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Scott Finn loves his job. As a trial lawyer he figures he is part entertainer, and he would enjoy the drama he would create in a courtroom, even if there was no jury and he only had the judge to impress. A young attorney, Mark Dobson, from Finn’s old law firm is convinced that Finn is the man he needs to help get a client out of prison. Vincente Salazar was convicted of shooting and paralyzing a cop and has been in prison for almost 15 years. Mark wants Finn to help him get the case reopened on the basis of DNA that he believes will prove Salazar is innocent. When the man was convicted DNA results were not admitted into evidence. Scott and Tom Kozlowski, a former cop now a PI and Scott’s partner, have differing opinions on the case. Koz isn’t convinced that Salazar is innocent, but Finn tells him that he will just enter an appearance in order to get the judge to order the DNA tested then he will withdraw and let the younger attorney handle the matter. But when Mark is brutally murdered, Finn is the only attorney of record and he goes forward with the argument to the judge that the DNA should be tested. In the meantime, after meeting Salazar, Finn is impressed with the man, and eventually becomes convinced that his client is an innocent man. But Finn finds that the cops who were on the case may have manufactured the evidence and he needs to find out why. Finn was introduced in the author’s first book DARK HARBOR, and Finn and his creator, David Hosp, both continue to impress. Finn is a fascinating character – from very humble beginnings as a street kid raised in foster homes, he loves the law and it is truly his life. His partner Koz and their legal intern Lissa imply that Finn has no life outside of his job since his former girlfriend moved to Washington, DC to work for homeland security. Koz wonders why Finn doesn’t join her in DC but he says he could not live anywhere but Boston. The author’s love for his city is apparent in the books. But what is mainly important in INNOCENCE is the depth of the characters and the fast-paced story telling. While the author informs us that the case has no basis in fact, he is involved in the New England Innocence Project and he himself was personally involved in several cases where the convicted were found to be wrongly-imprisoned by the testing of the DNA which had been collected at the time of trial. The many advances in DNA testing mean that those wrongly accused have an opportunity to prove their innocence, as long as there are compassionate and committed lawyers such as David Hosp.
Reviewed by Lorraine Gelly, May 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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