Facing Execution
Reggie Clemons was sentenced to death in St. Louis as an accomplice to a 1991 murder of two young white women. Since his conviction allegations have arisen of police coercion, prosecutorial misconduct, and a ‘stacked’ jury in the Clemons case. Yet inadequate legal representation at trial hampered appeal efforts, and a ruling overturning his death sentence was reversed on technical grounds. From the investigation through the appeals process, his case illustrates many of the flaws in the U.S. death penalty system.
Shortly after a 2009 execution date was stayed, the Missouri Supreme Court assigned Judge Manners to investigate the reliability of his conviction and proportionality of his sentence. Judge Manners submitted his findings to the Missouri Supreme Court in 2013. On November 24, 2015, the Missouri Supreme Court vacated Clemons’ conviction for murder and his death sentence. However, prosecutors chose to retry for murder, seeking the death penalty yet again. Clemons is currently in prison awaiting re-trial.
Amnesty International continues to urge the state of Missouri to recognize the serious problems with Reggie Clemons’ case and take the death penalty off the table.