jennifer thompson cannino and ronald cotton

After 11 years of being incarcerated, Ron finally walked out a free man, now 33 years old and starting over. The DNA testing also proved that Ron's identification of the real culprit - another man in prison for rape - was correct. Finally, a kind lawyer from a local college and the advent of DNA testing proved what Ron had been saying all along: he did not commit the crimes he was being punished for.

Ron ended up being in prison for eleven long years. Ron insisted he was innocent, but both Jennifer and the police were certain they had the right man, and he was sentenced to life in prison, plus 50 years. Days later, with the help of Jennifer's detailed composite sketch plus her identification through both photos and a line-up, the police arrested a man named Ronald Cotton. After she got away from the rapist, he went to another woman's home and raped her, too. During the rape, Jennifer played close attention to the man's face and tried to remember every detail, determined to help the police put him away if she survived this ordeal. He held a knife to her throat and raped her. She was awakened in the middle of the night by a black man next to her bed. In July 1984, Jennifer Thompson was a 22-year old college student living in Burlington, NC, in a small apartment near campus. This powerful and moving true story just blew me away. Last night, my neighborhood book group discussed a unique joint memoir, Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton, with Erin Torneo.

Jennifer thompson cannino and ronald cotton