In an America fascinated, intrigued and frustrated by its legal system, Lawrence Schiller is one of the countries most knowledgeable and sage observers. He has written about O.J. Simpson, Jon Benet Ramsey and master spy Robert Hannsen. He frequently appears on television talk shows discussing the law and its intricate maneuvers. He is a man who understands and appreciates the operation of the American legal system. In CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE: A Death in the Night, Schiller presents a view of the legal system from a perspective distinctively different from most readers have experienced. The legal system presented in CAPE MAY COURTHOUSE lacks the notoriety and glamour of previous cases that Schiller has examined. The case studied is neither a major crime nor a front-page saga. The absence of these elements, however, does not detract from a fascinating and thought provoking story that will leave readers with many unanswered questions when they reach the end of the book.

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE refers not to the locale of the litigation that forms the basis for Schiller's narrative. Rather, it is the New Jersey community where Eric and Tracy Thomas reside at the time of Tracy's tragic and soon to be suspicious death. The Thomas family had moved to the community after Eric purchased a medical practice and began his career as a dentist. To the residents of the community, the young doctor and his wife, pregnant with the couple's second child, gave the appearance of the perfect young married family. Tragedy would soon enter their lives when Tracy died after the family's Ford Explorer goes off the road in what appears initially to be a minor accident.

Early investigation of the death of Tracy Thomas implied that her death resulted from the improper inflation of the air bag in the Ford Explorer. The inquiry by the medical examiner determined that improper operation of the bag resulted in Tracy's suffocation. As any observer of the American legal system would expect, this information resulted in a civil lawsuit for wrongful death filed against Ford Motor Company and other defendants. Up to this point in the narrative, the Thomas story does not differ from hundreds of thousands of civil lawsuits filed and ultimately resolved in thousands of law offices and courthouses across America.

Civil litigation commences with a process referred to as discovery. Parties to lawsuits are entitled to investigate the claims of their opponents and are obligated to exchange information concerning the litigation. In many complex cases the discovery process can take several years that are often brutal and financially taxing. This process can often determine the outcome of the litigation. During the discovery phase of the Thomas litigation, evidence came to light suggesting that Tracy Thomas' death was anything but an unfortunate accident. Schiller recounts the detection of this critical information in a neutral and detached manner. Using the legal arguments, strategy and news media accounts as an underpinning, he involves the reader in an attempt to answer questions surrounding the death that occurred on that winter evening in 1997.

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE lacks the definitive denouement that most readers have grown to expect in actual litigation. There is no jury verdict in either a civil or criminal case to bring closure to the fateful events that led to the death of Tracy Thomas. At the end of this book many questions remain unanswered. As a result, the reader may find himself disappointed. Yet, more often than not, that is the actual outcome of litigation. Many cases end leaving both sides with concerns and unanswered questions. Lawrence Schiller has reported the facts of this case as an observer rather than as an advocate. While he may be uncertain as to what transpired in the village of Cape May Court House, he is more than willing to let the reader come to his own conclusion based upon the information he furnishes. Those individuals who enjoy a real life mystery, unencumbered by emotional baggage, will enjoy reading this book and attempting to solve the unanswered questions in the same manner as those parties involved in the death of Tracy Thomas.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

A Ford Explorer rolls off a street and hits a telephone pole. The airbag inflates on impact, killing the driver and her six-month old fetus. The woman's husband, and passenger in the vehicle during the accident, sues Ford Motor Company in a simple product liability case. Right?

Throughout their investigation, Ford's lawyers uncover something far from simple. They uncover a web of deceit spun by the plaintiff revolving around his statements regarding the accident, injuries he may have received from the accident, the state of his relationship with his wife at the time of the accident, and the amount of life insurance he received from his wife's death. Ford's lawyers come to the conclusion that the plaintiff may have been the cause of his wife's death, not the airbag.

This is essentially the true-life story of Lawrence Schiller's "Cape May Court House: A Death in the Night". Having grown up in the area that the events occurred (I went Middle Township HS in Cape May Court House), I had a particular interest in it. When the parties involved mention the area as small town, they are not exaggerating. For Ford to use the defense that their product wasn't responsible for Tracy Thomas's (the woman in question) death because her husband (Dr Eric Thomas) was responsible was as extremely risky one indeed. It was not only risky for Dr Thomas but for Ford also because corporations already have an undeserved reputation for attacking litigants.

There are no firm conclusions drawn from Schiller's work. It should be noted beforehand that the overwhelming bulk of the book is dedicated to Ford's efforts to uncover their truth and Dr Thomas's side is only presented in so far as it was presented in court. The book is decidely unfavorable to Dr Thomas continuosly describing him as unemotional and stony-faced as he sits through depositions regarding his wife's death.

Schiller also unintentionally presents a picture of a very broken legal system. This case never made it to trial yet spent two and a half years winding through and clogging up the court system. Not to mention that the presiding judge kept pushing for a settlement between the parties. I hope I'm not the only who finds it troubling that a judge would do such a thing just to get the case off the docket. Quick settlements is one of the reasons that our court system is overwhelmed by frivolous lawsuits in the first place. Encouraging quicker settlements would only encourage more garbage lawsuits.

In the end, I was satisfied that Ford pursued such a hard line. Defenses like this, when merited, should be vigorously pursued by defendants. Product liability lawsuits harm all Americans by increasing the costs of insurance and reducing corporate profits from litigation expenses. I think most Americans would be shocked to find out exactly how much of the cost of the car they are purchasing is related to the legal costs that auto manufacturers incur just because someone has, what the average person would consider to be, an accident.

Six months pregnant, Tracy Thomas died in an accident in her Ford Explorer on February 9, 1997, when she was suffocated by an over-zealous air-bag. Or was this a products liability accident at all? Tracy's dentist husband, Eric, had Double Indemnity accidental life insurance on her ($400,000 worth.) He had a hot and heavy relationship with his former high school sweetheart, whom he married as soon as her divorce became final after Tracy's "accident." Then Eric got really greedy and sued Ford Motor Corporation, alleging THEY killed Tracy. Ford was not amused and did not "roll over" this time.

Lawrence Schiller, another member of the OJ "True Crime" writers association, has written a fascinating account of the goings-on in around the town of Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Unfortunately, Mr. Schiller eschews photographs a la Joseph Wanbaugh. C'mon guys! Let us SEE the people you are talking about. The "Grandaddy" of the Genre, Truman Capote, added to his bleak tale of the Kansas Clutter family by including pictures of the players, and you should too!

The end of this book is really no end. ...