Reviews

"A death-penalty trial is lent a fascinating air by its very low-profile, routine nature in Pohlman's (Political Science/Dickinson College) careful, revelatory delineation of the legal process."  

"Here is a lucid narrative of a typical murder trial, written to give the average citizen a tase of how our legal process works when not turned by the media glare into a prurient sideshow.  This case concerns the murder of one young woman and the shooting of another while they were camping in central Pennsylvania.  There was no doubt as to the murderer (he confessed), but there certainly is about the extent to which he was responsible for his actions. The question of the jury's impartiality is raised by the fact that the victims were gay: would this rural, conservative, religiously inclined venue deal the death penalty to a local mountain man for his violence against two out-of-state lesbians? Truth and justice fade behind a fog of legal maneuverings that Pohlman, remarkably, illuminates without putting the reader to sleep: lawyers' battles regarding evidence disclosure and jury selection, a question of the defendant's diminished capacity and a 'Twinkie'-style defense, and questions about the degree of nuance in categories of criminal guilt. Pohlman also does a good job portraying the human weaknesses of the lead players, from the district attorney, for whom 'avoiding the anziety of 'Godlike' decisions was more important . . . than avoiding the infliction of a punishment that in his own opinion had no legitimate purpose,' to the savvy judge who nonetheless displays outrageously misplaced confidence in the defendant's understanding of what is happening to him at his plea-bargain session." 

"Pohlman ably spotlights tough legal nuts (does the adversarial judicial system facilitate or hinder the truth; are the conflicts raised by this legal process inimical to fairness and propriety that, while hardly new, are so fundamental to our notion of justice, they strike reflective chords every time they are raised." 
 
 
 
 

. . . "In The Whole Truth?, H. L. Pohlman, a professor of political science at Pennsylvania's Dickinson College, relates the compelling story of  [this murder on the Applachian Trail] .
. . .Using extensive interviews and court-transcripts, Pohlman chronicles the drama through the eyes of its chief participants.  In painstaking detail, he leads us through each major phase of the case, from the initial investigation to the various pretrial hearings to Carr's ultimate plea bargain and first-degree murder conviction.  Included in an interesting . . . epilogue to the book is a prison interview Pohlman conducted with Carr in which Carr desperately tries to explain 'what really happened' on South Mountain, including his delusional belief that Rebecca Wight was still alive."

"Pohlman gets high marks for his research and interviewing skills.  From the information he collected, he is able to bring considerable insight into his account of the case. . . ."
 
. . . "Pohlman does a nice job of putting the Carr case into context.  The setting for the case was Gettysburg, Pa., a national symbol of the struggle for freedom and equality.  But as Pohlman points out, no huge public outcry for the death penalty materialized despite the brutality of the crime.  In fact, the judge in the case received a letter from a local woman who declared that homosexuals deserved death and described Carr's alleged actions as 'God's work'."  

"Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of The Whole Truth? is its revelation of the tactics and strategems employed by Carr's legal team in its zealous defense of its client. . . . "

"Pohlman employs the murder case a s a springboard for analyzing the criminal justice system in general.   

"Despite these flaws, The Whole Truth? is 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." 

** Lynne Stern Feiges is editor of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America's Professional Negligence Law Reporter.