Edward Lee Elmore: South Carolina; An overlooked "matter of injustice." Reuters ciaims "proof" that police "manufactured and planted critical evidence." Robert Bonner.

STORY:  "A matter of injustice" by Robert Bonner, published by Reuters on November 29, 2012.

GIST: "Three murder cases in the news recently would seem to have little in common. Michael Morton is a Texas pharmacist convicted in 1986 of murdering his wife. Jeffrey MacDonald is the Princeton- and Yale-educated Green Beret medical doctor in prison for the 1972 murder of his wife and two small children. The “West Memphis Three” are the teenagers convicted of the 1993 killing of three boys in Arkansas.........Something is amiss when you compare the media’s fixation on these cases with that of Edward Lee Elmore, a South Carolina man who served 25 years for a crime he did not commit. There have been no editorials, no “60 Minutes” reports and, most disturbingly, no investigations. Yet the evidence of prosecutorial misconduct makes what happened to Elmore look far more egregious.........Under the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brady v. Maryland, the prosecution is required to turn over all potentially exonerating evidence to the defense. But withholding evidence is benign compared to what happened with Elmore, who was convicted through acts of commission. The prosecution didn’t just withhold exculpatory material ‑ there is proof that police and investigators manufactured and planted critical evidence. They claimed, for example, to have found Elmore’s pubic hair on the victim’s bed. Yet the investigators didn’t take any pictures of the bed, nor did they take the sheets as evidence, because “there were no obvious blood or other stains present,” as an investigator later testified at a hearing. The wall and carpet in the victim’s bedroom were soaked in blood, as was the robe she was wearing. Yet only three pinprick-size blood spots were found on Elmore’s jeans, which the police took from his bedroom. Like the “hairs on the bed,” there is strong evidence that this blood was planted. One investigator removed the jeans from the evidence locker and had them for two weeks, without any legitimate reason. He wasn’t assigned to the case at the time ‑ but had grown up across the street from the victim and was convinced Elmore was guilty. Writing  on the Elmore case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals used the words “outright dishonest” and “deceit” to describe the work of the police and investigators. Those are uncharacteristically harsh rebukes. When federal judges use language like that, the Justice Department might be expected to launch an investigation or the United States attorney in South Carolina to convene a grand jury. Maybe they haven’t, in part, because there has been no public outcry. Where are the editorial writers and columnists or even the celebrities who spoke up for the West Memphis Three and Morton?"

The entire story can be found at:

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/11/28/a-matter-of-injustice/
 
PUBLISHER'S NOTE

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.