Justice Denied

An incisive examination by the bestselling author of The Mammoth Book of Gangs of some of the many miscarriages of justice of this and the previous century, which have seen innocent men and women found guilty, and sometimes executed.

This shocking 'manual of injustice' exposes wrongful convictions and acquittals as a result of the chicanery of some forensic scientists, over-zealous or negligent police officers under pressure to get results, incompetent law years, lying witnesses, bribed juries, judicial blunders and feeble politicians. Sometimes, however, it is truculent and uncooperative defendants who prove their own worst enemies. It shows the mistakes that can be made in the face of a baying public and a rabid press, mistakes which have seen innocent men and women found guilty, and sometimes executed, while others have served lengthy sentences. It reveals critical flaws in criminal justice systems throughout the world.

Morton explores folk devils and moral panics, both historical such as the 'witches' of Salem It considers cases of race hatred, the impact of DNA, fit-ups, fake 'experts', doubtful science and the long road to the court of appeal. He also looks at what happens to the victims of miscarriages of justice, whether they go on to prosper or, as is sadly so often the case, never really recover.

How did the boxer Rubin 'The Hurricane' Carter come to be wrongly convicted of a triple homicide? The alibi of Joe Hill, the Industrial Workers of the World activist wrongly executed for the murder of a Utah grocer and his son, came too late to save him from execution. On the other hand, Lindy Chamberlain (famously portrayed by Meryl Streep in 'A Cry in the Dark'), has finally, over thirty years after the fact, had her claim that her baby Azaria was taken by a dingo at Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback upheld by a coroner.