Missouri's Probation and Parole Board Archives

Missouri’s governor grants 24 pardons; lawmakers hope Patty Prewitt is on the list

December 21, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor granted pardons on Monday to 24 people he says have demonstrated a changed lifestyle and desire to move on from past behaviors.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on December 2, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

They are the first pardons granted by Governor Mike Parson (R), who took office in June 2018. The governor’s office isn’t releasing the names of the 24, until families have been notified.

“If we are to be a society that believes in forgiveness and second chances, then it is the next chapter in these individuals lives that will matter most,” Governor Parson says, in a written statement. “We are encouraged and hopeful that those individuals will take full advantage of this opportunity.”

The governor also says his legal team continues to review clemency files, and will keep working to reduce the backlog he inherited. There are currently 3,695 pending clemency applications.

Governor Parson has also announced that he’s commuting three prior drug offenders to house arrest. After their home plan is approved by Missouri’s Probation and Parole Board, those three inmates will serve the rest of their terms under house arrest.

The governor’s office will release more information about the 24 pardons at a later date.

State Reps. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, and Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, have called on the governor to grant clemency for 70-year-old Patty Prewitt, who’s been incarcerated for 34 years.

Prewitt is serving a life prison term for first degree murder, for the 1984 death of her husband in western Missouri’s Holden. She has maintained her innocence since that time, saying an intruder killed her husband and attacked her. 56 Missouri lawmakers in both parties signed the Dogan-McCreery letter that says Prewitt’s continued incarceration is not in the state’s interest.

“I remain hopeful that Patty Prewitt is on this (24 pardon) list,” McCreery tweeted at Missourinet Monday evening.

Prewitt is incarcerated at the state prison in northwest Missouri’s Chillicothe. Unless the governor grants clemency, Prewitt won’t be eligible for parole until 2036. She would be 86.

Missouri Supreme Court issues key ruling involving juvenile murderer

November 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri prisoner who was 16 when she killed a man during a meth transaction in western Missouri’s Cass County will remain in prison for now, under a key ruling Tuesday from the Missouri Supreme Court.

Convicted killer Jessica Hicklin is currently incarcerated at the Potosi Correctional Center in Mineral Point (June 2020 file photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)

The inmate, 41-year-old Jessica Hicklin, was sentenced in April 1997 to mandatory life without parole. Hicklin is incarcerated at the maximum-security Potosi Correctional Center in southeast Missouri’s Mineral Point.

Prosecutors say Hicklin was 16 when Sean Smith was shot and killed.

Hicklin began challenging her sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court held in 2012 that juveniles cannot be given mandatory sentences of life without parole.

In Tuesday’s 20-page unanimous decision, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected Hicklin’s claim that the Missouri statute giving her parole eligibility after 25 years is unconstitutional.

In its ruling, the state court notes U.S. Supreme Court precedent gives states two options for fixing mandatory juvenile life-without-parole sentences for juveniles already sentenced: either resentence them or give them meaningful opportunity for release after considering certain circumstances, including their youth.

Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) spokeswoman Karen Pojmann tells Missourinet that Hicklin’s parole hearing is tentatively set for July 2021. The murder happened in 1995, and Hicklin entered state prison in April 1997 but received credit for time served in the county jail.

Hicklin also contended that the authority of Missouri’s Probation and Parole Board violates the state’s separation of powers. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected that.

Tuesday’s decision was written by Missouri Supreme Court Judge Laura Denvir Stith. You can read the full 20-page ruling here.

Retired Missouri judge: “Justice cries for Bobby Bostic to be released”

January 22, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A retired St. Louis judge who sentenced a teen to 241 years in prison in 1997 says her sentence should be overturned. Judge Evelyn Baker traveled to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on Tuesday, in support of legislation aimed at providing a parole hearing for Bobby Bostic.

41-year-old Bobby Bostic is incarcerated at the Jefferson City Correctional Center (December 2017 file photo courtesy of Missouri DOC)

Bostic, who’s now 41, is incarcerated at the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC). While he was convicted on 16 felony counts, including robbery and armed criminal action, his supporters note his crime did not cause death or serious injuries to victims.

Bostic has been incarcerated since March 1997, for robbing a group of people who were delivering Christmas gifts to needy St. Louisans in 1995.

Judge Evelyn Baker briefed Capitol reporters on Tuesday, and Missourinet asked the retired judge about her 1997 sentence.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would never have sentenced that child (Bostic) to 241 years,” Baker says. “I didn’t know it then, but I do know it now. And it’s my duty to try to rectify a wrong.”

Bostic was 16 at the time of the robbery. Judge Baker says “Bobby was just a kid who was 16 years old. His brain had years to go before he became a full-fledged adult.”

Baker supports bipartisan legislation from State Reps. Nick Schroer (R-O’Fallon) and Barbara Washington (D-Kansas City) that would give Bostic an immediate parole hearing.

Bostic currently has to wait until he’s 112 years old, to get a hearing. Washington says Bostic should have never been certified as an adult, in the case.

Retired St. Louis Circuit Judge Evelyn Baker briefs Capitol reporters on January 21, 2020, as State Reps. Nick Schroer and Barbara Washington look on (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

As for Schroer, who serves on the Missouri House Judiciary Committee, he tells Capitol reporters that none of Bostic’s victims were killed or seriously injured, adding that Bostic prevented a sexual assault from happening that night.

“It is noteworthy to mention that zero of these victims from that one night have indicated that they are against Mr. Bostic being granted clemency or parole,” says Schroer.

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” has reported that Bostic was with an 18-year-old co-defendant during the 1995 incident, and that while two people were shot, no one was seriously injured.

The co-defendant accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to 30 years, according to the newspaper.

Representative Schroer emphasizes the legislation doesn’t guarantee Bostic parole, but simply a hearing and an opportunity to appear before Missouri’s Probation and Parole Board.

The bill is House Bill 2201.

Schroer also says Bostic has been involved in restorative justice efforts in prison.

“In the months ahead of us you will learn about how Bobby Bostic is a changed man, fully repentant, obtaining many scholastic accolades and degrees,” Schroer says. “He has taken full responsibility for his actions on that one December night in 1995.”

Judge Baker tells the Capitol Press Corps that “justice cries for Bobby Bostic to be released.”

During their press conference, Representatives Schroer and Washington also called on Governor Mike Parson (R) to grant Bostic clemency. Schroer says he spoke to Governor Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson about the case, in 2019.

In addition to Judge Baker, Schroer and Washington were also joined by several lawmakers from both parties. They included State Reps. Tony Lovasco, R-O’Fallon, Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, Rasheen Aldridge Jr., D-St. Louis, LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, and Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette. The ACLU’s Sara Baker also attended and spoke.

Baker notes Bostic has written poetry and has been teaching other inmates how to read. The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) says Bostic has also been involved in the Puppies for Parole program.