South Carolina Single strand of hair focus of arguments before panel

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) § A South Carolina man who spent 28 years on death row before getting his sentence changed to life in prison now hopes a single strand of blond hair will help him win freedom. The hair strand was the focus of arguments Wednesday as a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the murder conviction of Edward Lee Elmore, who had been on South Carolina's death row longer than anyone else before a judge ruled in February that he was mentally disabled and ineligible for the death penalty. Attorneys for Elmore, 51, claim authorities concealed the crime-scene hair strand, which did not match the victim or Elmore, by labeling it carpet fiber. "There's no doubt now that law enforcement officers testified falsely or gave false information to the defense," Elmore's attorney, J. Christopher Jensen, told the appeals court. Assistant Deputy Attorney General Donald J. Zelenka said the mislabeling was a simple mistake. That was the same conclusion reached by a circuit judge who ruled that the hair strand was not enough to warrant a new trial. Elmore was sentenced to death in 1982 for the stabbing and beating death of 72-year-old Dorothy Edwards of Greenwood. The U.S. Supreme Court banned the death penalty for mentally disabled offenders in 2002, and subsequent IQ tests showed Elmore was mentally unfit for execution. Published: Thu, Sep 23, 2010

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