In 2011, former Dent County Sheriff’s Deputy Marvin Rice was convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend. He was sentenced to death, even though 11 of 12 jurors on his case voted for life without parole.
Under current Missouri law, if the jury cannot reach a unanimous decision during the sentencing phase of the trial, the decision falls to the judge. A new bill would repeal this process.
The Missouri House Special Committee on Criminal Justice heard HB 811 on Thursday. Bill sponsor Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, said he believes capital punishment is “an appropriate punishment for the most heinous crimes,” but expressed concern over the possibility of lethal error, such as cases where prisoners sentenced to death were later exonerated on DNA evidence.
Advocacy group Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty testified in favor of the bill. Elyse Max, a representative for the group, said electioneering often plays a role in capital convictions when judges want to appear tough-on-crime.
According to the Marshall Project, there have been 88 executions in Missouri since 1976.
Wrongful murder convictions have happened before in Missouri. One notable case is Ryan Ferguson, who was convicted in 2005 for the murder of Columbia Tribune sports editor Kent Heitholt. After spending 10 years in prison, he was exonerated by lawyer Kathleen Zellner, who has drawn national attention for her work on the Steven Avery case in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer.”
Lobbyist Woody Cozad from the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys testified in opposition of the bill, saying it could incentivize hanging the jury.
“You are telling the jury that if they don’t reach a verdict, here’s what the verdict will be,” Cozad said. “What you’ve told them is just sit back and read the sports page, don’t listen to your peers, just hang it up and you will get the outcome you want.”
The committee also heard HB 1122, which would require jails to abide by the same laws that apply to state correctional facilities on restraining prisoners. State prisons can’t use restraints, such as shackles, on pregnant inmates during their third trimester, labor and 48 hours after delivery unless there is an “extraordinary circumstance.”
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
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