Supreme Court: More Executions Unlikely

ON HOLD

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Executions effectively are on hold again in Missouri.

Incoming Chief Justice William Ray Price Jr. said Tuesday that it's unlikely the Supreme Court will schedule any additional executions while a federal stay is in place for the execution of Reginald Clemons.

The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals put a hold on Clemons scheduled June 17 execution after his attorneys challenged Missouri's lethal injection procedures.

They are seeking further legal proceedings to ensure Missouri is using competent execution personnel.

Price says a federal decision in the Clemons case could apply to all Missouri inmates facing execution.

Missouri conducted no executions from October 2005 until this May because of a previous challenge to the state's lethal injection procedures.

Nixon Denies Clemency for Skillicorn

Governor Jay Nixon has denied a clemency petition for Dennis Skillicorn, who is set to be put to death at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

"After careful deliberation, I have denied this petition," the Governor wrote in a statement released late Tuesday.

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

"At the time he murdered Richard Drummond, Dennis Skillicorn was out on parole for another murder in Missouri. The jury that recommended the death sentence for Dennis Skillicorn took that previous murder conviction into consideration as an aggravating circumstance. The jury also took into account during the sentencing phase the fact that Richard Drummond was kidnapped and robbed before he was murdered. After more than a decade of legal challenges, both the conviction and the death sentence of Dennis Skillicorn have held up under extensive judicial review by the state and federal courts," Nixon went on. "The two murders for which Dennis Skillicorn was convicted in Missouri are not his only murder convictions. He also received life sentences after pleading guilty to murdering an Arizona couple in 1994, a few days after the Drummond murder."

"The jury that convicted Dennis Skillicorn determined that he deserved the most severe punishment under Missouri law, and my decision on clemency upholds the jury’s action," Nixon concluded.

The Governor also asked that Missourians remember and pray for Skillicorn's victims -- Richard Drummond, Joseph and Charlene Babcock and Wendell Howell.

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL: "What I hate about what's going on this week, is there's a lot of talk about the person who's being executed and what he's been doing in terms of prison and not very many people are thinking about the victim."

DONNA WALMSLEY of Missourians To Abolish The Death Penalty: "Mr. Skillicorn, in his case, he's been doing so much good work in prison that it's a shame he will not be able to continue his good work. We do not believe an execution of someone solves anything."

Mo. Execution Puts Death Penalty Debate at Forefront

The Grey Lady looks at the death penalty debate in Missouri as the state prepares to execute a prisoner for the first time since 2005.

At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Dennis J. Skillicorn is to be executed for his role in the murder of a businessman in 1994. He was not believed to be the gunman.

The N.Y. Times notes: "In the final days of the state legislative session in Jefferson City last week, a death penalty moratorium was rejected, but the House, which Republicans control, passed a provision calling for a commission to study the question. House leaders say their chamber’s vote sent a signal to Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat in his first term, who has yet to issue a decision on Mr. Skillicorn’s request for clemency."

"He is not the one who actually killed the person, and that just says to me: ‘Whoa! Let’s take a step back,’ ” said State Representative Steven Tilley, the Republican leader.

Mr. Nixon declined interview requests. His aides said he was giving Mr. Skillicorn’s clemency request “a full and fair review.”
***
ALSO: Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty are planning a vigil Tuesday night at 7 p.m. to pray for Skillicorn. The vigil will be held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church on 2818 East Bennett in Springfield.

Death Penalty Debate: Schoeller vs. Brown

SUPREME COURT DECISION ON CHILD RAPE SPARKS STRONG REACTION ON BOTH SIDES

Watch Child Advocate Debate State Lawmaker
on KY3 News @ 10 HERE

Brown Opposes the Death Penalty for Child Rapists;
Schoeller Supports It

Barbara Brown: "I think it was a sound ruling that I feel comfortable with . . . National research tells us almost 90% of the time it's someone that the child knows, loves and trusts that does this to them, so that's not an incentive to turn that person in . . . I think the greater danger would be that less and less people would hotline their suspicions that someone was harming a child because the penalty would be so severe."

Rep. Shane Schoeller: "I think if you try to get into the mind of the criminal too much, you begin to obscure the purpose of the law . . . I don't think you can have all the what ifs, what ifs, if you are thinking about what we need to do to make sure we have a good society when it comes to people perpetuating the worst crime upon a child I can think of."

Koster Weighs in On Death Penalty Case

Democratic candidate for Attorney General Chris Koster weighed into the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling today against the death penalty for child rapists.

Here's his statement:

"In 2003, I prosecuted a rapist who drugged his pre-teen victims and then filmed their rapes. In my heart, I believed that he deserved the death penalty. Although I find myself on the other side of the Court's decision, I accept its ruling."

Blunt, Gibbons "Disappointed" By SCOTUS Ruling

Gov. Matt Blunt said he was disappointed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that outlawed the death penalty for child rapists.

"I am extremely disappointed in the Court’s decision not to allow the most serious punishment, both as a matter of justice and deterrence to protect our children from vile sexual predators," Blunt said in a statement.

Blunt pushed for legislation that would have allowed a Missouri prosecutor to seek the death penalty in cases of forcible rape and forcible sodomy when the victim is younger than 12-years old.

The Governor and 28 members of the General Assembly filed an amici curiae, or “friends of the court” brief in March, asking the court to clarify previous rulings that the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit the death penalty for child rapists. The brief also argued that the court should not preclude a national debate on this issue and allow states to form a consensus.

"Violent sex crimes against children are among the worst crimes that any criminal could commit. Child predators attack the innocent and defenseless, and the pain they inflict is permanent - in many cases physically and in all cases emotionally," Blunt said.

Republican Attorney General candidate Mike Gibbons also expressed dismay at the 5-4 ruling on a Louisiana case.

Gibbons said he supported Justice Samuel Alito's dissent that in part stated: "The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave. It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty."

"I am disappointed by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision but I will enforce the tough laws we passed to protect our children from sexual predators as the next attorney general of Missouri," Gibbons said in a statement. "We will lock the door and throw away the key on those vermin that prey on our children as well as focus on prevention to make sure our kids are never hurt in the first place."

Sprint To The Finish

DAY OF RECKONING
'08 Session Closes Tonight
Village Law Filibustered In Senate
Watch My KY3 News @ 10 Report HERE

***ALSO***
Greene County Set To Add One Circuit Court Judge, according to Rep. Bob Dixon
House passes Death Penalty for child rapes
Red Light Cameras In the Clear: Threatening Amendments Stripped From Conference Bill

Will Photo I.D. Bill Emerge As Final Day Senate Sleeper?

Blunt Renews Death Penalty Call For Child Rapists

SEN. JACK GOODMAN JOINS IN SUPPORT

GOV. BLUNT: "THE WORST CRIMES DESERVE THE MOST SERIOUS PUNISHMENTS"

***DEVELOPING . . .

A week after the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for lethal injections, Governor Matt Blunt renewed his call for state lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow the death penalty for child rapists.

Blunt made his announcement on the steps on the Greene County courthouse with Rep. Shane Schoeller and Senator Jack Goodman. Blunt wants to allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in cases of rape and sodomy when the victim is younger than 12 years old. The Governor referred to a recent case in Springfield where a 36-year-old man has been charged with kidnapping, raping and sodomizing a 7-year-old girl.

"Those evil predators who rob our children of their youth and innocence deserve the most serious punishment we can deliver both as a matter of justice and as a matter of deterrence," Blunt said.

Currently, five states have laws that allow capital punishment for a violent offender convicted of rape. Four other states are considering it.

Nixon Files 4 Execution Motions

Hand this to the death penalty: Never has an issue united so many politicians of differing stripes.

Attorney General Jay Nixon filed motions with the state Supreme Court to set execution dates for four capital punishment inmates Thursday.

Nixon filed motions on the following inmates:

• Mark Christeson, convicted for the murders of a woman and two children in Maries County back in 1998
• Martin Link, convicted in 1991 for the murder of an 11-year-old St. Louis girl
• Earl Ringo Jr., convicted for the July 1998 murders of two in Boone County
• Dennis Skillicorn, convicted for an August 1994 murder in Lafayette County

So are all the pols in universal agreement on the next argument: giving the death penalty to those found guilty of raping a child?

That Supreme Court decision will come in over the next two months.

Me Too.

HULSHOF ALSO SUPPORTS S.C. DECISION

"No Moratorium Necessary"

U.S. Congressman and Republican candidate for Governor Kenny Hulshof has also thrown his support behind a United States Supreme Court ruling that struck down a challenge to lethal injection.

The ruling could pave the way for Missouri and other states to resume executions.

"I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the use of lethal injection. With this decision, a delay in executions is no longer needed," Hulshof said in a statement Thursday morning.

“As a former special prosecutor and public defender, I am intimately familiar with the effectiveness of our justice system. Defendants are given a vigorous defense and multiple opportunities to appeal death penalty convictions and that is appropriate. However, consideration needs to be given to victim’s families. Once the appeal process has been exhausted, the sentence should be carried out. This week’s decision makes it clear that no moratorium on executions is necessary in the State of Missouri," Hulshof said.

Blunt Calls on Court To Issue Execution Orders

CITES SUPREME COURT RULING ON LETHAL INJECTION

Blunt, Nixon, Steelman Agree

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling has spurred Gov. Matt Blunt to ask the state's highest court to resume putting convicted murderers to death. The high court today narrowly rejected a challenge to the most widely used method of lethal injection Wednesday, and it's a decision that could lift the unofficial moratorium here in Missouri.

You can watch my KY3 News @ 10 report HERE.

Both Gov. Blunt and unlikely ally Attorney General Jay Nixon pushed for the death penalty to start up again in Missouri, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the use of lethal injection executions. The High Court turned back a constitutional challenge to Kentucky's three-drug procedure. Similar methods are used by about three dozen states, including Missouri. Blunt said the decision affirms Missouri's right to impose the death penalty by lethal injection. He asked the Missouri Supreme Court to immediately issue execution orders in all pending cases. Nixon said the ruling paves the way for lethal injection to again be used in Missouri. It has been nearly three years since the last execution in Missouri.

"I strongly support our state's capital punishment laws, believe the laws are an effective deterrent to crime and ask the Missouri Supreme Court to immediately issue execution orders for all pending cases," Blunt said in a statement.

Republican candidate for Governor Sarah Steelman also issued a statement, praising the Supreme Court decision. “The families of the victims of these cases deserve justice and they deserve closure. I call on the Missouri Supreme Court to immediately take action to issue execution orders for all pending death penalty cases.”

Nixon, Hulshof Oppose Death Penalty Moratorium

**UPDATE: STEELMAN OPPOSED AS WELL**

Widow of Ozarks Murder Victim Signs On
Rep. Deeken: "A Lot of People Agree . . . But Don't Want to Be Public"
Rep. Lipke: "Safeguards already in place."
LAMPE A LOCAL SPONSOR

The three leading candidates for Missouri Governor oppose a state House bill that would halt executions for two years to study potential flaws in the state's death penalty system.

For the last two years, a federal judge has put the death penalty in Missouri on hold over concerns involving lethal injection. Now, some state lawmakers want to effectively extend that moratorium. Supporters of the legislation testified in Jefferson City at a House committee hearing Tuesday. A widow of a man who was murdered in Christian County back in 2005 told the committee "she's still on the fence" about the death penalty. But Ginger Masters also said she did not believe "the state should be in the business of killing its citizens, in most cases."

You can watch my KY3 News @ 10 report HERE.

A spokesperson for Democratic candidate for Governor Jay Nixon tells the KY3 Political Notebook that Attorney General Jay Nixon is against any moratorium.

"He believes juries should have the option to sentence the harshest punishment for the most heinous crimes in a fair and just manner," said Nixon spokesman Oren Shur.

"There are brutal killers who have been sitting on death row in Missouri for years, and meanwhile, the families of their victims have not received the justice and closure they deserve. We must do everything to ensure that the death penalty is carried out in a fair and just manner, but we should not keep the victims’ families from getting that closure," Shur added.

Republican Kenny Hulshof's campaign for Governor echoed Nixon's opinion of the bill. "Kenny doesn't believe any moratorium is necessary," said Hulshof spokesperson Scott Baker. "He believes the justice system works."

***A spokesman for Sarah Steelman said the State Treasurer also opposes the moratorium bill. "She's for the death penalty and believes there shouldn't be a moratorium," said Steelman spokesman Doug Gaston. "She's not opposed to any review, she just opposes supsending it while its being reviewed," Gaston said.

House Bill 1870 is publicly backed by 58 House lawmakers, including 14 Republicans and 44 Democrats. Springfield Rep. Sara Lampe is a co-sponsor of the bill.

Bill sponsor Rep. Bill Deeken said he knows that more lawmakers privately agree with the cause, but don't want to publicly sign on to the bill. "It's an election year . . . and they're afraid it will slam them," Rep. Deeken said.

Deeken, who supports the death penalty, said he's just pushing this legislation study potential problems with the way executions are determined and administered in Missouri.

Republican Rep. Scott Lipke said he's worried the bill is written with pre-conceived notions against the death penalty. "If its that egregious, that heinous of a crime . . . there are some people deserving of death," Lipke said in an interview after the hearing. He said he would vote against the bill in its current form.

Specifically, House Bill 1870 would place a moratorium on all executions until January 2012. It would establish a 10-member bipartisan commission that would be tasked with making recommendations for changes to laws and court rules.

The commission would study if defendants who are sentenced to death "are in fact guilty," whether "race plays an impermissible role" and if prosecutors around the state seek the death penalty using similar criteria.

No vote was taken on the bill Tuesday.

Justice Delayed?

BLUNT WAITS FOR EXTRADITION REQUEST

"Frustrated" Murderer Hasn't Been Transferred

Governor Matt Blunt expressed frustration Wednesday that a confessed serial killer who murdered five Missouri women still hasn't been transferred here to face justice.

You can read more about the chilling case of Timothy Krajcir HERE.

“I am frustrated with this delay, but am not jumping to any conclusions. There is no reason to believe that Illinois does not wish to see Krajcir brought to justice for all of his crimes. Today, I sent a letter to Governor Blagojevich asking if there was a reason for the delay in extraditing Krajcir.

On Decemember 17th, the Governor sent the extradition request to Illinois, seeking "quick approval" from Governor Rod Blagojevich. A Missouri court hearing had been scheduled for Thursday, but Blunt's office says the state of Illinois has not yet released Krajcir to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff.

Blunt Seeks Extradition for Murderer

Timothy Krajcir admitted to killing 5 Missouri women

Son of one victim lives in Strafford

Gov. Matt Blunt is requesting that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich expedite extradition for Timothy Krajcir, a convicted murderer who has been charged with five counts of murder and three counts of rape against women in the Cape Girardeau region.

We talked to the son of one of the victim's last week. You can view the KY3 News @ 10 story HERE.

“The crimes with which Krajcir is charged are among the most heinous in Missouri history,” Gov. Blunt said. “The person responsible terrorized a Missouri community with a series of random, wanton, and horrible rapes and murders. Because of the extraordinary nature of these crimes, I have pledged to the people of Missouri and particularly Cape Girardeau County that I will do everything possible to bring Krajcir to a court of justice as soon as possible.”

Gov. Blunt received the extradition documents late Friday afternoon and after reviewing the documents signed them today to ensure justice may be served in Missouri. Along with the extradition request, Gov. Blunt is requesting immediate transfer of Timothy Krajcir to Missouri.