John Grisham Appeal

Grisham's next legal thriller has been titled as "The Appeal"

John Grisham's upcoming 384-page legal thriller that will be released for sale on January 29, 2008, has been titled as "The Appeal." Grisham said the fictional book, set in Mississippi, will focus on the election of state Supreme Court judges.

Looks like 2008 will be THE year full of legal thrillers for John Grisham, with "The Innocent Man" lawsuit, and his new book "The Appeal." For those who do not know John Grisham has been named in a libel lawsuit filed over his nonfiction book, "The Innocent Man". The book is about the 1982 murder of Debbie Sue Carter in Ada, Oklahoma.

At the center of the lawsuit is an Oklahoma prosecutor by the name of William N. Peterson. He got murder convictions on two men, Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson, who did 12 years in prison before they were cleared by DNA evidence. Fritz and Williamson's experiences are chronicled in two books, John Grisham's first nonfiction book, "The Innocent Man," and Fritz's, "Journey Toward Justice". Bill Peterson got questionable convictions on two other men, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, in a separate murder case. They are still in prison. Robert Mayer, is the author of "The Dreams of Ada." A book written primary about the murder of Denice Haraway and the subsequent investigation, prosecution and conviction of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. The other Plaintiff is Gary Rogers, a former agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Bill Peterson and Gary Rogers were instrumental in the conviction of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz in the murder of Debbie Sue Carter in Ada, Oklahoma in 1982.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges civil conspiracy, libel, placing a person in a false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Peterson says the defendants "coordinated their efforts to launch a massive joint defamatory attack" on him and the detective.

"There's no merit," to the suit, James C. Riordan says. The reason his book published two days before Grisham's was competitive.

Comment from Dennis Fritz, author of "Journey Toward Justice"."The problem is that Mr. Peterson convicted two innocent men, sent Ronnie and I to the penitentiary for 12 years, based upon alleged evidence that did not go beyond a reasonable doubt." Fritz said the lawsuit is merely a power play by Peterson to regain what he has lost because of his actions, or mis-actions."

"He cannot handle the truth that's been brought out in both Mr. Grisham's book as well as mine. Dennis Fritz said every word in his book is true as he remembered the events of that time.

"Factually, it's backed up exactly by every word out of the transcript," he said. Fritz said that Peterson achieved their convictions through "several huge mistakes, worse than mistakes, travesties of justice."

Submitted to INSIDERinfo by Barbara