Kidnapped by a client The incredible true story of an attorney's fight for justice

Sharon R. Muse

eBook - 2020

"He promised to kill me when he got out. I believed him. If I wanted justice, I had to fight both him and the courts...maybe kill him first. If I didn't do something, I was going to die." This is not a manufactured dialogue from a thriller but the words of attorney Sharon Muse. They came after she survived an attempted kidnapping, rape, and murder at the hands of Hank Morrison, a former client. On April 7, 2006, Muse miraculously escaped from the sociopathic Morrison, only to find that the threat to her life was just beginning. Ineptitude in the justice system threatened to release Morrison and allow him the opportunity to finish the job, which he adamantly pledged to do. Muse would have to fight at every step to ensure her s...afety. Muse would act as her own advocate, investigator, legal counsel, and bodyguard in the years following the event. Kidnapped by a Client covers the brutal kidnapping, two trials, two appeals, procedural errors galore, one Supreme Court reversal, and even Muse's intricate plan to murder Morrison before he could get to her. Muse would not ultimately execute that plan, and she would emerge victorious in the legal battle thanks to her faith and her own determination and legal acumen. But her safety is not ensured: Morrison is up for parole in 2026. Muse regularly monitors his status. Muse recounts her stranger-than-fiction story in Kidnapped by a Client. Muse analyzes the failures of the legal system, the mistakes she made, the steps she took to protect herself, and how she has coped with trauma. Readers will find not only a compelling narrative, but also insight into how to protect oneself and ensure one's own safety and well-being.

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Subjects
Published
[United States] : Skyhorse 2020.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
Sharon R. Muse (author)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
Cover image
Physical Description
1 online resource
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9781510735958
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In 2006, Kentucky attorney Muse, the author of this harrowing, cautionary tale that juxtaposes crisp, clear writing with court transcripts, was kidnapped and beaten by Larry Morrison, a former client she barely remembered. Morrison arrived at Muse's office one day, pleading for a ride to his grandmother's house. Instead, he forced her to drive to a secluded area where he attacked her; she barely escaped with her life. Muse spent the next six years living in fear that he would come after her again while she battled the court system through two trials, during which Morrison lied continually on the stand and evidence went missing. If not for her knowledge of the legal system, Muse writes, Morrison could have gone free despite his 10 previous felony convictions. During final jury deliberations in the second trial (the verdict of the first was overturned on appeal), he called her cellphone multiple times from jail. Though finally given life in prison, Morrison will be eligible for parole in 2026. Advice on how to be one's own advocate is a bonus. This gripping, fast-paced account leaves the reader wondering: could this happen to me? (Nov.)

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