One week ago today

"Jim Rix will be at the Tulare Historical Museum in Tulare [California] today to sign copies of his chilling book Jingle Jangle, the story of his cousin who was sentenced to death row in Arizona for a murder he didn't commit." That's the opening of Lewis Griswold's May 18 notice, "Writer signs book today about justice gone wrong," in The Fresno Bee. The notice goes on to say:

Rix grew up in Tulare. He has been friends since grade school with Tulare County Superior Court Judge William "Bill" Silveira.

The judge liked the book so much as a cautionary tale of justice gone wrong—"it caused me to examine my conscience as a judge," Silveira said—that he encouraged his old pal to come to their old hometown and talk about it.

The reading was also noticed by Luis Hernandez in the Tulare Advance-Register, "Union grad, author returns for book signing":

Retired Tulare County Superior Court Judge William Silveira says Jingle Jangle is a must read, even if the book doesn't paint a flattering picture of the judicial system.

And by Julie Fernandez in the Tulare Voice Weekly, "Former Tularean's Book a Reality Check":

"This is an important book," said retired Tulare County Superior Court Judge Bill Silveira, who was a classmate of Rix at Tulare Union High School. "This book is not just a story of someone who was on death row and gets freed because of actual proof of innocence. This goes far beyond that."

Ms. Hernandez's notice is the most thoughtful of the three, so it's unfortunate that it doesn't appear to be on the web.

Only Griswold's notice, however, includes the information that Rix "is now writing a movie proposal" (the premise of which is that, contrary to Griswold's statement that Rix's cousin was freed because "the real killer was caught," the real killers are still at large).