Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions

Written by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

Narrated by John Grisham, Jim McCloskey and Michael Beck

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, “the master of the legal thriller” (Associated Press) teams up with Jim McCloskey, “the godfather of the innocence movement” (Texas Monthly), to share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions.

“Each of these stories is told with astonishing power. They are packed with human drama, with acts of shocking villainy and breathtaking courage. But these are more than just gripping true stories—they are a clarion call for reforming the tragic flaws in our criminal justice system.”—David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon

John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it’s his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system.

A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. These ten true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corruption in the court system that can make them so hard to reverse.

Impeccably researched and told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of winning freedom when the battle already seems lost and the deck is stacked against you.


* This audiobook edition is accompanied by a downloadable PDF which includes A Note on Sources and Acknowledgments from the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9780593866801

John Grisham

John Grisham es autor de numerosos libros que han llegado al primer puesto en las listas de best sellers y que han sido traducidos a casi cincuenta idiomas. Sus obras más recientes incluyen La lista del juez, Los adversarios, Los chicos de Biloxi, El intercambio, Isla maldita y Tiempo de perdón, que está siendo adaptada como serie por HBO. Grisham ha ganado dos veces el Premio Harper Lee de ficción legal y ha sido galardonado con el Premio al Logro Creativo de Ficción de la Biblioteca del Congreso de Estados Unidos. Cuando no está escribiendo, Grisham trabaja en la junta directiva de Innocence Project y Centurion Ministries, dos organizaciones dedicadas a lograr la exoneración de personas condenadas injustamente. Muchas de sus novelas exploran problemas profundamente arraigados en el sistema de justicia estadounidense. John vive en una granja en Virginia.

Reviews for Framed

[Sandra Gruszynski · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I usually like Grissom books but this was very repetitive. It was good but after (10?) of them I had enough

[texasstorm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book, but heartbreaking. I had to stop and think about continuing many times, as the behavior of the prosecutors, police and judges stressed me out so much. The stories are mainly from the 1970s, so I hope that U.S. justice has improved since then.

[dara85 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

John Grisham is very passionate about the prisoners who are convicted who are innocent. He partnered with Jim McCluskey who actually worked with some of those who were falsely accused and served time in prison. In this book, are ten stories of men and women who served time and were later found to be innocent, most through DNA. Some of the lawyers, judges and other inmates went to great lengths to make sure the accused would stay in prison.

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Framed, John Grisham, Jim McCloskey, authors; John Grisham, Jim McCloskey Michael Beck, narrators.
This book is a departure from the novels that John Grisham is known for, but it still is about the justice system. In this book, he and his co-author highlight the misuse of the justice system by those in positions of power. With the cases they represent, they show how helpless the ordinary person is when it comes to fighting the system. It is designed to trap you, even when you are innocent. If those in charge want to solve a case, they will be hell bent on finding a victim to pin the crime on, regardless of whether or not the evidence convicts them. They will manipulate the evidence, the witnesses, the juries and even the accused. Threats, physical abuse, lies and bribes are not unknown to these representatives of our justice system.
This is a non-fiction presentation of cases that highlight several instances of miscarriages of justice, and they are the tip of the iceberg. There are too many corrupt judges, politicians, law enforcement officers, witnesses, jailhouse snitches, etc., that come together to mock our system of justice. Too often, in order to solve a case, there is a rush to judgment, even in the absence of evidence. Then, once falsely accused, judged and sentenced, there is a resistance by all involved to accept any new evidence that refutes the conviction, which defies common sense, since it is known that people lie, misrepresent, falsely identify, and wrongfully have accused many of crimes they have not committed. Often, witnesses to the same crime will offer different versions of what actually happened. Sometimes, they have ulterior motives.
The effort to exonerate the wrongfully convicted is a long, expensive, arduous experience that often fails because the system often refuses to allow the introduction of new evidence, and when it does review it, it often denies the lawyers permission to present it to the juries. One would think that all the information available would be made available, so the accused really does get a fair trial and a fair jury verdict, but the system is made up of many selfish, self-serving officers of the court. There are corrupt prosecutors, unqualified expert witnesses, law enforcement officers that bend the rules to solve the case regardless of evidence of guilt or innocence, and there are judges that refuse to admit their own errors of judgment.
The wrongfully accused are victims of overzealous lawyers, prosecutors, judges and investigators. Their innocence seems immaterial if the facts can be manipulated to make them appear guilty, because then they must be guilty. The most important result is solving the crime regardless of the methods used, the evidence presented, or the guilt or innocence of the accused. It is like a snowball rolling downhill; the cases take on lives of their own, proceeding with their own momentum to the conclusions already decided upon by those who are in charge. They figure that the cost, time and effort expended takes precedent over the wrongfully charged victim of this justice system. They have their “man”, they solved the case and can chalk it up as successful. The one goal is to incriminate the person charged, regardless of their alibis, innocence or guilt, regardless of the lives ruined and the lies told; they simply want to obtain a conviction. Reversing the conviction is never on their radar. They see themselves as infallible.
After reading this book, all I could think about was the lack of moral compass in so many people. They were willing to lie, ruin lives, condemn the innocent simply for their own selfish needs. Yet, we all know that a jury can only rely on the evidence presented. So why is all the evidence not presented? Why does the judge refuse to allow it or the lawyers refuse to reveal it, if justice is the ultimate goal? If a pompous judge refuses to hear new evidence or allow it to be heard, it is simply not heard. The verdict may then be unjust because the complete truth has been hidden from them. In the effort not to taint the jury, the burden of proof is often non-existent, and yet there will be a conviction as the judge forces the jury to keep on deliberating until they achieve a verdict, with or without proof. To win, deals are made, confessions are coerced, witnesses are bribed, and the wrongfully accused become the victims and are sent to prison for decades for crimes they have not committed because the jury is actually tainted by the lack of truthful and complete evidence.
The exposure of the deceit and the lies of those in the justice system were mind-boggling. The disregard for the lives ruined was beyond belief. Like Stevenson’s “Just mercy” did, this book shines a light on the “injustice system”. Recently we have witnessed the Daniel Penny indictment and trial, the Jussie Smollett conviction and reversal, the Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg effort to find a crime where one does not exist to falsely accuse a former President, the attacks on political enemies, and the misuse of the Department of Justice by too many.
Yes, there are dirty cops, lying prosecutors, unreliable witnesses, unqualified experts, and lawyers that all work against our justice system. Yes, the innocent are wrongfully accused, unsure witnesses are coerced to say the "right thing" to convict, jailhouse snitches are given deals, police are allowed to lie to the people they question, and they often abuse and intimidate the accused into making false confessions to obtain relief from their harassment, intimidation and abuse because they are helpless to stop the interrogation any other way.
The accused in this book are victims of a malignant justice system, and they unjustly suffered the consequences. Most of those responsible were never forced to face any consequences for their actions. As they misrepresented their qualifications, relied on junk science and their own hunches and opinions rather than facts, they did not serve the cause of justice but contaminated it. Why is it so hard for those in power to admit mistakes? Why is it so hard to reverse decisions that are wrongfully decided? Why does an innocent person have to lose decades of life, be executed though innocent, take a deal to get out of jail because there is no other way out? This book highlights the proverb that there is indeed “honor among thieves”. The system protects itself and the guilty protect each other without regard for the innocent or any other human life. Revenge, power, hubris, and arrogance are alive and well in the courts, in the police stations, and in the minds of the investigators, witnesses, and those who enforce the laws.

[drt_4 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Book title and author: Framed, John Grisham, Jim McCloskey reviewed 1-14-35

Why I picked this book up: My wife bought me this book for Christmas 2024

Thoughts: I have other Grisham books that I enjoyed. This book had examples of errors in the justice system with corrupt, wrongly prosecuted cases in an imperfect world. I had a problem with the perspective right away labeling it, wrong because it was people of color which is not necessarily true. I work in a level 4, max level,Prison in CA. It is silly to say there are too many people of color imprisoned without acknowledging people of color also do a lot of crimes they out to be punished for. The defund the police the USA went throw recently, rapists, people being able to steal under $1000 before they call it a crime, letting people in and out of prison like a revolving door were foolish and we lost a lot of police that we need in society.

Why I finished this read: this book seemed like it was researched but missed the cultural aspect not just because they were black, etc.

Stars rating: 2 of 5 stars.

[jfe16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Review of Uncorrected eBook File

Here are ten horrific, spellbinding tales of justice denied, of innocent defendants wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for decades as a result of discrimination, corruption, professional misconduct, falsified confessions, or botched [or nonexistent] forensics. Each story relates all the facts in great detail, leaving the reader to wonder at how such a travesty could possibly occur.

By turns compelling, infuriating, and heartrending, each story reminds readers that justice is not always served, that the innocent suffer the fate of the guilty, that the process of determining guilt and punishment in our court system is not infallible. Thus, the work of organizations such as Centurion Ministries in seeking to right these grievous wrongs stands as a crucial force in seeking justice for the wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

This is an easy book to read, but it is an important one that should be on every must-read list.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from Doubleday Books / Doubleday and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#Framed #NetGalley

[jbarr5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham, Jim McCloskey
Two authors with their own true life stories of how something could go so wrong that their clients end up in prison.
What I really is the organization behind it all, the lawyers, ministry and so many more.
Like that the story starts when everything was fine with the clients world then one day something goes wrong and before they know it they are the ones being accused of a murder.
Goes through the whole court scenes, evidence collected and the solutions that they come to.
Sometimes the cops persuade the clients that the death was their fault, sometimes the judge is corrupt, sometimes it's somebody else totally.
After imprisonment then he team really start working. They talk to those who were eye witnesses and how they really didn't see a thing and before you know it the client is freed. Some take years to gather the information.
Sometimes it's not so easy, sometimes it's too late because the court has the death penalty in place but the outcome was changed
even after their death.
Love the team and hope they find the time to help more that have been imprisoned wrongly and are released and given the money they are deserving of to exist on the outside.
So many intricate details the lawyers point out them all. So many emotions while reading this. Kept me up a few nights and I was so sad I cried at some of the outcomes.
Received this review copy from Doubleday Books Doubleday via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
#Framed #NetGalley

[grandmacootie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is why I love author John Grisham. He is such a talented, extraordinary writer, fiction or nonfiction, that I was barely into the first chapter of Framed and was already incensed, outraged and sick at heart. This book is so compelling, but I hardly know where to begin to review it because it is astonishing and beyond belief that these miscarriages of justice happened over and over and over. Framed reads like bad fiction, where the chain of events, unreliable witnesses, corrupt officials, illogical happenings feel like something you couldn’t even make up. It’s chilling when you realize these things really did happen, but even more chilling when you also realize that while the fact that the seventy people serving life or death sentences for the crimes of others Centurion has freed to date is amazing and commendable, it is likely nothing more than a drop in the bucket. How many more people are suffering in prison for crimes they did not commit.

Each of the ten cases presented is unique, but they all also have far too much in common. Their convictions were not accidents but a result of deliberate actions taken by people who work in law enforcement and the medical and judicial systems and for some unfathomable reason decide they are judge and jury and want to be the executioner as well. They lie in suspect interviews, threaten, withhold evidence from the defense because they deem it irrelevant, use scare tactics with children, make deals with jailhouse snitches, conduct procedures and testify when they are not qualified or licensed, fail to follow leads even when the actual guilty party is known; it just goes on and on.

Are these supposed-to-be-trustworthy officials all evil? It’s hard to not believe that, when so many of them work tirelessly to get someone sentenced to death when they know there is no reliable evidence, when few of them suffer consequences for their behavior and in fact get promoted to judges or other high positions. They operate not from a presumption of innocence but of guilt – or is it pride or laziness or power or what that makes them refuse to look elsewhere once they have settled on a suspect, no matter how unlikely their guilt seems. An example: for one judge, as a way to demonstrate his appreciation for his District Court Clerk’s twenty years of devoted service to courthouse administration, he picked her birthday as the date for the subject to die. What??

Framed is a hard book to read, but it should be required reading. It is horrible, heartbreaking, impossible to put yourself in their shoes. It’s eye-opening: when we read or see on television that new evidence has been found, enough to justify a new trial we feel relief, like, wow, it’s finally over for that person. But this is seldom the case. The “system” fights back to keep them incarcerated; it’s decades before most of them are released, if ever.

Framed is masterful and will stay with you a long, long time. When there is finally a release, it’s uplifting and you are glad because so many are working on their behalf, but it’s really more relief than joy, because these poor people have had their lives ruined, taken away, and for many, many years. No, life is not fair, but this is well beyond unfair. Is there any way to avoid this? It’s like a dark domino chain: this points to this, that points to that, then to who, on and on, all based on a false premise, and how on earth can you make someone not be corrupt anymore?

Thanks to NetGalley and authors John Grisham and Jim McCloskey for providing an advance copy of Framed. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.