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Sunday, January 6, 2008

The top 10 reasons to read this book


10 It’s the story of Ray Krone, who was convicted for a 1991 murder he didn’t commit. Ten years later he became the 100th Death Row exoneree when DNA implicated a convicted sex offender.
“A must for readers of true crime and anyone wondering why so many innocent people are convicted in America. The book satisfies from start to finish, from the opening of Ray Krone’s horror story, through the compelling analysis of what went wrong and on to the startling conclusion...” –Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents
9 It’s also the story of Krone’s cousin and the book’s author, Jim Rix. A computer programmer by trade, Rix learned of his cousin’s dilemma, became convinced he was innocent and led the effort to free him.
“I first learned of his predicament during a phone conversation with my mother. In her eighties, my mother was still one of the brightest people I knew and we often talked about current events. In this particular conversation I asked her if she had watched the TV program the night before about an innocent man released from Death Row. I don’t remember now which network magazine show it was or who was profiled. My mother replied that she hadn’t seen the show, then added casually, ‘You have a cousin on Death Row, and he’s innocent.’
      “‘What?’ I thought I’d misheard.
      “She went on to say that Ray Krone, the son of her niece, Carolyn, had been convicted of a murder in Phoenix. Carolyn had told her that a bite mark found on the victim supposedly matched Ray’s teeth. The crime was dubbed ‘the snaggletooth murder.’
      “I had never met Ray Krone ...” [and so Rix’s story begins]

8 It exposes bite mark analysis (a specialty of forensic odontology) as junk science. The only evidence against Ray was a bite mark. After joining the American Society of Forensic Odontologists and immersing himself in the subject, Rix concludes: “Unless bite mark analysis employs scientific principles, supported by blind testing and peer review, it will never rise above junk science and guesswork.”
“Ray Krone’s story has so many of the elements we see over and over again in innocence cases—unreliable forensic conclusions, incomplete investigations and overvalued testimony resulting from ‘confirmatory bias’ that occurs because everyone thinks they have the right perpetrator and they ignore evidence to the contrary….” –Chris Mumma, Executive Director, North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence

7 It’s a serious critique of the criminal justice system. In taking up Ray’s cause, Rix embarks on an odyssey through the courts, helps Ray get another trial and then witnesses an incredible second guilty verdict. Rix’s initial naïveté in believing that “the system works” evaporates as he comes to see Bob Dylan’s rhyme ring true: “To see him obviously framed / couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land where justice is a game.”
“Jim Rix takes us on a remarkable journey inside an American tragedy. He helped win his cousin’s freedom from Death Row and now he documents the chain of errors that put him there. The story will chill your belief in the American justice system….” –Bill Kurtis, producer of the A&E programs “Investigative Reports” and “Cold Case Files”

6 It’s a call for reform.
“Ray Krone’s plight reflects a state justice system that has lost sight of justice in favor of winning convictions at all costs, even at the cost of innocence…Krone’s case is a call for reform from the bottom up, beginning with removing politics from prosecutorial decisions.” –Rudy Gerber, retired justice, Arizona Court of Appeals

5 It’s controversial. Rix makes no bones that Ray Krone was railroaded, and he doesn’t back away from naming the public officials responsible.
“Rix meticulously details every aspect of police corruption, prosecutorial misconduct, defense incompetence, expert witness tampering and jury shenanigans that led to Ray’s decade-long nightmare…Scariest about this true story is that if Ray Krone, an honest, law-abiding person, could end up on Death Row, it could happen to anyone.” –Rachel King, author of Don’t Kill in Our Names and Capital Consequences

4 It’s a research treasure trove for students and scholars delving into the justice system. Rix cites many cases to show that what happened to Ray Krone is not an isolated instance of injustice.
Jingle Jangle is a remarkable book, a page-turner that asks all the right questions, shocking us out of our complacency by exposing the deep flaws in our criminal justice system. It should be required reading for every college student in America.” –Gary T. Lowenthal, Arizona State University law professor, author of Down and Dirty Justice

3 It’s David v Goliath. Remarkable defense attorney Christopher Plourd, at great personal sacrifice, single-handedly took on a powerful Prosecutor’s Office, a myopic police department, an inept crime lab and pusillanimous courts. Beaten down time and again, he didn’t give up and eventually found the way to win: “We must find out who killed Kim Ancona and shove it up their ass with a hot poker!”
“Jim Rix paints a powerful picture of hope, frustration and perseverance. Jingle Jangle shows why we must never stop fighting for those whom the legal system has failed.” –Caroline M. Elliot, North Carolina law school student and 2006-07 President of the UNC Law Innocence Project and the UNC Law Death Penalty Project

2 It’s a superbly written true crime account, which has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
“With honesty, wit and a genius for interweaving story and brief, Jim Rix tells a fascinating tale—a murder mystery, a courtroom drama with a strange verdict, a quest to make sense of it all and a righteous battle against injustice.” –Morris Dean, Editor
And the number one reason to read
Jingle Jangle: The Perfect Crime Turned Inside Out
1 It ends with a murder mystery—who really killed Kim Ancona? If the author’s carefully couched theory is true, then Ray Krone got out of prison only because another innocent man took his place…and the real killer is still at large.
Justice gone twice awry = The perfect crime

Order a copy today at the special discount price....

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