Book Review: Death and Justice : An Expose of Oklahoma's Death Row Machine

The author gained a distressing type of notoriety as a result of his testimony in the OJ Simpson trial, and in the aftermath of the verdict he left police work, moved to the Northwest United States and began a career as an author and radio host. Although the book is not specific on this, I get the feeling that he works with a ghost writer - mentioning him a time or two in the text, and giving him first mention in the acknowledgements page.

Nevertheless, this is a thoughtful book which reads well, and presents an engaging portrait of an intelligent man changing his mind about a very difficult issue. Seeking at first to justify his own support of the death penalty, Furhman and his researcher/ghost writer visit Oklahoma and begin a careful analysis of a handful of the most notorious cases. The district attorney for the county in which Oklahoma City is located had a nationwide reputation for successful prosecution of capital cases, assisted in many of them by a forensic investigator who built up a long string of persuasive incriminating testimonies regarding hair and fiber analysis.

But hard work by defense attorneys, by Barry Scheck's well known Innocence Project, and by successful appeals to admit DNA evidence began to cast doubt on this record of convictions. Drawing upon his own experience as a homicide detective, Fuhrman analyzes the investigative steps in several of the convictions, and he presents a stinging critique of sloppy detective work, opportunistic forensic opinions, and in some cases out and out rejection of indisputable facts.

In addition, he interviews the families of murder victims and in one case, the father of a convicted man who was executed. The sum of what he learned in Oklahoma drew him to the conclusion that the death penalty on its face is "cruel and unusual."

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM

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