Rules of Evidence [Hardcover]

Jay Brandon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

A black defense lawyer, hired to defend a racist policeman indicted for murder, delves into a world of drug dealers, informers, and crooked cops to get at the truth and manipulate the trial accordingly.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Just as cops break the rules to fight crime in the streets, lawyers may disregard them completely in their search for truth in the courtroom--and feel pious about doing it. Raymond Boudro, the foremost black defense attorney in San Antonio, Tex., champions this dubious approach in Brandon's ( Fade the Heat ) fifth novel of legal suspense. When Detective Mike Stennett, a rough white undercover narc and reputed racist, is arrested for the fatal beating of a black junkie, Raymond takes on the high-profile case and upends many of his professional beliefs in his quest to make certain his client's innocence. Although the novel is suspenseful and savvy in its portrayal of subtle legal strategies in and out of the courtroom, its credibility sours when that subtlety is abandoned. For example, during the trial, to facilitate his search for the facts, Raymond discards the procedural rules, melodramatically offering prosecutor Becky Schirhart a free hand: "There are no rules . . . . Only games have rules." Brandon develops an interesting contrast between Stennett, the unsavory but devoted cop, and Raymond, the skillful and competitive attorney; each considers himself rightful protector of the crime-ridden East Side where both grew up. But the plot hinges on Raymond's unconvincing transformation from wily professional to quixotic truth-seeker, so that the improbable ending cannot help but disappoint.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Black San Antonio lawyer Raymond Boudro takes on the defense of Mike Stennett, a racist cop who's been his longtime adversary, when Stennett's accused of fatally beating Gordon ``Hoss'' Frazier. Raymond has no trouble breaking prosecutor Rebecca Schirhart's case, but he's not happy about the prospect of victory, as evidence mounts that shiftless Frazier had lately begun to settle down (steady job and woman, care of her abused daughter), and that Stennett, who's not getting much backing from the P.D., has certainly been beating somebody recently. The resulting yarn is good enough for a one-night stand, though the sparse story is bellied out with hints of subplots (Raymond's adroit handling of an earlier cops-vs.-blacks case, Becky's futile romance with corporate lawyer Donny Summerford) that don't go anywhere, and Raymond's lethargic ambivalence slows down the action without deepening its resonance. The deft final twist is the best part of this competent but disappointing sequel to Brandon's Edgar-nominated Fade the Heat (1990). -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; First Edition edition (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671731742
• ISBN-13: 978-0671731748
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #766,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Brandon (1953- ) grew up and his lived primarily in San Antonio, Texas. A graudate of the University of Texas, he also has a Master's degree from The Writing Seminars of Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from the University of Houston.
Brandon is the author of 15 novels and one book of non-fiction, as well as a number of short stories published in anthologies.
Brandon has also been a lawyer since 1985. His first job out of law school was at the Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas. He then served as an assistant district attorney of Bexar County (San Antonio), Texas, and a staff attorney on the Fourth Court of Appeals of Texas, before going into private practice in 1990.
Brandon's 1990 novel FADE THE HEAT, his first legal thriller, was shortlisted for the Edgar Award and optioned by Amblin Entertainment. That and later novels have been published by more than a dozen foreign published, with worldwide distribution.
Brandon is married and the father of three children. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the American Crime Writers League (although he generally dislikes belonging to any group; just a natural prejudice).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Characters Lift a Courtroom Drama Above the Pack, July 24, 2000

By 

James W. Christian "scripophilist" (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rules of Evidence (Mass Market Paperback)

Call this genre fiction if you like, but Jay Brandon elevates the familiar cops and courtrooms drama with mature insight into the lives of a Black lawyer, the first of his family out of poverty, and a White cop whose affection for the old neighborhood is expressed in terms only a vigilante would understand. Raymond Boudro is the Black lawyer with a client list packed with drug pushers and convenience store robbers. Mike Stennett is the White narcotics cop who doesn't shy from bashing heads and breaking ribs when he can't make a case stick in court. When Stennett is accused of beating a Black man to death, he comes to Boudro to defend him. Boudro deplores this renegade cop's methods but wants to know the truth; taking the case is the only way he'll ever know. The crucible in which these two characters are locked creates all the tension you expect from the genre, but there's much more to savor--authentic lawyer talk to be sure, but it's the finely wrought human side of the two characters that sets this book apart.

3.0 out of 5 stars Just OK, August 17, 2011

By 

Donna J. Runnels (Burnham, Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rules of Evidence (Mass Market Paperback)

Having worked in both law enforcement and a district attorney's office, I have pretty high standards when it comes to books involving cops and lawyers. This book didn't make a big impression on me. However, the characters were interesting and depicted well. I was hoping for a blockbuster ending, but I didn't get one.