The cover blurb proclaims this book to be “a searing manifesto on the ills of the criminal justice system.” That’s rather excessive as a description. I’d call the book an even- tempered complaint about flaws in the system (in the USA), as told through the anecdotes of the authors’ experiences. Geragos and Harris have had a number of high profile clients including Michael Jackson, Susan MacDougal (the heroine who refused to cooperate with Ken Starr’s witch hunt against then- President Bill Clinton), and convicted murderer Scott Peterson.

The book focuses successively on the following aspects of the system: (a) the strong role that politics plays in criminal trials, especially given the impact of television; (b) the much- misunderstood role of defense attorneys; (c) clients the authors have had; (d) prosecutors they have known, including the unethical and incompetent; (e) judges, likewise unethical and incompetent; (f) police officers; (g) the news media; and (h) flaws in the system and how they should be fixed. Chapter titles give a sense of the tone and perspective: on judges -- “At Least Get it Wrong for Both Sides;” on police officers: “To Preserve, to Protect, and to Lie;” on news outlets: “The Media: Shame on You for Believing What We Say”; on reform: “The Best System in the World?”

The authors have many complaints to level, and present their arguments in the form of scattered anecdotes (rather than statistics), many of which deal in the sort of gossip and innuendo criticized elsewhere in the book. They also have scores to settle, as in their disappointment that their client Scott Peterson was convicted of murder (the authors aver that he “may” have been innocent). Consequently, the book comes off as somewhat self- serving. Nevertheless, I believe the authors have hit upon serious flaws in the criminal justice system. Of particular note is the chapter on the important roles of defense attorneys – roles that are widely misunderstood by the general public. (The misconception that accused defendants must be guilty and do not deserve a strong defense is perplexing, foolish, and downright dangerous). Also of note is a chapter on recommendations for reform, however unrealistic such reform may be at present. In sum, this is a worthy book, one written from a particular viewpoint that is seldom heard above the din of our degraded political discourse. ( )

Mistrial: An Inside Look at How the Criminal Justice System Works... and Sometimes Doesn't is written by two leading defense attorneys, Mark Geragos and Pat Harris. Geragos and Harris have a long list of well known people they have represented: Susan McDougal, Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson, Gary Condit, Mike Tyson, Winona Ryder and Chris Brown, to name a few. Mistrial is an inside look at how the system works, how Geragos and Harris feel about it's flaws and failures based on their years of trial experience, and many anecdotes from their years of experience.

In Mistrial Geragos and Harris have organized their book so chapter cover all the major areas of criminal-justice system: defense attorneys, clients, prosecutors, judges, police officers, jurors and journalists. At the end of the book, Geragos and Harris do offer a list of suggestions for reform, based on their years of experience, that could make the system work more smoothly and fairly.

What Mistrial offers to a lay person (me) is a glimpse into some well known cases and how the criminal justice system works - or doesn't - based on many factors, including pre-trial publicity and the media hype surrounding a case.They feel the current criminal justice system is biased toward the prosecution - and tactics used by the prosecutors magnify this advantage. Adding to this built in advantage are other problems, such as judges ruling based on their upcoming re-election, problems with media coverage influencing the jury selection, and police lying to improve their case.

Some of the observations Geragos and Harris make and conclusions they draw are obvious. Media hype and personalities devoted to just creating that frenzied coverage have been around for a long time. While it's true that they are more prevalent now, they have always been there. For me, since Geragos and Harris are based in Los Angeles, they are privy to much inside information and represent clients that are obviously out of my circle of experience.

By their own admission, Mistrial is not a scholarly look at criminal justice reform and Geragos and Harris never claim that it will be. What they wanted to do was give the layman an entertaining look inside the system at the players and some of the problems from the point of view of the defense. Aside from a few extreme rants, Mistrial is interesting, sometimes funny, and very entertaining while making some serious points.

Highly recommended - for the inside look

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of the Penguin Group via Netgalley for review purposes.


( )

Mark Geragos and Pat Harris are defense lawyers who have had their share of high-profile clients: Michael Jackson, Susan MacDougal, and Scott Peterson. They have some compelling arguments to make about how, contrary to popular opinion about guilty people constantly escaping justice, in fact the American criminal justice system in the 21st century is heavily slanted toward the prosecution, making a fair trial nearly impossible for the ordinary, non-wealthy defendant. Although I find myself in general agreement with their arguments, it's best to read this one with a grain of salt and the knowledge that these are, after all, defense attorneys making the case. I would have preferred if the second author was a former prosecutor, just to provide a bit of balance (which doesn't mean mindlessly reciting both sides' views, but rather telling the truth with statistics to back it up). Failing that, this book is still a worthwhile starting place if you are unfamiliar with or naïve about the state of American criminal justice today. ( )

Great book about the real story of what goes on in the American justice system: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It offers plenty of food for thought on how to get such a system back on track, and does so in a way that will hold the attention and interest of any reader.

Here's the deal, I didn't like this book. I didn't like the tone of the book in general. I've watched Mr. Geragos "work his magic" so to speak in the courtroom on the television during the high profile cases of Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson. I've seen him numerous times on television shows as a defense expert. He seems like a nice guy who is extremely smart and very good at his job. So I was intrigued when I saw this book was coming out and managed to score a Early Reviewer copy. But I was really disappointed. As I stated above, there was something about the tone of the book. It was almost like a "holier than thou" attitude that I was getting. I was really disappointed in this book, but others seem to enjoy it, so it obviously just wasn't for me.