Patrick Beach has a profile of Kerry Max Cook in today's Austin American-Statesman, "Justice Reclaimed."
Over and over, his lawyers argued that Cook had gotten a raw deal, railroaded to death row by prosecutors and police. Finally, the appeals court agreed with them and ordered a new trial, his fourth. At the 11th hour, prosecutors offered a deal, and Cook walked out of the Bastrop County Courthouse a free man.
That was eight years ago. But to borrow from Faulkner, the past is never in the past for Kerry Max Cook.
His case has become a rallying cry for criminal justice reform advocates and death penalty opponents. Where once his companions were the scum of humanity, he now hobnobs with Ben Stiller, Bruce Springsteen and Susan Sarandon. His tale is one of those told in the hit play "The Exonerated." He has a book coming out Feb. 27, "Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit" and a Web site, chasingjustice.com.
You can purchase Chasing Justice directly from the Books category in the right hand column. The Chasing Justice website is here.
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