The Hanging Judge of California
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Narrated by:
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Dan Orders
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By:
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Don Lasseter
About this listen
The Hanging Judge of California (formerly titled Perfect Justice) probes outrageous decisions by the Federal 9th Circuit Court in overturning death penalty verdicts. California Judge Donald A. McCartin, who sent nine men to death row, speaks out in fury when convicted child killer Rodney Alcala's verdict was overturned after 23 years.
The audiobook chronicles Alcala's crimes and trials, as well as the horrific murders committed by eight other killers who were sentenced by McCartin. The judge, called "Solomon with the sense of humor of Roy Bean, reincarnated," provides a glimpse into his personal memoirs, with a caustic insight into the appeals process, and his encounters with rich and famous personalities. A must-listen for true crime fans and those interested in the convoluted system of the appeals courts.
©2015 Don Lasseter (P)2015 Gregg OlsenListeners also enjoyed...
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On a bitterly cold afternoon in December 1986, a Michigan State trooper found the frozen body of Jerry Tobias in the bed of his pickup truck. The 31-year-old oil field worker and small-time drug dealer was clad only in jeans, a checkered shirt, and cowboy boots. Inside the cab of the truck was a fresh package of expensive steaks from a local butcher shop, the first lead in a case that would be quickly lost in a thicket of bungled forensics, shady prosecution, and a psychopathic star witness out for revenge.
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Justice system Vs Conviction system
- By Sean on 11-14-16
By: Mardi Link
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The Evil That Men Do
- FBI Profiler Roy Hazelwood's Journey into the Minds of Sexual Predators
- By: Stephen G. Michaud, Roy Hazelwood
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Twenty-two years in the FBI, 16 of them as a member of the Bureau's Behavioral Science Unit. Roy Hazelwood, like many investigators, has seen it all. But unlike most, he's gone further into the dark and twisted psyches of serial killers and sadistic sexual offenders and has emerged as one of the world's foremost experts on the sexual criminal. Acclaimed true-crime writer Stephen G. Michaud takes you into the heart of Hazelwood's work through dozens of startling cases, including those of the Lonely Heart Killer, the "Ken and Barbie" killings, and the Atlanta Child Murders.
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Always learning!
- By T. Barrett on 09-10-19
By: Stephen G. Michaud, and others
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Dead and Buried
- By: Corey Mitchell
- Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Rachel Newhouse disappeared on the night of November 12, 1998. Only months later, in the same town, Aundria Crawford lost her life in an act of unimaginable violence. As authorities worked to find clues, parole officer David Zaragoza paid a routine visit to one of his charges - Rex Allan Krebs, a violent serial rapist who'd served only 10 years of a 20-year sentence. After sending Krebs back to jail for violating his parole, Zaragoza found a key chain belonging to one of the victims. An intensive search led to the gruesome discovery of buried remains near Krebs' secluded cabin.
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Well Written!
- By txammug on 09-10-18
By: Corey Mitchell
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Kiss Me, Kill Me
- And Other True Cases (Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 9)
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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America's #1 true-crime writer reveals how lovers become predators, how sex and lust can push ordinary people to desperate acts, and how investigators and forensics experts work to unravel the most entangled crimes of passion. Extracting behind-the-scenes details, Ann Rule makes these volatile relationships utterly real, and masterfully re-creates the ill-fated chains of events in cases like the ex-Marine and martial arts master who seduced vulnerable women and destroyed their lives, the killer whose calling card was a red rose, and more.
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Boring
- By Luv lots on 09-15-13
By: Ann Rule
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The Killing Kind
- By: M. William Phelps
- Narrated by: J. Charles
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The lush, green hills that mark the border of North and South Carolina are home to a close-knit community. When the savaged remains of high-spirited Heather Catterton and sweet-natured Randi Saldana were found and a local man was linked to their murders, residents were forced to face an evil in their midst. The killer was one of their own….
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Manipulated to Death
- By Pulplife on 06-29-14
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Illusion of Justice
- Inside Making a Murderer and America's Broken System
- By: Jerome F. Buting
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Not since The Thin Blue Line has there been a true-crime saga as engrossing as Making a Murderer. Captivating audiences across demographic lines, it made Steven Avery a household name and thrust defense attorney Jerome F. Buting - and his fight against America's dysfunctional criminal justice system - into the spotlight. In Illusion of Justice, Buting uses the Avery case as a springboard to examine the shaky integrity of our law enforcement and legal systems, which he has witnessed firsthand for nearly four decades.
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Tells it like it is . . .
- By Regan Williams on 11-26-17
By: Jerome F. Buting
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The Surgeon's Wife
- A True Story of Obsession, Rage, and Murder
- By: Kieran Crowley
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1985, in his exclusive Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, Robert Bierenbaum, a prominent surgeon and certified genius, strangled his wife Gail to death. He then drove her body to an airstrip in Caldwell, N.J., and dumped it into the Atlantic Ocean from a single-engine private plane. The next day he reported her missing.
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Well Written
- By Susie Q on 12-21-17
By: Kieran Crowley
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A Death in Belmont
- By: Sebastian Junger
- Narrated by: Kevin Conway
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1963, with the city of Boston already terrified by a series of savage crimes known as the Boston Stranglings, a murder occurred in Belmont, just a few blocks from the house of Sebastian Junger's family, a murder that seemed to fit exactly the pattern of the Strangler. Roy Smith, a black man who had cleaned the victim's house that day, was convicted, but the terror of the Strangler continued.
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Excellent
- By Susanna on 01-13-15
By: Sebastian Junger
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Cruel Death
- By: M. William Phelps
- Narrated by: J. Charles
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Erika Sifrit was once a high school basketball star and an honors student. Then she married Navy SEAL Benjamin Sifrit. Some say Erika was abused by "B.J." Some say she pulled his strings. But by the time they reached Ocean City, MD, Erika was packing a gun in her Coach bag and was caught in the grips of a new American death ride.
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Extremely poor reader.
- By Tyria Mendicino on 10-06-19
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A Wilderness of Error
- The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald
- By: Errol Morris
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Early on the morning of February 17, 1970, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a Green Beret doctor named Jeffrey MacDonald called the police for help. When the officers arrived at his home they found the bloody and battered bodies of MacDonald's pregnant wife and two young daughters. The word "pig" was written in blood on the headboard in the master bedroom. As MacDonald was being loaded into the ambulance, he accused a band of drug-crazed hippies of the crime.
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Interesting but Unconvincing
- By A customer on 03-31-15
By: Errol Morris
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Exposed
- The Secret Life of Jodi Arias
- By: Jane Velez-Mitchell
- Narrated by: Elizabeth White
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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On June 9, 2008, the butchered body of Travis Alexander was found in his Mesa, Arizona, home. The grisly nature of his death made instant headlines: With 29 knife wounds, his throat slit, and a gunshot to the head, Travis was left to die. The prime suspect in the case was Alexander's ex-girlfriend, the attractive and soft-spoken Jodi Arias. Though Arias initially said that she was nowhere near the scene of crime, little about this case was as it seemed, and before long she had been caught lying to police. As the investigation progressed, her lies evolved multiple times before finally resting on an appalling claim: She had killed Travis in self-defense.
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Great Narrator, Untrustworthy Writer
- By MaxMiniTV on 04-15-16
What listeners say about The Hanging Judge of California
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- cbear
- 08-01-15
I loved this book!
Would you consider the audio edition of The Hanging Judge of California to be better than the print version?
I really enjoyed this audio book. It was an accurate account of a real judicial system. It captured me from the start to finish. As for the narrator, I think Dan Orders did an exceptional job. I hate listening to a book when the reader is so dramatic that it takes away from the story. His voice was solid which is what I expect from a courtroom drama story.I highly recommend.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jean
- 06-22-15
Gripping true stories
The book was originally published under the title “Perfect Justice” in October of 2004. The book was re-published under “The Hanging Judge of California” in February 2015. The book looks at the Federal Ninth Circuit Court’s overturning the death penalty. California Judge Donald A. McCartin, who sent nine men to death row, speaks out in fury when convicted child killer Rodney Alcala’s (known as “The Dating Game Killer”) verdict was overturned after twenty-three years. Alcala was retried and again found guilty and sentenced to death for a third time.
The book chronicles Alcala’s crime and trials as well as the murders committed by eight other killers sentenced by McCartin. The book is well written and informative. Lasseter obviously thoroughly researched the subject matter.
The Orange County Judge presided over the most watched criminal cases from 1978 to 1993 including the eleven month trial in 1987 of serial killer Randy Kraft, who was one of the men McCartin sentence to death. I particularly enjoyed the part of the book that tells about the life of McCartin. Judge Donald McCartin died in September of 2012 at the age of 87. Don Lasseter is a well known true crime writer. Don Orders narrated the book.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Cheryl Brodersen
- 07-19-15
Fascinating!
Only complaint was the silent gaps between the chapters. I kept checking my iPad to see if the battery needed recharging. It didn't...just long pauses.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Thom Babbes
- 07-13-15
Not well written and narrated poorly
The performance of Dan Orders and whomever produced it was horrible. No one seemed to go back and edit mistakes. There were more than a couple of times that the narrator had some false starts and no one caught them to cut them out. Plus his read was nothing short of amateurish. His read really got on my nerves.
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3 people found this helpful
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- LINZI
- 10-07-16
Judge Justifies an Unforgiveable Judgement Fail
This book is a total story of this judge's life from his early years, previous careers and how he formed his world view. It is also an overview of the case of a famous serial killer who this judge tried. The serial killer's death penalty was overruled by a later higher court because of a decision this judge made. The judge wrote this book largely to show that this was a travesty and reflects the faults in the whole system, (and the whole of society.) Before the end of Chapter 1 I found myself thinking "This Ass Clown is a judge??? For Real???"
Early on in the book he explains that he ruled to allow the defendants previous criminal record as a rapist and kidnapper to be revealed to the jury (which of course unfairly prejudiced the case. To me that kind of ended the story right there - Of Course the Death penalty was overturned - it was lucky they didn't overturn the whole conviction - You breached one of the fundamental rules of a trial. I don't know much about the law but even I know that. The judge uses this entire book to justify that really stupid, reckless and undisciplined call.
A lot of his argument seems to consist of "He was a really bad guy," "I made the call because even though I knew I didn't have the authority to do it I knew best." and "Judges should be allowed to overrule defendant's rights if they know the guy is guilty and the crime is bad enough." I was appalled by the judgement, appalled that this arrogant old jerk risked letting a total monster go free because of his ego, and appalled to think someone who thinks this way is a judge.
From then on he tries to justify that call using the basic arguments of "The world is too PC, I know best cause I'm an old white guy, some people shouldn't have rights - and we all know who those people are." I found myself thinking "SHIT - with attitudes like that on the bench no wonder innocent people go to jail."
He then goes back through his life to explain why he has always known best, ignored rules and how this supports his judgement. Unfortunately where this falls down for me is the over all autobiography shows this judge to be an egotistical, closed minded red neck. He was always going to be a loose cannon - I'm surprised it took him this long to stuff up.
He explains that the only black pilot he knew in his military career (during the war) was not allowed to fly not based on racial bias but because he could not see at night. "How stupid to call this racist, stupid PC culture, blah, blah." (seriously - was there any PC culture in the US during WW2?) He totally ignores the fact that this is the version of events he was given at the time and never questioned. He never looks beyond his own small view and finds that black pilots were almost universally discriminated against in the same way - apparently they were all night blind??? (amazingly the entire African American population has been cured now and black pilots can fly at night - but it wasn't racism - it was just a coincidence)
Now this is not an era I know much about but if I know that and I am in 2016 Australia, how come this has never occurred to him? I get why he perhaps did not see it then, but the fact his view is totally unchanged (despite so many other black pilot's discrimination??). This tells me he is pretty set in his opinions (and frankly - not exactly a genius of critical thinking.)
To be honest because the book really highlighted that he is one of those old, closed minded white guys who tell you "Women and black people exaggerate about discrimination because I don't see it". It was like sitting down with your Grandpa and trying not to cringe while he tells you he's not racist but "We all know blacks are criminals... and everyone agrees with me but they won't say so because their all so PC" Meanwhile you're embarrassed as all hell, and asking yourself how this nice old guy you love just turned into a racist bigoted stereotype right before your eye - because what he just said is so blatantly racist and untrue. This was how I felt about the judge.
He then goes on to detail how truly depraved and evil the serial killer on trial was. He is obviously of the opinion that because the guy was so evil he was right to ignore the law and make his own call. The problem I have with this is the guy was that evil. He was a huge threat to society, and that judgement could have seen him released. Cops, Judges, Lawyers follow the rules for a reason. If no one follows the system then none of our right are safe. I'm sure every cop who deals with a child rapist would love to say "Hey I know he's guilty, let's skip the trial and just take this bastard outside and shoot him" but they don't. Why - because they have a duty to the law and society. And if they shirk that duty and indulge their own desire to do it the whole system falls.
This judge just ignored that duty. His autobiography of his earlier life only highlights that he has always thought he knew best and damn the consequences. Well in this case the consequences could have been the release of a real monster. The actual result was another trial that put the victims families through hell because the evil bastard decided to defend himself and spent time sadistically cross examining victims mothers.
All because this jerk "The Hanging Judge" shirked his duty, indulged his ego and took a shortcut cause he knew better. Clearly the reader was supposed to end cheering his anti PC Hang 'em all approach - I just found myself horrified to think this idiot is actually a judge??? STILL - why the hell wasn't he fired after this case??
PS - for a Judge , his literary skills are pretty crap too.
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