Grisham: "The Innocent Man"

For the first time in his career, author John Grisham has written a non-fiction book. The Innocent Man, due to be released on October 10, is the true story of an innocent man who was falsely convicted and spent over a decade on death row. Many death penalty activists are hoping that this book will reinvigorate a national debate about capital punishment. The subject of Grisham's new book is Ron Williamson. Mr. Williamson was a star athlete who was drafted by the Oakland A's in 1971. His major league aspirations, though, were stymied by injuries, alcoholism and mental illness. After his retirement from baseball at the age of twenty-five, Mr. Williamson moved into his mother's home. He struggled with undiagnosed mental illness and had difficulty remaining employed. In 1982, a local woman was brutally raped and murdered; police suspected that Mr. Williamson may have been involved because he was a regular at the diner where she worked and she had told friends that he made her nervous. Five years later, he was arrested, charged with capital murder and convicted. Mr. Williamson's…