Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom
McCracken Poston, Jr., is a lawyer who served in the state house for the State of Georgia and lost his bid for Congress. He practices law in Ringgold, GA.
Alvin Ridley is a local man who lives in Ringgold as well. At one time, he owned the Zenith dealership in town. He had always been a bit odd and not many people wanted to deal with him due to his eccentricities.
Ridley had some run-ins with the local sheriff. He’d sued the department and had a vehicle taken by a deputy when a suit ended with Ridley on the losing side. This turn of events made him distrust law enforcement even more.
In October 1997, a woman was found dead in Alvin Ridley’s house. He told the police it was his wife and she must have smothered herself during an epileptic attack when her face turned into her pillow in the midst of the seizure.
The community was shocked to learn he even had a wife as they’d never seen her. This was yet another strange thing about the loner, Alvin Ridley. Many years prior, his wife’s family accused him of keeping her a prisoner in their home, but a judge found the allegations untrue when the wife testified about their lives.
With Ridley charged with murder, Poston agrees to help Ridley because it didn’t seem like anyone else would take on the case. Poston isn’t sure about Ridley, but he is determined to try to assist the man. Then begins the real story of the tribulations of Poston as he tries to represent this man who has many odd habits and lives in a place that is roach infested and filthy. It takes a long while for Ridley to trust his lawyer and actually let him into his house.
Inside is a plethora of evidence that would help Poston’s client and he has a difficult time getting the man to even let him look at it, much less copy it for purposes of trial discovery.
This was a story of redemption for both the attorney and his client. It was a wild tale with a lot of ups and downs. From the roaches brought to court in the suitcase full of evidence that Ridley didn’t want to let go of, to the expert witness that Poston hired who was an expert in pretty much nothing, to the marital issues Poston had during the run up to the trial. This was a great book with a deep friendship that developed at the heart of it. Ridley was eventually diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and, once the community learned of this, his life changed for the better. Both lawyer and client owe each other a debt of gratitude for changing each other’s lives for the better. I highly recommend this book for the legal drama as well as the heartwarming outcome.
