Latest Books Trial by Ambush by Marcia Clark

Marcia Clark for the Defense in TRIAL BY AMBUSH and the Case of Barbara Graham

By John Valeri

Marcia Clark is one of the most recognized names in the history of law. More than that, she has been a source of personal inspiration since I watched her lead the State of California’s case vs. O.J. Simpson through the decades of reinvention that followed. It was the honor of a lifetime, then, when she invited me to collaborate on the research for her first true crime book, TRIAL BY AMBUSH: MURDER, INJUSTICE, AND THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CASE OF BARBARA GRAHAM. Doing so was a rare opportunity to see her at work, and one that proved to me why she was the ideal person to take on a “Trial of the Century” that predated her own by some forty-plus years.

While most of us know Marcia as a prosecutor, because that’s what we saw on TV, and therefore might expect an inherent if unconscious bias, she began her career as a criminal defense attorney, and currently handles court appointed appeals on behalf of the indigent. Therefore, she brings a broad view perspective that allows her to consider a case from both sides of the counsel table. That’s particularly important in a story like Barbara Graham’s, where common perceptions turned out to be dead wrong. For instance, the seemingly honorable prosecution was actually “unbridled” in its pursuit of conviction while the public defender, ineffective at first glance, was actually a passionate advocate for his client, but limited in his ability to mount a proper defense because he was not compensated for his work, as was standard practice at the time.

Then, there’s the fact that Marcia holds the rare distinction of having litigated her own generation’s “Trial of the Century.” Not only did this provide her a front-row seat to an absolute media spectacle in which tabloid temperament largely eschewed fact in favor of fantasy, and where certain lawyers performed as much for the public as they did for the jury, but the singularity of experiencing it as a woman. Like Barbara Graham, she found that commentary on her appearance, demeanor, and private life far outweighed coverage of her performance; let alone the actual evidence of the case. Consequently, she could empathize with Barbara on a level that few others would be able to.

There were also odd little coincidences that resounded with Marcia. The crime—an ill-advised home invasion/robbery that turned deadly—played out in a Burbank home only a mile or two from where she once lived in Glendale. Further, the case’s prosecutor, J. Miller Leavy, was considered an icon in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, where Marcia later worked and would often hear stories about his greatness. And the courtroom where Barbara Graham was tried and convicted sat just across the street, a silent reminder of a great injustice.

And finally, there’s the simple fact that Marcia has honed her craft as a writer over the course of ten previous books including nine crime novels and her Simpson trial memoir, scripted podcasts (such as Informants: Lawyer X), teleplays, and opinion columns for various print and online outlets. So, while penning true crime was a bit of a departure, it wasn’t a completely foreign endeavor, nor was there the learning curve of a first-time writer. It’s no coincidence that early reviews of TRIAL BY AMBUSH have praised it for reading like a thriller despite being historical non-fiction.

While Marcia Clark wasn’t part of Barbara Graham’s story, she found herself in a unique position to tell it. Her breadth of experience coupled with obvious parallels to the subject matter and unprecedented access to source materials makes for a narrative that is both relevant and resonant, serving as a poignant reminder that there can be no justice without a fair trial.