Defended murder trial, 22 years later client diagnosed ASD

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I’m an acquaintance of founder Alex, a criminal defense lawyer (but that is NOT how I know Alex), and I recently did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit about one of the most misunderstood cases I ever handled. It involved a man who was long considered strange by his small town, and in 1998, he was accused of holding his wife captive and then murdering her.

What the world didn’t understand then—but what I now realize—was that he was autistic. He wasn’t diagnosed until 22 years after the trial, but it explained so much about how he was misjudged by everyone: his seemingly flat affect, his deep need for routine, his distrust of others, his emotions not being "of the moment" (to the neurotypical specification), and even his intense legal obsessions.

The trial ended in acquittal, and I’ve since written a book about the case, called "Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom" (Citadel, 2024). I tried to center his truth, not just the courtroom drama.

I wanted to share the AMA here in case it’s of interest to anyone who’s been misread or misrepresented by institutions like the legal system. I welcome any questions, pushback, or insights—especially from those who’ve had to navigate the world while being misunderstood.

Since I'm a relatively new participant here, I can't post the Reddit AMA link, but you can find me on Reddit under my real name, and look for my Ask Me Anything post.

Thanks for letting me share.

—McCracken Poston Jr.

Is this it? https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1kh8nm8/im_mccracken_poston_jr_a_criminal_defense/

By the way, McCracken is a very unusual first or middle name.

The Census posts lists of names that occurred at least 100 times in that census. I don't remember which census my copy of the lists comes from, but McCracken doesn't appear on the first names list at all. In the last names, it is #1754 and Poston is #3368.

I'm not sure that means much, though. Some of my nearest neighbors aren't on the last names list at all. There are two last names that I may have met everyone in the US with those last names.