Anatomy of Injustice - Book Review

Anatomy of Injustice: Book Report

The book we will be discussing is entitled Anatomy of Injustice by Raymond Bonner. This book tells the story of Mentally Challenged Southern Carolina resident Edward Elmore who is tried and convicted multiple times of murdering Dorothy Edwards, who was the pillar of her community in Greenwood, South Carolina. On January 17, 1982, her body was found in the closet of her bedroom by a neighbor Jimmy Holloway. Mr. Holloway had been given a key to the house by Mrs. Edwards. Dorothy was found stabbed to death and was believed to have been sexually assaulted as well (this is never conclusively proven). The police immediately drew their focus on Edward Elmore, who was their main suspect. To them, Elmore was just an uneducated young black man who made a living doing odd jobs. The police discovered that a couple days before the body was discovered, Elmore had cleaned the gutters and washed the windows of Mrs. Edwards’ house. Forensics also found a fingerprint near the back door of the Edwards home that was later said to have belonged to Elmore. Based on this information the police arrested Elmore within days of the murder.

Elmore would then go on to spend the next thirty or so years of his life behind bars. He was tried and convicted of murder 2 times and was sentenced to death 3 times. Elmore’s first trial nothing short of a gross misrepresentation on behalf of his court appointed legal counsel. One of Elmore’s counsel, Geddes Anderson, was known by others to have a terrible drinking problem. Elmore claimed that Anderson smelled like alcohol every single day of the trial. To top it off one of the main police investigators in the case even said that Anderson seemed drunk throughout the entire trial. Mr. John Beasley, another one of Elmore’s co-counsel, also had his own personal problems weighing down the case. He was notoriously lazy and rarely completed any work during his clients trials. Combined, these two court appointed defense attorneys failed to consult with any independent experts, pathologists or fingerprint analysts. They didn’t seek out witnesses or talk to any of Mrs. Edwards’s neighbors. They failed to talk to Mr. Holloway, who had found the body and who was also on record as having intimate relations with the victim prior to her demise. This lack of a proper defensive team for Mr. Elmore resulted in his conviction. While the jury was deliberating whether or not he should receive the death penalty, the judge summoned the jury and told them that they have an oath to impose the death penalty if the facts of the case allowed it. The Southern Carolina Supreme Court found this statement made to the jury to be very prejudicial because it was seen as being directly made towards members of the jury who were not voting for the death penalty. Thus the conviction was overturned.

Mr. Elmore was then retried and convicted of murder and sentenced to