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Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong
The book that helped free an innocent man who had spent twenty-seven years on death row.
In January 1982, an elderly white widow was found brutally murdered in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. Police immediately arrested Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, mentally retarded black man with no previous felony record. His only connection to the victim was having cleaned her gutters and windows, but barely ninety days after the victim’s body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
Elmore had been on death row for eleven years when a young attorney named Diana Holt first learned of his case. After attending the University of Texas School of Law, Holt was eager to help the disenfranchised and voiceless; she herself had been a childhood victim of abuse. It required little scrutiny for Holt to discern that Elmore’s case—plagued by incompetent court-appointed defense attorneys, a virulent prosecution, and both misplaced and contaminated evidence—reeked of injustice. It was the cause of a lifetime for the spirited, hardworking lawyer. Holt would spend more than a decade fighting on Elmore’s behalf.
With the exemplary moral commitment and tenacious investigation that have distinguished his reporting career, Bonner follows Holt’s battle to save Elmore’s life and shows us how his case is a textbook example of what can go wrong in the American justice system. He reviews police work, evidence gathering, jury selection, work of court-appointed lawyers, latitude of judges, iniquities in the law, prison informants, and the appeals process. Throughout, the actions and motivations of both unlikely heroes and shameful villains in our justice system are vividly revealed.
Moving, suspenseful, and enlightening, Anatomy of Injustice is a vital contribution to our nation’s ongoing, increasingly important debate about inequality and the death penalty.
In January 1982, an elderly white widow was found brutally murdered in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. Police immediately arrested Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, mentally retarded black man with no previous felony record. His only connection to the victim was having cleaned her gutters and windows, but barely ninety days after the victim’s body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
Elmore had been on death row for eleven years when a young attorney named Diana Holt first learned of his case. After attending the University of Texas School of Law, Holt was eager to help the disenfranchised and voiceless; she herself had been a childhood victim of abuse. It required little scrutiny for Holt to discern that Elmore’s case—plagued by incompetent court-appointed defense attorneys, a virulent prosecution, and both misplaced and contaminated evidence—reeked of injustice. It was the cause of a lifetime for the spirited, hardworking lawyer. Holt would spend more than a decade fighting on Elmore’s behalf.
With the exemplary moral commitment and tenacious investigation that have distinguished his reporting career, Bonner follows Holt’s battle to save Elmore’s life and shows us how his case is a textbook example of what can go wrong in the American justice system. He reviews police work, evidence gathering, jury selection, work of court-appointed lawyers, latitude of judges, iniquities in the law, prison informants, and the appeals process. Throughout, the actions and motivations of both unlikely heroes and shameful villains in our justice system are vividly revealed.
Moving, suspenseful, and enlightening, Anatomy of Injustice is a vital contribution to our nation’s ongoing, increasingly important debate about inequality and the death penalty.
298 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2012
91 people are currently reading
3398 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Bonner
10 books17 followersAfter graduating from Stanford Law School and serving in the U. S. Marine Corps (including a tour in Vietnam), Raymond Bonner practiced public interest law for several years before turning to journalism. He has been a foreign correspondent and investigative reporter for The New York Times, a staff writer at The New Yorker, and has written for The New York Review of Books. He has reported from more than a hundred countries. He is the author of four books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a shared Pulitzer, and the Louis M. Lyon award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism from the Nieman Fellows at Harvard.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
February 25, 2012
Do not read this book unless you are prepared to have your views on the death penalty and our American justice system challenged. This is a powerful story of a South Carolina murder trial where planted evidence and perjury were used to convict and sentence to death a mentally retarded African American man; it's the story of inept defense lawyers and a politically driven "justice" system which rewards winning over fairness and truth - even when a man's life is at stake. This journey through our court system is engaging and thought-provoking.
When I started reading this book, I did so because of a general interest in true crime and our court system. At page one, my belief was that while the death penalty is often applied unjustly and capriciously in some states, it is appropriate for our more heinous criminals. As the author states, there are certain "horrific crimes" which "swell the ranks of capital punishment advocates and makes it hard for death penalty agnostics not to become believers." I didn't expect to be swayed from this belief. I was wrong.
In particular, I was shocked to learn how difficult it is to be granted a re-trial after one is convicted, fairly or not, of a crime - even if that conviction results in a death sentence. As the author bluntly states, "Innocence alone does not entitle a defendant to a new trial." He quotes Herrera v. Collins: "Due process does not require that every conceivable step be taken, at whatever cost, to eliminate the possibility of convicting an innocent person. To conclude otherwise would all but paralyze our system for enforcement of the criminal law." The author summarizes this by saying, "the need for finality in legal proceedings sometimes trumps what might be seen as fundamental fairness." The Supreme Court further states that once a defendant has had a fair trial, "the presumption of innocence disappears." In descent, Justice Blackmun stated, "I believe it contrary to any standard of decency to execute someone who is actually innocent. The execution of a person who can show that he is innocent comes perilously close to simple murder." It's too bad that his was a minority opinion.
Anatomy of Injustice is as captivating as any thriller; the characters in this tale are intriguing and the plot chillingly unbelievable for a work of non-fiction.
"If there is a flaw in the adversarial system of justice that has developed in America, it is that the adversarial nature of it outweighs justice."
Highly recommended.
When I started reading this book, I did so because of a general interest in true crime and our court system. At page one, my belief was that while the death penalty is often applied unjustly and capriciously in some states, it is appropriate for our more heinous criminals. As the author states, there are certain "horrific crimes" which "swell the ranks of capital punishment advocates and makes it hard for death penalty agnostics not to become believers." I didn't expect to be swayed from this belief. I was wrong.
In particular, I was shocked to learn how difficult it is to be granted a re-trial after one is convicted, fairly or not, of a crime - even if that conviction results in a death sentence. As the author bluntly states, "Innocence alone does not entitle a defendant to a new trial." He quotes Herrera v. Collins: "Due process does not require that every conceivable step be taken, at whatever cost, to eliminate the possibility of convicting an innocent person. To conclude otherwise would all but paralyze our system for enforcement of the criminal law." The author summarizes this by saying, "the need for finality in legal proceedings sometimes trumps what might be seen as fundamental fairness." The Supreme Court further states that once a defendant has had a fair trial, "the presumption of innocence disappears." In descent, Justice Blackmun stated, "I believe it contrary to any standard of decency to execute someone who is actually innocent. The execution of a person who can show that he is innocent comes perilously close to simple murder." It's too bad that his was a minority opinion.
Anatomy of Injustice is as captivating as any thriller; the characters in this tale are intriguing and the plot chillingly unbelievable for a work of non-fiction.
"If there is a flaw in the adversarial system of justice that has developed in America, it is that the adversarial nature of it outweighs justice."
Highly recommended.
February 10, 2012
I read it in two nights. It blew me away. ANATOMY OF INJUSTICE is about the murder of an elderly white woman in Greenwood, South Carolina in 1982. The crime is described in harrowing detail. The police arrested a simpleminded black man named Edward Lee Elmore and he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in a matter of weeks. It's hard to read these chapters without tears. After years of ineptitude, appeals, setbacks, and meanness, an unlikely hero emerges in the struggle to win justice for Elmore — attorney Diana Holt, whose troubled youth and true grit make her a formidable, if flawed, advocate: she is part Norma Rae, part Helen Prejean, and part Ann Richards: a helluva story unto herself. Her ceaseless toil and emotional investment on behalf of Elmore is inspirational. Thanks to her work, he’s now off death row (after 38 years), but still in prison. Sitting and waiting as the wheels of justice grind on.
Like DEAD MAN WALKING, this book made me so angry and so sad I threw it across the room a couple of times. It makes you want to save somebody, or at least save the soul of those jurisdictions who still put criminals (regardless of their guilt or innocence) to death. Like EXECUTIONER’S SONG, it occasionally achieves the condition of art. Like Grisham’s THE INNOCENT MAN it’s an act of bearing witness. It’s also a history of capital punishment in footnotes and a cry to high heaven about how miscarried justice perpetuates itself.
Bonner is a crusader who writes the cleanest prose you can imagine: I didn’t count a wasted word in this book. Maybe if enough people read it and gang up, South Carolina will be convinced to let Elmore go free for the rest of his natural life.
Like DEAD MAN WALKING, this book made me so angry and so sad I threw it across the room a couple of times. It makes you want to save somebody, or at least save the soul of those jurisdictions who still put criminals (regardless of their guilt or innocence) to death. Like EXECUTIONER’S SONG, it occasionally achieves the condition of art. Like Grisham’s THE INNOCENT MAN it’s an act of bearing witness. It’s also a history of capital punishment in footnotes and a cry to high heaven about how miscarried justice perpetuates itself.
Bonner is a crusader who writes the cleanest prose you can imagine: I didn’t count a wasted word in this book. Maybe if enough people read it and gang up, South Carolina will be convinced to let Elmore go free for the rest of his natural life.
July 12, 2014
I remember sitting in school in 7th grade, counting down the seconds to the execution of Caryl Chessman. I was not one of those who cheered when the clock struck the hour. I think even at that age, I was uncomfortable with the whole idea of the state killing someone. Today I’m against capital punishment for most situations, partly because I’m come to realize how incompetent the state and justice system usually are and that most punishment in this country, at least, has less to do with justice than it does with getting revenge.
This book has two stories: one the history of capital punishment in the United States; the second, the railroading of a minimal IQ black man in Greenwood, S.C. (why is it always South Carolina?) who was charged with the murder and rape of an elderly woman. The trial included perjury, incompetence and withheld evidence.
Charges for which capital punishment could be applied have changed drastically over the centuries. It used to be you could be put to death for stealing a loaf of bread or even marrying a Jew. Hangings were still public entertainment in the colonies and the Founding Fathers approved of it conceptually (Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin being opposed to it,) the eighth amendment provides interesting latitude in its application by the states. There is a movement in the legal community now to regard capital punishment as not so much cruel as “unusual” and therefore should be declared unconstitutional. Certainly, it’s become more rare, fewer and fewer states glorying in their toughness and celebrating their “frontier justice.” Michigan was the earliest to abolish it (1846) followed shortly thereafter by Wisconsin (1853,) Maryland being the latest (2013.)
The background of Elmore’s innocence project lawyers makes a fascinating story in itself. Diana Holt, for example, had been sexually abused by her stepfather, involved with drugs, done poorly in school, generally a mess, when she had something of an epiphany. She went to community college** where she got straight A’s followed by continued academic achievement at Texas A&M and then also in law school while raising children. According to her colleagues she was a tenacious investigator and brilliant at getting people to talk. She discovered all sorts of malfeasance in the prosecution of Elmore. For example, pubic hair samples linked to Elmore had been collected *after* he was arrested rather than from the crime scene. Exculpatory hairs, one being from a Caucasian collected at the scene, was never presented and later found in the back of a drawer. Holt worked on his case for 20 years, beginning first as an intern at the Center for Capital Litigation in South Carolina.
It should be noted that innocence is not grounds for overturning a conviction. Appellate courts look not at fact, but at errors of law. The dissent in Elmore v Ozmint reiterates that sad state. Justice Wilkinson writes that Elmore had been tried three times and been convicted each time. My distinguished colleagues in the majority respond to the dissent with rhetoric and a protestation that they are not doing what in fact they are doing—overturning factual findings and credibility determinations of the state system that painstakingly heard the evidence in this case. But at the end of the day, our system is indeed grounded on facts and evidence. If the state courts had defaulted in their job, that would be one thing, but it is hard to find a case that received a more thorough review under the well-settled Strickland standard than this one did. Now, I suppose Wilkerson may be right aqs a matter of law. Or, as Justice Scalia put it in Re Troy Anthony Davis, a writ for habeas corpus: This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent. Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged “actual innocence” is constitutionally cognizable. (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/...) Yet, it seems to me that innocence should trump just about everything and when trial courts engage in malfeasance, no matter how many trials someone has, shouldn’t exculpatory evidence best all else?
Justice is a concept everyone wants but is all too often defined as revenge rather than fairness. As of May 2014, 14,000 people have been executed in the United States and 3,000 remain on death row. It has been estimated that 4% of those executed were innocent. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/201... and more information at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innoc...
Highly recommended supplementary reading is the decision of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals which could be found at http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/... and this story in the Atlantic regarding the death penalty and Diana Holt: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/a...
** This is another example of why I am such an advocate of community colleges. They provide second chances for many people who would otherwise be lost to society. I know personally of several cases of women, divorced or deserted by their husbands, married too early, who held down as many as three jobs while raising two or more children AND taking a full load and making the Dean’s List beside. I had one student who got up at 3 a.m. to milk cows, took care of the kids, went to class, and then had an evening job as well. First rate student in her thirties.
This book has two stories: one the history of capital punishment in the United States; the second, the railroading of a minimal IQ black man in Greenwood, S.C. (why is it always South Carolina?) who was charged with the murder and rape of an elderly woman. The trial included perjury, incompetence and withheld evidence.
Charges for which capital punishment could be applied have changed drastically over the centuries. It used to be you could be put to death for stealing a loaf of bread or even marrying a Jew. Hangings were still public entertainment in the colonies and the Founding Fathers approved of it conceptually (Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin being opposed to it,) the eighth amendment provides interesting latitude in its application by the states. There is a movement in the legal community now to regard capital punishment as not so much cruel as “unusual” and therefore should be declared unconstitutional. Certainly, it’s become more rare, fewer and fewer states glorying in their toughness and celebrating their “frontier justice.” Michigan was the earliest to abolish it (1846) followed shortly thereafter by Wisconsin (1853,) Maryland being the latest (2013.)
The background of Elmore’s innocence project lawyers makes a fascinating story in itself. Diana Holt, for example, had been sexually abused by her stepfather, involved with drugs, done poorly in school, generally a mess, when she had something of an epiphany. She went to community college** where she got straight A’s followed by continued academic achievement at Texas A&M and then also in law school while raising children. According to her colleagues she was a tenacious investigator and brilliant at getting people to talk. She discovered all sorts of malfeasance in the prosecution of Elmore. For example, pubic hair samples linked to Elmore had been collected *after* he was arrested rather than from the crime scene. Exculpatory hairs, one being from a Caucasian collected at the scene, was never presented and later found in the back of a drawer. Holt worked on his case for 20 years, beginning first as an intern at the Center for Capital Litigation in South Carolina.
It should be noted that innocence is not grounds for overturning a conviction. Appellate courts look not at fact, but at errors of law. The dissent in Elmore v Ozmint reiterates that sad state. Justice Wilkinson writes that Elmore had been tried three times and been convicted each time. My distinguished colleagues in the majority respond to the dissent with rhetoric and a protestation that they are not doing what in fact they are doing—overturning factual findings and credibility determinations of the state system that painstakingly heard the evidence in this case. But at the end of the day, our system is indeed grounded on facts and evidence. If the state courts had defaulted in their job, that would be one thing, but it is hard to find a case that received a more thorough review under the well-settled Strickland standard than this one did. Now, I suppose Wilkerson may be right aqs a matter of law. Or, as Justice Scalia put it in Re Troy Anthony Davis, a writ for habeas corpus: This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent. Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged “actual innocence” is constitutionally cognizable. (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/...) Yet, it seems to me that innocence should trump just about everything and when trial courts engage in malfeasance, no matter how many trials someone has, shouldn’t exculpatory evidence best all else?
Justice is a concept everyone wants but is all too often defined as revenge rather than fairness. As of May 2014, 14,000 people have been executed in the United States and 3,000 remain on death row. It has been estimated that 4% of those executed were innocent. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/201... and more information at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innoc...
Highly recommended supplementary reading is the decision of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals which could be found at http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/... and this story in the Atlantic regarding the death penalty and Diana Holt: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/a...
** This is another example of why I am such an advocate of community colleges. They provide second chances for many people who would otherwise be lost to society. I know personally of several cases of women, divorced or deserted by their husbands, married too early, who held down as many as three jobs while raising two or more children AND taking a full load and making the Dean’s List beside. I had one student who got up at 3 a.m. to milk cows, took care of the kids, went to class, and then had an evening job as well. First rate student in her thirties.
June 6, 2014
I read a lot about the injustices of our "justice" system, so I did not expect to be all that surprised by the details in this book. I was, in fact, shocked. The enormity of corruption and prejudice, from the police to the lawyers (both prosecution and so-called defense) and right to the judge, is just appalling.
While the initial trial was a farce, what really struck me hard were the hurdles and blockades involved in obtaining a new, fair trial. Once a person has been convicted, the system wants to keep its hold. Despite obvious corruption, suppressed evidence, perjury, and more, our justice system was intent on killing a poor, mentally retarded, innocent black man. This is not justice. This is state-sanctioned murder.
The research here is impeccable, and Raymond Bonner lays out the facts in a compelling manner. This book is easy to read, as far as writing style. But the content will - and should - leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about the way our legal system works.
While the initial trial was a farce, what really struck me hard were the hurdles and blockades involved in obtaining a new, fair trial. Once a person has been convicted, the system wants to keep its hold. Despite obvious corruption, suppressed evidence, perjury, and more, our justice system was intent on killing a poor, mentally retarded, innocent black man. This is not justice. This is state-sanctioned murder.
The research here is impeccable, and Raymond Bonner lays out the facts in a compelling manner. This book is easy to read, as far as writing style. But the content will - and should - leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about the way our legal system works.
May 19, 2012
This was one of those books that I wanted to throw at the wall every 5 minutes. But not in a bad way -- there was nothing wrong with the book itself! Rather, it was the subject matter that was incredibly frustrating at times, because the issues involved in Elmore's story are issues I care deeply about.
I think this is a book that anybody who is interested in our criminal justice system, or in law, or basically just society at all should read.
I should add, as a sort of disclaimer, that prior to starting law school I spent 2 years as a legal assistant in a law office that focused on habeas petitions and clemency petitions for inmates who were on death row in California and waiting to be executed. So my views about the death penalty are very strongly formed -- I am against it. So in my case, Raymond Bonner's book was essentially preaching to the choir. The death penalty system in America is messed up; this I know from my own personal experience working within it. But one thing that I think is amazing about the book that Raymond Bonner has written about Elmore's case is that it's extremely accessible, so no knowledge of the way the system works is needed, and it's extremely compelling and convincing. Elmore's case is a particularly textbook example of what is wrong with our criminal justice system in America today. This book will have any reader re-thinking and questioning their views on these issues, no matter what they believed before they started reading it. Well-written, compelling prose and a powerful story make Raymond Bonner's Anatomy of Injustice a fantastic book that I would recommend to everybody.
I think this is a book that anybody who is interested in our criminal justice system, or in law, or basically just society at all should read.
I should add, as a sort of disclaimer, that prior to starting law school I spent 2 years as a legal assistant in a law office that focused on habeas petitions and clemency petitions for inmates who were on death row in California and waiting to be executed. So my views about the death penalty are very strongly formed -- I am against it. So in my case, Raymond Bonner's book was essentially preaching to the choir. The death penalty system in America is messed up; this I know from my own personal experience working within it. But one thing that I think is amazing about the book that Raymond Bonner has written about Elmore's case is that it's extremely accessible, so no knowledge of the way the system works is needed, and it's extremely compelling and convincing. Elmore's case is a particularly textbook example of what is wrong with our criminal justice system in America today. This book will have any reader re-thinking and questioning their views on these issues, no matter what they believed before they started reading it. Well-written, compelling prose and a powerful story make Raymond Bonner's Anatomy of Injustice a fantastic book that I would recommend to everybody.
April 30, 2015
In these days, when police brutality, inequality, and reactions to them are tearing our country apart, this book is especially relevant. The focus is the courts, not the police, but in telling the story of the miscarriage of justice perpetrated against Edward Elmore, a retarded African American man convicted of the murder of his employer, it exposes some of the corruption and prejudice in law enforcement as a whole. “Anatomy” is an apt word for the title because the author dissects the evidence used against Elmore bit by bit, showing how it could have been tampered with and how police, lawyers, and judges conspired to cover that up. The person who made all these discoveries was attorney Diana Holt, who fought for Elmore for decades. She is the Erin Brockovich of criminal defense.
In the acknowledgements, the author writes of someone that “she has a lawyer’s mind and a journalist’s pen.” The same can be said for him. The book is such a page-turner, it even makes case law readable.
As I said at the beginning, with all that is going on in the country now (days past the Baltimore riots as of this writing), this book is highly relevant to all Americans. If the courts would examine the suppression of evidence and possible tampering that went on in this case and bring the responsible people to justice, perhaps it would bring us all one step closer to healing.
In the acknowledgements, the author writes of someone that “she has a lawyer’s mind and a journalist’s pen.” The same can be said for him. The book is such a page-turner, it even makes case law readable.
As I said at the beginning, with all that is going on in the country now (days past the Baltimore riots as of this writing), this book is highly relevant to all Americans. If the courts would examine the suppression of evidence and possible tampering that went on in this case and bring the responsible people to justice, perhaps it would bring us all one step closer to healing.
December 2, 2021
I enjoyed this book. It’s very straight forward, journalist style reporting. I felt like I knew what would happen next and that there was nothing new about this story except the details of this case. It’s really frustrating to see the way our system works. It’s a solid book.
January 14, 2022
So good! Living in Greenwood myself, so much of the book is familiar to me. It added some history to some of the locations I already know. This book challenges you to view our legal system in a whole other way.
September 12, 2012
I don't know why I keep picking up or listening to Death Penalty cases lately, but this book should really get more than 5 stars because it changed and changes lives. This is an incredibly powerful book. The title nails the subject matter exactly. Raymond Bonner examines very closely the case of Edward Lee Elmore from beginning to end (almost as there is a final update this spring). This case has about everything that could possibly be wrong with American justice and almost nothing that is right. It's a distressing read. While I think what happened to this defendant is fairly rare percentage wise, there is NO excuse for it ever happening here. It's almost believable that it happened once but during almost 30 years of travels through the court system that it took someone this long to do the right thing is inexplicable.
I know that the author and the defense lawyers believe Edward Lee Elmore is innocent. Whether he is or not I don't know despite a very powerful argument that he is indeed innocent in fact. However, what should be clear to any reasonable person is that he was abused and abused badly by the criminal justice system and that the rest of us should be outraged and those involved should be ashamed. Justice was not done in this case regardless of the guilt or innocence of the defendant.
I very highly recommend this book to any American of any law and order persuasion. It's that good and what's more it's that important.
It is the story of the prejudice, corruption and incompetence rampant in the deep south 40 years ago. A poor, retarded, black handyman Edward Elmore was sentenced to death after an elderly white woman was murdered. There was no real evidence and no motive. But the community was eager for a conviction and he had cleaned her gutters leaving fingerprints behind. He was sentenced three times and released three times.
It is also the story of a new young attorney who spent a decade fighting for justice. The book ends before Edward Elmore is released from prison. However, after the book was published, his conviction was overturned and he was released. The book won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize. Extremely well written.
I know that the author and the defense lawyers believe Edward Lee Elmore is innocent. Whether he is or not I don't know despite a very powerful argument that he is indeed innocent in fact. However, what should be clear to any reasonable person is that he was abused and abused badly by the criminal justice system and that the rest of us should be outraged and those involved should be ashamed. Justice was not done in this case regardless of the guilt or innocence of the defendant.
I very highly recommend this book to any American of any law and order persuasion. It's that good and what's more it's that important.
It is the story of the prejudice, corruption and incompetence rampant in the deep south 40 years ago. A poor, retarded, black handyman Edward Elmore was sentenced to death after an elderly white woman was murdered. There was no real evidence and no motive. But the community was eager for a conviction and he had cleaned her gutters leaving fingerprints behind. He was sentenced three times and released three times.
It is also the story of a new young attorney who spent a decade fighting for justice. The book ends before Edward Elmore is released from prison. However, after the book was published, his conviction was overturned and he was released. The book won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize. Extremely well written.
December 4, 2016
Another sad story of an innocent man stuck on death row for decades. There are far too many of these cases, but this one is particularly infuriating because of the blatant racism, the lies, the planted evidence, the lost evidence, the defense attorney who did no work and put up no defense, and the prosecutors and judges who, repeatedly, ignored the facts and evidence and denied this man true due process and justice. Until Diana Holt and her team stepped in, finally giving him reason to hope.
Very well written and investigated.
Very well written and investigated.
November 28, 2020
Wow, just another story of an injustice perpetrated by people who are supposed to be held to a higher standard and search for JUSTICE not convictions. I have such admiration for people who work for the innocence projects and who oppose the death penalty. This book is a very informative look at what happened to Eddie Elmore. It IS heartbreaking and I wish more people would educate themselves about how our justice system is failing.
March 12, 2021
This was like reading Just Mercy except I didn’t have to imagine the town or a few of the people since it happened in my hometown. Unbelievable story that will stay with me.
Read
April 11, 2012Anatomy of Injustice: a Murder Case Gone Wrong,by Raymond Bonner, Narrated by Mark Bramhall, Produced by Blackstone Audio, Downloaded from audible.com.
When the governor of Illinois put a moratorium on putting criminals on death row to death due to alarming statistics in Illinois showing that several were innocent, and when Governor George Bush of Texas, the state with the most criminals put to death, said that he had no reason to think that innocent people were being put to death in Texas, the New York Times sent Bonner first to Texas. But his interest continued and he looked at cases from other states with the death penalty as well. He finally settled on a case grievous enough in its injustice to warrant following it. In January 1982, an elderly white widow was found brutally murdered in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. Police immediately arrested Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, developmentally delayed black man with no previous felony record. His only connection to the victim was having cleaned her gutters and windows, but barely ninety days after the victim's body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Elmore had been on death row for
eleven years when a young attorney named Diana Holt first learned of his case. After attending the University of Texas School of Law, Holt was eager to
help the disenfranchised and voiceless - she herself had been a childhood victim of abuse. It required little scrutiny for Holt to discern that Elmore's
case reeked of injustice - plagued by incompetent court-appointed defense attorneys, a virulent prosecution, and evidence that was both misplaced and contaminated.
It was the cause of a lifetime for the spirited, hardworking lawyer. Holt would spend more than a decade fighting on Elmore's behalf. And that was just to get his sentence converted from death to life. He still is awaiting another trial, his fourth, to put forward the evidence showing his innocence of the crime. Bonner follows Holt's battle to save Elmore's life and shows us how his case is a textbook example of what can go wrong in the American justice system. He reviews police work, evidence gathering, jury selection,
work of court-appointed lawyers, latitude of judges, iniquities in the law, prison informants, and the appeals process. Throughout, the actions and motivations
of both heroes and villains in our justice system are revealed. Anatomy of Injustice
is devastating look at the cases of people on death row with a realistic look at how easy it is for innocent people to be convicted, and then to have the impossibility of even reversing those verdicts when people are put to death.
When the governor of Illinois put a moratorium on putting criminals on death row to death due to alarming statistics in Illinois showing that several were innocent, and when Governor George Bush of Texas, the state with the most criminals put to death, said that he had no reason to think that innocent people were being put to death in Texas, the New York Times sent Bonner first to Texas. But his interest continued and he looked at cases from other states with the death penalty as well. He finally settled on a case grievous enough in its injustice to warrant following it. In January 1982, an elderly white widow was found brutally murdered in the small town of Greenwood, South Carolina. Police immediately arrested Edward Lee Elmore, a semiliterate, developmentally delayed black man with no previous felony record. His only connection to the victim was having cleaned her gutters and windows, but barely ninety days after the victim's body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Elmore had been on death row for
eleven years when a young attorney named Diana Holt first learned of his case. After attending the University of Texas School of Law, Holt was eager to
help the disenfranchised and voiceless - she herself had been a childhood victim of abuse. It required little scrutiny for Holt to discern that Elmore's
case reeked of injustice - plagued by incompetent court-appointed defense attorneys, a virulent prosecution, and evidence that was both misplaced and contaminated.
It was the cause of a lifetime for the spirited, hardworking lawyer. Holt would spend more than a decade fighting on Elmore's behalf. And that was just to get his sentence converted from death to life. He still is awaiting another trial, his fourth, to put forward the evidence showing his innocence of the crime. Bonner follows Holt's battle to save Elmore's life and shows us how his case is a textbook example of what can go wrong in the American justice system. He reviews police work, evidence gathering, jury selection,
work of court-appointed lawyers, latitude of judges, iniquities in the law, prison informants, and the appeals process. Throughout, the actions and motivations
of both heroes and villains in our justice system are revealed. Anatomy of Injustice
is devastating look at the cases of people on death row with a realistic look at how easy it is for innocent people to be convicted, and then to have the impossibility of even reversing those verdicts when people are put to death.
August 12, 2012
Bonner does a good job of making a case for the innocence of Elmore ... until he gets to the end. But whether Elmore was guilty (Where's the motive?) or not, he was definitely framed, fitted up, and railroaded to a death penalty. I'm one of those bleeding-heart liberals who thinks it's cheaper, easier to convict, and less dehumanizing of society in general to just incarcerate for life than kill even a guilty person. Okay, maybe that's not very "bleeding heart" of me and reveals my conservative background.
Anyway, the book will certainly scare the poo out of anyone. Bonner uses many examples of capital cases involving actual guilty parties with descriptions of their crimes. Also, some of the people in this book are ones I know personally. I have visited the house where the crime was committed (and we're going back to discuss the book!). This is a small town-type city. Everyone knows everyone else and you can just see how this could happen. And Bonner paints a Greenwood that is recognizable - of good ole boys nodding and winking. The murder would have horrified the ruling white class and the temptation to convict someone quickly to allay that community's fears (and be re-elected, the solicitor's office is an elected position and there's a challenger running now claiming the current solicitor is soft on crime and has a low conviction rate) would be a solid motivation.
But also, in your imagination you could make a case for Holloway. You only have to think back to Chuck Stuart in Boston, killing his wife and then describing the mysterious "black man" who shot both of them. His brother started out helping him by taking the valuables and gun and throwing them in the river. These were what would be considered "nice" middle-class white people. The police more or less accepted his story and rounded up some black suspects for Stuart to finger. So this can even happen in a big city (of course, Boston has its own race relations problems that were exacerbated by integration).
But, as I noted earlier, the problem is motive. Robbery? Nothing was taken but the purse and it was established that she wrote Elmore a check for $15 because she didn't keep that much money in the house. Anger at his girlfriend spilled over onto a kind lady who not only gave him work but recommended him to other neighbors? Or maybe it just boils down to "That's what they do: rob, rape, and murder our womenfolk." And Greenwood is the sort of place that would believe that.
This March (2012) Elmore was freed by accepting a plea bargain, pleading guilty and was released for the 31 years time served.
Anyway, the book will certainly scare the poo out of anyone. Bonner uses many examples of capital cases involving actual guilty parties with descriptions of their crimes. Also, some of the people in this book are ones I know personally. I have visited the house where the crime was committed (and we're going back to discuss the book!). This is a small town-type city. Everyone knows everyone else and you can just see how this could happen. And Bonner paints a Greenwood that is recognizable - of good ole boys nodding and winking. The murder would have horrified the ruling white class and the temptation to convict someone quickly to allay that community's fears (and be re-elected, the solicitor's office is an elected position and there's a challenger running now claiming the current solicitor is soft on crime and has a low conviction rate) would be a solid motivation.
But also, in your imagination you could make a case for Holloway. You only have to think back to Chuck Stuart in Boston, killing his wife and then describing the mysterious "black man" who shot both of them. His brother started out helping him by taking the valuables and gun and throwing them in the river. These were what would be considered "nice" middle-class white people. The police more or less accepted his story and rounded up some black suspects for Stuart to finger. So this can even happen in a big city (of course, Boston has its own race relations problems that were exacerbated by integration).
But, as I noted earlier, the problem is motive. Robbery? Nothing was taken but the purse and it was established that she wrote Elmore a check for $15 because she didn't keep that much money in the house. Anger at his girlfriend spilled over onto a kind lady who not only gave him work but recommended him to other neighbors? Or maybe it just boils down to "That's what they do: rob, rape, and murder our womenfolk." And Greenwood is the sort of place that would believe that.
This March (2012) Elmore was freed by accepting a plea bargain, pleading guilty and was released for the 31 years time served.
May 1, 2025
It’s not justice when you get three trials and each time are assigned the same drunk, racist, lazy lawyers and the prosecution holds back evidence.
June 11, 2012
Edward Lee Elmore was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to die for the murder of Dorothy Ely Edwards and elderly rich white widow. The only connection the police had was a check made out to Elmore and his fingerprint on a windowsill. Since Elmore had down handyman work for Edwards this was not surprising, the police and prosecuting attorney decided it did.
Elmore was a poor young black man of limited education and intelligence, combined with the ineptness of his attorneys' incompetence, alcoholism, racism and belief in his guilt, he did not get a fair trial.
After many years on death row his case caught the attention of the South Carolina Death Penalty Resource Center in general and attorney Diana Holt in particular. She spent more than a decade fighting for his life and freedom.
The book deals mainly with the process involved in trying to get a man off death row and getting a new trail. The pitfalls and difficulties. Because of that there is a lot of discussion of trials and testimony. Mr. Bonner references many other cases that rulings were violated during his trial or were being used to try to get him a new trial and/or off death row. While Mr. Bonner gives biographical information of the key people involved, it is not extensive just enough to help us understanding the feeling in the community during this event.
Even with the legal talk and recitation of testimony, there is not much repetition in the book. These make the book while not easy to read not as tedious as it could be. Not all the testimony is word for word and there is much that is summarized.
I would recommend this book for true crime fans who like the courtroom side of cases as opposed to biographical data and investigation.
Elmore was a poor young black man of limited education and intelligence, combined with the ineptness of his attorneys' incompetence, alcoholism, racism and belief in his guilt, he did not get a fair trial.
After many years on death row his case caught the attention of the South Carolina Death Penalty Resource Center in general and attorney Diana Holt in particular. She spent more than a decade fighting for his life and freedom.
The book deals mainly with the process involved in trying to get a man off death row and getting a new trail. The pitfalls and difficulties. Because of that there is a lot of discussion of trials and testimony. Mr. Bonner references many other cases that rulings were violated during his trial or were being used to try to get him a new trial and/or off death row. While Mr. Bonner gives biographical information of the key people involved, it is not extensive just enough to help us understanding the feeling in the community during this event.
Even with the legal talk and recitation of testimony, there is not much repetition in the book. These make the book while not easy to read not as tedious as it could be. Not all the testimony is word for word and there is much that is summarized.
I would recommend this book for true crime fans who like the courtroom side of cases as opposed to biographical data and investigation.
May 5, 2012
Similar in a way to Grisham's The Innocent Man, this is a story of justice gone astray. Actually the death penalty is not so much about justice, as it is about revenge. If you still believe in the death penalty after reading this book, then nothing will persuade you. To think that such irresponsible legal and police procedural shenanigans could occur in the U.S. is truly a sobering (and depressing) thought. The manner in which this case and others described in the book were handled by the parties involved is disgusting. The blind eyes turned by judges and appelate courts is nothing short of astounding. This happened in South Carolina and as a northern liberal I would like to think that it would not happen up here, where we are more enlightened. But I am not sure.
Very good reading. My only criticism is that I began to get a bit weary of Bonner's constant asides. I understand that he wanted to bring in context and depth, but the fact that I was always aware of it probably means that he could have done it a bit more skillfully. All in all I do highly recommend this book. Not for the fainthearted though.
Very good reading. My only criticism is that I began to get a bit weary of Bonner's constant asides. I understand that he wanted to bring in context and depth, but the fact that I was always aware of it probably means that he could have done it a bit more skillfully. All in all I do highly recommend this book. Not for the fainthearted though.
September 7, 2013
A fantastic, fast, and accessible narrative of the racial inequities of the criminal justice system, especially in capital cases and especially in the South. The book's events unfold not during the Jim Crow era, but over 1982-2012; it's depressing and enraging how racial prejudice remains alive and well. Even more depressing and enraging is the role played by numerous appellate and state supreme court justices-- one might expect the police and prosecutors to plant evidence to frame a black man, but the tacit collusion of the judges and their unwillingness to overturn prior rulings even when faced with evidence of malfeasance, misconduct, and perjury is horrific. Equally horrific is how many of the law enforcement officials involved in destroying the life of this mentally-handicapped black man-- from the lab techs to the judges-- worship in (all-white) Churches on Sundays and call themselves Christians. A must read for anyone who romanticizes small-town life in the South and for anyone who believes that justice is color-blind.
March 7, 2012
"Anatomy of Injustice" explores the case of a death row inmate in South Carolina, who as a young black man, was convicted of murdering a elderly white woman. Ultimately, an appeal was filed by a young attorney, Diana Holt, who came upon his case and discovered injustice, incompetence, and corruption in his case.
Holt's battle against injustice is both enlightening and engaging, and like Scott Turow's book "Ultimate Punishment", provides a critical look at the often unfair application of the death penalty in our criminal justice system.
As someone stated, "being innocent" in not enough once the courts have ruled against you. At that point, recanted testimony and new facts may not result in a reversal or new trial, even in death penalty cases. And I was most struck by the dedication and persistence of the death penalty lawyer, to continue the battle to correct an injustice against a system and individuals with a self-serving interests.
Holt's battle against injustice is both enlightening and engaging, and like Scott Turow's book "Ultimate Punishment", provides a critical look at the often unfair application of the death penalty in our criminal justice system.
As someone stated, "being innocent" in not enough once the courts have ruled against you. At that point, recanted testimony and new facts may not result in a reversal or new trial, even in death penalty cases. And I was most struck by the dedication and persistence of the death penalty lawyer, to continue the battle to correct an injustice against a system and individuals with a self-serving interests.
May 25, 2012
Although the story is compelling and horrifying--an elderly white woman is brutally murdered in her home, and an innocent, mildly retarded African-American man who had done a scant amount of handywork for her is charged--Bonner's writing is dry and dull. I found myself skimming through the second half, only to find the ending was anti-climactic: yes, Edward Lee Elmore was removed from Death Row after nearly thirty years, but he was still not exonerated and remained in jail. Since this book has been published, however, he has finally been released from prison after a plea deal similar to the one that saw the West Memphis Three freed. I realize that Bonner had no ability to change the circumstances of the case, and that maybe the book even contributed to Elmore's freedom, but how much stronger it would have been if it had been published with his release as a conclusion. A disappointing snoozer.
January 7, 2013
This true-crime book centers around the murder of a well-to-do single, white, older woman in a small town. The man immediately accused is her black, slightly retarded, handyman. It takes us through 3 trials, appeals, and 38 years of this innocent man who is sentenced immediately to the death penalty. While h
all his lawyer's many reasonable attempts to free him are continually going on, he sees about 30 other inmates who also got "the electric chair" get executed and saw a couple prisoners exonerated.
It was factual and presented several legal issues and specific cases that might pertain to him. The reader may get a little bored with these or if that type of court hearings, legalities, and cases interest you, then you'd like the presentation much better. It is an amazing book, based on actual events which is why I opted for a 5-star rating rather than the 4. It's extremely difficult to present this type of information fully in a way the lay person would understand it.
all his lawyer's many reasonable attempts to free him are continually going on, he sees about 30 other inmates who also got "the electric chair" get executed and saw a couple prisoners exonerated.
It was factual and presented several legal issues and specific cases that might pertain to him. The reader may get a little bored with these or if that type of court hearings, legalities, and cases interest you, then you'd like the presentation much better. It is an amazing book, based on actual events which is why I opted for a 5-star rating rather than the 4. It's extremely difficult to present this type of information fully in a way the lay person would understand it.
March 15, 2012
This book was an excellent read. It was incredibly well written. I will give it that it is very dry. If you are looking for a "National Enquirer" style true crime book, this isn't the book for you. This book was well researched and well formatted.
Why the 3 stars then, when I had originally considered it a 5 star read? Because there were incidents/people in the book which I consider were presented with "bias and propaganda". Given the text book "case study" of this book, I actually consider that type of presentation to be unprofessional, unnecessary and juvenile. It definitely was not needed and detracted from important messages that I think the author was trying to get across. Had this have been a "National Enquire" style of writing, I probably would have rolled my eyes and continued on, but it was glaring in this book. Therefore, I marked the rating of the book down.
Why the 3 stars then, when I had originally considered it a 5 star read? Because there were incidents/people in the book which I consider were presented with "bias and propaganda". Given the text book "case study" of this book, I actually consider that type of presentation to be unprofessional, unnecessary and juvenile. It definitely was not needed and detracted from important messages that I think the author was trying to get across. Had this have been a "National Enquire" style of writing, I probably would have rolled my eyes and continued on, but it was glaring in this book. Therefore, I marked the rating of the book down.
April 22, 2012
I rate a book 5 stars when it gives me something to think about and something to Google. This should really get more than 5 stars because it changed lives. It is the story of the prejudice, corruption and incompetence rampant in the deep south 40 years ago. A poor, retarded, black handyman was sentenced to death after an elderly white woman was murdered. There was no real evidence and no motive. But the community was eager for a conviction and he had cleaned her gutters leaving fingerprints behind.
It is also the story of a new young attorney who spent a decade fighting for justice. The book ends before Edward Elmore is released from prison. However, after the book was published, his conviction was overturned and he was released. The book won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize and should be made into a movie.
It is also the story of a new young attorney who spent a decade fighting for justice. The book ends before Edward Elmore is released from prison. However, after the book was published, his conviction was overturned and he was released. The book won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize and should be made into a movie.
February 27, 2012
This book reads like a layman's parody of small-town Southern justice -- the grizzled D.A. who runs everything; the good old boys network springing into action by planting evidence and then playing CYA; the public defenders who failed to ask questions even I without my law degree would have known to ask -- except the stakes are deadly serious and this kind of stuff could well be happening (and likely is) in towns all across America.
When you read about opposition to the death penalty, remember, it's not to give a pass to the most evil among us (such as the two cretins who burned up the doctor's house in Connecticut a few years ago, killing his entire family), but to safeguard against human prosecutorial error, something this book powerfully argues is all too plausible.
When you read about opposition to the death penalty, remember, it's not to give a pass to the most evil among us (such as the two cretins who burned up the doctor's house in Connecticut a few years ago, killing his entire family), but to safeguard against human prosecutorial error, something this book powerfully argues is all too plausible.
June 3, 2012
Amazingly gut-wrenching true account of Edward Lee Elmore, an innocent man convicted of murder, and the lawyer who has spent much of her life working for his freedom. More heartbreaking than the fact that an innocent man has spent 3 decades of his life in jail--much of it on death row--is the fact that thousands of people, perhaps millions, have "assumed" his guilt based on what the inept and corrupt lawyers in one small town put forth as truth. Even the coroner based her results on what one man with an agenda put forth as fact, with no proof whatsoever. If this book tells the truth, it should change the way we as Americans feel about the death penalty, if not on moral grounds, on legal. I know it's changed my mind and given me much to think about.
April 22, 2012
I had high hopes for this book: topic is right down my alley, and Bonner has a wonderful reputation. But the prose is really leaden, and the whole book seems to lack much in the way of narrative flair.
January 8, 2022
I read this book in just two days. This is a true story set in the town where I live. Many of the names and locations are familiar. This book will challenge your view on our criminal justice system and certainly on the death penalty.
July 29, 2018
I have long had this in my TBR stack, given my interest in death penalty cases, racial justice, and past affiliation with South Carolina and its law school. Be prepared to have any prior concepts about the death penalty upended and turned inside out. The story of Eddie Elmore as written by a lawyer turned journalist, is that explosive.
Many classic elements about capital punishment are involved in Elmore’s case: race, mental retardation, ineffective trial counsel, mishandled and planted evidence, prosecutorial malfeasance, snitch testimony, DNA testing, and Elmore’s reiteration of innocence. Bonner uses the case to write about the history and debate of the death penalty over the years in the U.S.
“When it came to writing the Constitution, the Founding Fathers left the issue of execution—along with other punishments—to the states, and hangings continued to be public spectacles. Only a few early American leaders were opposed to the death penalty, most notably Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.”
“In the South, the death penalty is acceptable to many because it is cloaked in religious righteousness.”
To say that it was extremely difficult for Elmore to get a new trial based on innocence would be an understatement. Per Chief Justice Rehnquist, federal courts “sit to insure that individuals are not imprisoned in violation of the Constitution—not to correct errors of fact,” After a defendant has had a fair trial, “the presumption of innocence disappears,” he noted. In order to get a new trial, a convicted person has to establish that one of his constitutional rights was violated. Justice Blackmun, on the other hand, states, “For more than 20 years, I have endeavored—indeed, I have struggled—along with a majority of this Court, to develop procedural and substantive rules that would lend more than the mere appearance of fairness to the death penalty endeavor. Rather than continue to coddle the Court’s delusion that the desired level of fairness has been achieved and the need for regulation eviscerated, I feel morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed.” He concluded: “From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.” Justice Douglas stated, “Society wins not only when the guilty are convicted but when criminal trials are fair; our system of the administration of justice suffers when any accused is treated unfairly.”
Bonner posits that “if there is a flaw in the adversarial system of justice that has developed in America, it is that the adversarial nature of it outweighs justice.” I could not agree more.
Edward Elmore spent almost 30 years on death row. He is now free thanks to the unstinting efforts of his attorneys. I would like to hug him and tell him how sorry I am that this miscarriage of justice happened to him.
Many classic elements about capital punishment are involved in Elmore’s case: race, mental retardation, ineffective trial counsel, mishandled and planted evidence, prosecutorial malfeasance, snitch testimony, DNA testing, and Elmore’s reiteration of innocence. Bonner uses the case to write about the history and debate of the death penalty over the years in the U.S.
“When it came to writing the Constitution, the Founding Fathers left the issue of execution—along with other punishments—to the states, and hangings continued to be public spectacles. Only a few early American leaders were opposed to the death penalty, most notably Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.”
“In the South, the death penalty is acceptable to many because it is cloaked in religious righteousness.”
To say that it was extremely difficult for Elmore to get a new trial based on innocence would be an understatement. Per Chief Justice Rehnquist, federal courts “sit to insure that individuals are not imprisoned in violation of the Constitution—not to correct errors of fact,” After a defendant has had a fair trial, “the presumption of innocence disappears,” he noted. In order to get a new trial, a convicted person has to establish that one of his constitutional rights was violated. Justice Blackmun, on the other hand, states, “For more than 20 years, I have endeavored—indeed, I have struggled—along with a majority of this Court, to develop procedural and substantive rules that would lend more than the mere appearance of fairness to the death penalty endeavor. Rather than continue to coddle the Court’s delusion that the desired level of fairness has been achieved and the need for regulation eviscerated, I feel morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed.” He concluded: “From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.” Justice Douglas stated, “Society wins not only when the guilty are convicted but when criminal trials are fair; our system of the administration of justice suffers when any accused is treated unfairly.”
Bonner posits that “if there is a flaw in the adversarial system of justice that has developed in America, it is that the adversarial nature of it outweighs justice.” I could not agree more.
Edward Elmore spent almost 30 years on death row. He is now free thanks to the unstinting efforts of his attorneys. I would like to hug him and tell him how sorry I am that this miscarriage of justice happened to him.
January 29, 2019
The title evokes the 1958 bestselling book and 1959 movie "Anatomy of a Murder"—that book and film opened a curtain on how the American legal system worked in the real world, not as it portrayed in popular culture. This book, winner of a Pulitzer Prize, strips away many ugly facts about how the homicide/capital punishment process has failed for for over 100 years by examining one horrifying case from South Carolina.
Edward Lee Elmore was convicted of killing Dorthy Edwards of Greenwood, SC, and in the subsequent appeals, there was overwhelming evidence of police misconduct, deceit and outright perjury on the part of law enforcement. Worse, Jimmy Holloway, a local millionaire and former Greenwood council member, who Edwards' neighbor, presumed ex-love, the man who discovered the body, then told police at the murder scene a false story to provide a timeline that cleared his name and how to find Elmore and finally asked (and was granted) police permission to clean up the crime scene (and destroy evidence) before Edwards' surviving daughter was consulted, should have at least been fingerprinted, investigated and cleared as a suspect before Elmore should have been charged. Years later, a sickly Holloway would taunt a defense attorney with "if I did it, you can't touch me" statements before he died in 1994.
As Bonner points out, even if you accept most people on death row might be guilty, there are to many cases like Elmore's and it is far too easy to convict the poor on flimsy evidence but it is nearly impossible to get the courts to admit any mistakes. It is a savage indictment of a system that hot wires retribution at any costs actual justice.
Because the book ends with Elmore's Alford plea release in 2012, here are some facts you don't know: Elmore died in December 2018 after spending more than half his life on death row for a crime he didn't commit and his long prison sentence likely didn't help his health—at one point during his incarceration, a vengeful prison dentist removed more than half his teeth over a toothache complaint. Thanks to Bonner's book, Elmore was able to get some justice in the last years of life. Despite Elmore's Alford plea allowing him to be released from prison with South Carolina maintaining he was guilty and thus denying Elmore any recompense, his lawyers filed a state civil suit demanding evidence exonerating him be reviewed: it went as far a judge who would have allowed an investigation of police corruption to go forward. Rather than have that investigation happen, the state paid nearly $345,000 in settlement. A federal suit to clear Elmore of guilt likely would have failed, but Elmore and South Carolina agreed to a settlement in 2016 that was sealed. It is likely to remain so forever, but thanks to Bonner and the attorneys who believed in Elmore, we know the truth.
Edward Lee Elmore was convicted of killing Dorthy Edwards of Greenwood, SC, and in the subsequent appeals, there was overwhelming evidence of police misconduct, deceit and outright perjury on the part of law enforcement. Worse, Jimmy Holloway, a local millionaire and former Greenwood council member, who Edwards' neighbor, presumed ex-love, the man who discovered the body, then told police at the murder scene a false story to provide a timeline that cleared his name and how to find Elmore and finally asked (and was granted) police permission to clean up the crime scene (and destroy evidence) before Edwards' surviving daughter was consulted, should have at least been fingerprinted, investigated and cleared as a suspect before Elmore should have been charged. Years later, a sickly Holloway would taunt a defense attorney with "if I did it, you can't touch me" statements before he died in 1994.
As Bonner points out, even if you accept most people on death row might be guilty, there are to many cases like Elmore's and it is far too easy to convict the poor on flimsy evidence but it is nearly impossible to get the courts to admit any mistakes. It is a savage indictment of a system that hot wires retribution at any costs actual justice.
Because the book ends with Elmore's Alford plea release in 2012, here are some facts you don't know: Elmore died in December 2018 after spending more than half his life on death row for a crime he didn't commit and his long prison sentence likely didn't help his health—at one point during his incarceration, a vengeful prison dentist removed more than half his teeth over a toothache complaint. Thanks to Bonner's book, Elmore was able to get some justice in the last years of life. Despite Elmore's Alford plea allowing him to be released from prison with South Carolina maintaining he was guilty and thus denying Elmore any recompense, his lawyers filed a state civil suit demanding evidence exonerating him be reviewed: it went as far a judge who would have allowed an investigation of police corruption to go forward. Rather than have that investigation happen, the state paid nearly $345,000 in settlement. A federal suit to clear Elmore of guilt likely would have failed, but Elmore and South Carolina agreed to a settlement in 2016 that was sealed. It is likely to remain so forever, but thanks to Bonner and the attorneys who believed in Elmore, we know the truth.
August 31, 2016
Upon starting this book, I felt a memory tug. I couldn't quite put a handle on it, but then it came to me. it was this case that lost me a job i really didn't care about having, it was just the best of not so many good ones, and sent me to Europe and several life altering events. (See short-story at end of review.)
The book, however, besides being an excellent rendition of a woman's passion and obsession, i guess, is a great example of why I am and always have been, and why should be if you're already not, opposed to the death benefit. What a sorry excuse for justice this poor man faced for 30 years.
Gresham and Turow are surely proud of attorneys Diana Holt and John Blume.
A MUST READ!
Their Existence was a Result of Bigotry
It was a Monday morning in mid-July 1985. I picked up the phone to call from my Lansing, Michigan residence to Limestone College in Gaffney South Carolina. The purpose of my call was to make arrangements with the Chair of my Hiring Committee to make a trip there to obtain housing for the upcoming Fall Semester. I was a newly minted PhD from Michigan State University and had accepted Limestone’s offer of the position of Chair of the Business Division. Lest you be concerned about a newly-minted PhD receiving such as offer, I was forty-five years old and an experienced businessperson.
The important thing about this phone call, however, was that I was immediately told that the position had been withdrawn.
“Withdrawn?”
Wait a minute!
Wait a gol dang minute!
I had already been hired the previous March and since then had turns down a half-dozen other offers.
I hadn’t known then, and probably should have, that the hiring isn’t official until approved by the ruling body. And, for whatever reason, the ruling body hadn’t convened to do the necessary authorizing until that previous weekend.
The conversant on the other end of the phone told me that he had just been told of this decision and was in the process of reaching for the phone to call me and to tell me of what had happened. He also said he regretted the decision and that he thought I had been screwed and that he had been coerced into making the call as no one else had the gumption to do so.
It took several minutes of cajoling the conversant on the other end of the phone, but he finally told me what had happened at the Board of Trustee’s meeting that had convened to authorize my hiring, but hadn’t.
One of the listings in my vita under service to the community was my position on The Board of the Greater Lansing Area America Civil Liberties Union.
The conversant on the other end of the phone told me that when one of the Trustees saw this he went apoplectic and that reaction was repeated by each of the other trustees as they read this item.
It appeared that 1985 still saw a large amount of Deep-South thinking,
Unbeknownst to me, there had been a murder trial of a young black man, read nigger by these Jewels of Honorable Southern Manhood, Edward Lee Elmore, and that said Edward Lee had been convicted of raping, murdering and otherwise defiling of Dorothy Edwards, a 75-year-old white woman, read Belle of the South.
And, worse yet, Northern agitators in the form of death penalty appellate lawyers, possibly some from the ACLU, were keeping the story alive in the local newspapers, radio and television with their constant filing of motions delaying the justifiable implementation of the death penalty verdict.
And, it was clear that I was of those Northern agitator’s ilk, and that these Jewels of Honorable Southern Manhood were not about to allow one of these Northern denizens onto the southern campus.
Deep South bigotry was still alive in 1985.
The University and College professorial hiring season had been over since at least April, so here I was sans job. So naturally, I checked out my legal options with the legal representative of The Board of the Greater Lansing Area America Civil Liberties Union.
The advice received was forgetabouddit!
The lawyer, Zolton Ferency, was also my friend.
He said, “Eddie, you most likely have a clear victory in front of you. The problem is that the case will drag on for a few years if not more, and there will be pretty hefty legal fees on your part that you will be expected to pay since no lawyer in his or her right mind is about to take such a case on contingency. The reason I say such a case is that if you should ultimately prevail, and you probably will, your award will almost surely be limited to the difference between the income you actually earned in the period between filing and decision. It’s unlikely there will be an additional damages awarded, so there would be nothing to pay the attorney who would handle the case. And knowing you, you’ll probably earn more during this period, so there wouldn’t be any monetary damages at all.
“Sorry to say this, old friend, but Suck it up and move on!”
Talk about being pissed. But upon sober reflection, and I was sober since this meeting with Zolton was taking place before noon, I took his advice. I would suck it up and move on!
When I got home, my then current live-in handed me a note and said, “Eddie, you received a call while you were out.”
It was from the University of Maryland University College European Division.
I called.
They said that they had a last minute opening in Germany and was I interested.
Oh boy was I interested.
We made an appointment. My then current live-in, who was in the process of completing her Master’s Degree and I drove out.
They hired us both.
It was not only the luckiest job I had ever been offered, for many reasons it was the best job I had ever held.
A year later, my daughter, Elizabeth, was completing her master’s degree.
We talked and she said, “Dad, I have no idea what to do next.”
I told her, “Why don’t you apply for a job over here with me?”
Her response was quite a bit less than enthusiastic. However, since she hadn’t put a complete Kabash on my suggestion, I followed through and requested an interview for her.
I was told that the College needed experienced teachers, not kids, but as a favor to me they’d talk to her.
My daughter acquiesced to an interview. The people who met with her loved her, absolutely loved her. They offered her a job. Being my daughter might have gotten her the interview, but it was her skills and education that got her the job.
She joined me in Germany the that summer. I was an experienced hand. I had been there a full year.
We were never really geographically at the same place, but always close enough for weekly visits.
A year or so, she introduced me to a United States Air Force Captain that she had been seeing.
They married in the Summer of 1989.
I had already left Europe for a job Stateside, but I flew back for the wedding.
Subsequently, that marriage bore two issues, my grandson, Jordan, and my granddaughter, Jennica. Hoping not to sound like a proud grandpa, these two youngsters have grown into magnificent adults.
Upon reading this, it will be the first time that they have learned that they both owe their existence to the bigotry of Jewels of Honorable Southern Manhood rejecting me as a Professor with the resultant landing of myself and their mother in Germany where she would meet their father.
It was just this past month that I had been reminded of this long ago occasion by my reading of the book Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong by Raymond Bonner, an excellent read and a reminder of why I have always been proud of my ACLU affiliation.
The book, however, besides being an excellent rendition of a woman's passion and obsession, i guess, is a great example of why I am and always have been, and why should be if you're already not, opposed to the death benefit. What a sorry excuse for justice this poor man faced for 30 years.
Gresham and Turow are surely proud of attorneys Diana Holt and John Blume.
A MUST READ!
Their Existence was a Result of Bigotry
It was a Monday morning in mid-July 1985. I picked up the phone to call from my Lansing, Michigan residence to Limestone College in Gaffney South Carolina. The purpose of my call was to make arrangements with the Chair of my Hiring Committee to make a trip there to obtain housing for the upcoming Fall Semester. I was a newly minted PhD from Michigan State University and had accepted Limestone’s offer of the position of Chair of the Business Division. Lest you be concerned about a newly-minted PhD receiving such as offer, I was forty-five years old and an experienced businessperson.
The important thing about this phone call, however, was that I was immediately told that the position had been withdrawn.
“Withdrawn?”
Wait a minute!
Wait a gol dang minute!
I had already been hired the previous March and since then had turns down a half-dozen other offers.
I hadn’t known then, and probably should have, that the hiring isn’t official until approved by the ruling body. And, for whatever reason, the ruling body hadn’t convened to do the necessary authorizing until that previous weekend.
The conversant on the other end of the phone told me that he had just been told of this decision and was in the process of reaching for the phone to call me and to tell me of what had happened. He also said he regretted the decision and that he thought I had been screwed and that he had been coerced into making the call as no one else had the gumption to do so.
It took several minutes of cajoling the conversant on the other end of the phone, but he finally told me what had happened at the Board of Trustee’s meeting that had convened to authorize my hiring, but hadn’t.
One of the listings in my vita under service to the community was my position on The Board of the Greater Lansing Area America Civil Liberties Union.
The conversant on the other end of the phone told me that when one of the Trustees saw this he went apoplectic and that reaction was repeated by each of the other trustees as they read this item.
It appeared that 1985 still saw a large amount of Deep-South thinking,
Unbeknownst to me, there had been a murder trial of a young black man, read nigger by these Jewels of Honorable Southern Manhood, Edward Lee Elmore, and that said Edward Lee had been convicted of raping, murdering and otherwise defiling of Dorothy Edwards, a 75-year-old white woman, read Belle of the South.
And, worse yet, Northern agitators in the form of death penalty appellate lawyers, possibly some from the ACLU, were keeping the story alive in the local newspapers, radio and television with their constant filing of motions delaying the justifiable implementation of the death penalty verdict.
And, it was clear that I was of those Northern agitator’s ilk, and that these Jewels of Honorable Southern Manhood were not about to allow one of these Northern denizens onto the southern campus.
Deep South bigotry was still alive in 1985.
The University and College professorial hiring season had been over since at least April, so here I was sans job. So naturally, I checked out my legal options with the legal representative of The Board of the Greater Lansing Area America Civil Liberties Union.
The advice received was forgetabouddit!
The lawyer, Zolton Ferency, was also my friend.
He said, “Eddie, you most likely have a clear victory in front of you. The problem is that the case will drag on for a few years if not more, and there will be pretty hefty legal fees on your part that you will be expected to pay since no lawyer in his or her right mind is about to take such a case on contingency. The reason I say such a case is that if you should ultimately prevail, and you probably will, your award will almost surely be limited to the difference between the income you actually earned in the period between filing and decision. It’s unlikely there will be an additional damages awarded, so there would be nothing to pay the attorney who would handle the case. And knowing you, you’ll probably earn more during this period, so there wouldn’t be any monetary damages at all.
“Sorry to say this, old friend, but Suck it up and move on!”
Talk about being pissed. But upon sober reflection, and I was sober since this meeting with Zolton was taking place before noon, I took his advice. I would suck it up and move on!
When I got home, my then current live-in handed me a note and said, “Eddie, you received a call while you were out.”
It was from the University of Maryland University College European Division.
I called.
They said that they had a last minute opening in Germany and was I interested.
Oh boy was I interested.
We made an appointment. My then current live-in, who was in the process of completing her Master’s Degree and I drove out.
They hired us both.
It was not only the luckiest job I had ever been offered, for many reasons it was the best job I had ever held.
A year later, my daughter, Elizabeth, was completing her master’s degree.
We talked and she said, “Dad, I have no idea what to do next.”
I told her, “Why don’t you apply for a job over here with me?”
Her response was quite a bit less than enthusiastic. However, since she hadn’t put a complete Kabash on my suggestion, I followed through and requested an interview for her.
I was told that the College needed experienced teachers, not kids, but as a favor to me they’d talk to her.
My daughter acquiesced to an interview. The people who met with her loved her, absolutely loved her. They offered her a job. Being my daughter might have gotten her the interview, but it was her skills and education that got her the job.
She joined me in Germany the that summer. I was an experienced hand. I had been there a full year.
We were never really geographically at the same place, but always close enough for weekly visits.
A year or so, she introduced me to a United States Air Force Captain that she had been seeing.
They married in the Summer of 1989.
I had already left Europe for a job Stateside, but I flew back for the wedding.
Subsequently, that marriage bore two issues, my grandson, Jordan, and my granddaughter, Jennica. Hoping not to sound like a proud grandpa, these two youngsters have grown into magnificent adults.
Upon reading this, it will be the first time that they have learned that they both owe their existence to the bigotry of Jewels of Honorable Southern Manhood rejecting me as a Professor with the resultant landing of myself and their mother in Germany where she would meet their father.
It was just this past month that I had been reminded of this long ago occasion by my reading of the book Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong by Raymond Bonner, an excellent read and a reminder of why I have always been proud of my ACLU affiliation.
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