Memorial Hall Library

Burned, A Story of Murder and the Crime that Wasn't, Edward Humes

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Burned

bibliography

1079400651

Edward Humes

A Story of Murder and the Crime that Wasn't

Examines the case of Jo Ann Parks, the sole survivor and eyewitness of a Los Angeles apartment fire in which her three young children perished. Parks was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole based on forensic fire science that is now being challenged by the California Innocence Project, which contends tunnel vision and outright bias not only led to life in prison for an innocent mother, but convicted her of a crime that never actually happened"Was a monstrous killer brought to justice or an innocent mother condemned? On an April night in 1989, Jo Ann Parks survived a house fire that claimed the lives of her three small children. Though the fire at first seemed a tragic accident, investigators soon reported finding evidence proving that Parks had sabotaged wiring, set several fires herself and even barricaded her four-year-old son inside a closet to prevent his escape. Though she insisted she did nothing wrong, Jo Ann Parks received a life sentence without parole based on the power of forensic fire science that convincingly proved her guilt. But more than a quarter century later, a revolution in the science of fire has exposed many of the incontrovertible truths of 1989 as guesswork in disguise. The California Innocence Project is challenging Parks's conviction and the so-called science behind it, claiming that false assumptions and outright bias convicted an innocent mother of a crime that never actually happened. If Parks is exonerated, she could well be the 'Patient Zero' in an epidemic of overturned guilty verdicts--but only if she wins. Can prosecutors dredge up enough evidence and roadblocks to make sure Jo Ann Parks dies in prison? No matter how her last-ditch effort for freedom turns out, the scenes of betrayal, ruin, and hope will leave readers longing for justice we can trust."--Dust jacket

Part one: A long fuse lit. April 9, 1989 ; 1,100 degrees ; Firefighting ; Statements ; Victims ; Arson expert ; Three days in October 1991 -- Part two: Stirring the ashes. The pit ; Growing up Jo Ann ; They told me I couldn't ; It's all gonna come out in the end ; Everything which is not law ; "If I am wrong, then everything I have ever been taught ... would all be wrong" -- Part three: Fire on trial. Sherlock was wrong ; The monster speaks ; The bias man ; Unhinged ; What revolution? -- Epilogue: The curse of uncertainty

adult