“So I got on with the business of lawyering away at the evidence. Minimizing it. Defending Jacob.” — William Landay Business Copy Share Image
Genes are not simple triggers. No one is hardwired to commit murder or any other crime. Our actions are always the result… — William Landay Action Copy Share Image
“Every father knows the disconcerting when you see your child as a weird, distorted double of yourself. It is as if for… — William Landay Children Copy Share Image
“But things were racing too fast to linger over the past or future. There was only now.” — William Landay Time Copy Share Image
“In court, the thing we punish is the criminal intention. -the mens rea, the guilty mind. There is an ancient rule: actus… — William Landay Crime Copy Share Image
“Free will is as important to the law as it is to religion or any other code of morality. We do not… — William Landay Religion Copy Share Image
“With the minivan in the air, rolling counterclockwise, the engine racing, Laurie screaming -- a fraction of a second, that's all --… — William Landay Death Copy Share Image
“Here is the dirty little secret: the error rate in criminal verdicts is much higher than anyone imagines.” — William Landay Copy Share Image
But sometimes you can't figure everything out because you can't ever really understand other people. You can't understand why they do what… — William Landay Accepting Copy Share Image
“But then, we all tell ourselves stories about ourselves. The money man tells himself that by getting rich he is actually enriching… — William Landay Art Copy Share Image
“The towering lie of the criminal justice system—that we can reliably determine the truth, that we can know “beyond a reasonable doubt”… — William Landay Criminal justice Copy Share Image
“We are pattern-seeking, storytelling animals, and have been since we began drawing on cave walls.” — William Landay Animals Copy Share Image
“The leopard in the zoo wanders to the edge of his pen and, through the bars or across an unjumpable moat, he… — William Landay Copy Share Image
Damage hardens us all. It will harden you too, when it finds you—and it will find you — William Landay Damage Copy Share Image
“This is the best thing about men's friendships: most any awkwardness can be ignored by mutual agreement and, true connection being unimaginable,… — William Landay Business Copy Share Image
“Even the wettest violence, in the end, is cooked down to the stuff of court cases; a ream of paper, a few… — William Landay Court cases Copy Share Image
“The iPod was a leak. It was a danger. I brought it down to the basement and laid it on my little… — William Landay Copy Share Image
Probably careful plotting reflects my personality. I am meticulous by nature. I can't imagine speed-writing anything that happens to pop into my… — William Landay Careful Copy Share Image
“defendant … snap. “So what was that trigger? What was it that converted a fantasy of murder into the real thing?” He paused. It… — William Landay Copy Share Image
“My childhood ended that summer. I learned the word murder. But it is not enough to be told a word as big… — William Landay Children Copy Share Image
“stupid things. The interior of a teenager’s mind is an endless war between Stupid and Clever; this was just a case of… — William Landay God knows Copy Share Image
I can't say that I ever actually decided to become a writer. It kind of snuck up on me. — William Landay Decided Copy Share Image
