By Margaret Quamme <\/p>\n
Anatomy of Injustice is both a fascinating and disturbing study of a single case in which a man was condemned to death for a murder that he most likely didn\u2019t commit. It is also a dexterous look at the legal ramifications of capital punishment in the United States during the past century. <\/p>\n
Raymond Bonner examines the case of Edward Lee Elmore, a black handyman who was tried and convicted in 1982 of the murder of Dorothy Edwards, an elderly white widow for whom he had done a few chores. <\/p>\n
Bonner, a former lawyer and investigative journalist, follows the investigation, the first trial and subsequent ones, the appeals, and the ultimate outcome of the case. <\/p>\n
Edwards of Greenwood, S.C., was found dead on a Sunday morning by Jimmy Holloway, a neighbor with whom many believed Edwards had been having an affair. Her body was covered with shallow stab wounds and had been stuffed into a bedroom closet. The surfaces of the house had been wiped clean. A pair of bottle tongs protruded from a kitchen drawer, and a bloody, serrated cake spatula was placed neatly atop a chest of drawers upon which were \u201cseveral sweaters, all neatly folded; a bra; and several family photos in silver frames.\u201d Edwards\u2019 wedding ring and other jewelry were in clear sight; nothing seemed to have been stolen. <\/p>\n
On the slimmest of evidence \u2014 one fingerprint on the back door and a check written to Elmore for gutter cleaning and window washing in December \u2014 Elmore was arrested and convicted. <\/p>\n
Elmore, whose only previous troubles with the law had stemmed from minor fights with his girlfriend, was a physically slight man of limited intelligence who had grown up in poverty, and was described by those he worked for as \u201cpolite, deferential, sweet-natured\u201d and \u201cnot at all physically threatening.\u201d <\/p>\n
In matter-of-fact, well-researched prose, Bonner details the many ways, deliberate or just plain sloppy, in which justice was botched in Elmore\u2019s case. During Elmore\u2019s first trial, his lawyers \u2014 one evidently an alcoholic and another who told friends he didn\u2019t care much for work \u2014 \u201cdid virtually nothing\u201d to clear their client: They consulted no experts, interviewed no neighbors or witnesses, and allowed the county prosecutor \u2014 \u201ca Greenwood institution\u201d who was \u201crenowned, powerful, and feared\u201d \u2014 to introduce whatever evidence he wanted. In this and subsequent trials, evidence was apparently tampered with or hidden. <\/p>\n
The hero of Bonner\u2019s story is Diana Holt, who took on Elmore\u2019s case in 1995, when she was 36 and finishing law school after many personal struggles of her own, including an abusive stepfather and problems in school. <\/p>\n
Holt followed Elmore through appeal after appeal, taking a personal interest in making sure he didn\u2019t get lost in the system. <\/p>\n
Bonner makes it clear that Elmore\u2019s case isn\u2019t necessarily typical of capital punishment appeals, many of which are conducted on the basis of \u201clegal innocence\u201d as opposed to \u201cfactual innocence\u201d: In other words, many of the defendants may have committed a crime but been badly defended, whereas Elmore appears not to have committed a crime at all. But Bonner\u2019s description of decades of bungling is an appalling reminder of the ways class and race can shape outcomes in the American legal system. <\/p>\n
margaretquamme <\/p>\n
@hotmail.com <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
See more here: By Margaret Quamme For The Columbus Dispatch Sunday February 19, 2012 5:55 AM Anatomy of Injustice is both a fascinating and disturbing study of a single case in which a man was condemned to death for a murder that he most likely didn\u2019t commit. Continue reading
\nBook Review | Anatomy of Injustice: Law student\u2019s efforts reveal botched case<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"