An Assistant Attorney General has told the State Supreme Court it should not release a Missouri death row inmate, even if it finds him innocent. Inmate Joseph Amrine is condemned to die for the stabbing death of fellow Jefferson City prison inmate Gary Barber in 1986. His attorney claims he’s innocent, based on the fact that the three witnesses against him have since recanted. Assistant Attorney General Frank Jung argued the State Supreme Court cannot consider innocense unless it finds a constitutonal violationm\, and that Amrine should be looking to the Governor for justice. Amrine’s attorney, Sean O’Brien, finds the argument illogical. O’Brien has asked the Supreme Court to order a new trial. He says the three witnesses against Amrine have since recanted, and the guard at the scene has always maintained it was another inmate who killed Barber.
