Preview
  • The Court of Last Resort

  • The True Story of a Team of Crime Experts Who Fought to Save the Wrongfully Convicted
  • By: Erle Stanley Gardner
  • Narrated by: Mel Foster
  • Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
  • 3.0 out of 5 stars (6 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Court of Last Resort

By: Erle Stanley Gardner
Narrated by: Mel Foster
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.00

Buy for $25.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The creator of Perry Mason's Edgar Award - winning account of miscarriages of justice, wrongful convictions, legal battles, and landmark reversals.

In 1945, Erle Stanley Gardner, noted attorney and author of the popular Perry Mason mysteries, was contacted by an overwhelmed California public defender who believed his doomed client was innocent. William Marvin Lindley had been convicted of the rape and murder of a young girl along the banks of the Yuba River, and was awaiting execution at San Quentin. After reviewing the case, Gardner agreed to help - it seemed the fate of the "Red-Headed Killer" hinged on the testimony of a colorblind witness.

Gardner's intervention sparked the Court of Last Resort. The Innocence Project of its day, this ambitious and ultimately successful undertaking was devoted to investigating, reviewing, and reversing wrongful convictions owing to poor legal representation, prosecutorial abuses, biased police activity, bench corruption, unreliable witnesses, and careless forensic-evidence testimony. The crimes: rape, murder, kidnapping, and manslaughter. The prisoners: underprivileged and vulnerable men wrongly convicted and condemned to life sentences or death row with only one hope - the devotion of Erle Stanley Gardner and the Court of Last Resort.

Featuring Gardner's most damning cases of injustice from across the country, The Court of Last Resort won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime. Originating as a monthly column in Argosy magazine, it was produced as a dramatized court TV show for NBC.

©1952, 1954 Erle Stanley Gardner. (P)2017 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Court of Last Resort

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Half Great, Half Meh

The first half is is great stories about the search for justice for the wrongly convicted. It’s obviously dated but all the more interesting because so many crimes couldn’t just be solved with DNA like today. Unfortunately the second half is ponderous essays about the justice system by Gardner. While many of these problems and his suggestions are still relevant today, that doesn’t make listening to his rambling diatribes any more enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!