Despite the harm he does to McMillian by falsely accusing him, Ralph Myers is shown as a victim and a tool used by the police to manipulate justice. Myers has a badly disfigured face, a criminal history, and a mental disability. A drug user, Myers bears the physical and emotional scars of growing up in foster care. Excited and frail, Myers is a marginalized outcast who craves attention. He uses manipulation, misdirection, and elaborate lies to portray himself as an insider. Though he’s never met Walter McMillian, Myers’s false accusation against him pleases the detectives and gives the sheriff a reason to go after McMillian. Throughout the book, many people comment that they cannot believe Myers’s testimony was believed, emphasizing his instability. His small stature surprises Stevenson because of the significant damage Myers causes McMillian and his family with his lies. Myers’s suspicion of Michael O’Connor when he visits the jail with Stevenson suggests his trust issues. All of these details paint Myers as vulnerable and needy. He does much of what he does in the story out of self-preservation or a need for attention. His decision to tell the truth, inspired by group therapy, highlights hope for redemption, though the retelling as a way to one-up the other prisoners still suggests a need for attention. Myers’s vulnerability makes him easy to manipulate. He represents the many people with mental disabilities stuck in a justice system that abuses them instead of helping them.