The Prosecutors: A Year in the Life of a District Attorney's Office [Hardcover]

Gary Delsohn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2003

Depicting American justice at its best and worst, The Prosecutors lifts the lid off today's legal system with details that are more shocking and graphic than any television show or bestselling novel.

Allowed unprecedented access to spend a year inside an urban prosecutors' office, Gary Delsohn provides a riveting, behind-the-scenes look at how America's increasingly overburdened judicial system really functions. Seen through the eyes of the main characters in this true-life drama-John O'Mara, a tough, jaded homicide chief and Jan Scully, an accomplished former sex-crimes prosecutor who is now the D.A.-The Prosecutors shows us these dedicated public servants at work. The cases they encounter within this one year are as shocking as they are indelible:

* A simple robbery in Sacramento, California, goes bad and shatters a family forever.
* A serial killer is caught only after a nationwide manhunt.
* A well-respected doctor is accused of murdering his own daughter.
* A twenty-five-year-old cold case involving Patty Hearst and the SLA explodes and brings incredible pressure and scrutiny to the D.A.'s office.
* The son of a high-ranking California state prosecutor faces a possible death penalty for kidnap, rape,and murder.

The Prosecutors chronicles the real-life legal dramas that are waged daily in our courtrooms. It is a book that enlightens, educates, entertains, and even infuriates at times with the miscarriages of justice, but, ultimately, shows in stark detail the intricacies that make our legal system work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 2001, Sacramento Bee reporter Delsohn spent a year trailing after assistant district attorneys as they prosecuted some of the 13,000 felonies that occur in that city in any given year. The concept is not a new one: Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon did the same thing 15 years ago with great success in Homicide, which chronicled a year's worth of murder investigations in Baltimore. New concept or not, Delsohn does a deft job of highlighting the complexities of the cases that he encounters. As Delsohn sees it, "For all the talk prosecutors like to engage in about how their number-one priority is to seek justice, not just win trials, it's numbers-trials completed, trials won, and trials lost-that mean everything." Despite this somewhat jaded view, the half-dozen cases that Delsohn tracks during the year belie this sentiment. While the verdicts are sometimes imperfect, the overall lesson of the book is that justice is, in the end, usually done. The murder cases include a bakery robbery gone sour, a doctor who throws his young daughter to her death, a drugged wacko who videotapes himself hanging his girlfriend and a Ukrainian immigrant who murders his family. Like episodes from Law and Order, each of these cases illustrates how the tactical decisions of a murder trial play out against the backdrop of very real defendants and victims. While this volume would have been served better by less lawyer banter and a tighter focus, the perennial struggle between the DAs and defense attorneys will appeal to those junkies who can't get enough of bloody crimes and courtroom drama.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Shrewdly constructed, compulsively readable.... Reads like a mix of early Law & Order scripts and old-school urban history. Engrossing. -- Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (August 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525947124
• ISBN-13: 978-0525947127
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #427,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Law > Perspectives on Law > Judicial System

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Prosecutors, November 10, 2003

By 

Shirley A. Day (Sacramento California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prosecutors: A Year in the Life of a District Attorney's Office (Hardcover)

An absolutely outstanding writer! This is a book you can't put down, but don't want to finish reading because you don't want the pleasure to end. The writer captures your interest from the very beginning and weaves his story through multiple cases, which are all in the legal process at the same time, but he does not lose the reader. His descriptions of tragic cases never reek of sensationalism, nor are they gory, yet the writer's style gets the message of mayhem across and exudes concern for victims' families without being schmaltzy. This is an incredible insider's view of all the players in local Sacramento law. What an eye opener. A peepers delight. What an incredible year of investigation this man lived! What a flawless re-creation of those experiences! From time to time the reader has to remind themself that this is not fiction, this is reality, this occurred. What he writes is historical. Facts.

While this is his first effort, this book leaves the reader yearning for his next novel. Please don't make us wait too long.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captures the Flavor --Warts and all!, August 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Prosecutors: A Year in the Life of a District Attorney's Office (Hardcover)

As a Sacramentan who is intimately familiar with our local criminal justice system, upon which this book is based, it's my view that Delsohn has done a magnificent job of capturing the flavor of a complex, multidispilinary operation---warts and all. As one who is acquainted with many of the characters in the book, I believe Delsohn's book is well written, well researched and well balanced. It should be a "must read" for all who are interested in the justice system, and especially by folks who contemplate a career in this field.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, August 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Prosecutors: A Year in the Life of a District Attorney's Office (Hardcover)

The Prosecutors opened my eyes to how the real criminal justice system works and the dedication of the men and women who toil away every day unseen. Recommend to anyone interested in the real world of DA's.