CONTACT: Jamala Rogers (314) 307-3083; Riptide Communication, (212) 260-5000

MISSOURI SUPREME COURT APPOINTS LOCAL JUDGE TO REVIEW EVIDENCE IN REGGIE CLEMONS’S CASE

St. Louis July 2nd, 2009 - In a significant development in the Reggie Clemons case, the Missouri Supreme Court earlier this week ordered the appointment of a special master to investigate claims that Reggie was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death.  The Court acted in response to a petition for habeas corpus filed by Reggie’s attorneys on June 12th.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners was selected to evaluate Reggie’s claims.  According to the order, Judge Manners is appointed “with full power and authority to issue subpoenas” and to “compel production of books, papers and documents and the attendance of witnesses.”  The Missouri Supreme Court’s order states that the special master will eventually “report the evidence taken, together with his findings of fact and conclusions of law,” to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Reggie’s June habeas petition argued that new evidence supports his claims of police brutality.  It further argued that Reggie’s death sentence was disproportionate in light of the life sentence received by his co-defendant, Antonio Richardson.

Jamala Rogers, coordinator of the Justice for Reggie campaign, called the Court’s action “…a welcome development that provides an opportunity for a fresh review of the evidence in this troubling case.”  Rodgers cautioned, however, that it is important for supporters to remain vigilant and continue to advocate for justice noting that a strong clemency campaign may still be necessary if relief is not forthcoming from the Courts.

U.S. Congressman William Lacy Clay—a long-time supporter of Reggie’s cause—said:  “I commend the Missouri Supreme Court for this courageous decision to appoint a special master in the Reginald Clemons case.”

Last month, the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of Reggie’s execution based on ongoing litigation regarding the constitutionality of the States implementation of the lethal injection protocol for executing people. 

Numerous organizations and individuals have demanded clemency for Reggie Clemons including the NAACP, the ACLU, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, and the actor and activist Danny Glover, who has spoken out on Reggie’s behalf for years.

Reggie was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of two young women who drowned after plunging from the Chain of the Rocks Bridge into the Mississippi River.  He was convicted on the theory that he was an accomplice to the crime even though prosecutors conceded that he neither pushed the women nor planned the crime, and there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder.  Moreover, his case was riddled with numerous constitutional violations:  Reggie was physically abused by the police, his defense counsel was grossly incompetent, and the prosecutor in the case behaved outrageously and was later convicted of criminal contempt for his behavior.  In addition, two federal judges voted to overturn Reggie’s death sentence and found that he was denied a fair trial.