Unreasonable Inferences: The True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and Its Astonishing Aftermath Paperback – October 25, 2010

Bought as a gift for my fiancé. He seemed to like it!

cant wait to read it

Griesbach artfully weaves an almost indescribable web of horror that happens to be the truth. Penny Beernsten is one of the best human beings in the universe. A tribute to the human race. Her story is riveting and mind-blowing, yet she perseveres. For this heinous act to happen to her and for her to turn tragedy into a mission to help others face their own stark realities to heal, is incredible.This book is a true story and an A+ read that will leave your jaw dropped and asking questions about our judicial system.Deep bows of gratitude to Penny for taking her inconceivable trauma and courageously creating a metamorphosis of pain into projects to help others heal. No one has done that better.Penny deserves a citizenship Medal of Honor. Her integrity, humanity, and ability to forgive is utterly remarkable.A must read..

New perspective on what really happened!

Great book. I pre-ordered the second book and am anxiously awaiting it

In 1985, Steve Avery was on a fast track to prison. His latest criminal endeavor, for which he was awaiting trial, involved the attempted abduction of a deputy sheriff's wife.Avery's wife, Lori, lay awake at night, wondering how she would care for the couple' children, including the couple's newborn twin boys, when (not if) Steve was locked up."When" came sooner than she expected.Penny Beerntsen set out for an afternoon jog along the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. It would be a jog that would change her life forever.In more ways than she could have imagined.Following an attack by a sadistic, sexual psycho, Penny was immediately thrust into the arms of Lady Justice.What ensued was a terrifying lesson in a judicial system where right is wrong and wrong is right.For 18 years, Penny would believe that her attacker was behind bars and Steve Avery would proclaim his innocence.However, it would take a change in the District Attorney's staff and the advent of DNA science for the true criminal to be identified.Yet, ­a few short years after Avery is exonerated, when Teresa Halbach disappears and the last person to see her was Steve Avery, many are left wondering whether justice was really denied in the Beernsten case or simply delayed the inevitable for Steve Avery.In his new book  Unreasonable Inferences: The True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and Its Astonishing Aftermath , author Michael Griesbach tells the story of how he came on board with the Manitowoc County DA's office at almost the same time the Wisconsin Innocence Project was tackling Steve Avery's case.Typically when an attorney writes a book, most readers complain about their use of too many Latin and fifty-cent-word phrases.Not so with Griesbach. Simplistic without dumbing-down, Griesbach tells an electrifying story about how justice isn't just blind but downright narrow minded.I cannot stress to my fellow readers how refreshing it was to see a prosecutor so openly admit the mistakes made by his predecessors and how he and his colleagues worked hard to right a wrong. This isn't something you'll find in your everyday true crime.But readers will be left asking, "Was it all to no avail?" While Griesbach obviously has an opinion, through a thought-provoking epilogue he leaves us to decide for ourselves.Well-written, fast paced, and an avant-garde storyline,  Unreasonable Inferences: The True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and Its Astonishing Aftermath  is destined to be one of 2010's top true crime books.

I read this book both from the viewpoints as a Wisconsin resident who was truly amazed by this unique true-life saga and as a police detective. Mr. Griesbach recounts all of the public news events, but more importantly sheds light on what happened behind the scenes that the average person may not have been aware of through normal media accounts. He is not an outside "expert" weighing in with judgments from afar, but rather someone who was within the system and in a position to assess what happened with a fair and critical eye. He writes with a very straightforward and personable style of narrative; this was an easy read, made quick because the subject is so fascinating that I didn't really want to put it down. I believe that an average person who has limited or no experience with the criminal justice system would obtain a good understanding of how it works, or can work improperly, after reading this. Knowing first hand how difficult it can be to get a criminal conviction in court on solid evidence, I was absolutely stunned that there was ever a charge/prosecution in the sexual assault case, let alone a conviction. I do not feel particularly sorry for Avery, as he was supposed to be in prison anyway for his pending charge of violence--and he had killed before (although some value animal life less than humans--but am more concerned that this outcome could happen to any given innocent person. Mr. Griesbach clearly cares about the two victims, as well as the integrity of the system and the employer he serves. I bought one book for myself and another as a gift, and the recipient expressed that she was similarly engrossed. It is the kind of book that you want to have a discussion about with other people once you are done. If this is his first book as an amateur author, then it is a quite impressive effort.

Unreasonable Inferences is very well written. It portrays how the potential ramifications of our imperfect legal system played out in these two horrific cases. Living in the community in which these crimes took place and being fully aware of the horrible graphic details, I was initially hesitant to read the book. However, I found that it paints a very clear picture without getting into too much of the graphic details of the crimes themselves, rather focusing on the how the legal system and all it's players affected the outcome of the respective cases. A must read for anyone involved in the criminal justice system.