His friendliness, his strong desire to help people—qualities that in most situations had served Lee well, seemed to have worked against him with devastating consequences.
Tori Marlan
Cellmates
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Format:
audiobook – currently free & audio included for Amazon Prime members
Publisher’s Synopsis:
One prisoner’s ninety-year murder conviction becomes another prisoner’s crusade in this ongoing true account of an unlikely friendship forged behind bars and the enduring power of hope.
For seventeen years and counting, Robert Chattler has made good on his promise to help exonerate his former cellmate, Lee Harris, who he believes was baited and duped by Chicago PD and buried by the false testimony of a bribed witness. In this emotional story of courage and trust, suspicion and sacrifice, the award-winning journalist Tori Marlan reveals the uncanny friendship powering an impassioned fight for justice.
Rellim’s Thoughts:
This is part of The Southside, a collection of shorts (around an hour in length) by The Marshall Project.
This one was particularly heartbreaking. Marlan examines the case of an obviously innocent man railroaded by the Chicago Police Department into a confession. A friendship between prisoners becomes a reexamination of an old case. Despite a long history of bad faith investigations within the department as well as the known malfeasance by specific officers in the case – finding true justice isn’t as easy as it seems.
Narration:
I loved Janina Edward’s narration. She evokes emotions consistent with Marlan’s writing.
About the author:
You can connect with Tori Marlan here:
About the narrator:
You can connect with Janina Edwards here:
My Favorite Quotes
“In retrospect, Lee says, there were signs of a shift in the detectives’ interest in him, signs that they had started to consider him a suspect.”
“his friendliness, his strong desire to help people—qualities that in most situations had served Lee well, seemed to have worked against him with devastating consequences.”
“A room in Robert’s house awaits him.”
Rellim Reads 