rose_ndrd's review
5.0
Good book
Easy read. Very interesting and inspiring yet sad and madening because the system is so broken. Makes you question your thoughts and beliefs
Easy read. Very interesting and inspiring yet sad and madening because the system is so broken. Makes you question your thoughts and beliefs
ranadarobinson's review
4.0
Wow
This story is another example of why I oppose the death penalty and support criminal justice reform. If even one innocent man is killed for a crime he didn’t commit, that’s too many. I hope the rest of Colin’s life is blessed.
This story is another example of why I oppose the death penalty and support criminal justice reform. If even one innocent man is killed for a crime he didn’t commit, that’s too many. I hope the rest of Colin’s life is blessed.
sunny76's review
5.0
Two best friends tell this true story in alternating chapters. It is horribly sad in that one friend is jailed for a murder in which he played no part. The evidence proved this, but all of the evidence was not presented and prosecution witnesses lied. The other friend works to find a lawyer that can mount a valid appeal. This is a story of hope and friendship, but it is also a story of how horribly the court system works when poor young people with English as a second language are involved. The court system does not provide justice for poor people.
emquegeeaye's review
5.0
A true story of friendship!
I was brought to this story by way of a movie on Amazon also titled "Crown Heights". It is the true story of a young man wrongfully accused, convicted and imprisoned for 21 years for a murder he didn't commit. And his friend's unrelenting quest for justice for Colin. The movie was excellent and so was the book. It was heartbreaking, heartwarming, sad, happy & triumphant. But it was also unfortunate because things like this still happen more often than not. Carl was the best & most loyal friend to Colin. Everybody deserves a friend like Carl. This is a GREAT book. I'm even more interested in his story.
I was brought to this story by way of a movie on Amazon also titled "Crown Heights". It is the true story of a young man wrongfully accused, convicted and imprisoned for 21 years for a murder he didn't commit. And his friend's unrelenting quest for justice for Colin. The movie was excellent and so was the book. It was heartbreaking, heartwarming, sad, happy & triumphant. But it was also unfortunate because things like this still happen more often than not. Carl was the best & most loyal friend to Colin. Everybody deserves a friend like Carl. This is a GREAT book. I'm even more interested in his story.
chewdigestbooks's review
5.0
Injustice. I don't think there is any other word that can raise my hackles unless you add "Racial" before it and make it more of a phrase.
"In 1980, there were 300,000 state prison inmates. In 1990, there were almost 700,000. Federal prisons held just under 200,000 people in 1980, and that number jumped to 400,00 in 1990, according to the department of justice."
While this is just one important story, the injustice of Colin Warner, it is far from the only one and the horribleness continues to this day. And his story happened even before NYC's controversial "Stop and Frisk" program started in 2003 and reached its height in 2011 with 685,724 stops. Actually, Warner's case has nothing even to do with the stupid racially motivated program, but is a great example of how the deck is stacked against African American and Latino youths in NYC.
Warner was convicted of murder because of one lying witness that kept changing his story and zero evidence, 15 years to life and he wasn't even in the neighborhood where the murder happened, nor did the evidence line up with the supposed witnesses' statement.
It took a childhood friend on the outside that never gave up to get that wrong set straight. His steadfastness to the cause was really amazing, it became his life.
Both Carl and Colin went through many transformations to get to the end of the horror story and even though this is a Kindle Single, I felt for them all. It was beautifully and concisely written and I sure as heck know that I don't have a friend that would keep at it for over twenty years to help me. I hope you do.
"In 1980, there were 300,000 state prison inmates. In 1990, there were almost 700,000. Federal prisons held just under 200,000 people in 1980, and that number jumped to 400,00 in 1990, according to the department of justice."
While this is just one important story, the injustice of Colin Warner, it is far from the only one and the horribleness continues to this day. And his story happened even before NYC's controversial "Stop and Frisk" program started in 2003 and reached its height in 2011 with 685,724 stops. Actually, Warner's case has nothing even to do with the stupid racially motivated program, but is a great example of how the deck is stacked against African American and Latino youths in NYC.
Warner was convicted of murder because of one lying witness that kept changing his story and zero evidence, 15 years to life and he wasn't even in the neighborhood where the murder happened, nor did the evidence line up with the supposed witnesses' statement.
It took a childhood friend on the outside that never gave up to get that wrong set straight. His steadfastness to the cause was really amazing, it became his life.
Both Carl and Colin went through many transformations to get to the end of the horror story and even though this is a Kindle Single, I felt for them all. It was beautifully and concisely written and I sure as heck know that I don't have a friend that would keep at it for over twenty years to help me. I hope you do.
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