A review by bcope84
The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South by Radley Balko, Tucker Carrington

4.0

This is a subject that I am deeply interested in. I have read several books about the Innocence Project and I have heard about the prison rates in the south amongst people of color is quite high in comparison to the rest of the United States (it is not good in the rest but higher in the south). I cannot understand how people can be pro-death sentences when there are so many unfair practices in our justice system. This book in particular focuses on the shocking number of wrongful convictions in Mississippi due to two men: Steven Hayne (performed autopsies) and Michael West ("Bite Mark Forensics") It reminded me of the quote "The system isnt broken. It was built this way" because no one seemed to care that innocent people were facing long jail sentences and even death sentences due to the fabricated "evidence" from these two men.

Things I liked about the book:
Very through about the subject
Really illustrates the flaws in the evidence and how every step of the way people was just allowing it to continue
Liked that it focused on two stories that were committed by the same killer but were originally thought to be two separate cases.
Had a lot of medical terms but did not feel like a medical textbook (other books have not been able to do this)

Things I did not like about the book:
Could be a bit dry at time but I have no idea how a book with this much information could get that information out without coming across a bit dry

TW:
Wrongful convictions
Murder
Sexual Assault
Rape
Racism
Pedophilia