As a lawyer, Thomas Dybdahl saw the Brady rule “usually” being violated

Thomas L. Dibdal holds degrees in theology, journalism, and law and is a former staff prosecutor with the District of Columbia Public Defender’s Office. He worked in both the trial and appellate divisions and tried 25 homicide cases. He lives and writes in Boulder, Colorado.

The author was a finalist for the 2024 Colorado Book Award for General Nonfiction.

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SunLit: Tell us the background of this book. What inspired you to write this? Where did the story/theme come from?

Thomas Dibdal: The Brady Generally, the statutory requirement that prosecutors in a criminal case disclose evidence favorable to the defense was intended to ensure the fairness of the courts. But in the decades since it was passed in 1963, prosecutors routinely failed to follow the rule; sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. And the judges don’t want to do it.

As a result, prosecutorial misconduct—withholding favorable evidence—has become the single leading cause of wrongful convictions in this country. Of the 2,400 documented exonerations between 1989 and 2019, Brady violations helped convict 44%: 1,056 innocent people.

As a public defender in Washington, D.C., I have seen prosecutors regularly break the rule and judges routinely look the other way. I wrote this book to draw attention to the problem and show how we can solve it. It tells a convoluted story Brady the rule through the cases that created and defined it. The basis of the book is the odyssey of the murder case of Catherine Fuller, which shows how easy it is Brady violations occur, how difficult they are to uncover, and the terrible human toll they take.

SunLit: Put this passage into context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you choose this?

Dibdal: A passage of history both opens the book and illustrates how laws develop. The best way to understand the birth and life of law is through stories; through stories about real cases with real people in real situations and how they were solved.

Also, I hope that after reading the beginning of the story, readers will want to know how it ends; how such an important legal concept arose as a result of clumsy unplanned murder, and why it failed to realize its basic purpose.

SunLit: Tell us about the creation of this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?

Dibdal: Through my work as a public defender and my prior volunteer work with inmates, I saw first-hand the injustices that are all too common in our courts. I wanted to share what I learned with others.

As I began writing, I had ideas about how the Brady Rule could be reformed and strengthened so that its original promise of a fairer and more just system could be realized. But the more I studied and researched the matter, the more I found this rule to be seriously flawed. That it needed to be shelved and replaced with a much more open, collegial system where all relevant information is shared.

As long as prosecutors control all disclosures, we’ll have a problem with Brady. The only lasting solution is to take those decisions out of their hands and simply require that any information they intend to use at trial be disclosed to the defense. In the few places where it was tried, it worked incredibly well.

SunLit: Do you take lessons from every book-writing experience? And if so, what did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or topic?

Dibdal: To make this book work, I needed to keep things as simple as possible. The law is not difficult to understand, but there are many related issues and wrinkles that arise. Legal concepts should be explained in clear, basic terms, with stories and examples to illustrate them.

Trying to write elegant prose is a dangerous temptation—we all want to do it, but the more deliberately you try, the more likely you are to get bogged down in fancy language. If you just write what you mean in simple words, maybe sometimes they will even be eloquent.

SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced while writing this book?

Dibdal: I wanted to tell a big story in a relatively short book. In the case of the murder of Catherine Fuller, there were 10 defendants, and transcripts of court sessions and hearings amounted to almost 12,000 pages. There were also dozens of police reports, evidentiary reports, interviews, witness statements, and more.

Finding key facts among all this paper and weaving them into a coherent story was an ongoing task. I could have easily written a book that was three times as long, and there were things I hated to leave out, but I’m convinced that shorter would have been better.

SunLit: If you could pick just one thing – a theme, lesson, emotion or realization – that readers would take away from this book, what would it be?

Dibdal: I wish people would realize—actually—that our criminal justice system is fundamentally flawed. Many of the problems we face, e.g Brady disruptions are not rare, aberrational events, but recurring systemic problems. The good news is that if we can find the political will to make serious reforms, we can make the criminal process much fairer.

SunLit: In a highly politicized environment where books and people’s access to them are increasingly controversial, what would you add to the conversation about books, libraries, and the general availability of literature in the public sphere?

Dibdal: Learning that the world is a big and wonderful place with many cultures, religions, political ideals and ways of life is liberating and exciting. The more you read, the more you know and the more you understand the wealth that surrounds us. Nothing tests and strengthens your beliefs and ideas like reading books that challenge or illuminate those values.

SunLit: Tell us about your writing process: Where and how do you write?

Dibdal: I’m writing at my desk in my upstairs office looking out at the mountains, so I’m only distracted by the views. I try to write something every day, no matter how I feel. I can’t bring myself to write, but I can bring myself to sit in a chair at the computer. And I try to follow Hemingway’s advice: end your writing day knowing where you’ll start the next day. This makes it much easier to get started again.

SunLit: The Brady the rule is the law; why don’t prosecutors obey or judges don’t comply?

Dibdal: Although this rule is intended to promote fairness, it is widely neglected. The goal of criminal prosecution should be justice, not conviction. But in our adversarial system, the goal is too often to obtain convictions. This is what brings the prosecutor publicity, promotion and a higher salary. Therefore, it is difficult for them to follow the rule, which makes it difficult to win.

And because the law likes finality, judges are reluctant to overturn jury verdicts, especially years later. When prosecutors ignore this rule, they know they are unlikely to get caught, and that even if they do, it will be a small price to pay. Until this changes, the rule will never succeed. And since this is unlikely to change, I believe that the only real solution is to reform the system.

SunLit: Tell us about your next project.

Dibdal: My main project right now is working with senior Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, on a book about her personal experiences with men on death row. Her stories will show how broken the legal system is in the way it chooses to hand down and carry out death sentences.

Just a few more quick questions

SunLit: Do you look forward to the actual work of writing or is it a chore you dread but must do to get good results?

Dibdal: Yes, both. Sometimes I’m eager to get started; some days i can’t wait to stop messing around. Fortunately, there are more good days; and I almost always enjoy rewriting and polishing what I’ve already written.

SunLit: What is the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?

Dibdal: In the fourth grade, I wrote a poem about a trip to the mountains. The words weren’t very good, but they had a tight rhyme.

SunLit: When you look back on your early professional writing, how do you feel about it? Impressed? Confused? Satisfied? Wish you could recycle?

Dibdal: Some works are embarrassing to read, but some are surprisingly OK. The ones I’m most happy with aren’t necessarily the best, but the ones where I’ve tried to push my range or earn some really worthwhile points.

SunLit: What three writers of any era can you imagine for a great discussion about literature and writing? And why?

Dibdal: Charles Dickens, Toni Morrison and John Updike. To find out how they were able to turn the trials and traumas of everyday life into art.

SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?

Dibdal: “The only sure reward for writing is the pleasure of writing.”

SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?

Dibdal: That I am obsessed with crime and criminals; about how and why people find themselves on the wrong side of the law, despite the pitfalls and punishments likely to result.

SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What background sound helps you write?

Dibdal: I prefer silence, although I can tolerate the limited soundtrack of everyday life. Music doesn’t suit me because I focus on the songs and not on the work.

SunLit: What event and at what age convinced you to become a writer?

Dibdal: When I was about 14, I heard Calvin Trillin read his work. It was funny, sad, and deeply human, and I wondered if I could create something similar one day.

SunLit: What is your biggest fear as an author?

Dibdal: What I write will not do justice to the subject or fairly convey its meaning and significance.

SunLit: Most satisfying?

Dybdal: Readers who have told me that they liked my book/piece for a reason—that is, because it gave them hope, or angrier, or smarter, or more interested in the world.

Story Type: Questions and Answers

Interview to provide relevant perspective, edited for clarity and not fully fact-checked.