Guilty or Not guilty?

Discuss the September 2015 book of the month Defending Jacob by William Landay
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Theresa cahill
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Re: Guilty or Not guilty?

Post by Theresa cahill »

Sounds like a great book I will have to chech ou
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Taylor Razzani
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Post by Taylor Razzani »

I felt throughout the whole book that he was guilty. He seemed to show no remorse and all of his "missteps" went beyond him being a dumb kid.

However, I thought he might have gotten away with a not guilty verdict. I don't think Logiudice did a good enough job proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Jacob did it. The point of the judicial system is to leave no doubt in anyone's mind of guilt. Jacob definitely seemed guilty, but there was no damning piece of evidence to lock him away. Though I never wavered in thinking he was guilty, and as soon as Leonard Patz was found dead I figured it was something fishy that would just solidify Jacob's guilt.
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PaulaSofia
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Post by PaulaSofia »

Guilty as hell!
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Post by Sarah_Khan »

Throughout the book I was battling with whether I thought he was guilty or not and even after they come back from the vacation I still had trouble thinking he was 100% guilty. But I finally admitted to myself that he was guilty after the mom does what she does, because if she feels that strongly that her son is to blame then she must be right.
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Taylor Razzani
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Post by Taylor Razzani »

Sarah_Khan wrote:Throughout the book I was battling with whether I thought he was guilty or not and even after they come back from the vacation I still had trouble thinking he was 100% guilty. But I finally admitted to myself that he was guilty after the mom does what she does, because if she feels that strongly that her son is to blame then she must be right.
Especially since she was so convinced he was the perfect child. Her snapping is the end all, be all for that discussion!
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Post by Crazybud »

Jacob's Dad was an unreliable narrator and reading his pov made us feel for Jacob, because naturally, a parent is always sympathetic towards their kids. But then when all the evidences seemed to suggest Jacob to be guilty and after the second death I was absolutely sure that he was guilty. A psychopath. But the hereditary trait was disturbing.
"I'd rather die on an adventure, than live standing still"
- Delilah Bard, A Darker Shade of Magic
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Post by Dominik_G »

I've been going back and forth between "guilty" and "innocent" throughout most of the book and I think maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have been found guilty even without Leonard's "confession". All the evidence was circumstantial and he didn't have a criminal record, nor was he known to be violent or dangerous in school, etc. However, after what happened to Hope, it's difficult to believe he might indeed have been innocent.
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Onyinyechi Obi
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Post by Onyinyechi Obi »

After Leonard Patz's body was discovered, I believed Jacob was guilty. I admit that the fact that he was clean by the time he arrived at school seemed strange. His friends claim that he didn't behave any differently either, but I believe the author was revealing more of Jacob's actual nature by having him pick up after himself and act normally. The fingerprint led me to believe that the jury would have found him guilty.
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