Campaign Update for Week of October 28

Special Master’s Last Word
The findings of Judge Michael Manners were shared in a previous posting but the short version is that Judge Manners concluded that important evidence was withheld from Reggie’s attorneys at trial. After the release of those findings in Reggie’s case, both his attorneys and the State of Missouri were given the opportunity to respond. The State took exception to the conclusions but Judge Manners stood firm. The case is slowly making its way back to the Missouri Supreme Court. We don’t expect any new developments this year but stay tuned—anything can happen. Judge Manners is now retired.

Reggie Griffin Exonerated
This is good news for Reggie, his family, his supporters and death penalty opponents. After 30 years of wrongful incarceration based upon a wrongful conviction, this is another case of prosecution gone wild. Some of you have already noted that the same prosecutor who argued for the State in the oral arguments for Reggie Clemons is the same as in the Griffin case—Stephen Hawke. Read a bit of Hawke’s response to the court while arguing against the Griffin case in the St. Louis American. This is what justice is up against in Missouri. http://tinyurl.com/mxen9xw

Missouri Schedules Execution
There was a lot of drama in the last couple of months due to the impending executions and the State’s desire to use propofol as the lethal injection drug. International pressure as well as pressure from medical associations forced the state of Missouri to abandon propofol as its drug of choice; Missouri would’ve have been the first state to use the drug in an execution. The state will now use pentobarbital as its singular drug as it moves to execute Joseph Franklin on November 20. We will keep you posted.