Not Guilty: Six Times When Justice Failed

Lisa Arsenault is an elementary-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

The failure of the justice systems of Canada and the United States is
the theme of Not Guilty. In the six cases profiled, suspects were
wrongfully accused and convicted of serious crimes; they were
imprisoned, and one was hanged. There was more than enough serious doubt
to make accusing these people, let alone convicting them, highly
problematic.

The cases are intrinsically interesting and unique. One of the first
black cadets at West Point was court-martialed and dismissed from the
Academy in disgrace for staging a violent racist attack on himself! On
the flimsiest hearsay, Mary Surratt, a boarding-house owner, was hanged
for allegedly helping John Wilkes Booth assassinate President Abraham
Lincoln; she was the victim of a vengeful government’s rush to
judgment.

The facts are presented in a fair and balanced way. The case for the
prosecution is not denigrated except where glaring errors and biases are
apparent or where the prosecution’s scenario is patently ridiculous,
as in the case of the black cadet.

The book’s treatment of mistaken eyewitness testimony, false
testimony, police incompetence or misconduct, and inflammatory media
coverage is nonsensational but fascinating. Not Guilty is recommended
for readers interested in police procedure, courtroom drama, and
high-profile legal cases in which justice did not prevail.