Laura Caldwell, Author and Advocate for the Innocent, Dies at Age 52

What Happened?

On Sunday, March 1, 2020, author and founder of a project that supports the wrongfully convicted, Laura Caldwell passed away. Her fight with breast cancer was difficult. She lived with her long-time friend and fellow attorney, Elizabeth Kaveny while she was in the care of hospice. She was 52 years old.

Where Was She Born? What Was Has Her Education?

Her place of birth was in Woodstock, Illinois on Oct. 24, 1967. Caldwell decided to follow into the long family tradition of working in law. Her grandfather, father, and uncle all worked for the family law firm Cadwell, Berner & Caldwell before it closed last year.

Caldwell went to Marian Central Catholic High School before attending the University of Iowa where she got her Bachelor’s Degree in communications. From there she went to Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law where she earned her law degree. She worked for a number of law firms in the Chicago area working on insurance/medical malpractices and entertainment cases before she eventually became a partner.

Caldwell’s Career

She wrote articles for Illinois Bar Journal which opened up the door for her to write fiction. The first novel she wrote, “Burning the Map” was published in 2002. Gathering fast praises she became a New York Times bestseller. Barnes & Noble’s named her book one of the best books of the year.

Deciding to switch gears with her writing, she created a Chicago-based attorney/private investigator named Izzy McNeil. This character’s trilogy was released in 2009 and appeared in three additional books. There is a total of 15 books written by Caldwell.

The Seeds for the Life After Innocence Program Are Planted

Caldwell became highly interested in helping inmates who were jailed for crimes they did not commit when her friend Cathy O’Daniel told her a story of being cornered by people when she would try to leave Cook County Jail. An inmate named Jovan Mosley came to O’Daniel’s rescue and guided her out of harm’s way. Wanting to know more about this kind stranger, O’Daniel asked Mosley his story. Mosley informed O’Daniel that he had been detained for more than five years without a trial for a first-degree murder of which he was innocent.

Caldwell joined forces with O’Daniel and fought for Mosley. She started by doing research and writing motions as the co-counsel. The verdict “Not Guilty” finally came in late 2005. Caldwell wrote a book about this story and was “best man” at Mosley’s wedding.

The author and advocate for the innocent soon started the program Life After Innocence wanting to help others who the system has failed.

She is survived by her brother Matthew, sisters Kathleen Caldwell Kuhn and Christine Caldwell Smith, and her mother.

By Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Chicago Tribune: Laura Caldwell, lawyer, novelist and advocate for the wrongly convicted, dies at 52
ABA Journal: Lawyer, author and founder of program for wrongfully convicted dies at 52
Laura Caldwell: Laura Caldwell

Image Courtesy of Sarah A.’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons