The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist

A True Story of Injustice in the American South

By: Radley Balko, Tucker Carrington, John Grisham - introduction

Narrated by: Robert Fass

“A haunting true crime tale of systemic incompetence and racism” (New York Times) – and its devastating effect on innocent lives

After two three-year-old girls were raped and murdered in rural Mississippi, law enforcement pursued and convicted two innocent men: Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks. Together they spent a combined thirty years in prison before finally being exonerated in 2008. Meanwhile, the real killer remained free.

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist recounts the story of how the criminal justice system allowed this to happen, and of how two men, Dr. Steven Hayne and Dr. Michael West, built successful careers on the back of that structure. For nearly two decades, Hayne, a medical examiner, performed the vast majority of Mississippi's autopsies, while his friend Dr. West, a local dentist, pitched himself as a forensic jack-of-all-trades. Together they became the go-to experts for prosecutors and helped put countless Mississippians in prison. But then some of those convictions began to fall apart.

Here, Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington tell the haunting story of how the courts and Mississippi's death investigation system -- a relic of the Jim Crow era -- failed to deliver justice for its citizens. The authors argue that bad forensics, structural racism, and institutional failures are at fault, raising sobering questions about our ability and willingness to address these crucial issues.

Critic reviews

"Of all the tragedy documented in this book, surely the most pernicious is the unacknowledged progression of discriminatory policies in the American criminal justice system. The black men at the story's center were not snatched out of a Mississippi jail and lynched. They were falsely imprisoned. They were haunted by state efforts to execute them for three decades. This is a powerful and instructive story, masterfully told by Balko and Carrington."—IbramX. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from theBeginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

"The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist paints a devastating picture of Mississippi's ongoing systemic abuse of junk evidence by medical examiners and highlights the myriad ways the current legal and political systems reward certain and speedy convictions. This carefully constructed and highly-readable account also reveals the ways in which catastrophic and almost comic expert errors can lead to hasty conclusions, ruined lives, and may take years to correct, if they are corrected at all."—DahliaLithwick, Senior Editor, Slate

"If, like most Americans, you think that our legal system protects innocent people from being falsely convicted, be prepared to have your faith shattered. In horrifying detail, Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington show how structural racism, junk science, overzealous prosecutors, compliant judges, and a bloodthirsty press conspired to wreck lives and convict the innocent. Grounded in Mississippi courtrooms, but with national implications, this bookwill leave you outraged and hungry for change."—JamesForman, Jr., Professor, Yale Law School and author of Locking Up OurOwn: Crime and Punishment in Black America

"A haunting true-crime tale of systemic incompetence and racism...Balko and Carrington have written a cry for help."—The New York Times

"A superb work of investigative reporting....Balko and Carrington combine expertise, industry and outrage into a searing narrative."—Wall Street Journal

"A horrifying exposé of how a few individuals can infect an entire state's criminal justice system."—Kirkus Reviews, *Starred Review*

"A clear and shocking portrait of the structural failings of the U.S. criminal justice system... This eminently readable book builds a hard-to-ignore case for comprehensive criminal justice reform."—Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*

"Through the intensive scrutiny of how the men were speedily tried, convicted, and then released after years in prison, the authors uncover an unholy alliance of racist cops and prosecutors with questionable death investigations and misapplied forensics. This work should spark both admiration and outrage-and, one hopes, reform."—Booklist

Shocking

This book is a fascinating and painful example of the ongoing miscarriage of justice within the American system. Thank god for the progress made by the Innocence Project programs.

Lack of Justice

interesting but overlong work on miscarriages of justice in Mississippi. sad testament on policy overriding justice

scary how forensics was dominated

excellent book! knowing what happened and how it changed, was an eye-opener. difficult to decide if West and Haynes was playing good cop bad cop! still scary how they dominated.

sad truth

these people are so real and their stories are so awful . I felt like I was in those courtrooms

The Corruption

It was a good listen. Shocking to learn about the widespread corruption in the Mississippi legal system.