a true revelation, and side with Ms. Herrera. We stand behind this book and its author, and would say to all who come to read these reviews, this book is powerful and hits home. Otherwise, why would there be any blatantly self-serving "review" claiming that the truth in this book is false? Be thinkers. Read LAST WORDS FROM DEATH ROW.
Valerie Connelly
Publisher
Nightengale Press

Once convicted, Innocence is Irrelevant
This story tells of a man who was convicted and could prove his innocence, but it was past the 30 days that was allowed to show new evidence. So, Anyone who is convicted of a crime, no matter what it is, could only have 30 days to prove otherwise. What if was someone in your family and evidence was suppressed beyond the 30 day limit? Too bad. We kill you anyway. Justice is blind and will always turn a blind eye to new evidence, because it is too late then. A very compelling story how one lone woman who tried to save her brother and show that he was with her during the killings and couldn't have been anywhere near where it happened. Also the car that was supposed to be the one he was driving was up on blocks and hadn't even been driveable. The witness couldn't even identify the car until it was pointed out to them, even then it was the wrong car as stated in a newspaper article about the killings.

justice and reality stands for all!! Damn good book. True reality - this is real life!

As a long time anti-death-penalty activist and abolitionist, I've been familiar with the Leonel Herrera story since the time the events were taking place. I've been eager for this book to come out, so I could learn the previously unpublished details, which I did. But I'm disappointed with the book itself. Here's why: the privately-published book was poorly edited, or more likely, not edited at all, and it shows. It abounded in spelling errors, occasional misuse of words, poor syntax, and every imaginable gramatical error. No matter how good a story, no matter how informative, no matter how vital and accurate the infomation contained, a book with all those errors instantly loses credibility. As a writer myself, it made me cringe. And the book was poorly organized; Norma Herrera opens with boring legal citations that should have been in an appendix. Most readers would put it down right from the start. She needed to start with the STORY, and plug in the legal technicalities at the end. The only reason I hung on was because I knew about the case, and knew the meat of the story was coming. But most readers would reject from page one a book that doesn't catch their attention. Leo Herrera was innocent, but the courts said, effectively, [paraphrased]"It's OK to execute an innocent person who's been wrongly condemned, AS LONG AS THE TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF LAW." That's crazy, and has made us the laughing stock of civilized nations, all of whom have abolished capital punishment. Forget the grammar and spelling, please. The story itself is told with plentiful details and lots of emotion, as it should be, and it was a very good read. I believe this story is a must-read for all the American people. How can we continue to feel pride in our nation and its laws, when the Supreme Court and its then Chief Justice, William Rehnquist, said in essence to the always eager to execute state of Texas, [paraphrased] "You must kill this man, even though he has proof of his innocence, because the law says so." Many people erroneously believe that criminals may be released "on a technicality," something that actually happens very rarely. This story demonstrates, contrary to all common sense, that technicalities can, and often do, result in the execution of innocent persons at a far greater rate than a guilty person getting away with a crime due to a technicality. Don't miss this book. It's an exciting "whodunit," even though we know from the start how it will end.

My father, David I. Rucker, was one of the two police officers who were killed that night. I was ten when my father was murdered, my brother was eight and my sister was six. He was a wonderful father to us and a good, moral person. He was loved and admired by many. Ms. Herrera has a right to publish a book maintaining her brother's innocence. That is fine. She does not, however, have the right to claim that my father was part of a drug cartel. She has no evidence for this claim, it is slander, and I am comforted by the fact that anyone who knew my father will not believe he was a member of a cartel. I encourage people who are interested in this case to research the facts carefully for themselves. You will find no evidence to support Ms. Herrera's claim that my father was a member of a cartel. I highly discourage anyone from buying this book and helping Ms. Herrera profit from dragging my father's name in the mud.

This book was awesome, I could not put it down.

Norma passed away yesterday afternoon, and I felt compelled to
come back and write a review, which I shouldve done while she was
alive, and not waited.

Her tragic story about the injustice done to her family is a horrible
tragedy, but am glad I knew her and am glad she had the courage to
speak up and tell it like it is.

Gloria B