Oklahoma's Atticus
An Innocent Man and the Lawyer Who Fought for Him
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
An Oklahoma Bestseller
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1953: an impoverished Cherokee named Buster Youngwolfe confesses to brutally raping and murdering his eleven-year-old female relative. When Youngwolfe recants his confession, saying he was forced to confess by the authorities, his city condemns him, except for one man—public defender and Creek Indian Elliott Howe. Recognizing in Youngwolfe the life that could have been his if not for a few lucky breaks, Howe risks his career to defend Youngwolfe against the powerful county attorney’s office. Forgotten today, the sensational story of the murder, investigation, and trial made headlines nationwide.
Oklahoma’s Atticus is a tale of two cities—oil-rich downtown Tulsa and the dirt-poor slums of north Tulsa; of two newspapers—each taking different sides in the trial; and of two men both born poor Native Americans, but whose lives took drastically different paths.
Hunter Howe Cates explores his grandfather’s story, both a true-crime murder mystery and a legal thriller. Oklahoma’s Atticus is full of colorful characters, from the seventy-two-year-old mystic who correctly predicted where the body was buried, to the Kansas City police sergeant who founded one of America’s most advanced forensics labs and pioneered the use of lie detector evidence, to the ambitious assistant county attorney who would rise to become the future governor of Oklahoma. At the same time, it is a story that explores issues that still divide our nation: police brutality and corruption; the effects of poverty, inequality, and racism in criminal justice; the power of the media to drive and shape public opinion; and the primacy of the presumption of innocence. Oklahoma’s Atticus is an inspiring true underdog story of unity, courage, and justice that invites readers to confront their own preconceived notions of guilt and innocence.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The history of two Tulsas the oil boom town and the slums where race riots and abject poverty were the norm provides the background for journalist Cates's powerful first book. In the spring of 1953, 11-year-old Phyllis Jean Warren went missing from her home in a poor neighborhood. Three weeks later, her father found her body buried in a nearby field. The police soon arrested Buster Youngwolfe, a 21-year-old Cherokee who was related to the victim. Under brutal treatment in custody, Youngwolfe confessed to the rape and murder, but he later recanted. The author's grandfather, Elliott Howe, a young public defender at the time, believed Youngwolfe was innocent and defended him at the subsequent trial. Howe, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, realized he could have ended up like the impoverished Youngwolfe had his life been different. The race to judgment in the court and media made the trial an uphill battle for Howe, but after the admission of the results of a lie detector test, the court went straight to closing arguments and the prosecutor told the jury he could not "conscientiously ask you to convict this defendant." After a quick deliberation, the jury returned a not guilty verdict. In an afterword, the author calls on the authorities to reopen the case, even though no one may ever know who really killed Phyllis Jean Warren. Cates argues strongly for the presumption of innocence as a fundamental right.
Customer Reviews
EXCELLENT READ!
I just finished this book him and highly recommend it. Actually, it should be REQUIRED reading. Cates relates the hard and cruel facts of our country’s treatment of Native Americans, and the plight of people born in poverty. It is the tragic story of a young girl brutally raped and murdered that no one seemed to mourn, and the young Native American man wrongly accused of the crime. It is the story of a young attorney, also Native American, that fights the system- inherent with entrenched politicians and prejudice -to save him. The story is ugly, but the book is eloquently written. While relating the facts of the case, Cates also takes the reader on an historical journey depicting life in Tulsa during the 50s. If you like history you will love this book. I believe this is Cates’ first book. I hope it is not his last.