MADP released its annual report today which highlights some of the major problems with Missouri’s broken death penalty system. Here is a snapshot of the death penalty in Missouri in 2015:
6 executions in 2015.
No new death sentences in Missouri in 2015.
Death sentence for David Barnett thrown out by a federal judge because trial attorneys did not present evidence about the “horrors” of his childhood.[1]
1 Commutation: Kimber Edwards to Life in Prison because of the growing doubt concerning his guilt.[2].
1 Death Row Inmate’s sentence vacated by the Missouri Supreme Court: Reggie Clemons, because of allegations of police coercion, prosecutorial misconduct, and a stacked jury.[3]
4 stays of execution, 1 of which (Andre Cole) was overturned by a Circuit Court.
The Cole County Circuit Court ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to disclose information pertaining to identity of the supplier of lethal injections drugs.[4]
Frank R. Baumgartner (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), released a report demonstrating that racial and geographic disparities were cause for “concerns that the death penalty is applied in an unfair, capricious, and arbitrary manner.”[5]
Pope Francis condemned the death penalty in the United States.
Sr. Helen Prejean came to Springfield and Kansas City, MO to speak about the death penalty and raise awareness among college students. New voices from Evangelical communities begin to express concerns about capital punishment, at both the national and state level. [1] http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/federal-judge-throws-out-death-sentence-for-st-louis-county/article_a7513ea0-7c1a-590f-877c-7ddfa2cdea8c.htm [2] http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nixon-commutes-death-sentence-for-convicted-murderer-kimber-edwards/article_ba43a356-35bc-597c-9c20-0ea5a30aea41.html [3] http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/missouri-supreme-court-throws-out-reginald-clemons-murder-conviction/article_1ca50602-406d-5701-97ad-c56377357d2a.html [4] http://kcur.org/post/missouri-ordered-name-lethal-injection-drug-provider#stream/0 [5] https://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/articles/MissouriExecutions-2015.pdf