When Innocence Is Not Enough

When Innocence is Note Enough tells two narratives. It details the Catherine Fuller murder case in DC in the 1980s and how police were so committed to a narrative that they ignored evidence and convicted multiple innocent people. Simultaneously, the book walks through the creation of Brady and how courts have slowly limited its power, resulting in more wrongful convictions. Dybdahl shows that a few groups are trying to preserve Brady's power and reforms could succeed in ensuring justice is more fair.

The book was an enlightening read on Brady and its limits. The Catherine Fuller case did not focus on Brady until the end of the narrative, since the prosecution needed to withhold information first, but it works well as an informative narrative about how police and prosecutors can trap themselves into a story and ignore evidence leading them to the truth. I had never heard of the case (I now know that some people know it from The Confession Tapes on Netflix) but it was such a clear miscarriage of justice to try to rope so many young people into the criminal justice system with little evidence against any of them. The courts are so committed to uphold the institutions of the prosecutors office and the adversarial system that they are less concerned with innocent people crushed under their weight. While in some parts the book felt somewhat surface level, it covered a lot of history of criminal procedure concisely and gave clear avenues for further research and resources. But for someone wanting to get oriented in this area of the law or wanting to learn more about injustices in the criminal justice system, the book will be a good choice.

Absolutely fascinating. I really got a lot from this in depth investigation of a particular aspect of the legal system and what it says more generally about society. The original case which is covered in such depth in this book is deeply troubling and the author does a wonderful job of explaining it and bringing the context to bear.

When Innocence is Not Enough tells the history of the Brady rule while zooming in on an egregious violation in the Catherine Fuller murder case and making the case for open file disclosure. I requested this ARC because with the recent Adnan Syed conviction reversal, I’ve become more interested in the wrongful conviction genre of true crime. Thomas L. Dybdahl goes through many case examples, with both positive and negative outcomes for the accused, showing that often the courts prioritize finality over justice. This book is a good jumping off point for those interested in wrongful convictions. I was googling names while reading to get more information about cases, entire books could probably be written about each of them. The author does a good job of balancing the devastating stories of wrongful conviction with ideas for how the justice system could be improved beyond Brady.

Thanks to the New Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.