Framed Audiobook By John Grisham, Jim McCloskey cover art

Framed

Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions

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Framed

By: John Grisham, Jim McCloskey
Narrated by: Michael Beck, John Grisham, Jim McCloskey
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, “the master of the legal thriller” (Associated Press) teams up with Jim McCloskey, “the godfather of the innocence movement” (Texas Monthly), to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions.

“Each of these stories is told with astonishing power. They are packed with human drama, with acts of shocking villainy and breathtaking courage. But these are more than just gripping true stories—they are a clarion call for reforming the tragic flaws in our criminal justice system.”—David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon

John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it’s his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system.

A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. These ten true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corruption in the court system that can make them so hard to reverse.

Impeccably researched and told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of winning freedom when the battle already seems lost and the deck is stacked against you.


* This audiobook edition is accompanied by a downloadable PDF which includes A Note on Sources and Acknowledgments from the book.

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Activism & Social Justice Criminology Penology Social Sciences True Crime Law Murder Biographies & Memoirs Exciting Scary
Eye-opening Stories • Well-researched Cases • Superb Narration • Compelling True Accounts • Thought-provoking Content

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It’s unreal to me that in these United States of America we have a justice system where minorities, poor people, and uneducated people can and have been actually killed by the government. Some people who are staunch believers in the death penalty will always start naming horrific crimes as their reasons for believing in it. They’ll ask “Do you want someone who rapes children amongst the rest us?” or “Do you think serial killers and habitual rapists can be rehabilitated?” Of course they always ask “What about if it was one of YOUR children?” As much as I try not to engage in these debates since they rarely end well, I’ve always had the same responses…”No, of course not. Who would want people like that out and about? They should be locked up. Most should never see the light of day again”. But I have two issues with the death penalty. First, ask yourself why we instituted it in the first place and why we’re still using it today. Of course to keep dangerous folks away from the rest of us but prison do that. Why the death penalty? Most folks think it’s to deter crime. “Maybe folks will think twice about perpetrating said crime if they know they can be killed for it!” At least that’s how my buddies who strongly believe in it explain it to me. The problem with that explanation is that it’s not based on fact. If, you’re one of those folks who don’t believe in science and statistics, etc. then please ignore this next part. Studies have shown over and over again that the death penalty does not actually deter crime. Not at all. Don’t take my word for it. Look it up. So, if it doesn’t deter crime and prisons are perfectly capable of keeping the bad guys away, and we’ve proven that we have and will continue to make errors in judgment where guilt and innocence is concerned, help me to understand why the death penalty is still used in about half of our states. I said I had two issues with the death penalty. The first is that there’s no proof it actually serves the purpose for which our forefathers thought it would and I just mentioned the second one a sentence or two back. What about error?? As long as human beings (jurors, judges, prosecutors, cops, etc.) are involved in our justice system there will always be errors. Because the last time I checked human beings come with lots of baggage and biases and are prone to make errors from time to time. Killing someone is not reversible (last time I checked) so why not err on the side of caution and lock them up just in case….on the off chance….a minority, or poor person, or economically depressed person happens to be convicted and sentenced to death who is actually innocent. Perhaps the day will come (much as it did with DNA analysis) when we’ll be able to scientifically prove that someone on death row is actually innocent. In response to the issue of errors I’ve heard “We only have a small insignificant error rate if we even have one at all.” “We have the best criminal justice system in the world. You just have to take the good with the bad because sometimes mistakes will happen.” “Can’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” Those types of statements are concerning of course so I typically just say something snarky like “Here’s to hoping it’s never your baby!” So, if we can solve the problem that the death people was meant to solve (punish the offender and keep the rest of the public safe) by locking folks up and since we KNOW we have and will continue to incarcerate and kill innocents, why do we still have any staunch death penalty advocates at all? I wish I knew. I do know that Grisham and Beck did a superb job of making a tough subject easy to listen to. I’m hoping someone who either doesn’t know much about the subject or someone who thinks they do but really doesn’t will read the book. Even if it doesn’t immediately change their mind, I suspect it will cause them to think and that’s when change begins. By the way, Jim McCloskey has become one of my absolute favorite narrators. This is not a funny subject but I’m sorry he made me laugh at times. He’s great in the other Grisham books also. This trio should definitely collaborate again on something fictional or nonfiction. Great team.

Believable but unbelievable

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I wasn’t able to put this story down! The narrative was excellent! I never would have dreamed how shady some prosecutors were to convict innocent people! This was well worth listening to.

Shocking truth of our justice system

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Overall I liked the book however I was constantly disturbed by the behavior of law enforcement.

Blatant corruption

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I like hearing about real cases and how with careful examination, wrongful convictions are sometimes overturned. It is so sad to know that our justice system needs so much oversight.

There are legal minds willing to take on possible cases. Thank God for them.

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I did like the factual, incredibly researched cases. But what I hated was how half asses the cases were handled originally. I hate that this type of injustice could actually happen to anyone. I highly doubt recommend this book!!

Scary stories that are true!

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