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Well, what a disappointment. 95% of this book is a re-telling of the "tortuous legal trail" of the Lafayette Bar murder case. 5% is a surprisingly superficial discussion of the shortcomings of the American judicial system. On the plus side, this is the most detailed, blow-by-blow account of both of the trials and the numerous appeals, the changes in testimony, the key witnesses, the red herrings, and the legal issues raised. But unfortunately Wice is not a good enough writer to keep it interesting. To be fair, it's a challenge to explain the changing testimony, the way the lies and the charges of bribery and corruption keep revolving back on themselves, like a hall of mirrors. Were the police intimidating the defense witnesses, or were Hurricane Carter and his friends intimidating the prosecution witnesses? Was Al Bello's eyewitness testimony bought by the police with promises of reward money, or was his recantation bought by Carter's friends with promises of a secret bribe? Wice claims he's presenting a "thorough, balanced and factual record," but he, like other pundits, accepts and repeats Carter's claim that the triple murder conviction was a frame-up in retaliation for Carter's outspoken criticism of the white power structure. And like the other pundits, Wice does not provide a single quote to demonstrate that Carter was a black activist before the murders. Nor, in the thirty-five year history of the case, has a single policeman, lawyer, politician, witness, judge, journalist, or juror -- of the dozens and dozens who were involved -- come forward to admit, "yes, we framed the Hurricane for being uppity." Wice says that Carter was sent to prison to be "silenced," in the face of massive evidence to the contary. When Rubin Carter was in prison, he was able to: publish a book, grant interviews to journalists, appear on talk shows, speak via live hook-up to a crowd of thousands at a benefit concert, send letters to newspapers and magazines, and participate fully in orchestrating a protest campaign on his behalf. Yet Wice reports, without a scrap of evidence, that "the police, prosecutors and judicial system were united in their commitment to keep Carter in prison for the rest of his life (because).... he was an abrasive, violent person who might one day catalyze the rage of the city's black community and who thus needed to be silenced." You'd think there would be extensive documentation and close reasoning to support the notion that (a) Carter was an activist and (b) the police were persecuting him because of it. But there isn't. While Wice remains skeptical to the highest degree of prosecution motives or eyewitness testimony, he's a wide-eyed naif concerning Rubin Carter's claims and he repeats many of Carter's outlandish persecution stories without question. Wice believes that young Rubin Carter was assaulted by a pedophile and was sent to juvenile detention for defending himself. He believes Carter's melodramatic tale that Carter was on the verge of being paroled when a vengeful guard (whom Carter had beaten savagely for a pedophiliac advance on a young inmate) framed him, thus ruining his chances for release. He repeats Carter's contention that a rash remark printed in the Saturday Evening Post led to police harassment and eventually,Carter's frame-up for murder. Well, if you'll believe that, you'll believe..... that when Carter got out of prison after serving time for mugging three people, he received offers from boxing managers from all over the world with "promises of rich contracts, up-front money and attractive jobs." And the reason that Carter rejected all those offers in favor of a prison guard turned amateur manager was because.... "he knew (the guard) fairly well." (33) Professor Wice? I can't hand in my term paper. It was eaten by termites. Can I have two more weeks? Oh, thank you. You're such a nice man. Oh, and by the way, Professor, if you'd read the original 1963 Saturday Evening Post interview, instead of relying on Carter's version in the 16th Round, you would have read a different version of the knifing incident that sent Carter to juvenile detention, and different reasons for his escape. Like his alibi for the night of the murders, Carter's stories about his juvenile escapades have also changed over time. Wice does list points that are favourable to the prosecution case. He mentions that Carter's alibi fell apart, for example, and even mentions the letter Carter wrote from prison, laying out the false alibi story, but then he asks, "what type of pressure was applied by the prosecution to coerce Carter's alibi witnesses to recant their testimony?"
Here's an hilarious example of Wice's bias: "[After his transfer to Rahway Prison, Carter] was uninterested in participating [in prison life]... [a]lthough Carter had a few minor scrapes with the guards and other inmates, he primarily studied the law and wrote his autobiography. He was cited a dozen times for disciplinary infractions, but most were early in his stay, before the staff and other men had acclimated themselves to Carter's rigid regimen." (my emphasis) Um, Professor Wice, was the prison system supposed to adapt itself to the star inmate or was the star inmate -- oh, never mind. Wice says of the prosecution: "they were rarely able to substantiate their conclusions with direct evidence." If only Wice could have been as clear-headed about his own conclusions in this book. There is no "direct evidence" that Carter was a black activist or that he was framed. And while the case against Carter for triple murder is mostly circumstantial, there is a case to be made -- with direct evidence -- that Carter has not always been truthful about himself. Unfortunately, Wice didn't look deeply enough.
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