The Whole Truth?: A Case of Murder on the Appalachian Trail / Edition 1

by H. L. Pohlman, H.L. Pohlman

Overview

On May 13, 1988, Stephen Roy Carr, a so-called mountain man living in Michaux State Forest in south central Pennsylvania, shot two female hikers while they were making love at a campsite near the Appalachian Trail. Rebecca Wight died at the scene. Claudia Brenner, despite five bullet wounds, survived to testify against her attacker.In this book, H. L. Pohlman reconstructs the dramatic story of this murder case and traces its disposition through the criminal justice system. Drawing on interviews with participants as well as court records, he closely examines competing interpretations of the evidence. Was the attack a hate crime? A sex crime? A class crime? At the same time, he shows how a broad range of substantive and procedural issues -- from the rights of the accused to evaluation of potential mitigating circumstances -- can influence the assessment of culpability in homicide cases.

University of Massachusetts Press

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558491663
Publisher:	University of Massachusetts Press
Publication date:	02/26/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

H. L. Pohlman is professor of political science at Dickinson College. He is editor of Political Thought and the American Judiciary, published by the University of Massachusetts Press.

University of Massachusetts Press

What People are Saying About This

Janet Rifkin

An unusual and provocative view of both the workings of the criminal justice system and its social context. In particular, Pohlman's probing of the cast of characters exposes the complexities of decision-making that emerge in a criminal investigation, in a prosecution of this magnitude and in the defense of a person accused of murder and facing the possibility of the death penalty.

Editorial Reviews

A thought-provoking account of a senseless crime. It will provide those troubled by our country's imperfect criminal justice system much to think about.

Legal Times