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As Monroe County’s District Attorney, Ted Pearson plays a major role in the initial trial and conviction of Walter McMillan. He is a fixture in his community, having served as a district attorney for almost twenty years, and he is nearing retirement. Despite his established position, Pearson feels pressured to solidify his legacy by quickly prosecuting the McMillan case. This desperation to maintain a particular public image is similar to Sheriff Tate’s attempts to establish his authority, and like the sheriff, Pearson ultimately engages in illegal activity to ensure his own sense of security. He manages to create a scenario in which the virtually all-white jury readily accepts Ralph Myers’s far-fetched testimony as the truth, leading to a quick conviction that signals the successfulness of his career. Making this move requires Pearson to work around anti-discrimination laws surrounding jury selection, and he easily does so by requesting that the trial be moved to a predominantly white county. In addition to highlighting Pearson’s manipulative nature, the biased jury selection process calls attention to the persistence of legal loopholes which uphold imbalances of power. Merely establishing policies to address racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is not enough to eradicate deeply rooted prejudices and practices.
While Pearson seems confident that crafting an almost all-white jury will give him the conviction he needs to secure his legacy, he goes a step further and intentionally withholds evidence that proves Myers’s testimony against McMillan was a lie. His role in framing McMillan for a crime he did not commit emphasizes his selfish nature and complete disregard for others. Pearson shows no remorse for putting McMillan on death row, nor does he seem to genuinely care about bringing Ronda Morrison’s killer to justice. Instead, he happily retires with his reputation fully intact. The legal protections that prosecutors have inevitably shield Pearson from punishment after Stevenson reveals the truth about his actions, an outcome which raises further questions about the fairness of the criminal justice system. As a result, Pearson remains unchanged as a character by the novel’s end.
