Anatomy of Injustice

A Murder Case Gone Wrong

By: Raymond Bonner

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

From Pulitzer Prize winner Raymond Bonner comes the gripping story of a grievously mishandled murder case that put a twenty-three-year-old man 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 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.

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, enraging, suspenseful, and enlightening, Anatomy of Injustice is a vital contribution to our nation’s ongoing and increasingly important debate about inequality and the death penalty.

©2012 Ramond Bonner (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This is seductive storytelling at its best.” (Sister Helen Prejean, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Man Walking)

“Explosive…Told with a reporter’s tenacity, a lawyer’s acumen, and an advocate’s zeal, this book is both a gripping narrative and a chilling indictment of America’s justice system.” (Tony Horwitz, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist)

“Fascinating… Anatomy of Injustice reads like a novel, but it is, tragically, all too true.” (Linda Greenhouse, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist)

Incredible story

This is an incredible true story and it was amazing to follow the history of the case. Unfortunately, none of it was too surprising. States have been over turning the death penalty for the past few years and many cases of persons on death row being exonerated have been in the news.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction so I did find it hard to read without breaks. The first half the book contains a lot of interesting background that came off just a bit too dry. Listening to it on audio meant I couldn't skim. Sometimes it felt like I was in a college classroom with a very long winded lecturer. This is more tedious than entertaining.

The second half of the book picks up and is a bit easier to take. Be sure to research Edward Lee Elmore when you are done to see where he is now.

Slow Start

It started a little slow with so much legalese, but I hung in there to find out what happened...although I had to Google to find out the ending. I also learned quite a bit about the justice system. The narration was excellent.

Must read

Powerful story. I am new to greenwood sc. a friend who is a native of the area recommended the book. Honestly had to stop listening for long stretches because I was yelling in my car. I have always been against capital punishment.....this book just solidifies my stance!

A page turner for sure.

Narrator great. More shocked every chapter at appalling injustice entrenched in some state's behaviour/thinking!

Loved it but incomplete

loved it but I would like to find out what happens with the US Supreme Court

you'll never believe in justice again

very well read.
a little long toward the end, but still: very powerful, factual and what can you say, i am not sure one could believe in the death penalty after reading examples like this. makes you wonder about the whole system. hope this is rare.

A miscarriage of justice if I've ever seen it

This crime took place in my hometown. I went to school with Edward Lee Elmore. He was as quiet and meek as the book portrays him. This shows how the justice system works for the poor, blacks and uneducated. Why the law enforcement planting evidence didn't go to jail is beyond me. I'm sorry that I ever knew any of them and called them friends. But it is a great book.

Labor of love

Author must have labored long and hard as I found it laborious to read. Repetitive, in minute detail to the point (I feel) the story line/narrative was lost.