Court rejects Missouri AG’s requests in 1979 killings case
3 years, 3 months ago

Court rejects Missouri AG’s requests in 1979 killings case

Associated Press  

— A Missouri appeals court on Thursday denied the state attorney general’s request to recuse all Jackson County judges from presiding over an upcoming evidentiary hearing for a man who the county prosecutor says was wrongfully convicted in a triple murder more than 40 years ago. The Missouri Court of Appeals also denied Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s request to cancel the hearing for Kevin Strickland, who has been in prison for the killings since 1979 and has always maintained that he’s innocent. Schmitt asked the court to recuse all judges in Jackson County, which includes a large part of Kansas City, because he argued that they have shown a bias in favor of Strickland. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has said Strickland was wrongfully convicted of the killings, and she and Strickland’s lawyers plan to argue at an Oct. 5-6 hearing that he should be exonerated and freed.

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History of this topic

Missouri executes man for 1998 murder of woman despite calls from victim's family to spare his life
2 months, 4 weeks ago

Missouri executes man for 1998 murder of woman despite calls from victim's family to spare his life

New Indian Express  

"No juror nor judge has ever found Williams' innocence claim to be credible," Parson said in a statement. "Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. Parson and the state Supreme Court rejected his appeals in quick succession Monday, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene hours before he was put to …

Missouri judges have overturned 2 murder convictions in recent weeks. Why did the AG fight freedom?
4 months, 4 weeks ago

Missouri judges have overturned 2 murder convictions in recent weeks. Why did the AG fight freedom?

Associated Press  

ST. LOUIS — A man who was on the verge of walking out of prison this week after a judge found evidence of “actual innocence” and overturned his murder conviction now faces a fresh legal hurdle. The person blocking Christopher Dunn’s freedom is Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who is fresh off an unsuccessful battle to keep another woman whose …

Missouri prosecutor seeks to vacate murder conviction, the 2nd case challenged in 2 weeks
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Missouri prosecutor seeks to vacate murder conviction, the 2nd case challenged in 2 weeks

Associated Press  

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri prosecutor on Wednesday filed a motion to vacate the conviction of a man imprisoned for more than three decades for the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy, the second time in two weeks that a St. Louis-area prosecutor has challenged a longstanding murder conviction. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore said in a news release …

Missouri man who spent nearly 28 years in prison on a wrongful conviction sues St. Louis, police
11 months ago

Missouri man who spent nearly 28 years in prison on a wrongful conviction sues St. Louis, police

Associated Press  

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri man who spent nearly 28 years in prison until a judge determined he was wrongfully convicted filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that St. Louis police officers “detained, arrested, and framed him for a murder he did not commit.” Lamar Johnson, 50, seeks unspecified damages in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in St. …

Missouri woman imprisoned for 42 years to get court hearing that could lead to release
1 year, 6 months ago

Missouri woman imprisoned for 42 years to get court hearing that could lead to release

Associated Press  

— A Missouri woman who has spent more than four decades in prison for a murder her supporters believe she did not commit will get a court hearing that could lead to her release. The Missouri attorney general’s office has agreed to an evidentiary hearing for Sandra Hemme, 63, who was convicted of murder in the Nov. 12, 1980, killing …

Missouri man seeks exoneration in murder; 2 others confessed
2 years ago

Missouri man seeks exoneration in murder; 2 others confessed

Associated Press  

ST. LOUIS — Lamar Johnson has wrongly spent nearly three decades in prison for a St. Louis killing after a witness was coerced into falsely identifying him as the shooter, an attorney for the local prosecutor’s office told a judge Monday. Kim Gardner, who leads the same St. Louis circuit attorney’s office that secured Johnson’s 1995 murder conviction, believes he …

St. Louis prosecutor again seeks to clear convicted killer
2 years, 3 months ago

St. Louis prosecutor again seeks to clear convicted killer

Associated Press  

St. Louis’ top prosecutor on Wednesday filed a motion asking a judge to vacate the conviction that sent a man to prison nearly 30 years ago for a murder he has long claimed he didn’t commit. Johnson’s claims of innocence and other new evidence in recent years convinced St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner that he was wrongfully convicted. In …

Donations Top $1 Million For Wrongfully Convicted Man Who Spent 43 Years Behind Bars
3 years ago

Donations Top $1 Million For Wrongfully Convicted Man Who Spent 43 Years Behind Bars

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Supporters have raised more than $1 million for a man who was exonerated earlier this week after serving 43 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Kevin Strickland, now 62, was wrongfully convicted in 1979 in the murders of three people who were killed when four men broke into a home in Kansas City, Missouri, …

Missouri man exonerated in 3 killings, free after 4 decades
3 years ago

Missouri man exonerated in 3 killings, free after 4 decades

Associated Press  

A Kansas City man who was jailed for more than 40 years for three murders was released from prison Tuesday after a judge ruled that he was wrongfully convicted in 1979. I am trying to figure out how to put them together.” He said he would like to get involved in efforts to “keep this from happening to someone else,” …

EXPLAINER: The Missouri law that led to Strickland decision
3 years, 1 month ago

EXPLAINER: The Missouri law that led to Strickland decision

Associated Press  

— A judge’s decision on Tuesday to release longtime inmate Kevin Strickland, of Kansas City, was made possible by a new Missouri law intended to free people who were imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. After the Missouri Supreme Court in June declined to hear Strickland’s petition for release, Peters Baker used the new state law to seek an evidentiary …

Hearing concludes for Missouri inmate in 1978 triple murder
3 years, 1 month ago

Hearing concludes for Missouri inmate in 1978 triple murder

Associated Press  

— The fate of a Kansas City man who has been in prison for more than 40 years for a triple murder that a prosecutor and many others believe he did not commit is now up to a judge. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in closing arguments Wednesday that Strickland was guilty of hanging out with the people …

Court: Jackson County judges can’t hear Strickland arguments
3 years, 2 months ago

Court: Jackson County judges can’t hear Strickland arguments

Associated Press  

— All judges in the 16th Judicial District based in Jackson County will be prohibited from presiding over an evidentiary hearing that could determine whether a Kansas City man would be exonerated in a triple murder committed more than 40 years ago, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered Thursday. The ruling came in the case of Kevin Strickland, 62, who was …

Missouri prosecutor files motion to free longtime inmate
3 years, 3 months ago

Missouri prosecutor files motion to free longtime inmate

Associated Press  

— A Missouri prosecutor has filed a motion asking a judge to exonerate a man who has been imprisoned for four decades for a triple murder that she and many others do not believe he committed. But she retracted her statement before she died in 2015, sending an email to the Midwest Innocence Project in 2009 that said: “I am …

Missouri attorney general: Strickland is guilty of 3 murders
3 years, 5 months ago

Missouri attorney general: Strickland is guilty of 3 murders

Associated Press  

— The Missouri Attorney General’s Office on Monday said it believes longtime inmate Kevin Strickland is guilty of killing three people in Kansas City and should remain in prison, despite several other prosecutors saying they believe he is innocent. When the attorney general’s attorneys said the quick time frame could be a burden on the office, Horsman noted that Strickland …

Missouri governor not convinced longtime inmate is innocent
3 years, 5 months ago

Missouri governor not convinced longtime inmate is innocent

Associated Press  

Mike Parson said he is not convinced that Kevin Strickland is innocent, despite prosecutors and other supporters calling for Strickland’s exoneration for a triple murder that has kept him in prison for four decades. Parson told KSHB-TV on Wednesday that he has looked at Strickland’s case several times but the “bottom line” is that no court of law has found …

Missouri court denies case of man prosecutor deems innocent
3 years, 6 months ago

Missouri court denies case of man prosecutor deems innocent

Associated Press  

— A Missouri prosecutor on Wednesday said she’s disappointed the state Supreme Court won’t hear the case of a Kansas City man imprisoned for more than 40 years for a triple murder that prosecutors say he didn’t commit. Missouri Supreme Court judges on Tuesday denied 61-year-old Kevin Strickland’s case without providing an explanation. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker in …

Prosecutors: Missouri man wrongly convicted of triple murder
3 years, 7 months ago

Prosecutors: Missouri man wrongly convicted of triple murder

Associated Press  

— Prosecutors called for the release of a Missouri man who has spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder that the prosecutors concluded he didn’t commit, a letter released Monday showed. The release of the letter, indicating overwhelming support for the release of Kevin Strickland, 62, came after his attorneys filed a petition urging the Missouri …

Missouri Supreme Court: No new trial for Lamar Johnson
3 years, 9 months ago

Missouri Supreme Court: No new trial for Lamar Johnson

Associated Press  

— The effort to free Lamar Johnson, who has spent 26 years behind bars for a murder he says he didn’t commit, hit another roadblock Tuesday when the Missouri Supreme Court refused to grant a new trial. Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office argued successfully that Gardner lacked authority to seek a new trial so many years after the …

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