Attorney General's News Release

August 23, 2002

Nixon completes review of Missouri capital cases in light of U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Ring and Atkins

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today said attorneys from his office have completed a review of Missouri capital punishment statutes and of the cases of each of the 67 inmates on the state's death row to determine the impact — if any — of the June decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in Ring v. Arizona and Atkins v. Virginia.

In Ring, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Sixth Amendment, juries, not judges, must find that an aggravating circumstance exists in order to impose the death penalty. In Atkins, the court ruled that execution of the mentally retarded constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment.

Nixon said his office's review concluded that Missouri statutes allowing judges to impose a sentence of death under certain circumstances, such as a deadlocked jury, were not made unconstitutional by the Supreme Court ruling in Ring. Arizona death row inmate Timothy S. Ring had challenged an Arizona law that said the judge alone, and not the jury, decides whether an aggravating circumstance is present.

"In Missouri, jury instructions in capital cases require the jury to first unanimously determine an aggravating circumstance exists that would qualify a defendant for the death penalty," Nixon said. "If the jury cannot agree that such a circumstance exists, then the jury is required to return a verdict of life without parole.

"If the jury unanimously finds an aggravating circumstance exists, then it may move on to deciding an appropriate sentence," Nixon said. "When a jury then cannot agree on an appropriate sentence, the judge may impose a sentence of death because the jury has already found an aggravating circumstance, as required by Ring."

Nixon said the review found eight cases in which the jury found the aggravating circumstances necessary for capital punishment, but left to the judge the final decision on sentencing. In addition, four cases went directly to the judge after the defendant waived the right to trial by jury.

"Those four cases also should not be affected by Ring because the court has never questioned the right of the defendant to waive trial by jury and place himself at the mercy of a judge," Nixon said.

Four Missouri death row inmates currently have Ring claims pending:

• James Rufus Ervin, sentenced to death by a Reynolds County judge after being convicted by a jury of the 1994 death of Leland White. White's throat was cut, he was beaten with a brick and then thrown into a mobile home that was on fire. The Missouri Supreme Court has remanded the case back to the trial court to consider Ervin's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel and also has instructed the court to consider the implications of Ring to Ervin's case.
• Andre D. Morrow, sentenced to death by a St. Louis County judge after being convicted by a jury of the 1994 shooting death of John Koprowski during a carjacking. Morrow also murdered Roamel Abercrombie during the three-day crime spree. Morrow has raised a Ring claim in a habeas petition pending before the federal district court.
• Roderick Nunley, sentenced to death by a Jackson County judge after pleading guilty to the abduction and murder of 15-year-old Ann Harrison as she waited for her school bus in 1991. Nunley has a habeas pending in federal district court, and he has asked the court for permission to file additional pleadings discussing Ring.
• Joseph Whitfield, sentenced to death by a St. Louis City judge after being convicted by a jury of the shooting death of paraplegic Ronald Chester. Whitfield raised a Ring claim during recent oral arguments in front of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Whitfield also has raised the claim in a motion before the Missouri Supreme Court.

In regard to the Atkins ruling, Nixon said no credible claims of mental retardation had been raised by any current Missouri death row inmates. Christopher Simmons, 17 years old at the time he murdered Shirley Crook in Jefferson County in 1993, has filed a state habeas petition in the Missouri Supreme Court claiming that Atkins applies to juveniles.

Nixon said Simmons has an IQ well above the 70 threshold discussed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Atkins, and his office will continue to vigorously oppose Simmons' claim.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818