THE CRIME THAT NEVER WAS The true story of my conviction and release

Hardback. This is the story of a trial that should never have been held, of a sentence that should never have been passed, and of a conviction that should never have been upheld - for a crime that never happened. The trial itself took a mere 5 days and cost the wealthy and successful Dr. Coppolino over 12yrs of his life, despite the fact that his attorney F. Lee Bailey, was considered the finest defence lawyer in the country. The sentence was the result of evidence so technical and dubious that the judge instructed the jury to disregard it completely. The conviction was for a crime not even on the books in the state where the trial was held - "premeditated second-degree murder by poisoning." The man - Dr. Carl Coppolino - served a quarter of his life as a convicted felon, despite the fact that uncalled witnesses available to his lawyer knew that the "technical evidence" which convicted him was falsified from the start. Why did the evidence never see the light of day? Dr. Coppolino wanted to know why F. Lee Bailey never called these witnesses in his defence. This is the story of a trumped-up charge invented by a woman scorned...of hair-raising prison conditions and legalised atrocities...of the dangers of political pressures and the positive power of the press... of justice miscarried and long overdue...of Dr. Coppolino's own gradual unravelling of the threads of a "cover-up" more intricate than in any detective novel...and finally, of unconquerable love. For it is also the story of Mary Coppolino, Carl's devoted second wife, who never doubted her husband's innocence. Illus. 309pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. With large gift insc. to fep, o/w Vg+ in Vg. sunned pcdw.