Illusion of Justice audiobook

DNF -- not because its not good -- just had enough --and want to move on --I was listening to this book with Paul -- Listening together -- but I'm tired of waiting for our schedules to sync --long enough to finish it --lol What I listened to, was totally engaging -- Paul thought so too -- but - with so many other things -books - life -etc. on my plate -- can somebody just tell me -- was the guy guilty or not? Anyone who is an expert of this story -I'd welcome a 'spoiler' private message-- What's all the hullabaloo that I/we should know -- (willing for another person's cliff notes) --I understand the parts about being poor and not getting a fair trial --and that Buting gave his blood, sweat, and time -- on this case (and other cases) --and that a much needed justice system needs to be reformed -- but -- do we know the truth about Steve Avery? Guilty? Not? still not sure?Thank you --sorry or being a 'reader-drop-out-pill' --(then come asking for cheat sheets) But hey -- life is short --and with books flying out the door faster than the speed of light lately -with many of my favorite authors books still to be released (soon) -- I'm trying to get 'other' books read --before the BIG WOMEN and MEN -- release their books >>> Towles, Ozeki, Eggers, Franzen, Mary Roach, (etc.) --and other books in-between (those audiobook comfort companions) -Thank you -ahead of time -- for anyone who may offer up 'spoilers'

Okay let's be honest, I would have read this if it was a list of things Buting had eaten during the trial, such is my making a murderer love. But it's actually a really well written book that covers other cases and issues aside from Avery's. Highly recommend.

Well shit. I was 100% sure Steven Avery was guilty before I read this. Now? I'm going with 60%. This book was so well written and really informative not just about Steven Avery but other cases, and most importantly the innocence project. Our judicial system really needs to be fixed. If you didn't know that idk what to tell you other than pay attention. Facts I learned that I found pretty screwed up. Federal laws punished the use of crack cocaine at one hundred times the severity of powder cocaine. Crack cocaine being the form that black and Latino communities used were penalized more than whites.Half the drug possessions in the United States are for marijuana possession. Blacks and whites use pot at the same rate. Yet a black person was 3.37 times more likely to be arrested for it.Of the 445 men executed for rape 405 were black. As of 2012 the innocence project reckoning, approximately 70% of people exonerated by Dna testing in the United States are minorities.That's all on page 42. Can I just say if I ever get arrested to please call this man to defend me? He is just a genuinely likeable guy. As for Steven Avery? I just don't know now. After all I've read from both sides I almost feel as though there is reasonable doubt. If that were the case then he should of been found not guilty. Right? Yet I'm still questioning the carpet cleaning, the letters he wrote, etc. why all that? Why the deep cleaning? I just don't know what to think.Is it possible an innocent man is in jail yet again for a crime he didn't commit? Yes. It seems to happen a lot. But, is he innocent? I still have no clue and doubt I ever will 100% believe in his innocence. His nephew? Well that's a whole different story.

"Over his career, Jerome F. Buting has spent hundreds of hours in courtrooms representing defendants in criminal trials. When he agreed to join Dean Strang as co-counsel for the defense in Steven A. Avery vs. State of Wisconsin, he knew a tough fight lay ahead. But, as he reveals in Illusion of Justice, no-one could have predicted just how tough and twisted that fight would be—or that it would become the center of the documentary Making a Murderer, which made Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey household names and thrust Buting into the spotlight.Buting’s powerful, riveting boots-on-the-ground narrative of Avery’s and Dassey’s cases becomes a springboard to examine the shaky integrity of law enforcement and justice in the United States, which Buting has witnessed firsthand for more than 35 years. From his early career as a public defender to his success overturning wrongful convictions working with the Innocence Project, his story provides a compelling expert view into the high-stakes arena of criminal defense law; the difficulties of forensic science; and a horrifying reality of biased interrogations, coerced or false confessions, faulty eyewitness testimony, official misconduct, and more."

This book is exceptional. If you have followed Making a Murderer, you will be happy to know that this is not a complete re-hash of all events. However, if you are both a MaM follower or someone who wants to learn about the injustice of Steven Avery (and Brendan Dassey for that matter) you will be equally as pleased to know that Buting takes you through a well written timeline of events that are crucial to Avery and Dassey's story. Along the road, you learn about Buting, his life, how he came to be a defense attorney, his family, his faith, his cancer diagnosis (given to him on September 11th, 2001 nonetheless), and his dedication to the underdog. This book is simply inspiring. We come to know a man that is humble, eloquent, has found his purpose and is a true fighter of justice. This is not only about Avery, but the many black holes within our system. Buting discusses other cases he's worked that were also handled by prosecutors who seemingly just wanted a conviction, no matter how many red flags. What happened to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey can, and does, happen everywhere.

This is an excellent and well-written account of how hard it is for poor people to get justice in the United States. It also shows the rough local justice of small towns--in this case, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, how criminal trials become simply a competition in which side can tell the better story instead of finding the ultimate truth of what happened. The defendant in this case was railroaded by the cops, the courts, the journalists, and public opinion into being found guilty of a crime he didn't commit. The prosecution tried their case in the media long before the actual trial started. They didn't disclose documents or critical information that showed the defendant's utter lack of guilt.When a trial for a first assault case finds the defendant not guilty, the prosecutors seem to find another crime to pin on him--neither of which he was remotely in the area of the commission of the crime. It's a very disheartening look at how difficult it is for poor people to get justice. A Netflix documentary was evidently made about the case, which caused a lot of viewers to become justifiably outraged at the railroading job. The author is the defendant's attorney, a brilliant man who describes things accurately and with minimal judgment. The unjust imprisonment of the defendant (which actually morphs into two defendants in the second trial) is heartbreaking. The cynicism of the police and the prosecutors is shameful.This is a very absorbing book.

This is not a book about Steven Avery. Fans of the Netflix series Making a Murderer will not be disappointed - Buting covers the most vital aspects of the trial, complete with some breaking news - but the real triumph of this book is that it humanizes a career that is very easy to demonize. Being a criminal defense attorney will not make you popular and it will not make you rich, but Buting makes a compelling case for why someone as bright and talented as he is would choose to defend those charged with the most heinous crimes. In fact, by the time you reach the final page of Illusion of Justice, you will be convinced that not only must you be brilliant and talented to be a criminal defense attorney, you must also be a saint not to become frustrated by a sometimes clunky system full of complacent, sometimes downright crooked players. But even after 30-some years and life-altering experiences outside the courtroom, Buting is able to summon unbridled passion about the law, and commendable optimism about the future of the justice system.

Once you start reading this book, you won't be able to put it down!Very informative and eye opening, I highly recommend it for everyone who is interested in knowing more about our Justice system in general, not just the Avery case.I personally have gotten 4 different copies to share with friends because I was very impressed by this book!So worth it, one of the best books I have read in a long time.

Like everyone else in this county, I watched Making a Murderer. Brian and I were really into it and binge watched it over the course of two weekends. We had some very heated debates about it, because although I think the documentary really sheds a lot of light on the defense's case, I have a lot of trouble accepting the idea of a conspiracy theory. It just blows my mind to imagine that type of collusion within a sheriff's office.Because of my strict disbelief in the idea of a conspiracy theory, I automatically thought Steven Avery was guilty. And although Brendan Dassey's confession didn't sit well with me, I also believed he was guilty. Sometime after I watched MAM, I read Ken Kratz's book. Now, I don't like Kratz anymore than the next person, but I was curious to see what he had to say about the case. Not much of the book sticks out for me, as it's been awhile since I read it, however a compelling piece of evidence that he mentioned, and has been talking about incessantly since MAM aired, was that the documentary left out the discovery of Avery's "sweat DNA" under the hood of Teresa Halbach's Rav4. That seemed pretty critical to me, because ok I get planting blood, but how would you plant someone's sweat under the hood? Which leads me to Jerry's book . . . I listened to this one on audio. I wouldn't recommend it if you are like me, which is easily distracted. I felt like I missed some tidbits because I listened as I was driving/cleaning/baking, what have you. I think I knew enough about the case to where it didn't effect me, but if you have been living under a rock and somehow didn't see MAM, then audio may not be the best format. It's a lot to take in. We start of hearing about Jerry's upbringing. Details of his life that to me were pretty fascinating, but I'm really into memoirs so that extra background piece laid some groundwork and also just gave that personal aspect. He also discusses what led him to being a criminal defense attorney, and we hear about some of his other cases. The big one he talks about is Ralph Armstrong, which is important because Armstrong was accused and convicted of the murder and rape of a female in the 1980s. He was only exonerated by DNA evidence AFTER Steven Avery's trial. So it goes to show that Steven Avery was not an anomaly as far as his initial wrongful conviction. It happens much more often than we would like to think.Buting also goes into Avery's wrongful conviction as well, for the rape of Penny Bernstein. Buting had nothing to do with that case, so you're likely not going to learn anything from that section that you didn't know from MAM. We then move on to Avery being charged with the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach. It was interesting to hear the background story as to how Strang and Buting ended up on the case, how they divided the labor, and what every day like looked like for them during the six weeks of the trial. I could obviously go on and on, but I just want to make a few key points as to how Buting changed my perspective on the entire case.I had an epiphany as I started reading this book, and honestly, being an assistant to a criminal defense attorney myself, I am a bit ashamed to admit it took me so long to get here. And it is this: Steven Avery's guilt or innocence is not the question here, but rather did Steven Avery and Brendon Dassey receive a fair trial? More importantly, is the evidence there to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? And I wholeheartedly believe the answer is no. Brendan Dassey is an easy one. There are two important aspects to his case. One is that he did not have proper counsel. He was failed by his defense team, it's as pure and simple as that. Secondly, his confession should have been thrown out. This is a topic that has recently been in national news, as his case reached the US Supreme Court. As for Steven Avery, there is so much I could go into. The "sweat DNA" is something I mentioned above, and is one reason that I no longer trust what Kratz has to say about this case, and that is because "sweat DNA" is not a thing. If Kratz wanted to be completely transparent, he would be very clear that the DNA found under the hood of Halbach's car is NOT from blood. Testing has proven that. That does not automatically make it "sweat DNA." There are plenty of places regular DNA could come from. If we want to go back to the conspiracy theory idea, it would be pretty easy to take Avery's DNA from somewhere in his home (Buting mentioned a toothbrush as a possibility I believe), not to mention the idea of contamination is a very real possibility.I feel like I could write an entire book on this case myself at this point, so I will just say that obviously, I think all sides have their own agenda. I do find Dean Strang and Jerry Buting to be a million times more credible than Ken Kratz, but it's difficult to see this case from a completely non biased view.

Most everyone has at least heard about Making A Murderer, and I’m sure a vast majority have watched the documentary as well. If you are anything like me, this story/case probably both fascinated and disgusted you at the same time for many reasons. Whether you are of the belief that Steven Avery is guilty or innocent, I have found that most can agree on one thing - His defense attorneys, Jerry Buting and Dean Strang, were pretty great. So, naturally, when I found out that Jerry Buting wrote a book involving this case, I had to get my hands on it. At first glance I thought this book was going to primarily focus on the Avery/Dassey stories and all the messy little details that come along with them, which is what initially drove me to buy it. However, I soon came to realize that this book had much more to offer. While there is absolutely no shortage of information regarding the Avery/Dassey cases, there we so many other shocking aspects. From his other cases that he discusses, to the facts and statistics he goes over regarding crime in general, even to his battle with cancer, I had a hard time putting this book down once I got going. Jerry Buting really does a great job of shining a light on a side of the justice system that most people don’t get to see, or don’t want to see, and it was quite eye opening. Being a big fan of true crime, it was nice to see a different take on a story like this that was not afraid to discuss flaws in the system itself and also tastefully addressed the many other issues in the criminal justice world in general that far too many people fall victim to. I am giving this book 5 stars because I was hooked from the beginning and it never lost me. It will be a book that sticks with me in many aspects, for a long time.

I really admired Jerry Buting's work ethic and the values he stands up for before reading his book. After reading it, I see I was not wrong with my beliefs about him and not only him, but his wife. I think the book is a very well thought out and interesting read about the underdog's uphill battle in the U.S. court systems. I am heartbroken so many innocent people have had to spend an awful lot of time in jail for crimes they did not commit. The cards are really stacked against poor people. What I learned the most from Jerry's book is that certain prosecutors are quite disgusting and quite plainly they are evil. What John Norsetter (prosecutor-Madison, Dane County WI) did to Ralph Armstrong is incredibly heinous-.. Just as despicable as Ken Kratz putting an innocent and developmentally disable kid behind bars.. Ken-you cannot say that Steven Avery acted alone in murdering Teresa Halbach in one trial and then try Brendan Dassey in another trial as being part of the murder and rape of this innocent young woman. How you got away with that is equal parts astounding and disgusting. Jerry, thank you for the work you do--and this is coming from someone who has always believed the law would never do anything dishonest and that the police were never devious. Both you and Dean Strang are examples of what is right in the state of Wisconsin. Keep up the good work-from a reader originally from Kenosha, WI>

Full disclosure: I had never heard of State vs. Avery or "Making A Murderer" when I ordered this book. Having read it, I feel compelled to rate it a 5 Star effort, although it suffers from severe faults. The writing is pedestrian, it is clearly and admittedly biased; a large part has nothing to do with improving America's justice system or with the Avery murder case. I understand why it is full of biographical background information and the reasons for paeans about the other attorneys who helped with the cases: one needs to fill the pages AND build up a rapport with the reader---to establish credence. That way the tidal wave of thirst for justice can sweep over us, and we can harbor, however secretly, that small wish that certain actors in this drama will be found one day face down in the gutter with a small hole in the backs of their heads. Without doubt, as presented, that would be a fair ending for some people here.As a reviewer, I refuse to outline my books or summarize plots. My goal is to offer opinions about books I believe have merit---I do not read trash----and if anyone wants more information about what is between any particular set of covers, there are plenty of 'reviews' out there which render books in condensed form. I am tempted here to summarized at length, at least so far as the last 40 go. After relating the course of several trials, mainly the one the Netflix documentary was based on, Jerome Buting offers us his opinions and observations on what we can do to improve America's justice system. I will mention one here because it is vital and close to home: VOTE. To hell with Presidents and Senators and the rest of the scallywags: vote for the local guys, for the Sheriffs and the Constables and JPs---the people who administer justice right in our own communities. I am not likely to chat with our President, although I have eaten lunch at his ridiculous Florida retreat and may again, but I have spoken with our local District Attorney numerous times, broken bread with him, leaned on the bar next to him and knew several of his clients from his defense days before he became a public servant. I watch the insipid circus shows he gets involved in when a few pounds of drugs get seized at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 'Joint' task forces, and so forth. I can reach out and touch the local people and if I ever get into serious trouble (Homeland Gestapo aside) it will probably be local law I will deal with, just as you will. VOTE locally, it is better than a bullet in the back of the head and isRecommended.

This is the riveting story of what it's like to be a person who is innocent of a crime but sent to prison for many years. In this book, I respected criminal defense attorney explains how the legal system works, what happens if DNA evidence proves a person innocent who is currently in prison, and explains why the appeals system isn't very helpful in reversing someone's conviction. The author has worked to help several men reverse their conviction when DNA and other evidence has proven that they are innocent. In two cases, it was found that the prosecutors deliberately withheld information at the initial trial that would have helped the jury determined that the person was innocent. Even after the trial, one prosecutor was given a confession and other information that he should have used to exonerate the prisoner. This book has changed my mind set. I always thought that if evidence was found proving a person innocent, they would be immediately released. This is not true. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this yet, but I feel a major shift in paradigm inside my head.

Like most of the Netflix subscribing world, I was addicted to Making a Murderer in December 2015. I don't know if Steven Avery is innocent or guilty, but I felt strongly that Brendan Dassey was not guilty and was so poorly treated by the so-called justice system. This book isn't so much about the trial or about the lawyer's beliefs, so much as it offers a glimpse into parts of the case that weren't covered in the documentary, as well as a look into other cases that were similar in nature. I really enjoyed it, particularly hearing the insider view and what Buting's life was like during the trial. I especially liked the note at the end about what can we, average citizens, do to help reform a broken justice system. I would probably not recommend reading this if you haven't watched the documentary because it does rely on a certain context.

I've never understood how someone can be a defense attorney, but I think I get it now. I was very impressed by both Buting and Dean Strang while watching MAKING A MURDERER on Netflix. I remember turning to my daughter, a probation officer, and saying "That guy (Steven Avery) has some great lawyers." Buting proves that he is not only a great lawyer, but a fine, compassionate person, as well...and a great writer! I highly recommend this book to any reader who enjoyed MAKING A MURDERER, to lawyers and law students, and to people with jobs in or ties to law enforcement...and anyone else who enjoys a good nonfiction read. Always at the center of Buting's mind seems to be humanity...how he, and we, can make the world a better place. A wonderful man and a thoughtful and thought-provoking book.

If you're interested in the wider human side of the Steven Avery case, in particular one of his defense attorneys, this book is for you. The writing is fluid and engaging. Buting shares himself with the reader, including his background (a Hoosier, like me!), the challenges he was facing in his personal life, and how this wasn't his first wrongful conviction rodeo. With this book you get your money's worth. Unlike the Ken Kratz's pseudo-book that is really a novella, both in content and in length, Jerry puts his heart in this and shares his feelings about that ridiculous excuse for a prosecutor. A page turner.A MUST READ.