My book for May was The Third Degree: The Triple Murder That Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice by Scott D. Seligman. Holly mentioned the book while we were having dinner after playing golf in February. One of the people murdered (T.P. Wong) was her Great Grandfather.
The book is part murder mystery, part courtroom drama and part landmark legal case. It is the true story of a young man’s abuse by the Washington DC police and a seven-year journey through the legal system. The ordeal culminated in a sweeping Supreme Court ruling penned by Justice Louis Brandeis that set the stage for the Miranda warning many years later.
The author argues that the importance of the case hinges not on the defendant’s guilt or innocence but on the imperative that a system that presumes one is innocent until proven guilty provides protections against coerced confessions.
This is an interesting little book; I give it a "B" or B-". Frankly, it was more of a curiosity given that one of the victims was Holly's great grandfather. Talking to her at Sea Ranch, I got the impression that she started it, but hadn't finished it yet. Part of the book is set in the Kalorama area near where Jack lives in DC.
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