Brain Damage: A Juror’s Tale: The Hammer Killing Trial

* The gripping debut True Crime book by award-winning author Paul Sanders. *

In the middle of a sleepy Phoenix neighbourhood, Marissa DeVault murdered her husband.

January 14, 2009. Dale Harrell is found clinging to life by police, his skull brutally beaten with a hammer. The resulting criminal trial catapults twelve ordinary jurors into a powerful struggle with complex questions. On the surface, the murder seemed clear. But lurking beneath was a gnawing doubt - was this the act of a cold-blooded murderer, or the last-ditch effort of a desperate woman who was left broken by years of domestic abuse?

Paul Sanders served as juror #13. Expertly retelling his story in vivid and gritty detail, he recounts the sleepless nights and painstaking debates that echoed around the trial, gaining a deep glimpse into the day-to-day lives of a family torn apart by murder. Determined to cut through the confusion and finally deliver justice to a victim, he shares his remarkable true story of a criminal case that’s packed with fascinating twists and turns.

With an honest perspective of every day he spent in the jury box with his fellow jurors, Paul invites you into his world, depicting every character with a larger-than-life persona that reels you in and frames each scene in dramatic detail. The trial of Marissa DeVault left the jurors with a question that had far-reaching consequences: should the defendant pay for her crime with her life?

Praise for Brain Damage:

＂Mr. Sanders is a brilliant writer. You feel like you are right in the courtroom with him...＂ - Reviewer

＂This is a must-read for any avid trial watcher!＂ - Reviewer

＂Brain Damage is a very interesting journey through a death penalty trial. It made me want to be a juror!＂ - Reviewer

Paul Sanders writes True Crime from a juror’s perspective. His story began in 2014, when he was called to serve as a death penalty juror in the trial of Marissa DeVault. At the completion of the case, he wrote his first True Crime book, Brain Damage: A Juror’s Tale - The Hammer Killing Trial. Since then, Paul has gone on to write a further two True Crime books on some of the most spectacular trials in US history, Why Not Kill Her: A Juror’s Perspective - The Jodi Arias Death Penalty Retrial and Banquet of Consequences: A Juror’s Plight - The Carnation Murders Trial of Michele Anderson. Why Not Kill Her, along with Shanna Hogan’s book, Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story, has become one of the most recommended books on the subject and was publicly endorsed by the jury foreperson, Haaken Liknes. Paul’s first two books were published on Amazon and this helped to build a platform of thousands of followers who are now eagerly awaiting the release of his latest work. Paul has been a guest on True Crime Radio, Trial Diaries, Court Chatter, HLN and Fox. He has also been featured on NBC Oxygen’s, ＂Snapped,＂ as well as I.D. Discovery’s, ＂Scorned,＂ where he represented himself as a former juror. He recently appeared on two episodes of Investigation Discovery’s, ＂Deadly Sins＂. He was a trial reporter for Trial Talk Live during the Carnation murders trial of Michele Anderson. He currently resides in Seattle, Washington. Paul is an active member of the PNWA. He is currently preparing, Beyond the Pale: Rogue Juror - The Joseph McEnroe Death Penalty Trial, for publication on December 24, 2017, the 10th anniversary of the Carnation murders.