William Bradford, who had recently been named “Teacher of the Year,” was arrested and charged for the attempted rape of a 14-year-old student during a class trip to Washington, D.C. Married with two kids, Bradford would spend time in a hellhole of a jail in South Georgia and eventually take up residence under a bridge — all because of a lie.
In his powerful new book, The Cockfight, federal and state criminal defense attorney Frank Abrams shares the unforgettable story of a popular teacher who loses everything after being falsely accused. Although fiction, many of the facts concerning the law and its application are or were authentic at the time the story is set, and are still factual, Abrams explained.
“The sad part is that in many situations, there has been little remedy for the wrongs that have been perpetrated against innocent people,” Abrams said. “We live in a society that is quick to judge but slow to recognize the fact that individuals are presumed to be innocent and that it is the burden of the government to prove guilt.”
The Cockfight is the story of the teacher’s fight to clear his name, of the people around him and how the system impacted all of them, as stories of actual cockfighting fill the backdrop with the dismal “kill or be killed” dread that descends on many people caught up in an often unjust “justice” system.
“There are many victims of our unjust and unforgiving ‘justice’ system. Once they are caught in its web, it is difficult if not impossible to extricate oneself,” Abrams said. “Cockfighting is a system that treats animals in the same brutal way that the justice system treats people. It makes them mean and angry toward each other and generates money at the same time.”
Abrams noted that American prisons are filled with more prisoners per capita than virtually every other country and that the American prison population has grown 500 percent in the last 40 years thanks, in part, to the operative assumption that once charged, always guilty.
“I wrote The Cockfight to emphasize what can happen when things go wrong,” Abrams added. “It is my hope that the message in this book leads to both a change in attitude and action, that injustice will no longer be tolerated, and that a fair, honest and just system will take its place.”
About the Author
Frank Abrams is a criminal defense attorney in both North Carolina and Florida. He has practiced federal and state criminal law during his entire 38-year career. He has appeared on public radio and Court TV. He is also an inventor, having a patent on a new type of banjo, and has been in the news for finding a tintype picture of Billy The Kid along with Pat Garrett, the man who killed him (https://www.youtube.com/
Connect with the author on Facebook (The Cockfight by Frank Abrams) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/
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