Central Upper Peninsula and NMU Archives
The Central Upper Peninsula and NMU Archives will host a book signing for Dissecting “Anatomy of a Murder”: The Author, The Crime, The Novel, and The Film. The event will be on August 2, 2022, at 4:30 pm at the Archives in 126 Harden Hall on the campus of Northern Michigan University.
Milhizer’s book examines and analyzes – it dissects, if you will – Anatomy of a Murder in significant detail. It tells the fascinating story of its author, John Voelker. It recounts the 1952 murder in Big Bay, Michigan, and community attitudes about the crime. It chronicles the actual, high-profile murder trial, in which Voelker served as defense counsel. It explains how he adapted this real-life trial into a fictional form as a great novel. And it looks back on the production of the groundbreaking film that his novel inspired.
In addition to this largely historical assessment, Milhizer’s book considers several discrete legal and ethical issues that the novel and film raise, including the implications of a criminal attorney “explaining the law” to a client in a manner that may “suggest” a dubious defense. It also reflects upon broader questions, such as the proper role of jury and the impact of community standards in a criminal trial. It evaluates the capacity of the criminal justice system to achieve true justice within the context of what Voelker called the “settled procedures and ancient rules” of the law. And ultimately, it chronicles the greatest legal war story ever told.
As an Army Judge Advocate, Dean Emeritus Eugene R. Milhizer participated in hundreds of appeals, tried scores of criminal cases, and served in multiple leadership positions. For three years, he held a teaching appointment at the Judge Advocate General’s School at the University of Virginia. In 2001, he joined the Ave Maria School of Law faculty, where his course offerings have included Criminal Procedure, Criminal Law, National Security Law, and Military Law. Dean Emeritus Milhizer has been an invited presenter at law schools across the country and his legal scholarship has been published in many prestigious law journals. In May 2006, he was appointed Associated Dean for Academic Affairs, and in April 2009 he was appointed Acting Dean of the Law School. In January 2010, he was appointed the Law School’s second President and Dean, and he served in that position until his full-time return to teaching in 2014. More recently, he served as Interim President and Dean for three months during 2021. In the summer of 2009, and under Milhizer’s leadership, the Law School accomplished the unprecedented feat of relocating from Michigan to Florida.
