Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty 6320 Brookside Plaza, Suite 185; Kansas City, MO 64113 816-931-4177 www.madpmo.org

Missouri’s Death Penalty in 2017: The Year in Review

A year-end compilation of death penalty data for the state of Missouri.

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary 2

II. Missouri Death Sentences in 2017 3 New Death Sentences 3 Unconstitutionality of Judicial Override 3 Non-Death Outcomes: Jury Rejections 4 Non-Death Outcomes: Pleas for Life Without Parole 5

III. Missouri Executions 7 Executions in Missouri and Nationally 7 Missouri’s Executed in 2017 - Mark Christeson 8 Missouri Executions by County - a Death Belt 9 Regional Similarity of Executions and Past Lynching Behaviors 10 Stays of Execution and Dates Withdrawn 12

IV. Current Death Row 13 Current Death Row by County and Demographics 13 On Death Row But Unfit for Execution 15 Granted Stay of Execution 15 Removed from Death Row - Not By Execution 16

V. Missouri’s Death Penalty in 2018 17 Pending Missouri Executions and Malpractice Concerns 17 Recent Botched Executions in Other States 17 Pending Capital Cases 18

VI. Table 1 - Missouri’s Current Death Row, 2017 19

VII. Table 2 - Missouri’s Executed 21

VIII. MADP Representatives 25

1 I. Executive Summary Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (MADP) - a statewide organization based in Kansas City, Missouri - publishes this annual report to inform fellow citizens and elected officials about developments and related issues associated with the state’s death penalty in 2017 and recent years. This report includes information about the following death penalty developments in the state of Missouri:

● Nationally, executions and death sentences remained near historically low levels in 2017, the second fewest since 1991. In 2017, Missouri had one execution and one new death sentence.

● The only new death sentence in 2017 was for Marvin Rice this October. It was the first new death sentence in Missouri in four years and was imposed by a judge, contradicting 11 of the 12 jurors in the case who wanted life for Rice. Rice’s case highlights how Missouri judges can undermine the role of a jury in the state’s death sentencing statute.

● Missouri executed one person in 2017: Mark Christeson. Christeson still had outstanding federal appeals, and he died without ever having his case reviewed in a federal court.

● Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens stayed the scheduled execution of Marcellus Williams, set for August 22, to convene a Board of Inquiry.

● Missouri has scheduled one execution for 2018: Russell Bucklew on March 18. Bucklew suffers from a rare medical condition that could make his execution prolonged and painful, and the U. S. Supreme Court previously issued a stay for Bucklew in 2014.

● Regional patterns of executions in Missouri show similarity to historic patterns of lynching. These form a “death belt” across the state in which executions and lynchings occur in concentrations in clusters of counties.

2 II. Missouri Death Sentences in 2017

New Death Sentences There was one new death sentence in the state of Missouri in 2017. This was the first new death sentence in Missouri since 2013.1 On October 6, St. Charles County Judge Kelly Wayne Parker imposed a death sentence on Marvin Rice despite the fact that the jury deadlocked, with 11 out of 12 jurors voting for life without the possibility of parole. Rice is a former Dent County deputy sheriff and state correctional officer. The case involved the shooting murder of his ex-girlfriend, Annette Durham, during a custody dispute over her son.

Before the sentencing hearing, Rice’s lawyers argued that giving Rice the death penalty was unconstitutional. Prosecutors said jurors had found one aggravating factor in favor of the death penalty but had not unanimously decided mitigating evidence outweighed the aggravating circumstance. Mitigating evidence had included the issue of Rice’s mental health. Rice had a pituitary tumor in his brain at the time of the murder and was taking 17 medications that affected his impulse control and made him paranoid.

Unconstitutionality of Judicial Override Judge Parker’s sentence of Rice to death was the first new death sentence in Missouri in four years and undermined the role of the 11 out of 12 jurors who wanted life for Rice and the role of the citizens who serve on juries in capital cases. No jury in Missouri has sentenced a defendant to death since 2013.

Parker’s sentencing Rice to death has raised questions about judicial override in Missouri and its constitutionality under the Sixth Amendment. The relevant Missouri sentencing statute currently states that if a jury is unable to decide unanimously upon a punishment, the judge will assess the mitigating and aggravating evidence and then choose between life without parole or death.2 Most states with the death penalty follow the federal procedure of an automatic sentence of life without parole if a jury cannot reach a unanimous decision on appropriate punishment.

The Missouri Supreme Court has previously rejected judicially imposed death sentences, which erode the role of the jury in imposing the ultimate punishment. In a similar case in 1994, a jury found Joseph Whitfield guilty of first-degree murder but could not settle on a punishment, with 11 out of 12 voting for life imprisonment.3 A judge sentenced Whitfield to death according to the four-step process of the Missouri statute at the time. In 2003, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected Whitfield’s death sentence unconstitutional, finding that “[t]his process clearly violated the requirement of Ring that the jury rather ​ ​ than the judge determine the facts on which the death penalty is based.”

1 R. Patrick, "Judge in St. Charles County sentences former Dent County deputy to death for murder," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 6, 2017 ​ ​ ​ 2 MO Rev Stat § 565.030 (2013) https://law.justia.com/codes/missouri/2013/title-xxxviii/chapter-565/section-565.030 ​ 3 State v. Whitfield, 107 S.W.3d 253 (Mo. 2003). 3 Missouri and Indiana are the only two states in which a judge can give a death sentence if a jury deadlocks. No state currently allows a judge to override a jury’s decision of a life sentence. Three states - Alabama, Delaware, and Florida - that once permitted the practice ended it in the past two years.4 Alabama repealed the judicial override portion of its death penalty statue in April 2017. Research found Alabama’s judicial override was employed to impose death sentences when a jury recommended life, rather than as a safeguard against unjust jury votes for death.5 The Delaware Supreme Court invalidated its death penalty statute and its relevant judicial override provisions in 2016.

In January 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court found in Hurst v. Florida that Florida’s sentencing statute was ​ ​ unconstitutional, ruling that “[t]he Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death.”6 Florida’s sentencing procedure, which required only an “advisory sentence” from a jury, had called for the sentencing judge to give “great weight” to the jury’s recommendation but only the judge provided reasons for the case’s eligibility of a death sentence.

In a 1988 dissent in Johnson v. Alabama, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall highlighted the ​ ​ dangers associated with judicial override: “It approaches the most literal sense of the word ‘arbitrary’ to put one to death in the face of a contrary jury determination where it is accepted that the jury had indeed responsibly carried out its task.”

Non-Death Outcomes: Jury Rejections Since 2013, juries in Missouri have rejected the death penalty each time they have considered it. In 2017 alone, death-qualified juries in this state rejected death in four cases.

● In May this year, a death-qualified jury from Boone County recommended life without parole in the re-trial of Mark Gill7. Gill and his co-defendant Justin Brown were convicted for the abduction and first-degree murder of Ralph Lape, Jr., in Cape Girardeau County. Then-Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle had sought the death penalty against both men. A New Madrid County jury convicted and sentenced Gill to death in 2004. Brown was convicted and sentenced to life without parole by a Waynesville jury in 2006. Gill’s post-conviction motion alleged ineffective counsel in his first trial, and the Missouri Supreme Court upheld his conviction but reversed his sentence in 2010. Prosecutor Swingle sought the death penalty again when the case was moved to Boone County, and Chris Limbaugh continued to seek death when he took Swingle’s place.

● In October, a death-qualified jury from Springfield in the federal death penalty case of Ulysses S. Jones split.8 In federal court, a death sentence must be reached unanimously by a jury.

4 “Missouri Judge Sentences Defendant to Death After 11 Jurors Had Voted for Life Sentence.” Death Penalty Information Center, October ​ 201​ 7. 5 “The Death Penalty in Alabama: Judge Override.” Equal Justice Initiative, July 2011. ​ ​ 6 Hurst v. Florida. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-7505_5ie6.pdf ​ ​ 7 M Bliss. “Convicted murderer Mark Gill receives life sentence in retrial of penalty phase.” Southeast Missourian, May 23, 2017. ​ ​ 8 H. Keegan. “Springfield jury splits, allowing prisoner to avoid death in 4th murder conviction.” Springfield News-Leader, October 17, 2017. ​ ​ ​ 4 61-year-old Jones was found guilty by the same jury for the 2006 stabbing of fellow inmate Timothy Baker at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield. Jones had end-stage renal disease. He was already serving life in prison for three murders, one of which also occurred in prison. Jones’ defense attorneys brought up that Jones had a traumatic childhood in Washington D.C. with an abusive father, and also argued that, with an IQ score ranging from 63 to 72, Jones was intellectually disabled.

● In October, a death-qualified jury in St. Charles County rejected death for former sheriff’s deputy and correctional officer Marvin Rice in the killing of his ex-girlfriend Annette Durham and her boyfriend Steven Strotkamp. At trial, Rice's defense lawyer Charles Hoskins told jurors that Rice had "snapped" when Durham told him she was taking their son and he was “never seeing [your son] again, and neither is your family.” Mental-health evidence included that Rice had a pituitary tumor in his brain at the time of the murder and was taking 17 medications that affected his impulse control and made him paranoid. 11 out of 12 jurors voted for life without parole for Rice. The judge, however, sentenced Rice to death.

● In November, a death-qualified jury from Platte County deadlocked with 10 jurors voting for death and 2 for life without the possibility of parole in the sentencing of Craig Wood in Springfield.9 The sentencing decision will now fall to Circuit Judge Thomas Mountjoy, with a hearing scheduled for January 11. Wood was convicted of the 2014 kidnapping and killing of 10-year-old Hailey Owens. Following the jury decision in December, Craig Wood’s attorneys filed a 42-paged petition for a new trial, claiming multiple errors prevented Wood from receiving a fair trial.10 This includes that Wood’s father, Jim, was not allowed to testify about his partnership with Hailey’s mother, Stacey Herman, to push for changes to speed up the state’s Amber Alert system. Additionally, the defense was not allowed to call Herman, the victim’s mother, to the stand to testify that she endorsed a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Wood, rather than the death penalty.

Non-Death Outcomes: Pleas for Life Without Parole In 2017, two possible death penalty cases in Missouri ended in guilty pleas for life without parole sentences.

● Nicholas Sheley was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in October for the 2008 deaths of Jill and Tom Estes and 75 years for two counts of armed criminal action.11 He was facing the death penalty, but Jefferson County prosecutors offered a plea. Sheley was already serving life for killing 6 in Illinois.

9 “Jury can't agree on death penalty so Missouri judge will make call in slaying of 10-year-old.”Associated Press, November 12, 2017. ​ ​ ​ 10 H. Keegan. “Attorneys say Craig Wood did not get fair trial after errors by judge.” Springfield News-Leader, December 27, 2017. ​ ​ ​ 11 C. Byers. “Killer of 8 drops to knees to apologize for bi-state murder spree, but families of victims scoff.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 5, ​ ​ 201​ 7. 5 ● Reginald Clemons plead guilty to murder and other charges in December in exchange for multiple sentences of life in prison, 26 years after the 1991 killings of two sisters at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis.12 Clemons was previously sentenced to death, but the Missouri Supreme Court overturned Clemons’ conviction and death sentence in 2015. The court found that in 1993, the City of St. Louis’ Assistant Circuit Attorney Nels Moss Jr. had suppressed evidence which supported Clemons’ claim that the police had coerced his confession by beating him. Moss also wrote “omit” in the margins next to evidence of injuries in a draft police report.13 Despite evidence of this egregious misconduct, in 2015, following the Court’s decision, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce chose to re-prosecute Clemons and seek the death penalty. Two more years of litigation followed.

● In January 2018, Terry Volner plead guilty to first-degree murder for fatally striking 67-year-old Jose Benitez in 2013 in exchange for life without parole.14 Volner was serving a sentence of life without parole for killing a child in 2011 when he committed the second crime at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. The plea came out of an agreement and recommendation from the prosecutor's office.

12 R. Patrick and J. Currier. “Reginald Clemons pleads guilty to murder in Old Chain of Rocks Bridge case.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December ​ ​ 19, 2017. 13 “The Recidivists: New Report on Rates of Prosecutorial Misconduct.” Fair Punishment Project, July 13, 2017. ​ ​ 14 “Inmate sentenced to life in prison for murder.” News Tribune, January 5, 2018. ​ ​ 6 III. Missouri Executions

Executions in Missouri and Nationally The State of Missouri executed one person in 2017, matching 2016 for the lowest number of executions since 2012, when there were none. Missouri executed 10 people in 2014 and in 6 in 2015, second only to Texas during that time.

Nationally, in 2017 there was a slight uptick in executions from 2016, but executions and death sentences remained near historically low levels in 2017, and public support for the death penalty fell to its lowest level in 45 years.15 Eight states carried out 23 executions, half the number of seven years ago, and the second lowest total since 1991. Only the 20 executions in 2016 were lower. Fourteen states and the federal government are projected to impose 39 new death sentences in 2017, the second lowest annual total since the U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972. It was the seventh year in a row that fewer than 100 death sentences were imposed nationwide.

15 “The Death Penalty in 2017: Year End Report.” Death Penalty Information Center, December 2017. ​ ​ 7

Missouri’s Executed in 2017 - Mark Christeson Missouri executed Mark Christesen on January 31, 2017, for the 1998 murders of Susan Brouk and her two children.16 At the time of his death, Christeson still had outstanding appeals, and a jury never heard mitigating evidence of his impoverished and abusive upbringing. Christeson’s cousin, Jesse Carter, participated in the crimes and testified against Christeson. Carter received life without parole.

The lawyers appointed to represent Christeson in his federal habeas corpus proceedings missed his 2005 filing deadline and failed to meet with him until a month later. The lawyers filed the petition four months late, and Christeson was denied federal review. In 2014, a group of 15 former state and federal judges filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of a stay of execution for Christeson’s 2014 date, citing systemic problems surrounding the case.17 The U.S. Supreme Court intervened, granting Christeson new attorneys to assist in his federal appeals.18

Appointed counsel argue that the federal district court refused to provide adequate funds to investigate his case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit granted an appeal to review the denial of funding, but Missouri had already issued a death warrant and the Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed.

16 J. Salter. “Missouri executes Mark Christeson for 1998 murders of mother and two children.” Associated Press, February 1, 2017. ​ ​ 17 J. Salter. “Ex-judges seek to stop upcoming Missouri execution.” Associated Press, October 27, 2014. ​ ​ 18 J. Salter. “US Supreme Court stays Missouri inmate's execution.” Associated Press, October 28, 2014. ​ ​ 8 Christeson was executed without ever having new counsel investigate his case. He died without ever having his case heard in federal court.

Missouri Executions by County - a Death Belt In Missouri, the county in which a homicide occurs predicts the likelihood of a death sentence. A majority of Missouri’s 88 executions from 1977 to 2017 came from just 4 of its 114 counties. Overall, 51%, or 45, of the total executions came from the St. Louis County, the City of St. Louis, Jackson County, and St. Charles County. The executions of recent years reflect this trend as well: of the 8 executions in 2015 to 2017, half were from “hot spot” counties of St. Louis, Jackson, St. Charles. (See Table 1 for a complete list of Missouri’s executed.)

The geographic concentration of Missouri’s executions create a “death belt” along a central corridor through the state. The eastern cluster of 8 counties on the belt act as a source for 48, or 55%, of the state’s total executions: City of St. Louis, Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Francois, St. Louis, Warren, and Washington.

9 Regional Similarity of Executions and Past Lynching Behaviors There is a notable concurrence between the regions which engaged in multiple lynchings between 1870-1950 and those which have produced capital sentences.19 The counties and, especially, the regions with the highest number of lynchings correlate closely with the areas of the highest number of executions, the roots of Missouri execution “death belt.”

The majority - 68 out of 114 - of counties in Missouri have had neither a recorded lynching nor an execution.

In 2016, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) found “the highest numbers of documented racial terror lynchings outside the South” took place in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois.” Missouri had a recorded total of 60 lynchings. “Those totals were largely fueled by acts of mass violence against entire black

19 “Lynching in America: Missouri.” Equal Justice Initiative. ​ ​ 10 communities that left many people dead, property destroyed, and survivors traumatized,” according to the authors.20

A cluster of 10 counties in the central region of Missouri’s death belt had the highest concentration of lynchings and has been an active area for executions in the state’s recent history. Of the total 60 lynchings in the state recorded from 1877-1950, 16 of these lynchings came from just 5 counties in the central region: Boone, Callaway, Howard, Macon, and Randolph. Thus 4% of Missouri’s 113 counties, all in its central region, were responsible for 27% of its lynchings. Callaway County had 4 lynchings and 4 executions. Boone County had 2 lynchings and 2 executions, and it also acts as the source of 4 out of the 24 total cases on Missouri’s current death row. Bordering Boone to the west, Howard County had 5 lynchings.

Central County Number of Lynchings (1877-1950) Number of Executions (1977-2017)

Boone 2 2

Callaway 4 4

Howard 5 0

Macon 2 0

Randolph 3 1

Total 16 7

A cluster of 9 counties at the western end of Missouri’s death belt has been responsible for 17% of its lynchings and 20% of its executions. 10 of Missouri’s 60 lynchings occurred in just 8 of its counties: Buchanan, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, Ray, and Saline. 18 of its 88 executions occurred in Cass, Clay, Jackson, Lafayette, and Platte counties.

Western County Number of Lynchings (1877-1950) Number of Executions (1977-2017)

Buchanan 1 0

Cass 0 1

Clay 2 4

Clinton 1 0

Jackson 1 9

Lafayette 2 2

20 “Lynching in America.” Equal Justice Initiative. ​ ​ 11 Platte 1 2

Ray 1 0

Saline 1 0

Total 10 18

Stays of Execution and Dates Withdrawn Missouri Governor Eric Greitens issued a stay of execution for Marcellus Williams on August 22, after the community raised concerns about his innocence.21 Williams was originally scheduled to die at 6 p.m. after his conviction in the 1998 stabbing death of Felicia Gayle, a former reporter in St. Louis. The Missouri Supreme Court granted him a stay in 2015 to test DNA evidence but this August declined a further stay without explanation. The results of the new DNA evidence, which Williams’ attorneys claimed conclusively showed his innocence, have still never been heard in court.22

The circumstances of Williams’ case attracted national and international media attention as an embodiment of the broken U.S. criminal justice system and death penalty process.23 A Change.org petition begun by MADP asking for a stay of execution for Williams eventually garnered over 271,000 signatures locally, nationally, and internationally.24 The widespread calls for action and direct appeals to the governor illustrated the power of social media in activism.25

Gov. Greitens stayed Williams’ execution in order to appoint a five-member board that includes retired judges and have the power to subpoena evidence and compel witnesses to testify. The board will look into the case and make a recommendation to the governor as to whether Williams should be executed or have his death sentence commuted.

“A sentence of death is the ultimate, permanent punishment,” Greitens said in a statement. “To carry out the death penalty, the people of Missouri must have confidence in the judgment of guilt. In light of new information, I am appointing a Board of Inquiry in this case.”

21 M. Berman and W Lowery. “Missouri governor stays execution of Marcellus Williams, says officials will probe DNA evidence in the case.” ​ ​ The Washington Post, August 22, 2017. 22 J. Hancock. “Gov. Greitens stays execution of Marcellus Williams in 1998 murder.” The Kansas City Star, August 22, 2017. ​ ​ 23 Y. Ritzen. “Marcellus Williams and the US' 'broken justice system'.” Al Jazeera, August 23, 2017. ​ ​ 24 Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. “Petitioning Eric Greitens: Stop the Execution of Marcellus Williams.” Change.org, August ​ ​ 2017. 25 Y. Ritzen. “Social media and the case for Marcellus Williams.” Al Jazeera, August 23, 2017. ​ ​ 12 IV. Current Death Row

Current Death Row by County and Demographics As of this report’s publication in January 2018, 24 individuals sit on Missouri’s death row. (For a complete list, please see Table 1.) 10 of the current death row cases come from a cluster of 4 counties: 2 in Jefferson County, 1 in St. Charles County, 6 in St. Louis County, and 1 in St. Louis City.

13 Of the 24 individuals currently on death row in Missouri, 7 are black and 17 are white. According to U.S. Census data, 11.6% of Missouri’s population is African-American and 82.8% is white.

The current death row reflects patterns found in recent research.26 Homicides involving white victims are seven times more likely to result in an execution than those involving black victims, and homicides involving white female victims are nearly 14 times more likely to result in an execution than those involving black male victims. The vast majority of defendants on Missouri’s current death row had white victims, although white victims are less than 40% of all murder victims in the state.

White victims Black victims White and black victims Black defendant 3 2 1 White defendant 17 0 0

Pending Sentence Reversals As the 24 individuals on Missouri’s death row, three individuals have had their death sentences reversed and are either awaiting re-trial or re-sentencing:

● Carman Deck was removed from death row this April and sentenced to life without parole by a federal judge.27 This was the third time Deck’s death sentence had been overturned for the 1996 killings of James and Zelma Long in DeSoto during a robbery with his co-defendant and sister

26 F. Baumgartner. “The Impact of Race, Gender, and Geography on Missouri Executions.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, July 16, ​ ​ 2015. 27 C. Byers and R. Patrick. “Death penalty overturned for third time for man convicted of murdering De Soto couple in 1996.” St. Louis Post ​ ​ Dispatch, April 17, 2017. 14 Tonia Cummings, who plead guilty and was sentenced to 70 years for her role.28 Deck’s first death sentence was imposed in 1998 and reverse in 2002 by the Missouri Supreme Court because of egregious errors by his lawyers. After a second penalty-phase trial in 2003 in which Deck was shackled in front of the jury, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his death sentence in 2005. Deck’s third penalty-phase trial began in September 2008. In her ruling this April overturning Deck’s 2008 death sentence, U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry cited “Deck’s inability to present mitigation evidence prevented the jury from adequately considering compassionate or mitigating factors that might have warranted mercy,” and wrote that “In the absence of such consideration, imposition of the death penalty violates Deck’s right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.”

● Vincent McFadden’s death sentence was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2007, rejecting the aggravating factors presented by prosecutors.29 In May 2003, during a penalty phase of McFadden’s trial for the first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend’s sister Leslie Addison, the jury was told he had been convicted and sentenced to death in 2005 for the shooting of Todd Franklin. However, the Missouri Supreme Court had overturned McFadden’s conviction in the Franklin case and in 2005 had ruled that the prosecutor rejected jurors due to racially discriminatory reasons.

● David Barnett’s death sentence was vacated in August 2015 by a federal judge, citing that Barnett’s trial attorneys failed to present additional mitigating evidence about sexual abuse and other aspects of his childhood.30 Barnett was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of his grandparents in 2006.

On Death Row But Unfit for Execution ● Roosevelt Pollard was ruled incompetent for execution in 1999. His attorneys demonstrated to then-Gov. Mel Carnahan that he cannot understand the reason for his execution.31 Pollard has chronic schizophrenia and organic brain damage. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1983 killing of an Arkansas businessman. ● Charles Mathenia was declared mentally incompetent in 1994. He was found guilty and sentenced to death for the killing of two elderly sisters in 1984. Gov. Carnahan stayed his execution due to Mathenia’s intellectual disabilities.32

Granted Stay of Execution William Boliek was granted a stay of execution by Gov. Carnahan in 1997. Carnahan died in a plane crash in 2000, and a court ruled only he could overturn the stay. Boliek will serve out his life in prison for the 1983 killing of an 18-year old girl.

28 C. Byers. “Family hopes 3rd death sentence is last.” St. Louis Post Dispatch, September 21, 2008. ​ ​ 29 “Vincent McFadden death sentence overturned.” St. Louis American, March 20, 2007. ​ ​ 30 R. Patrick. “Federal judge throws out death sentence for St. Louis County killer of grandparents.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 18, 2015/ ​ ​ 31 Missouri Executive Order No. 97-03 (February 25, 1997). ​ ​ 32 J. Salter. “Missouri executions expected to slow.” Associated Press, November 8, 2015. ​ ​ 15 Removed from Death Row - Not By Execution Two individuals were removed from Missouri’s death row in 2017 by a method other than execution of a death sentence.

● Mark Gill was on death row until May this year, when he was retried and sentenced to life without parole at the recommendation of a death-qualified jury from Boone County.

● Reginald Clemons plead guilty to murder and other charges in December in exchange for multiple sentences of life in prison in December, 26 years after the 1991 killings of two sisters at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis. The Missouri Supreme Court overturned Clemons’ conviction and death sentence in 2015 amidst finding of prosecutorial misconduct, and following the Court’s decision, Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce chose to re-prosecute Clemons and seek the death penalty once again.

16 V. Missouri’s Death Penalty in 2018

Pending Missouri Executions and Malpractice Concerns As of this report’s publication in January 2018, Missouri has scheduled the execution of Russell Bucklew for March 18, 2018.33 Bucklew was sentenced to death for killing a romantic rival in 1996.

Bucklew previously received a stay of execution in 2014 from the U.S. Supreme Court amidst concerns over a rare medical condition, cavernous hemangioma.34 Bucklew has weakened and malformed blood vessels and nose and throat tumors, which could cause a prolonged execution due to lethal injection drugs. His attorneys have previously suggested that the gas chamber or a firing squad are alternatives for execution.35 Before Bucklew’s scheduled execution in 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union voiced concerns that, “If the state of Missouri injects compounded pentobarbital into his veins, as they plan to, medical experts warn that the lethal injection drugs may not circulate properly and may not put him under anesthesia. Instead, Mr. Bucklew could remain awake as he hemorrhages, chokes, and slowly suffocates to death.”36 According to the ACLU:

This is malpractice of cruel and unusual proportions, and the state of Missouri wants no record of it. The state's strategy so far has been to hide information about the executions from the public and from Mr. Bucklew himself, including information about the sources and producers of the drugs the state plans to kill him with. The state also has refused to videotape and document the execution. So if Mr. Bucklew suffers in the way the medical experts have identified as likely, there will be no video record of his torturous, unconstitutional execution.

Recent Botched Executions in Other States Nationally, other recent executions received scrutiny for medical concerns and resulting botched executions. A 2014 study found that lethal injections had the highest proportionate rate of botched executions out of any other method.37 In October, Ohio attempted to execute Alva Campbell but failed.38 Campbell’s attorneys had warned “that his execution could become an unseemly spectacle because of his poor health,” as the Associated Press reported. Members of the execution team propped Campbell up ​ ​ because of his breathing problems from years of smoking. Campbell also requires a walker and a colostomy bag. Execution team members tried to locate a vein “while comforting Campbell by patting him on the arm and shoulder.”

33 “Execution date set for Missouri inmate with rare health condition.” CBS News, November 21, 2017. ​ ​ 34 “Supreme Court Halts Execution of Missouri Inmate Russell Bucklew.” NBC News, May 21, 2014. ​ ​ 35 T. Rizzo. “Gas chamber raised by Missouri inmates as possible execution method.” The Kansas City Star, December 7, 2015. ​ ​ 36 C. Stubbs. “Killing Russell Bucklew: Missouri's Planned Departure from Decency.” American Civil Liberties Union, May 20, 2014. ​ ​ 37 S. Austin. "Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty" (Stanford Univ. Press 2014). ​ ​ 38 A. Welsh-Huggins. “Ohio calls off execution after failing to find inmate’s vein.” Associated Press, November 16, 2017. ​ ​ 17 In April 2017, the Arkansas execution of Kenneth Williams was its fourth execution in eight days and raised immediate concerns about lethal injection after witnesses said “they saw the inmate lurching and convulsing” during the execution.39 Officials said the back-to-back executions were necessary to carry out death sentences before one of their drugs expired. According to an AP reporter’s account, Williams’ “lurching, jerking, convulsing and coughing” movements occurred “15 times in quick succession, then another five times at a slower rate,” about three minutes into the lethal injection process and could be heard in the viewing room through the execution chamber’s glass window.40

Pending Capital Cases As of January 2018, there are 37 pending capital cases in Missouri - these are cases for which death ​ notices have been filed by the ​ prosecution. The clustering of prosecutions raises the concern that particular prosecutors disproportionately pursue capital sentences. 43%, or 16, of pending cases come from just three counties: 7 from the City of St. Louis, 5 from Butler County, and 4 from Cole County.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer noted in his Glossip v. Gross dissent how ​ unusual it is to find capital punishment in the United States because “capital prosecutions are being pursued in only a few isolated counties.”41 Harvard’s Fair Punishment Project studied “personality-driven capital sentencing” and found America’s deadliest prosecutors “shared an obsession with winning death sentences at almost any cost,” with a high rate of misconduct in the cases.42

39 M. Berman. “Fourth Arkansas execution in eight days prompts questions about inmate’s movements.” ​ ​ 40 “Timeline of latest Arkansas execution from AP reporter.” Associated Press, April 28, 2017. ​ ​ 41 Glossip v. Gross, 135 S.Ct. 2726, 2774 (2015). 42 “America’s Top Five Deadliest Prosecutors: How Overzealous Personalities Drive the Death Penalty.” Fair Punishment Project, June 2016. ​ ​ 18 VI. Table 1 - Missouri’s Current Death Row, 2017 [ ] indicate a reversal of sentence; defendant is 1) awaiting a retrial or resentencing following a court reversal or 2) has court-ordered reversal not yet final

Last Name First Name County Race Year Victim info Sentenced Sentenced Anderson Terrance Butler black 2001 white male, white female [Barnett]* David St. Louis white 1997 white male, white female Barton Walter Cass white 2006 white female Blurton Robert Benton white 2009 2 white females, 1 white male Boliek William Camden white 1984 white female Bucklew Russell Boone white 1997 white male, white female Collings Christopher Phelps white 2012 white female child Davis Richard Jackson white 2006 white female [Deck]** Carman Jefferson white 2008 white male, white female

Dorsey Brian Boone white 2008 white male, white female Driskill Jesse Laclede white 2013 white male, white female Hosier David Cole white 2013 white female, white male Johnson Ernest Boone black 1995 2 white females, 1 black male Johnson Johnny St. Louis white 2003 white female child Johnson Kevin St. Louis City black 2007 white male Mathenia Charles Jefferson white 1985 2 white females [McFadden]** Vincent St. Louis black 2008 black male, black female McLaughlin Scott St. Louis white 2006 white female Pollard Roosevelt Cole black 1986 white male Rice Marvin St. Charles white 2017 white male, white female Shockley Lance Carter white 2009 white male Taylor Leonard St. Louis black 2008 3 black females, 1 black male Tisius Michael Boone white 2001 2 white males Williams Marcellus St. Louis black 2001 white female

19 *A federal judge vacated David Barnett’s death sentence in August 2015, citing that his trial attorneys failed to bring up crucial mitigating evidence about his childhood. **A federal judge overturned Carman Deck’s death sentence in April 2017, citing that his third penalty-phase trial was “fundamentally unfair from even before it began.” ***The Missouri Supreme Court in 2006 overturned McFadden's original conviction because prosecutors used challenges to remove five potential black jurors, leaving only one black person on the jury. It upheld his death sentence in 2012

20 VII. Table 2 - Missouri’s Executed Data from Death Penalty Information Center.

Date Name County executed Age Race Victim info George Mercer Cass 1/6/1989 44 White 1 White Female(s) Gerald Smith Washington 1/18/1990 31 White 1 White Female(s) Winford Stokes Washington 5/11/1990 39 Black 1 White Female(s)

Leonard Laws Schuyler 5/17/1990 40 White 1 White Male(s)1 White Female(s)

George Gilmore St. Louis 8/31/1990 44 White 1 White Male(s)1 White Female(s)

Maurice Byrd St. Louis 8/23/1991 36 Black 1 White Male(s)3 White Female(s) Ricky Lee Grubbs St. Francois 10/21/1992 33 White 1 White Male(s) Martsay Bolder Randolph 1/27/1993 35 Black 1 Black Male(s) Walter Blair Jackson 7/21/1993 32 Black 1 White Female(s)

Frederick Lashley St. Louis City 7/28/1993 29 Black 1 Black Female(s) Frank Guinan Franklin 10/6/1993 47 White 1 White Male(s)

Emmitt Foster St. Louis City 5/3/1995 42 Black 1 Black Male(s)

Larry Griffin St. Louis City 6/21/1995 40 Black 1 Black Male(s)

Robert Murray St. Louis City 7/26/1995 32 Black 2 Black Male(s) Robert Sidebottom Jackson 11/15/1995 33 White 1 White Female(s) Anthony LaRette Warren 11/29/1995 44 White 1 White Female(s) Robert O'Neal Butler 12/6/1995 44 White 1 Black Male(s) Jeffery Sloan Clay 2/21/1996 29 White 1 White Male(s) Doyle Williams Clay 4/10/1996 48 White 1 White Male(s) Native Emmet Nave St. Charles 7/31/1996 55 American 1 White Female(s)

Thomas Battle St. Louis City 8/7/1996 34 Black 1 Black Female(s)

Richard Oxford Platte 8/21/1996 39 White 1 White Male(s)1 White Female(s)

21 Richard Zeitvogel Cole 12/11/1996 40 White 1 White Male(s) Eric Schneider Jefferson 1/29/1997 35 White 2 White Male(s) Ralph Feltrop Jefferson 8/6/1997 42 White 1 White Female(s) Donald Reese Jefferson 8/13/1997 54 White 1 White Male(s) Andrew Six Schuyler 8/20/1997 32 White 1 White Female(s)

Samuel McDonald St. Louis City 9/24/1997 48 Black 1 Black Male(s) Alan Bannister McDonald 10/22/1997 39 White 1 White Male(s)

Reginald Powell St. Louis City 2/25/1998 29 Black 2 Black Male(s)

Milton Griffin-El St. Louis City 3/25/1998 37 Black 1 Black Male(s) Glennon Sweet Clay 4/22/1998 42 White 1 White Male(s) Kelvin Malone St. Louis 1/13/1999 37 Black 1 White Male(s) James Rodden Clay 2/24/1999 38 White 1 White Female(s) Roy Roberts Marion 3/10/1999 46 White 1 White Male(s)

Roy Ramsey Jackson 4/14/1999 45 Black 1 White Male(s)1 White Female(s) Ralph Davis Butler 4/28/1999 61 Black 1 White Female(s)

Jessie Wise St. Louis City 5/26/1999 46 Black 1 Black Female(s) Bruce Kilgore St. Louis 6/16/1999 38 Black 1 White Female(s) Robert Walls St. Louis 6/30/1999 33 White 1 White Male(s) David Leisure Jefferson 9/1/1999 49 White 1 White Male(s) James Hampton Callaway 3/22/2000 62 White 1 White Female(s)

Bert Hunter St. Louis 6/28/2000 53 White 1 White Male(s)1 White Female(s)

Gary Roll Boone 8/30/2000 47 White 2 White Male(s)1 White Female(s) George Harris Jackson 9/13/2000 41 Black 1 Black Male(s)

James Chambers St. Louis City 11/15/2000 48 White 1 White Male(s) Stanley Lingar St. Francois 2/7/2001 37 White 1 White Male(s)

Thomas Ervin Callaway 3/28/2001 50 White 1 White Male(s)1 White Female(s)

Mose Young St. Louis City 4/25/2001 46 Black 3 White Male(s) Samuel Smith Callaway 5/23/2001 40 Black 1 Black Male(s)

22 Jerome Mallet Perry 7/11/2001 42 Black 1 White Male(s) Michael Roberts St. Louis 10/3/2001 27 White 1 White Female(s) Stephen Johns St. Louis 10/24/2001 55 White 1 White Male(s)

James Johnson Moniteau 1/9/2002 52 White 2 White Male(s)2 White Female(s) Michael Owsley Jackson 2/6/2002 40 Black 1 Black Male(s) Jeffrey Tokar Warren 3/6/2002 37 White 1 White Male(s) Paul Kreutzer Callaway 4/10/2002 30 White 1 White Female(s) Daniel Basile St. Charles 8/14/2002 35 White 1 White Female(s) William Jones Jackson 11/20/2002 37 White 1 White Male(s) Kenneth Kenley Butler 2/5/2003 42 White 1 White Male(s)

John Smith Audrain 10/29/2003 42 White 1 White Male(s)1 White Female(s) Stanley Hall St. Louis 3/16/2005 37 Black 1 White Female(s) Donald Jones St. Louis 4/27/2005 38 Black 1 Black Female(s) Vernon Brown St. Louis 5/18/2005 51 Black 1 Black Female(s) Timothy Johnston St. Louis 8/31/2005 44 White 1 White Female(s) Marlin Gray St. Louis 10/26/2005 38 Black 1 White Female(s) Dennis Skillicorn Lafayette 5/20/2009 49 White 1 White Male(s)

Martin Link St. Louis City 2/9/2011 47 White 1 White Female(s)

Joseph Franklin St. Louis City 11/20/2013 63 White 1 White Male(s) Allen Nicklasson Lafayette 12/11/2013 41 White 1 White Male(s) Herbert Smulls St. Louis 1/29/2014 56 Black 1 White Male(s) Michael Taylor Jackson 2/26/2014 47 Black 1 White Female(s) Jeffrey Ferguson St. Charles 3/26/2014 59 White 1 White Female(s) William Rousan Washington 4/23/2014 57 White 1 White Female(s) John Winfield St. Louis 6/18/2014 46 Black 2 Black Female(s)

John Middleton Harrison 7/16/2014 54 White 2 White Male(s)1 White Female(s) Michael Worthington St. Charles 8/6/2014 43 White 1 White Female(s)

Earl Ringo Boone 9/10/2014 40 Black 1 White Female(s)1 White Male(s) Leon Taylor Jackson 11/19/2014 56 Black 1 White Male(s)

23 Paul Goodwin St. Louis 12/10/2014 48 White 1 White Female(s) Walter Storey St. Charles 2/11/2015 47 White 1 White Female(s) Cecil Clayton Barry 3/17/2015 74 White 1 White Male(s) Andre Cole St. Louis 4/14/2015 52 Black 1 Black Male(s) Richard Strong St. Louis 6/9/2015 47 Black 2 Black Female(s) David Zink St. Clair 7/14/2015 55 White 1 White Female(s) Roderick Nunley Jackson 9/1/2015 50 Black 1 White Female(s)

Earl Forrest Platte 5/11/2016 66 White 2 White Female(s)1 White Male(s)

Mark Christeson Maries 1/31/2017 37 White 2 White Female(s)1 White Male(s)

24 VIII. MADP Representatives

Staci Pratt Esmie Tseng Christina Cowart Executive Director Communications & Administration Project Chair

MADP Board of Directors Rita Linhardt, Chair - Missouri Catholic Conference Fr. Paul Jones, Vice Chair - Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center Denise Carpenter, Secretary Robert Schaeffer, Treasurer Rev. Dr. Cathleen Burnett - Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center Nimrod Chapel, Jr. - Chapel Law Group; President, Missouri NAACP Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould - Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church, Missouri Faith Voices Edna Harden - Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants Jude Huntz - Visitation Parish Dr. Wiley Miller Margaret Phillips Edward Ronan Zenobia Thompson - Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Organization for Black Struggle Donna Walmsley Gabino Zavala - Kansas City Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood

25