Death Row Lamson David (1 results)

First edition. Beautiful signed first edition of this memoir by the Stanford University executive who was convicted of the murder of his wife in 1933 and sentenced to hang. He spent time in San Quentin prison before the case was overturned by the California Supreme Court. The second trial resulted in a hung jury, and after about 3 more attempts at a trial which were unsuccessful for various reasons, the DA, Fred Thomas, ultimately gave up and Lamson went free. In all, 30 of the 36 jurors which heard the case in the various trials were convinced of his guilt. The book was adapted into a film in 1937 directed by Christy Cabanne and Starring Preston Foster, Ann Dvorak, and John Beal. An exemplary signed copy of this prison memoir which marks one of the early "trials of the century" in California. Hardcover in illustrated jacket, signed by Lamson and dated in the year of publication on the title page. Few charts and tables in the text. Publisher's gray cloth boards lettered in black and white. Near fine copy with some rubbing to rear panel of jacket.