CALL THE FINAL WITNESS The People v. Darrell R. Mathes as Seen by the Eleventh Juror

Hardback. In October of 1974, Edward Fendt, a routeman for a potato chip company, was murdered in Queens just after he'd made a delivery to a grocery store. Fendt had been shot to death. Three witnesses came forward, young neighbourhood people, and said that they had seen Ricky Mathes, 16yrs old and black, running from the truck, gun in hand. And on November 17, Ricky was arrested. This is the story of Ricky - of Ricky and his family; Ricky as a boy and as a young man; Ricky just before his arrest; Ricky waiting for such a long, long time on Rikers Island; Ricky, eventually, on trial; and Ricky after the trial is over. It is also the story of what happens to jurors faced with the responsibility of pronouncing judgement on a Ricky faced with the charge of murder. There have been many books written about courtroom trials and about young men charged with murder. There have even been one or two that have taken the reader inside the jury room. But this book combines the elements of all these in a gripping personal story that is also a provocative commentary on our time. Illus., Epilogue and Aftermath. 195pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Nr. F. in v. sl. frayed vg+ dw. which has sunned sp.