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(AP) — The Missouri attorney general's office said Monday it may have found new evidence in a 1991 double homicide that put a man on death row.
Reginald Clemons was sentenced to death for the 1991 killings of two sisters who were pushed off a St. Louis bridge. Clemons has maintained his innocence, and the conviction is being reviewed by a judge serving as a special master.
The attorney general's office sent a letter Monday saying the state has discovered lab reports and physical evidence, including a rape kit, taken during an exam on one victim's remains.
The letter to the special master, Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners, said it's unclear if Clemons' lawyer had the evidence at trial. It requests a hearing to determine how to test the evidence and share results.
According to the letter, Nels Moss, the St. Louis lawyer who prosecuted Clemons nearly two decades ago, told two assistant attorneys general in a March 2 deposition that he had been told recently that a rape kit from the case was at the St. Louis Police Department. Moss told them he had no prior knowledge of the rape kit, suggesting it was never disclosed in the state's case against Clemons.
The attorney general's office then contacted the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's office, which identified three laboratory reports and biological samples in cold storage at the crime lab.
Stephen Hawke, the attorney general's habeus unit chief who wrote the letter, said his office obtained copies of the reports on March 3 and shared them with Clemons' attorney the next day.
"By this letter, and because of the importance of this case, the Attorney General's office seeks to advise the court of these circumstances immediately," the letter said.
It's not clear whether, or how, Judge Manners has responded.
Calls to Hawke, Moss, and Clemons' attorney, Joshua Levine, were not immediately returned Monday. St. Louis police did not respond to an e-mail regarding the evidence.
The St. Louis circuit attorney's office said in a statement that it worked with police to identify the evidence and reports and forwarded them to the attorney general. The circuit attorney's office declined further comment.
Clemons, 38, was one of four men convicted of killing Julie Kerry, 20, and Robin Kerry, 19 on April 4, 1991. Prosecutors said the women were raped, then pushed to their deaths off the old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis.
Clemons' supporters have said he had no role in the sisters' deaths, but then-prosecutor Moss has said he has no doubts about Clemons' guilt.
The execution for Clemons was set for June 17, 2009, but a federal appeals court delayed it. Later that month, the Missouri Supreme Court appointed Judge Manners to investigate Clemons' claims that he was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death.
Clemons' attorneys had argued that new evidence supports his claim that police brutalized him into giving a statement. They also say Clemons' death sentence was out of proportion because a more culpable co-defendant received a lighter sentence.
Supporters of Clemons, who was 19 at the time of the crime, say he was beaten by police into falsely confessing to raping one of the sisters. He was convicted of murder as an accomplice, and the rape confession was used as an aggravating factor in the penalty phase of his murder trial.
Attorney General Chris Koster has been reviewing the case. Clemons' family said Koster pledged during his campaign to look into the case if elected.
Human rights advocate Bianca Jagger and actor Danny Glover are among those seeking Clemons' release.
(AP) — The Missouri attorney general's office said Monday it may have found new evidence in a 1991 double homicide that put a man on death row.
Reginald Clemons was sentenced to death for the 1991 killings of two sisters who were pushed off a St. Louis bridge. Clemons has maintained his innocence, and the conviction is being reviewed by a judge serving as a special master.
The attorney general's office sent a letter Monday saying the state has discovered lab reports and physical evidence, including a rape kit, taken during an exam on one victim's remains.
The letter to the special master, Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners, said it's unclear if Clemons' lawyer had the evidence at trial. It requests a hearing to determine how to test the evidence and share results.
According to the letter, Nels Moss, the St. Louis lawyer who prosecuted Clemons nearly two decades ago, told two assistant attorneys general in a March 2 deposition that he had been told recently that a rape kit from the case was at the St. Louis Police Department. Moss told them he had no prior knowledge of the rape kit, suggesting it was never disclosed in the state's case against Clemons.
The attorney general's office then contacted the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's office, which identified three laboratory reports and biological samples in cold storage at the crime lab.
Stephen Hawke, the attorney general's habeus unit chief who wrote the letter, said his office obtained copies of the reports on March 3 and shared them with Clemons' attorney the next day.
"By this letter, and because of the importance of this case, the Attorney General's office seeks to advise the court of these circumstances immediately," the letter said.
It's not clear whether, or how, Judge Manners has responded.
Calls to Hawke, Moss, and Clemons' attorney, Joshua Levine, were not immediately returned Monday. St. Louis police did not respond to an e-mail regarding the evidence.
The St. Louis circuit attorney's office said in a statement that it worked with police to identify the evidence and reports and forwarded them to the attorney general. The circuit attorney's office declined further comment.
Clemons, 38, was one of four men convicted of killing Julie Kerry, 20, and Robin Kerry, 19 on April 4, 1991. Prosecutors said the women were raped, then pushed to their deaths off the old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis.
Clemons' supporters have said he had no role in the sisters' deaths, but then-prosecutor Moss has said he has no doubts about Clemons' guilt.
The execution for Clemons was set for June 17, 2009, but a federal appeals court delayed it. Later that month, the Missouri Supreme Court appointed Judge Manners to investigate Clemons' claims that he was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death.
Clemons' attorneys had argued that new evidence supports his claim that police brutalized him into giving a statement. They also say Clemons' death sentence was out of proportion because a more culpable co-defendant received a lighter sentence.
Supporters of Clemons, who was 19 at the time of the crime, say he was beaten by police into falsely confessing to raping one of the sisters. He was convicted of murder as an accomplice, and the rape confession was used as an aggravating factor in the penalty phase of his murder trial.
Attorney General Chris Koster has been reviewing the case. Clemons' family said Koster pledged during his campaign to look into the case if elected.
Human rights advocate Bianca Jagger and actor Danny Glover are among those seeking Clemons' release.
