A Life in Your Hands

A Life in Your Hands was an unusual courtroom drama, in which the protagonist, Jonathan Kegg, is neither for the prosecution nor for the defense, but, as amicus curiae ("friend of the court"), seeks the truth through cross-examination. The show opens with events leading up to the crime and culminates with the trial. The show ran as a summer replacement on NBC from 1949 to 1952 in various time slots.

The show was created by Erle Stanley Gardner, who was one of the most popular U. S. mystery authors of the mid-1900s. Gardner was a prolific writer who created several fictional detectives, but is best remembered for the infallible Perry Mason. In his private life, Gardner devoted thousands of hours seeking justice for persons he believed had been improperly convicted of crimes.

For more information, see The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio.

Series description provided by Frank Bell.