What Would One End Up As An Innocent Man On Death Row? Essay

How would one end up as an innocent man on death row? A man by the name of Edward Lee Elmore was a lower-class black man who lived in Greenwood, Carolina, convicted of burglary, rape, and murder, and sentenced to death. He thought of as a quiet, polite young man, who worked odd-end jobs to make ends meet. In 1982, he was arrested for the murder of 75-year-old Dorothy Edwards, a friendly and loving woman who was well-known in the community. Elmore’s lack of objection or emotion convinced the people around him that he must be guilty. This was not your typical open and close murder case. This was a case of wrongful conviction and a miscarriage of justice that lost a man years of his life. The United States is distinguished for having one of the most sophisticated judicial systems in the world. We like to say that “Justice is blind,” but justice is decided among people, and people are not perfect or impartial. Under the constitution, when one is convicted of a crime, he is appointed a lawyer, and is allowed to present his case pleading guilty or not guilty in a court of law, to fight for his freedom. With a desired fairness in mind and “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” a jury hears the facts and testimony, then decide a verdict. An ideal system, when it works. Police officers, lawyers, and judges hold preconceptions, ideals, and biases. The law is surprisingly easy to bend or to hold stringent. The flawed system engulfed Edward Lee Elmore, and it was then that he realized…