Ahead of the scheduled execution of Lance Shockley on October 14, 2025, Amnesty International USA’s Deputy Director for Research, Justin Mazzola, said:
“The State of Missouri must not execute Lance Shockley, whose jury deliberations were marred by significant irregularities.
“Shockley’s defense lawyer was ineffective. He failed to adequately challenge the jury selection and did not advocate for a mistrial motion on the tainted jury deliberations at the end of the trial. The jury foreperson exhibited clear misconduct which emerged only after the guilty verdict was reached. After he was removed, the jury ultimately could not agree on a sentence, but the judge imposed a death sentence by relying on an unusual state law criticized by former Missouri judges for its arbitrariness.
“The evidence against Shockley was entirely circumstantial and Shockley’s efforts to have modern DNA testing of crime scene evidence have been denied. He has consistently maintained his innocence. Governor Kehoe must consider the international safeguard prohibiting the imposition of the death penalty when there is any room for an alternative explanation of the facts.
“Shockley is said to be a positive force in prison, who counsels other men in crisis and is skilled in deescalating conflict. Now is the time for Governor Kehoe to stop this execution and commute Lance Shockley’s death sentence.
“We oppose the death penalty in all cases because it violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.”
Background
On September 9, 2025, Amnesty International issued an urgent action calling for Governor Kehoe to commute Lance Shockley’s death sentence.
Lance Shockley was convicted of the 2005 murder of a police officer investigating the drunk-driving death of Shockley’s sister-in-law’s fiancé.
The jury foreperson wrote a fictionalized first-person book describing in graphic detail a revenge killing of a man responsible for a fatal drunk-driving incident who had “escaped justice.” The foreperson shared the book with other jurors while they were deliberating on the verdict, despite the judge’s instructions to avoid movies, books, and shows about trials and crime. During a motion for mistrial after the foreperson’s misconduct emerged, Lance Shockley’s lawyer declined to call any witnesses. Various judges on the state Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals, and the US Supreme Court have argued that the claim of inadequate legal representation is compelling, but Lance Shockley’s ability to pursue it has been curtailed by the Court of Appeals.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.
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