Nancy Petro

Nancy Petro and Jim Petro are co-authors of False Justice-Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent.

When Jim Petro, a former prosecutor and tough-on-crime elected public official, was elected Attorney General of Ohio (2003-2007) he led an effort to take 210,000 DNA samples from Ohio's imprisoned felons and misdemeanants. The effort solved dozens of cold cases, but DNA also proved the innocence of many persons imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.

The growing awareness of countless innocent persons languishing in prison haunted the Petro's and shook the very foundation of their beliefs about the criminal justice system. It also drove Jim Petro to become the first sitting attorney general to intervene on behalf of an Innocence Project client, a family man with no criminal record who had been imprisoned for life for a murder and rapes he did not commit.

In March 2008, Nancy Petro was awakened in the night by the concept of writing a book that could spread awareness and greater understanding of wrongful conviction. False Justice relied on Jim Petro's experiences, stories, platform, and oversight, and Nancy Petro's research, writing, and commitment to telling this story. The book is Jim's first-person narrative detailing unbelievable true cases that prompted a startling awakening to how the justice system really works and what we can do to make it better.

Grace accompanied the novice authors, who have been married 50 years: The first publisher, (Kaplan) that reviewed the book offered to publish it. Although intended to be a compelling read for prosecutors, defense attorneys, police detectives, and others in the criminal justice system, False Justice was also written for the general audience. A lifetime in public service taught the authors that conventional wisdom drives public policy. False Justice will change the way you think about American criminal justice. And that's the point.

False Justice, Kaplan Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-60714-467-0