AG Wants Supreme Court To Clear Up Backlog Of Death Penalty Cases

Attorney General Jay Nixon has added to the request for execution dates pending before the State Supreme Court. There are now seven cases awaiting a date, one request is nearly two years old. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronnie White denies the court is dragging its feet. Yet, there hasn’t been an execution in Missouri since late October 2003. There were only two executions that year, after six in 2002. Attorney General Jay Nixon is expressing frustration about the court’s inaction. He insists litigation in the seven cases he has sent to the court has run its course. The latest request for an execution date is for Donald Jones, convicted of stabbing his grandmother to death in March of 1993.