John Grisham to Write Norfolk Four Screenplay
Legal novelist John Grisham is writing a screenplay about the “Norfolk Four” who were convicted in the rape and murder of a Virginia women based on confessions they said were obtained by coercion.
Grisham is known for bestsellers such as The Firm and The Pelican Brief, but he is also a board member of the Innocence Project and the author of a nonfiction book about a wrongly convicted prisoner. Grisham, a lawyer, hopes to complete the screenplay by this fall, the Washington Post reports.
The Innocence Project is seeking clemency for the Norfolk Four, sailors who were prosecuted even though another suspect’s DNA was found to match genetic material left at the murder scene. “It’s the most egregious case of wrongful conviction I’ve seen, and I travel around the country listening to stories about these cases,” Grisham told the Post.
One of the men was released from prison after serving nine years, the story says. The other three remain incarcerated.
The parents of the 18-year-old murder victim, Michelle Moore-Bosko, believe eight attackers raped and killed their daughter. “Our family is devastated to learn that once again, people with inaccurate information and personal agendas are attempting to profit from the tragic death of our daughter,” John and Carol Moore said in a statement published by the Post.
