Illusion of Justice

“A compelling portrait of the mechanisms of building a murder defense. A fantastic look behind the scenes of the U.S. justice system.” —Kirkus Reviews

Over his career, Jerome F. Buting has spent hundreds of hours in courtrooms representing defendants in criminal trials. When he agreed to join Dean Strang as co-counsel for the defense in Steven A. Avery vs. State of Wisconsin, he knew a tough fight lay ahead. But, as he reveals in Illusion of Justice, no-one could have predicted just how twisted that fight would be—or that it would become the center of the documentary Making a Murderer, which made Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey household names.

Buting’s powerful, riveting boots-on-the-ground narrative of Avery’s and Dassey’s cases becomes a springboard to examine the shaky integrity of law enforcement and justice in the United States, which Buting has witnessed firsthand for more than thirty-five years. From his early career as a public defender to his success overturning wrongful convictions working with the Innocence Project, his story provides an insider view into the high-stakes arena of criminal defense law; the difficulties of forensic science; and a horrifying reality of biased interrogations, coerced or false confessions, faulty eyewitness testimony, official misconduct, and more.

Combining narrative reportage with critical commentary and personal reflection, Buting explores his professional and personal motivations, career-defining cases, and what must happen if our broken system is to be saved. Illusion of Justice is a tour-de-force from a relentless and eloquent advocate for justice who is determined, in the face of overwhelming odds, to make America’s judicial system work as it is designed to do.