a condemned man's howl against the death penalty

reversible evidence by scott turow(picador, (pounds) 16.99)

IN American legal parlance, reversible evidence is a mistake made by a trial court so significant it could lead to an original verdict being overturned or a retrial. It is a last resort, a court of final redress. In a country where the death penalty is still the ultimate sanction in some states, it is the end of the legal chain. For a condemned man, it is all or nothing.

Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph is an inarticulate black man who has been sitting on death row for the best part of a decade. Having confessed to a triple murder, he is one of those "dangerous and completely worthless" people whom juries are content to see legally killed. Rommy protests his innocence, claiming he was framed. Standing between him and a lethal injection is Arthur Raven, a liberal lawyer asked to review the original case against him, and Gillian Sullivan, the judge who condemned him.

The reason why Rommy's case is being re-examined is Erno Erdai, a fellow inmate who is dying of cancer. Erdai says he knows for sure who killed the three people: him. With only months to live, he wants to make some amends by preventing an innocent man's execution. But having lied before, can we believe him now? How reliable a witness is he?

Posing the questions is the prosecuting attorney Muriel Wynn. When she heard about the killings she was in bed in a Chicago hotel with Larry Starczek, a detective, who got a call. "Somebody's gotta sizzle for that," was his initial reaction. Muriel - "tiny and dark" and stark naked - agreed. It was her destiny, she believed, to work on such cases. "I love history," she said. "Big events. Things with consequence. When I was a little girl, my mother was always saying that to me: Be a part of history."

Turow likes to give his characters speeches such as this. Perhaps this is why the New York Times describes him as "a profoundly gifted writer". His books are big and portentous and deal in important themes. Reversible Errors is a howl against the death penalty which, from time to time, turns sanctimonious and preachy. His characters live untidy lives and often fall into digressive daydreams, so troubled are their souls.

None more so than Sullivan. She had it all then started to drink and do drugs. Consequently, she left herself vulnerable to ne'er-do- wells and was jailed for bribery. She is 47, single and wearing "a black David Dart pantsuit". Arthur Raven says she looks great, so we must take his word for it. Arthur is a good egg who believes that innocent men, no matter what their colour, should not be given the death penalty.

Flitting back and forth between 1991, when the murders took place, and 2001, when the case is re-opened, Turow has plenty of scope to reveal his cast's inner turmoil. He has pretensions to be a serious novelist but mostly confines himself to namechecking Nineteen Eighty- Four and Darkness At Noon. He is no Orwell or Koestler, however. His peer is John Grisham not Franz Kafka. Information not insight is what sets his juices flowing. He is, he says, "hugely indebted" to friends for putting him straight about airline ticketing and Hungarian. Who knows where he would be without a couple of doctors whose "post- mortem pathology was critical". His three assistants were "indispensable". To all, he says: "thanks, guys."

For all that, Reversible Errors is a compelling read. Occasionally, Turow tells us more than we need to know. But - hey! - try naming an "international bestseller" that doesn't?

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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