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?
but willie t. said, oh, well i m glad you brought that up. the forensic pathologist let us know that she had located negrid pubic hairs on the victim s chest and abdomen. the defense shut their mouths and sat down. if the hairs were found on the body this was a new and explosive claim. a claim that went unchallenged by geddes anderson. did you ask to see that evidence? you would have to look at the transcript to see. i don t know whether i did or not. according to the evidence you did not ask to see that evidence. why would you not have asked to see that evidence? that seems pretty important. well, i don t know how to answer that. i guess you ll have to take some non-answer to that question. mysteriously the pubic hair willie t. said was found on the body was never entered into evidence. as opposed to the hairs on the
no hairs of anyone of african-american descent. he acknowledged the evidence should have been given to the defense but argued only one of the hairs had sufficient dna to read. we do not dispute the materials from the victim s body at the time of the autopsy. one hair, not hairs. one hair. it was merely another hair in the bedroom of mrs. edwards. this is a completely different case than what the jury heard. in the final analysis, the question really is if not now, when? if this is not enough to grant somebody a new trial, then when is post conviction relief ever appropriate? unexpectedly, rather than adjourn and read the filings before ruling, the judge issued his decision on the spot. all motions are denied. the judge said, one hair is not enough. i m out of here. in this case, there are a number of things that stink and if you look at it as a whole, it doesn t just stink, it reeks. an execution date was set for elmore. he was placed in a high security lockdown cell
we got all excited to ask the judge to set a hearing. it was december 21st. we were going to have christmas beyond all christmases. on december 21st, 2000, a new hearing was held. if a new trial were to be granted, elmore could be released on bail and join his family for the holidays after more than 18 years on death row. judge ernest kinard presided, the same judge who had stated elmore may well be not guilty. lab corps has sent us a report iicating there are hairs from someone other than dorothy edwards and there were
prevailing were very slight. in yet another face-off with donald zelenka, the fourth circuit s 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 saying at 9:30. locking down the time of death based on his alibi. i thought you locked downtime of death by science. the judge 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 of the bed where these hairs were supposed to be. does that make sense? 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 serious questions, i came out of the argument feeling negative about our pro