Philadelphia Execution.

• Author: Albinson, Jeff

Philadelphia Execution By Dave Emmi

In the early part of the "naught decade" (2000 to 2009), as happened thousands of times throughout America over the past 30 years, a teenager was shot to death just outside Philadelphia, PA. An arrest was made, and criminal prosecution ensued. The case went to trial, and a jury was seated. The jury heard the evidence, deliberated, and rendered a verdict. Unlike most such cases, in this instance the jury foreman, a writer, was deeply moved by the trial and, in response, he wrote a unique book combining modern day facts with historical perspective and dark drama.

In Philadelphia Execution, jury foreman Dave Emmi uses his real-life experience to explore the culture of drug-related gun violence against the framework of the founding of the United States. The book is a dense tangle of historical revelations about the settlement of New Sweden--the area that would eventually become Philadelphia and southeast Pennsylvania--and facts related to the actual murder trial. It is a unique perspective, considering gun violence in historical terms. That juxtaposition offers insights and raises questions that leave the reader pondering questions that might not have been raised had the trial been the only focus of the book.

The account of the...