Characters 

The Author (Bryan Stevenson) 

This person was an African-American lawyer who moved to the South to represent innocent people on death role, and he eventually began to expose and eliminate flaws in the justice system. 

Walter McMillian 

This person an African American who was falsely accused of murder and sentenced to death row after he had an affair with a white woman, even though more than 30 people were with him when the murder took place; he was eventually exonerated and freed. 

Karen Kelly 

This person had an affair with a black man and framed him along with a conspirator for the murder of a young girl. 

Ralph Myers 

This person falsely accused a black man he had never met of murder; when he tried to recant his testimony law enforcement pressured him to continue lying. 

Ronda Morrison 

This was a young white woman who was murdered at a cleaners where she was working; her murderer was never found. 

Michael O'Connor 

This person was an attorney had grown up outside of Philadelphia in a tough working class neighborhood; he became a drug addict, but was able to conquer his addiction, go to college and Yale Law School, and work at the Equal Justice Initiative. 

Mrs. Williams 

This was an elderly woman who attempted to come into a courtroom, but was intimidated by the police dog, which reminded her of civil rights protests she had participated in. 

The White Security Guard 

This person had a truck with many racist symbols and forced a lawyer to do a strip search when he came to speak with a client; this person, after hearing testimony in a case, realized that he was not so different from some of the criminals he watched. 

The Woman at the Courthouse 

This was a person a lawyer met after successfully getting two people released from death row and prison; she called herself and the lawyer a stonecatcher.

Symbols/Objects 

Alabama 

This is the setting in most of the book and where almost all aspects of life are permeated by racism. 

Monroe County 

This is the area where much of the action of the book takes place and where McMillian was accused of committing a crime. 

To Kill A Mockingbird

This is a novel that tells the story of a criminal trial in which the accused is a black man and his lawyer is white; Stevenson found the novel to be ironic when compared to McMillian’s narrative. 

The Equal Justice Initiative 

This is the program Stevenson started to help those denied justice. 

The Death Penalty 

This is one sentence that a criminal might receive for a capital crime. 

The Holman Prison 

This was a correctional facility where McMillian spent his time on death row. 

The Supreme Court of the United States 

This is the place where legal cases are tried after all other avenues are exhausted. 35