Lone Holdout: A Memoir

In this compelling debut memoir, Cox, a former Boston bookseller, recounts her controversial role as the holdout jury member during what became a high-profile drug trial. In 1988, a young Hispanic man named Carlos Montilla was accused of cocaine trafficking. At his trial, police officer Albert LaFontaine, provided damaging testimony, but his own partner contradicted his statements. With the other jurors arguing for a guilty verdict, Cox%E2%80%94displaying courage and a strong sense of justice%E2%80%94maintained that LaFontaine was lying and argued against conviction. After two days of tense deliberations, Cox refused to change her vote and a mistrial was declared. But when Montilla%E2%80%99s second trial (with a different jury) ended in a conviction and prison sentence, Cox continued to fight for the young man%E2%80%99s freedom, eventually helping him win the right to a third trial. This account of the flawed American criminal justice system is a sad, moving, and scary account that readers will find both inspiring and important.