A couple of lawyers fight for the life of a condemned Missouri prisoner and believe clemency from the governor might be his last hope. Executions seem to be on hold as the courts consider the constitutionality of lethal injection. Defense attorney Kimberly Hamm wants Governor Blunt to review the case of Reggie Clemons, one of four convicted in the 1991 rape and murder of Julie and Robin Kerry thrown from the Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis. Hamm says Clemons’ defense attorney failed him at trial. A federal judge threw out his death sentence. An appeals court reinstated it.
Rothberg says she understands the Chain of Rocks murders were horrendous. She says she has sympathy for the parents of Julie and Robin Kerry. A co-defendant, Marlin Gray, was executed in October. Another, Antonio Richardson, had his sentence lifted when the US Supreme Court ruled juveniles couldn’t be executed. The two lawyers say they won’t file for clemency until an execution date has been set. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a man awaiting execution has challenged lethal injection.