Customer Reviews

The Wrong Man: A True Story of Innocence on Death Row

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I agree with half of the other reviews: the author is ego-centric and self-righteous in his bent and erroneous position. The zealousness at which he seems to embrace Joseph Spaziano's innocense is nothing less than mind boggling. Therefore one must question whether his agenda is to prove this person, Joe "Crazy Joe" Spaziano, as an innocent victim or is it more accurate to conclude that the author is fervent in his quest only to prove himself correct.

If you have a heart towards assisting the truly innocent and often overlook victims, your valuable time would be greater served elsewhere. Find some worthwhile publications that can help you minister to the truly needy instead of spending money to promote such outlandish writings.

The story of Joe Spaziano sounds like an interesting read. Outlaw biker convited of two heinous crimes and there's doubt about the crime for which he is sentenced to death. What SHOULD be a gripping account of the twists and turns of Capital Murder disintergrates into a lovefest--Michael Mello' Self Love and Admiration Society. The book is over 500 pages. If the word "I" were removed, the book would be about 25 pages. This reader wanted to know more about the facts; for instance what was the reason his FAMILY testified against him, why was he a suspect in an out-of state crime. The book is woefully short on facts on the case, and written in a breathless,"Aren't I wonderful and isn't Joe the second most fabulous human being on the earth (next to me, of course" style. Long on pages, short on facts about the crime. No wonders lawyers get no respect.

This book is coming from a positon of proving capital punishment unjust because *innocent* people are wrongly punished. BUT...what if Spaziano is GUILTY ??? Does that then make the authors argument null and void ?

Interestingly enough, I oppose the Death Penalty because of my strong scriptually based spiritual beliefs. But I DO agree with punishment for crimes committed....and Joe Spaziano is as guilty as they come. I met him personally and just prior to his murder of an innocent young girl, when he was still self proclaiming himself as *Crazy Joe*...and justifiably so.

Where are the droves of testimony from the woman, one of my closest friends at the time of the murder, who innocently went for a ride with her then boyfriend Spaziano and his cohort,DiLisio, while never realizing that they were heading for the Florida Seminole County dump to discard of Spaziano's lifeless victim's body ??? Where are the droves of documented commentary from questioning this key eye witness about when parked at the dump that night, Joe Spaziano told his then girlfriend that if she dared to turn around and look at what they were doing...that he would KILL her ??? But she DID turn around...and she knew what she saw...and she went into Wintness Protection in order for the TRUTH to be told...and voluntarily became yet another innocent victim, but this one sentenced to a life of hiding and fear because of threats for retribution from the unjailed *Outlaw* motorcycle gang which *Crazy Joe* Spaziano belonged to.

Details, details, details of Joe Spaziano's guilt are so undeniably missing that it is no wonder *READERS* would easily be led down the path of thinking this heinous killer is innocent rather than guilty for what he indeed did do !!!

Using THIS CASE to make the authors cry for unjustice against *the innocent* concerning capital punishment is...TOTALLY ABSURB and even HARMFUL.

The author appears to have written this book from one other perspective...that of making a lot of money from the sales of his book. The key eye witness, Joe Spaziano's then girlfriend, testified for only ONE reason...so that the truth would be known and justice would be fulfilled. She never wrote a book about her story with this crazy man...one that has many, many, many more filthy and demeaning details of the unspeakable acts Spaziano and other Outlaw bikers did to their rival motorcycle gangs as well as other innocent people or even their very own members if that member did not comply to their *rules*.

Think about it...surely you, the reader of this book, must conclude that you're being fleeced.

I am myself a law student, and very interested in anti-death penalty work. Reading this book, however, is unlikely to convince anyone of the wrongness of the death penalty and very likely to convince the average reader that anti-death penalty advocates are unbalanced and as "crazy" and "guilty" as those they represent.
Was Joe Spaziano guilty as charged? Probably not.
Is Michael Mello one of the most repulsive lawyers in America? That's putting it mildly.
I do not wish to launch an ad homimen attack on the author, but when the "hominem" in question inserts himself into the book as much as Mello does, it seems fair to comment on him. I have no problem with his anti-death penalty bias, and he does document ample reasons why Spaziano may well have been innocent. (I would say he stops short of the burden of proof, however.) But Mello is easily the most disgusting character in this book. He launches into long descriptions of his substance abuse, for instance--which he never disclosed to his client, saying only that he had to be "hospitalized" when he was sent away for over a month of rehab at his employer's expense. He seems to think the reader will be fascinated by his various failed relationships. Although he goes into great detail about his supposedly fairy-tale marriage to "Deanna" ("first and last marriage for us both"--I'll bet)he forgets his first "wife," Ruthanne. Coincidentally, this woman is the mother of his child, who is never mentioned again after the two of them break up. (Poor Larkin!) And let's not forget that Deanna was his student at Vermont Law, although he takes pains to say that she was on a leave of absence when they began dating. I certainly hope he doesn't teach legal ethics at Vermont.
There's also the long side trips discussing how undisciplined he is with his personal finances, details of his battles with the Vermont Law dean (in his paranoid style, he claims they wanted to revoke his tenure--I wouldn't have blamed them a bit), and his equally paranoid-fueled rants against Spaziano's other attorneys and a newspaper which had taken up Spaziano's cause. It's easy to see why so many people believed in Spaziano's guilt: With Mello fighting his battles, doubtless the opposing side was inclined to think the worst. I was singularly unimpressed by the "petition" signed by various celebrities, many of whom were also passionate believers in Mumia Abu-Jamal's (Wesley Cook's) innocence. I am from Philadelphia, and while I am staunchly anti-death penalty, one must either be delusional or ignorant of the facts to believe in Jamal's innocence. Being against the death penalty does not mean one must believe in the factual innocence of every defendant.
Yet none of these personal failings are nearly as telling as the fact that Mello just doesn't seem to be a terribly competent attorney. His official legal writings (those we see) are poorly written and filled with invective. His oral arguments are even worse--I've seen more professional presentations in Moot Court. Spaziano chose to take a no-contest plea which ensures he will spend the rest of his life in prison--way to go, Mello!
All told, this is a story of a man--the lawyer, not the criminal--who turned everyone against himself and his cause, doing his client a huge disservice. He probably should have been disbarred, as he feared at one point he would be. Much like the film "The Life of David Gale," this is anti-death penalty propaganda which makes the activists look even sicker than the over-zealous cops and prosecuters who often pervert the process. A far better examination of a death penalty case which was reversed (and the client freed) is William Costopoulous' "Principal Suspect," about the Jay Smith case in Pennsylvania. Costopoulous is an excellent writer and extremely professional, gifted attorney--a further opposite from Mello is impossible to find. Also excellent is Mark Fuhrman's recent "Death and Justice," which describes how Fuhrman, once a death penalty advocate, changed his mind. Don't waste your time with the pitiful, sad, and seemingly delusional Mr. Mello.

I really enjoyed the story of Sonia and Jesse Tafero.

It was made abundantly clear that Sonia is innocent, based on the sheer extent of prosecutorial misconduct.

My suggestion is that anyone interested in the facts behind the cases represented in this book should do some research on each individual. I feel that Jesse Tafero (if you read the evidence presented posthumously) could not have been the shooter in that particular case. And considering that the prosecution bribed witnesses to lie, suppressed evidence, and conducted a farce of a trial in general, it makes you wonder just WHAT exactly they were trying to hide?...

Great read, worth the expense!