Picking Cotton (English)

In 1984, Jennifer Thompson, a white college student, was raped by a black intruder in her apartment. She picked out Ronald Cotton from a line-up and "positively" identified him as her assailant. On the strength of her testimony, Cotton was sentenced to fifty years in prison, and a subsequent second charge against him increased his penalty to life. After eleven years in prison, Cotton was exonerated of all charges in 1995 by DNA evidence. A guilt-ridden Thompson eventually sought him out, and the two somehow forged a bond, teaming up to speak out against the glaring inadequacies of the legal system. This account of their story alternates between their individual experiences on opposite sides of the law, including the degrading personal invasions they each suffered in the initial stages of the investigation, and the deplorable delays and defects that are actually built into the processes of arrest and conviction. The concluding third of the book documents their improbable alliance as activists fighting to amend a system that failed them both miserably. minimize