things from the laboratory. we were arguing that this evidence had in all likelihood i had really expected that he would grant relief because they had presented a compelling case of mr. elmore s innocence. diana was discovering that proving mr. elmore s innocence was not enough. to get a new trial, elmore s team would have to prove that elmore s constitutional rights had been violated. a person can be innocent but as long as they get a fair trial, that s all they re entitled to. well, that begs the question. is it a fair trial if somebody has lied? diana s team immediately appealed judge kinard s decision to the south carolina supreme court. but in the meantime, the state prosecutor, donald zelenka had discovered that diana had a secret that if exposed could destroy her career and damage
while edward lee elmore sat on death row, waiting for his appeal to move forward, diana holt took on other death penalty cases. in one she was able to get a last-minute stay of execution over the objections of assistant attorney general donald zelenka. zelenka was determined to discredit diana. he dug through her past looking for anything to get her off the case. in april 2000, he called her to a deposition. it was at the attorney general s office. there were six attorneys across the table from me and all of them lined up like this. looking. don zelenka asked have you ever done anything in the course of
court in the country. so we felt our chances of prevailing were very slight. in yet another face-off with donald zelenka, the court s circuit three-judge panel heard oral arguments in september of 2010, and remarkably, they came down hard on zelenka. the time of death, we were locking it down because the defendant was seen at 9:30 headed that direction. locking down the time of death based on what his alibi was. i thought you locked down time of death by science. the judges have moral righteous indignation in their voices and what they re saying. you put in evidence there was hairs found on the bed there was a big part of the conviction? yes, it was. not one photograph was taken where the hairs were supposed to be. does that make sense to you? well, i don t know. do you think that makes a difference now that we know he is mentally retarded? no, not at all. in this case, this is just a constellation of problems. even though the judges seem to be raising some seri
get him a new trial. the u.s. 4th circuit court of appeals would be the highest court ever to hear elmore s case. the 4th circuit has the reputation of being the most conservative federal appellate court in the country. so we felt our chances of prevailing were very slight. in yet another face-off with donald zelenka, the court s circuit three-judge panel heard oral arguments in september of 2010, and remarkably, they came down hard on zelenka. the time of death, we were locking it down because the defendant was seen at 9:30 headed that direction. locking down the time of death based on what his alibi was. i thought you locked down time of death by science. the judges have moral righteous indignation in their voices and what they re saying. you put in evidence there was hairs found on the bed there was a big part of the conviction? yes, it was. not one photograph was taken where the hairs were supposed to be. does that make sense to you?
court ever to hear elmore s case. the 4th circuit has the reputation of being the most conservative federal appellate court in the country. so we felt our chances of prevailing were very slight. in yet another face-off with donald zelenka, the court s circuit three-judge panel heard oral arguments in september of 2010, and remarkably, they came down hard on zelenka. the time of death, we were locking it down because the defendant was seen at 9:30 headed that direction. locking down the time of death based on what his alibi was. i thought you locked down time of death by science. the judges have moral righteous indignation in their voices and what they re saying. you put in evidence there was hairs found on the bed there was a big part of the conviction? yes, it was.