COUNTERPOINT: THE EDGAR SMITH CASE

Hackensack, NJ: Manor Book Company, Inc., 1972. First Edition first printing. Signed presentation from Calissi on the front endpaper: "To: Sgt. John Guirk Asbury Park P.D. The very best of luck, happiness & success to you & your family always. Ronald E. Calissi. Edgar Herbert Smith Jr. [1934-2017] was an American convicted murderer sentenced to death for his 1957 killing of 15-year-old Victoria Ann Zielinski in Ramsey, New Jersey. On death row, Smith began corresponding with conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr., and gradually persuaded Buckley that he was innocent. With the help of an elite legal team retained by Buckley, Smith litigated (truncated) his conviction through multiple court hearings and wrote a book proclaiming his innocence. In 1971, a federal judge vacated Smith's conviction and ordered a retrial. Smith then took a plea deal to time-served, resulting in his 1971 release. Five years later, Smith abducted and tried to kill Lefteriya "Lisa" Ozbun, in San Diego, California. Ozbun survived and testified against him in court. During that proceeding Smith admitted killing Zielinski in 1957. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 2017 at age 83. Calissi's book provides extensive documents from Smith's trial in hopes to dispel the idea that he was innocent. Calissi was former Director of the Bergen County Department of Public Safety, a former Bergen County Sheriff's Officer, Prosecutor's Investigator and Special State Investigator with the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. His father Guy W. Calissi, a former Bergen County Prosecutor, was the Prosecutor in the original Smith case. Thick 8vo., green cloth, stamped in gilt; 1,021 pages. Illustrated.. Very Good (covers nice; contents clean & tight with very minor discoloration endpapers). (Inventory #: 58006)