Too Many Books

"If there is anything about my case, man - I want to know... I want to test it... There's nothing about my case that that I'm afraid of." - Adnan Syed Serial, Episode 12: What We Knew Instead of focusing on a flower and Jay's Changing Stories, Consider This: A) The policemen handling the Missing Persons Investigation did sloppy and lazy work. They back dated reports and failed to interview multiple people  thoroughly enough. B) The police did not interview the family robustly enough to understand what else might have been going on in Hae's life. They, to my knowledge, did not find a translator and instead relied on the guidance of her younger brother. C) A computer, a floppy disk containing electronic diary entries were noted and later went "missing"  D) Hae's email and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) accounts were never researched thoroughly, and her online activity is relatively unknown, outside of her newly updated "away message" which s...

  Would Hae Have Liked Pineapple on Pizza? If it Pleases the Court... Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I want to start by thanking you for your time. It is no small task to put your lives on hold and focus in on the details and particulars and specifics of this case, and it may be a struggle to focus when you have to think about what you're missing at home. Your civil duty - and your willingness to fulfill it - does NOT go unnoticed. I mentioned "time." It's a relative, term, right? I had to wait in line at the post office for 15 minutes. I waited for the checkout gal at Wal-Mart for 20, because they didn't have enough lanes open. I don't know about you, but I try to be patient. Sometimes I fail to wait gracefully, but I really do try.  So. Look at Adnan. For over TWENTY-THREE YEARS he has been waiting... patiently. 23 years ago, I was about the same age as Adnan. I graduated high school in the spring of 1999, just like he did - or would have - had he not bee...

I must start with a disclaimer: I have finished episode 14. I survived. Barely. I will do my best to avoid "spoilers," (except for one at the very bottom of this post!) because if I had to hear those two give their closing arguments with no fair warning as to how it would hit - then... damn it, so do you.  And before I move on to talk about Ep 3, I also actually need to issue a correction. This inches on the realm of "giving too much away" as it relates to the penultimate and final episodes, but - don't worry, I doubt you'd see this one coming from me. Here it is. I was wrong. In my first two blog entries recapping this coverage, I have given Brett WAY too much credit and have given poor Alice WAY too little. I love (lovelovelove) taking notes while they're talking. The only problem is, now I've started to type with Alice's 2x speed voice in my head, which - kinda sucks, but, you know, it's the price I pay to be efficient and stuff. So, here...

 Oh, Alice. I love to respect driven, educated women who find a modicum of Podcast Fame, but I am really having trouble respecting Alice. It's seems to me that she had little to do with writing the script for the Adnan coverage, as so much of what she contributes just seems to be a bolster to Brett's starring role. I decided pretty early on that we should listen to the Pros Pod, shot glass in hand, and take a drink every time Alice exclaims, "That's a great point, Brett!" (Also acceptable: "And that's an interesting point, Brett!" or "I'm so glad you mentioned that, Brett!" You'd be hammered in no time.  Alice's backseat to Brett might not be so unappealing if there was actual banter between the two, but since we're running off a pre-written script of Great Gatsby length, we're stuck with no discourse, no differing opinions. Literally the only thing I've heard them semi-debate is Adnan's motivation for making su...

Book(s) I Haven't Read Yet: Brett Talley's Scary Stories (Go to google for titles) Why I Haven't Read Them: The current season of his podcast, The Prosecutors, is enough of a Horror Show for me, and I will never pay him money. Should You Read Them? No, not in my opinion. This man's voice drips with toxicity over the airwaves, so I'm inclined to think it would do the same on the written page. Now, let's get to the real meat of why I'm here. When some Twitter users told me yesterday that Bob Ruff, host of the crowdsourcing Podcast Truth and Justice , is my "podcast daddy," I couldn't put my finger on why they would think that.  Then: ah, sweet realization. One (hi Nicole!) let me know it was because NINE MONTHS AGO I blogged about a Damien Echols (West Memphis Three) book and mentioned Bob Ruff. Nine months ago, incidentally, is funny - maybe Bob Ruff is instead my "baby daddy," and I'll be giving birth at any moment.  Read onward, ...

 Y Yesterday and today may sound like a Bob Ruff commercial, but I have no issue with that, nor should you. Not to sound bossy, but...  If you aren't aware of the West Memphis Three, look no further than look no further back than the heels of the Satanic Panic in the bible belt of West Memphis, Arkansas.  Damien Echols and two of his friends were teenagers in 1993, when three young boys were found bound and drowned. A confession was coerced out of one of Damien's friends - a kid with a mental capacity a la Brendan Dassey. Damien, 18, was sentenced to death row and his two friends, not yet "adults" received life sentences. All three were released in 2011. The identity of the real killer(s) remains unknown, though there is speculation. I recommend Bob Ruff's Truth and Justice podcast season on the case, along with the documentary The Forgotten West Memphis Three , available on Apple TV.  Book I Haven't Read Yet : Life After Death: Eighteen Years on Death Row by...

 I  I wouldn't know about Kerry Max Cook if it wasn't for Bob Ruff. I mentioned his podcast, Truth and Justice, in my post yesterday. This man is doing WORK when it comes to the wrongfully convicted.  Book I Haven't Read Yet: Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit by Kerry Max Cook.  Kerry is an innocent man who served about twenty years for the 1977 rape and murder of a 21 year old woman named Linda Jo Edwards. The case against him was circumstantial at best, and only tightened thanks to police corruption and prosecutorial misconduct.  The amount of evil in Smith County, Texas will make your head spin. Truth and Justice's second season covers the stories of Kerry Cook, Kenny Snow and Ed Ates. The struggles and injustices all three faced at the hands of the power hungry is unreal. Why I Haven't Read It  - Bob Ruff suggested reading Chasing Justice before listening to the aforementioned season...