MO attorney general keeps fighting against innocence claims. Is it an ‘immoral position’?

In the past week, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office has argued that a wrongfully convicted woman should remain in prison and a man with an innocence claim should not get his day in court, even as he faces a looming death sentence.

The moves are just the latest — and some of the most extreme — in a series of steps he’s taken as the state’s top law enforcement official to fight claims of innocence.

Sandra “Sandy” Hemme, the longest known wrongfully imprisoned woman in U.S. history, was finally freed Friday night after several delay tactics by Bailey’s office including calling the warden to stop her release, though no stay was in place.

Critics say Bailey, a Republican, has not only ignored credible legal arguments in these efforts, but crossed moral lines and damaged the integrity of the office. They say the office fights every case to uphold a conviction and score political points regardless of the truth. Meanwhile, Bailey has staunchly criticized other convictions, including the felony case against former President Donald Trump and the conviction of a Kansas City police officer who shot and killed a Black man.

Bailey’s combativeness toward innocence claims is part of a longstanding culture in the office. In years past, the attorney general’s office argued that the state should proceed with an execution even if the person was innocent. More recently, it has challenged local prosecutors who intervene on behalf of defendants they believe were wrongfully convicted.

Bailey is running for reelection and will face Will Scharf in the August Republican primary.

Elad Gross, the Democrat running for Missouri attorney general, said at best Bailey’s default approach to upholding convictions regardless of the evidence was “a little bit lazy.”

“At worst it is absolutely an immoral position to take,” he said.

The man trying to prove his innocence, Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams , is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 24.

Local prosecutors have filed a case to vacate Williams’ conviction, citing evidence showing his DNA was not on the murder weapon. Earlier this month, they were granted an Aug. 21 hearing date to present evidence.

But last week, Bailey’s office filed a petition seeking to stop the hearing from happening.

“They fight every case tooth and nail,” said attorney Sean O’Brien, who is part of Hemme’s legal team and has won several other innocence cases in Missouri.

He said he thinks the attorney general’s office believes their obligation is to uphold convictions, but it has cost them their credibility.

Missouri NAACP President Rod Chapel said Bailey has chosen political talking points over doing his job in Missouri.

“The Attorney General’s Office, rather than calling for truth and justice, which should be their only concern, walks in the opposite direction, and in my view, tries to incite the public in a way that’s not only unproductive, but unhealthy,” Chapel said.

The attorney general’s office declined requests for a phone interview with Bailey or other officials in his office and did not respond to a list of questions sent by email.

A legacy and a losing record

In 2003, the office under former AG Jay Nixon argued that a man fighting for his innocence, Joe Amrine, should be executed in the name of finality.

“Are you suggesting ... even if we find that Mr. Amrine is actually innocent, he should be executed?” Laura Denvir Stith, a state Supreme Court justice, asked of Assistant Attorney General Frank Jung.

Jung responded: “That’s correct, your honor.”

Instead, Amrine was exonerated and released.

More than 20 years later, the attorney general’s attempts to block Hemme’s release from prison ultimately proved fruitless.

In January, arguments in Hemme’s case were presented before Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Ryan Horsman. The attorney general’s office fought against her innocence claims.

Hemme, 64, was declared innocent on June 14. She had been incarcerated for more than 43 years. Horsman ordered her release on July 9, but Bailey’s office called the warden and instructed him to continue holding Hemme. Though there wasn’t a stay in place, she remained behind bars an additional 10 days while the AG’s took the case to the Western District Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court. Both courts struck down their efforts to keep her in prison.

On Friday afternoon, Horsman threatened to hold officials with the AG’s office in contempt, including Bailey, if Hemme was not freed. She walked out the doors of Chillicothe Correctional Center shortly before 6 p.m. where she embraced by family members.

State vs. local prosecutors

Williams’ legal team has used a different avenue to argue his case.

A Missouri law passed in 2021 allows prosecutors to intervene in cases where they believe a wrongful conviction has taken place. The office under former Attorney General Eric Schmitt and now Bailey has fought those cases, creating an unusual dynamic that has pitted state prosecutors against local prosecutors.

Under the new statute, Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson have been freed. Other cases remain pending, including Williams’ capital case . He was convicted in the 1998 stabbing of Felicia Gayle. Prosecutors in January filed a petition to intervene on his behalf in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County.

Williams, 55, has faced execution twice, but those were halted to conduct DNA testing and further investigation.

Attorneys for Williams say he is not linked to evidence from the crime scene, including DNA on the murder weapon, shoe prints, fingerprints or hair.

But on June 4, the Missouri Supreme Court set his execution date for Sept. 24.

The next day, the attorney general’s office filed a motion to dismiss the prosecutor’s case. They argued the circuit court does not have jurisdiction to halt Williams’ execution and that his claims have already been rejected throughout numerous appeals.

They also called into question the DNA evidence. According to affidavits, the knife used in the murder was handled by several people during the trial, who could have contaminated the evidence.

Despite the attorney general’s argument, the court set an Aug. 21 hearing date.

On Thursday, the attorney general’s office filed a petition to have that hearing canceled. In their petition, they argue that Williams is guilty and that only the Missouri Supreme Court has authority to stay an execution.

Williams’ attorneys opposed the latest action.

“Instead of trying to prevent the circuit court from considering the DNA evidence that exonerates Mr. Williams, the Attorney General should join us in this truth-seeking process in Mr. Williams’s case,” said Tricia Rojo Bushnell, an attorney representing Williams.

The AG’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Alleged bias

Michelle Smith, co-director for Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said the attorney general’s approach to justice is racist and classist.

“It’s very much a situation where it doesn’t matter if you’re guilty or not. It only matters if you’re white, you’re rich, or if you’re connected to power,” she said.

Smith pointed to Bailey’s views on high profile cases involving white men like Trump and Eric DeValkenaere, a former Kansas City police detective who shot and killed a Black man in 2019 and was convicted of manslaughter.

In a move described as “unprecedented,” Bailey attempted to reverse the conviction. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker called his actions “ extremely distressing ” and “disappointing.”

Earlier this year, the Missouri Supreme Court denied Bailey’s application to review DeValkenaere’s case.

Of Trump’s conviction, Bailey said it was a “sham verdict.”

“This is the result of a rigged system, where the judge manipulated the process to turn jurors against President Trump,” Bailey posted on social media.

Smith said people like Trump or DeValkenaere “get the benefit of the doubt because they are connected to those in power and those with money. But when you have someone Black and poor, like Marcellus Williams, he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt.”

Chapel agreed with Smith, saying race appears to be a factor when it comes to Bailey’s actions or inaction.

Exonorees in Missouri including Strickland and Johnson are Black, as is Williams and Chris Dunn , 52, who was found innocent on Monday and waiting to be freed.

Dunn was convicted in a 1990 murder in the City of St. Louis. A judge in 2020 ruled that there was not evidence to support the conviction. But because of a loophole in Missouri law, the judge was not able to free Dunn and years passed. Bailey’s office opposed the case further and continued to fight his innocence claims at an evidentiary hearing in May.

The judge on Monday vacated Dunn’s conviction and ordered the state to immediately discharge him from custody. Like in Hemme’s case, the AG’s office filed a notice to appeal in an effort to block his release.

“The Attorney General’s opposition to Chris’ release and to other innocence cases must be addressed and corrected,” said Tricia Rojo Bushnell, executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, which represented Dunn. “The office wasted valuable resources and taxpayer money in its effort to keep Chris behind bars.”

Gross, the Democratic candidate for Missouri attorney general, said that the state should not be spending money to keep innocent people in prison and that ignoring someone’s innocence means the actual perpetrator remains free.

“I think his position is very hypocritical,” Gross said of Bailey. “It’s very damaging to our judicial system. It’s very damaging to our state and the authority that we have, and really the legitimacy that we have in the eyes of the people of Missouri.”