Burned: A True Story of Murder and the Crime That Wasn't

(Hardback)

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Was a monstrous killer brought to justice or an innocent mother condemned On an April night in 1989, three small children perished in a Los Angeles apartment fire. Their young mother, Jo Ann Parks, escaped unharmed, the sole survivor and only eyewitness. Though they at first believed the fire had been a tragic accident, forensic fire investigators soon uncovered evidence that Parks had sabotaged wiring, set several fires herself, and even barricaded her four-year-old son inside a closet to make sure he could not escape. Parks was labeled a monster. Even though she insisted she did nothing wrong, Jo Ann Parks was tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole on the power of forensic fire science that convincingly proved her guilt. But more than a quarter century later, there has been a revolution in the science of fire. Much of what was thought to be incontrovertible in 1989 has been revealed to be myth and guesswork disguised as science. Now a young lawyer with the California Innocence Project is challenging the conviction and the so-called "science" behind it, claiming that false assumptions, tunnel vision and outright bias not only led to life in prison for an innocent mother, but convicted her of a crime that never actually happened. Will Jo Ann Parks be exonerated Or can prosecutors dredge up enough procedural roadblocks and evidence from the shes to make sure Jo Ann Parks dies in prison Parks could well be "Patient Zero" in an epidemic of convictions based on bad science, but only if she wins. No matter how her last-ditch effort for freedom turns out, someone will be left burned. More than a gripping detective story, Burned is a shocking tale that upends the almost universal confidence we have in flawed forensics-the "CSI" so long-celebrated in fiction and film-that has put thousands in prison as our justice system chose to embrace junk science over protecting the innocent.

Reviews

Praise for Burned

CrimeReads' 6 Essential True Crime Books for January
Entertainment Weekly's New & Notable Picks
PureWow's 15 True Crime Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2019
LitHub's Best Reviewed Books of the Week

"Asearing look at the limits of forensics in this unsettling reexamination of the case of Jo Ann Parks... An instant true-crime classic that reads like a thriller, this joins the ranks of recent works also throwing into question the belief that crime scene investigators can infallibly arrive at the right answer.
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

This sobering, enlightening read is true crime at its best, with the right blend of justice and intrigue that will leave readers searching for truth in the criminal justice system.
--Library Journal, starred review

Burnedraises question after troubling question, and points out the frustrating subjectivity and fearful power of damning narratives that make up the ponderous process of criminal justice.
--NPR.org

"Riveting... Apowerful brief not only for Parks but also for a recognition of the weaknesses in forensic science generally."
--The Washington Post

"[An] eye-opening, suspenseful tale of murder and secrets."
--Entertainment Weekly, 20 New Books to Read in January 2019

At the end ofBurned, readers will walk away with clearer picture of the flaws of the American criminal justice system, and a glimmer of hope from the people working every day to fix it.
--Bustle

[A] powerful true crime tale that questions the authority of forensic science.
--Shelf Awareness, starred review

Riveting... Humes fascinating account is perfect for the many readers interested in crime-scene investigation.
--Booklist

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Humes once again exposes a flawed American criminal justice system, this time with a new twist.
--Kirkus Reviews

"Read this book now. Not only because Burned is one of the most important critiques of forensic 'science' ever written but because it will shock, move and enlighten you. Explosive but sobering, Burned plows through decades of received myth and junk science to reveal the sometimes tragic mistakes in our criminal justice system. Humes, as always, is humane and provocative. Reporting like this is a big reason our republic is still mostly in one piece."
--T. Jefferson Parker, author of Swift Vengeance and The Room of White Fire

"Burned is a gripping, bone-chilling look at our justice system from a superb writer. I believe under Ed Humes's vivid, detailed reporting and narrative grace lies a deeply human vision of what we all know our justice system could be and should be. Anyone who reads Jo Ann Parks story will be moved in profound ways."
--Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor of Psychological Science and Law, University of California, Irvine

"Burned is four stories in one book about a woman convicted of murdering her children; how cultural myths that have long misled fire investigators are being replaced by the findings of fire scientists; how police, prosecutors and forensic scientistscan ignore exonerative information; and a story of lawyers seeking to secure justice, however much delayed. Each story is worth reading. Together they make for one good book."
--Richard Lempert, Distinguished University Professor of Law and Sociology Emeritus, The University of Michigan Law School

"Edward Humes's tale of a fatal California house fire is riveting. This mesmerizing and important book shows how some things we call 'science,' far from helping free the innocent, can instead lead to convictions of people who did nothing wrong."
--David R. Dow, Cullen Professor at the University of Houston Law Center and author of The Autobiography of an Executionand Confessions of an Innocent Man

Author Bio

Edward Humes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author whose eleven previous books include Force of Nature, Eco Barons, and the PEN Award-winning No Matter How Loud I Shout. He lives in Seal Beach, California.