Monday, May 31, 2010

The Case Of Cory Maye

In Woody Allen's movie Bananas, overthrown government officials were being executed in assembly-line fashion after a perfunctory reading of the charge and the taking of the plea. One example is applicable here.
"You are accused of killing over a thousand innocent civilians. How do you plead?"
"Guilty, but with an explanation."
I hereby adopt that as my plea for being remiss in posting: "Guilty, but with an explanation."

I've been pressing hard to finish the second book in my Skeptical Juror series. This one deals with the trial of Cory Maye. Cory Maye was sentenced to death by a Mississippi jury for the murder of Police Officer Ron Jones. There is no question that Cory Maye shot and killed Ron Jones. Nonetheless, in my fictional deliberation of the actual trial, The Skeptical Juror attempts to convince the other jurors that Cory Maye should be acquitted. 

Think of 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda replaced by a geeky database designer / blogger, and a real person's life on the line. Sound exciting? You betcha!

The story was brought to public attention in 2005 by the writing of Radley Balko (aka The Agitator). So compelling were the story and Radley's writing that the law firm of Convington and Burling volunteered to represent Cory Maye pro bono for his appeal.

You can come up to speed by reading Radley's Balko's article or by watching an award winning documentary. The clip below is a trailer for the longer documentary at the link just passed.

If you read the article or watch the documentary, you will come away wondering: "How can this happen?" In late June, when The Skeptical Juror and the Trial of Cory Maye appears in Kindle format, or in mid July when it appears in print format, you will be able to understand how such things happen, and happen all too often.