Episode 3709: THE LAST TRIAL by Scott Turow

Episode 3709: THE LAST TRIAL by Scott Turow

From This Week in America with Ric Bratton by Ric Bratton

June 5, 2026 · 24 min · Episode 3709

About this episode

The episode discusses Scott Turow's legal thriller 'The Last Trial', focusing on a defense lawyer's final case involving his friend accused of murder.

THE LAST TRIAL by Scott Turow Two formidable men collide in this "first-class legal thriller" from New York Times bestselling author Scott Turow: a "brilliant courtroom chess match" about a celebrated criminal defense lawyer and the prosecution of his lifelong friend -- a doctor accused of murder (David Baldacci). At eighty-five years old, Alejandro "Sandy" Stern, a brilliant defense lawyer with his health failing but spirit intact, is on the brink of retirement. But when his old friend Dr. Kiril Pafko, a former Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, is faced with charges of insider trading, fraud, and murder, his entire life's work is put in jeopardy, and Stern decides to take on one last trial. In a case that will be the defining coda to both men's accomplished lives, Stern probes beneath the surface of his friend's dazzling veneer as a distinguished cancer researcher. As the trial progresses, he will question everything he thought he knew about his friend. Despite Pafko's many failings, is he innocent of the terrible charges laid against him? How far will Stern go to save his friend, and -- no matter the trial's outcome -- will he ever know the truth? Stern's duty to defend his…

People in this episode

Host: Ric Bratton

Topics covered

  • legal thriller
  • courtroom drama
  • friendship
  • murder trial
  • justice system

Keywords

  • Scott Turow
  • The Last Trial
  • legal thriller
  • courtroom
  • murder
  • defense lawyer
  • friendship

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