#FreeKevinStricklandAlready!
#FreeLamarJohnsonAlready!
#FreeChristopherDunnAlready!
Things went downhill fast after a ridiculous ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2016...
In a UNANIMOUS decision in 2016, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in the case of Lincoln v. Cassady, that only DEATH ROW PRISONERS CAN MAKE A "FREESTANDING" CLAIM OF ACTUAL INNOCENCE in habeas corpus cases.
REMINDER: NONE OF THE THREE MEN ABOVE WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR ANY COMPENSATION UNDER MISSOURI LAW!
"'If you prove your innocence in Missouri, that doesn’t matter,' Kent Gipson, attorney for Christopher Dunn says, unless you can also prove a separate constitutional violation in the case, such as the prosecution failed to provide the defense exculpatory evidence." -Tony Messenger, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4/30/2021
"Messenger: Innocence isn't enough, judge says, to free a man convicted of 30-year-old murder" by Tony Messenger, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 30, 2021
SB 53, which includes a provision allowing local prosecutors to ask a judge to throw out convictions in innocence cases, FINALLY GOES INTO EFFECT AUGUST 28, 2021. The pertinent provision is called, "Motion to Vacate or Set Aside the Verdict." (Section 547.031)
But SB 53 isn't the entire solution...
UPDATE: AFTER STALLING FOR ALMOST 2 MONTHS, GOV. PARSON FINALLY SIGNED SB 53 ON JULY 14, 2021!
SB 53 BECAME OFFICIAL LAW ON AUGUST 28,2021!
#FreeTheMissouriThree
The convictions of Kevin Strickland & LAMAR JOHNSON were vacated & both have been released from prison, HOWEVER, CHRISTOPHER DUNN SOMEHOW STILL LANGUISHES IN PRISON. SB 53 is a much needed tool, BUT if you don't have a prosecutor willing to file the motion on your behalf, you're still screwed in Missouri.
It's been reported that the Attorney General's Office under Eric Schmitt, said that it "...WILL OPPOSE ANY CLAIM OF INNOCENCE, EVEN ONES THAT ARE MERITORIOUS [emphasis added]". Seriously, someone from his office said that? Yes.
UPDATE: Missouri has a new Attorney General: Andrew Bailey.
New AG, same policy.
Schmitt's stance was that "Prosecutors [in Missouri] don't have the authority to take action in cases that they feel lack integrity unless state legislators pass laws permitting this." HE ARGUED THIS NONSENSICAL POSITION ALL THE WAY TO THE MISSOURI SUPREME COURT...AND WON!
Despite (or maybe because of) AG Schmitt, the MO House & Senate took action! SB 53 was passed in mid-May 2021 and after sitting on it from May 25, 2021 until July 14, 2021, Gov. Parson finally signed it (see "The Solution (Sort Of), in a Nutshell" above). It took effect August 28, 2021.
P.S. GOV. PARSON COULD HAVE PARDONED STRICKLAND AT
Despite (or maybe because of) AG Schmitt, the MO House & Senate took action! SB 53 was passed in mid-May 2021 and after sitting on it from May 25, 2021 until July 14, 2021, Gov. Parson finally signed it (see "The Solution (Sort Of), in a Nutshell" above). It took effect August 28, 2021.
P.S. GOV. PARSON COULD HAVE PARDONED STRICKLAND AT ANY TIME DURING THIS PROCESS, BUT HE STEADFASTLY REFUSED!
Kevin Strickland: Despite calls for a pardon of Mr. Strickland from a bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers, prosecutors, the Mayor of KCMO, & MEMBERS OF THE TEAM WHO CONVICTED MR. STRICKLAND, Gov. Parson delayed pardoning Kevin Strickland and said he would NOT make Strickland's pardon "a priority".
On Friday, July 30, 2021, Gov. Parson
Kevin Strickland: Despite calls for a pardon of Mr. Strickland from a bipartisan group of Missouri lawmakers, prosecutors, the Mayor of KCMO, & MEMBERS OF THE TEAM WHO CONVICTED MR. STRICKLAND, Gov. Parson delayed pardoning Kevin Strickland and said he would NOT make Strickland's pardon "a priority".
On Friday, July 30, 2021, Gov. Parson granted 12 pardons and approved two commutations. Kevin Strickland was NOT among them.
#PardonKevinStricklandAlready
Schmitt announced in 2022 that he was leaving the AG's office...
ERIC SCHMITT BECAME A US SENATOR IN 2023.
His views no longer affect just Missourians.
They affect YOU, too!
#DefeatEricSchmitt
#WhoSaysItDoesntMatterWhoYouVoteFor
P.S. Schmitt's opponent in the 2022 Republican Senate primary was Eric Greitens, the former Missouri Governor who resigned in 2018 amid allegations of sexual blackmail and violence (but only after the Missouri House launched impeachment proceedings against him).
#HeyMissouri! DO BETTER!
#YourVoteMatters