Blank










Death penalty opponents raise concerns over executions
by CHERYL WITTENAUER

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/12935654.htm

ST. LOUIS
Family, friends and death penalty opponents raised
concerns about the conviction of Marlin Gray, who is
scheduled to die by injection next week in the deaths
of two sisters pushed from an abandoned Mississippi
River bridge in 1991.
They implored a gathering at St. Peter's AME Church
here, where Gray's brother is minister, to call and send
e-mail to Gov. Matt Blunt, asking him to grant clemency
to Gray. "The (government) was fighting in the case of
Terri Schiavo and the woman prisoner who wants an
abortion," said the Rev. Mark Williams, Gray's brother.
"What about an innocent person on death row? Is (the
state's involvement) only reserved for the unborn?"
Jessica Robinson, a spokesman for Blunt, said the Missouri Board of Probation and
Parole is reviewing Gray's clemency petition as will the governor. She said the board
is expected to make its recommendation Friday or Monday, but that Blunt is not
obligated to follow it.
Williams and Gray's father, Ed Doss, joined death penalty opponents from Missouri and
Germany to urge a crowd of more than 50 people to try to stop Gray's execution,
saying time was short but too many doubts about what exactly happened are impeding
justice.
Gray, 38, and three other St. Louis men were convicted in the deaths of Julie Kerry,
21, and her 19-year-old sister Robin on the old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis on
April 4, 1991.
Gray's attorney, Joanne Descher, has asked both Blunt and the U.S. Supreme Court to
halt the execution. Gray, she said, was not even on the bridge at the time of the
killing. He maintained he left the bridge before they were pushed off.
The concerns expressed Tuesday echo those outlined in a petition for clemency that
Descher filed late last year with then-Gov. Bob Holden.
They allege, among other things, prosecutorial misconduct and that Gray's confession
was coerced.
A call to former prosecutor Nels Moss was not immediately returned.
Gray was convicted of being an accomplice to first-degree murder in the women's
deaths.
Though Gray maintained he had left the bridge, the state characterized him as the
ringleader, Descher said. She noted no one testified or no evidence was presented at
trial that Gray had directed the others to kill the sisters - a requirement for an
accomplice conviction in Missouri.
According to court testimony, the sisters took their cousin, Thomas Cummins, to the
closed bridge to show him a graffiti poem they had written.
Gray, Reginald Clemons, Antonio Richardson and Daniel Winfrey also had decided to
visit the bridge. The two groups crossed paths in the middle of the bridge.
Winfrey testified that some time later, Clemons suggested the group rob the sisters
and their cousin. Winfrey said Gray said he felt like hurting someone and Richardson
suggested raping the girls.
The group caught up with the girls and Cummins, and the sisters were raped while
Cummins was restrained. Gray has denied taking part in the rapes.
The three then were forced through a manhole in the bridge deck to a platform below
the bridge. The sisters were pushed off and died. Cummins survived the 70-foot jump
into the dark river.
Clemons, Richardson and Gray were tried and convicted separately. Winfrey, as part of
a plea agreement in exchange for testifying against the others, pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Richardson's execution was stayed in 2002 by the U.S. Supreme Court, and he was
re-sentenced to life in prison.
Clemons, like Gray, is imprisoned at the Potosi Correctional Center and is awaiting
execution

--
_____________________________________________________

I intend to last long enough to put out of business all *****-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
___________________________________________________