Court of Lies

Book excerpt: From Gerry Spence, one of America’s greatest trial attorneys and the New York Times bestselling author of How to Argue and Win Every Time, comes an explosive courtroom thriller of murder, passion, and the twists and treachery of law and justice. Gerry Spence is one of the greatest trial lawyers of our time. He has not lost a jury trial in fifty years and has never lost a criminal or a capital case. He has also represented many celebrated defendants and appeared on countless national TV talk shows. Spence now presents us with beautiful Lillian Adams, who is going on trial for the murder of her wealthy husband before Judge John Murray. The prosecutor, Haskins Sewell, however, is consumed by political ambition. He plans to advance his own career by framing Lillian for murder one and by railroading the judge into prison. A fast-paced, up-all-night courtroom thriller, Court of Lies is also a harsh indictment of today’s legal system. The country has 2.3 million people behind bars and 7.5 million more on parole or probation. A major reason for so much mass incarceration is the dominance of politically motivated prosecutors, who over-sentence defendants for the sake of winning votes in their own elections and advancing their careers.