U. S. Supreme Court Archives

BREAKING: Missouri becomes first state to execute a prisoner during coronavirus outbreak

May 19, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

At 6:10 p.m. today, convicted murderer Walter Barton, 64, was pronounced dead at the state prison in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre. Barton was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1991 brutal stabbing death of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler of southwest Missouri’s Ozark.

Convicted murderer Walter Barton was executed on May 19, 2020 at the maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre (undated photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)

His death makes Missouri the first state in the nation to follow through with an execution since the coronavirus began wreaking havoc on the U.S. According to CBS News, COVID-19 concerns have led to other states postponing executions among death row inmates. The Death Penalty Information Center lists Alabama as carrying out the last execution – on March 5.

Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson Karen Pojmann tells Missourinet social distancing measures were taken to protect those involved in the execution. She says the nine witnesses were divided into three rooms big enough for them to stay 6 feet apart. According to Pojmann, everyone who entered the prison were screened, with a temperature check, before being allowed to enter, and everyone was given a face cover and hand sanitizer.

Pojmann says no staff or inmates at the maximum-security prison have tested positive for COVID-19.

For nearly 30 years, Barton’s case has been working its way through the court system by way of five different trials. His attorneys attempted to have their client’s execution overturned by claiming the man is innocent and is also incompetent to be put to death due to a brain injury. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court denied Barton’s appeals and Gov. Mike Parson told reporters Monday that he did not foresee any reason to intervene.

Despite Parson’s comment, death penalty opponents went to Jefferson City today to urge the governor to grant clemency to Barton. A caravan of vehicles drove by the Governor’s Mansion honking and flashing their vehicle lights. A press release from the organizers says key testimony against Barton came from a jailhouse snitch with a long criminal history of crimes of dishonesty such as fraud, bad check writing, forgery, escape and the use of aliases. The release says the state agreed to drop a pending charge against that witness in exchange for her testimony against Barton.

Missouri Governor Parson: Barton execution “will move forward as scheduled”

May 18, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The governor says the execution of a convicted southwest Missouri killer will move forward, clearing the way for Tuesday evening’s scheduled execution in Bonne Terre.

Convicted murderer Walter Barton is scheduled to be executed on May 19, 2020 at the maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre (undated photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)

Governor Mike Parson told Capitol reporters on Monday in Jefferson City that he hasn’t seen any reason to intervene in Walter Barton’s scheduled execution, saying “that will move forward as scheduled.”

Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones told Missourinet on Monday evening that, at this time, “Governor Parson fully anticipates carrying out the court order and discharging his duties as prescribed by law, on May 19.”

In another defeat for Barton, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes’ stay in the case. In a nine-page ruling, the Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, in part: “We vacate the stay of execution and remand with instructions to dismiss Barton’s petition because we see no possibility of success on the merits of either of Barton’s claims.”

Barton’s attorneys have made two main claims: that he is innocent and is also incompetent to be put to death.

Barring intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, Barton will be executed by lethal injection Tuesday night at the maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre.

He was convicted of first degree murder for the 1991 killing of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler in Ozark, south of Springfield. She managed a mobile home park. Court documents say that Kuehler, who was unable to move without the assistance of a cane, was stabbed more than 50 times, including 23 times in the back.

The court documents also indicate that her throat “had been cut from ear to ear.”

Judge Wimes issued the stay of execution on Friday, saying he needed more time to review the claims from Barton’s lawyers.

This case has been working its way through the state and federal court system for almost 30 years. The “Springfield News-Leader” notes Barton was first convicted in 1994, and ended up having five trials because two convictions were overturned on appeal.

Barton’s attorneys are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the case on Tuesday. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court issues a stay, Barton will be executed.

UPDATE: 8th Circuit Court of Appeals vacates stay of execution for convicted Missouri killer

May 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

UPDATE: The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling, vacating the stay of execution for convicted southwest Missouri killer Walter Barton.

In their nine-page ruling, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals writes, in part: “We vacate the stay of execution and remand with instructions to dismiss Barton’s petition because we see no possibility of success on the merits on either of Barton’s claims.”

Barton is scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening at the maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre. Barring intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court or clemency from Governor Parson, Barton will be executed by lethal injection.

BRIAN’S ORIGINAL STORY FROM MAY 17, 2020:

A federal judge has issued a stay of execution in the case of a convicted southwest Missouri killer, who was scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening at the maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre.

Convicted murderer Walter Barton’s case has been working its way through the court system for almost 30 years (undated photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)

64-year-old Walter Barton was convicted of first degree murder for the 1991 killing of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler. She managed a mobile home park in the small town of Ozark, which located in Christian County, south of Springfield.

U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes issued the stay on Friday, saying he needs more time to review claims from Barton’s attorneys. Judge Wimes has given Barton a 30-day reprieve, and outlines his reasons in a seven-page ruling.

“At a minimum, equity requires this Court’s meaningful consideration the petition for habeas relief, which the Court anticipates would require no more than 30 days from today’s (May 15th) date to complete,” Judge Wimes writes.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office is appealing the stay. Unless the federal Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court lifts the stay, Barton will not be executed Tuesday.

Barton’s attorneys have raised concerns about evidence used at the trial, and the “Kansas City Star” reported Friday that the attorneys also say that Barton suffered a brain injury and is incompetent to be executed.

The arguments that Barton’s lawyers made to obtain the stay are essentially the same arguments that they used unsuccessfully in April, with the Missouri Supreme Court in Jefferson City.

In late April, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously denied Barton’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which cleared the way for the execution. A writ of habeas corpus is essentially a court order that demands that a warden deliver an incarcerated person to the court and show a valid reason for the inmate’s imprisonment.

Barton’s attorney, Frederick Duchardt Jr., filed paperwork with the court, which said that Barton is innocent and is incompetent to be put to death.

In late April, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously rejected both arguments, saying that Barton has not offered sufficient evidence to show actual innocence. The Missouri Supreme Court also found that Barton hasn’t shown that he experiences gross delusions which prevent him from understanding the meaning of the death sentence.

This case has been working its way through the state and federal court system for almost 30 years.

The “Springfield News-Leader” notes Barton was first convicted in 1994, and ended up having five trials because two convictions were overturned on appeal.

Court documents say Kuehler, who was unable to move without the assistance of a cane, was stabbed more than 50 times, including 23 times in the back. Court documents also indicate that Kuehler’s throat “had been cut from ear to ear.”

In February, the Missouri Supreme Court scheduled a May 19th execution date for Barton. Executions in Missouri are conducted by lethal injection at the prison in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre.

Missouri Supreme Court rejects request from convicted killer, clearing way for May execution

April 27, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously denied a request from a convicted murderer from southwest Missouri’s Ozark, clearing the way for his execution to take place next month in Bonne Terre.

Convicted murderer Walter Barton is scheduled to be executed on May 19, 2020 in Bonne Terre (undated photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)

The Supreme Court has denied 64-year-old Walter Barton’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. A writ of habeas corpus is essentially a court order that demands that a warden deliver an incarcerated person to the court and show a valid reason for the inmate’s imprisonment.

Barton’s attorney, Frederick Duchardt Jr., filed court papers which say Barton is innocent and incompetent to be put to death.

The Supreme Court rejected both arguments. They say Barton has not offered sufficient evidence to show actual innocence. The Supreme Court also found that Barton hasn’t shown that he experiences gross delusions which prevent him from understanding the meaning of the death sentence.

In February, the Missouri Supreme Court scheduled a May 19th execution date for Barton at the maximum-security prison in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre.

The case has been working its way through the court system for almost 30 years.

The “Springfield News-Leader” notes Barton was first convicted in 1994, and ended up having five trials because two convictions were overturned on appeal.

Barton was convicted of first degree murder for the 1991 killing of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler. She managed a mobile home park in the small town of Ozark, which is south of Springfield.

Court documents say Kuehler was stabbed more than 50 times, including 23 times in the back. Court documents indicate that her throat “had been cut from ear to ear.”

Barton will be executed by lethal injection in Bonne Terre, unless a federal court intervenes. Barton and Counselor Duchardt could also seek clemency from Governor Mike Parson.

Convicted southern Missouri killer set to be executed this spring

February 18, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A May execution date has been scheduled for a convicted killer from southwest Missouri’s Ozark. The case has been working its way through the court system for almost 30 years.

Convicted killer Walter Barton is scheduled to be executed on May 19, 2020 in Bonne Terre (undated photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)

The Missouri Supreme Court today set a May 19th execution date for convicted killer Walter Barton, who was sentenced to death for the 1991 killing of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler. The elderly woman managed a mobile home park in Ozark, which is south of Springfield.

Kuehler was unable to move without the assistance of a cane, according to court documents.

Court documents say she had been stabbed more than 45 times, and that her jugular vein was severed.

One of Kuehler’s eyes was also slashed, and court documents say the victim was also struck in the head with a heavy object like a baseball bat.

The 64-year-old Barton will be executed by lethal injection at the maximum-security prison in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre, unless a federal judge or the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes. Barton could also request clemency from Governor Mike Parson.

The “Springfield News-Leader” notes Barton was initially convicted in 1994, and ended up having five trials because two convictions were overturned on appeal.

Court documents also indicate that Barton was convicted of assaulting, with intent to kill, a convenience store clerk in 1976, before being paroled from prison in February 1984.

One month after being released from prison, prosecutors say Barton attacked, choked and threatened to kill another convenience store clerk in West Plains.

U.S. Supreme Court stays Russell Bucklew execution, Gov. Nixon denies clemency

May 20, 2014 By Mike Lear

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for condemned Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew. He was sentenced to die by lethal injection after midnight Wednesday morning for the 1996 murder of Michael Sanders.

Russell Bucklew (courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

Attorney General Chris Koster (D) says the full Court is anticipated to consider Bucklew’s pending requests on Wednesday. He notes in his statement that the execution warrant for Bucklew is valid through midnight, Wednesday night, meaning the execution could be carried out any time May 21.

Bucklew’s attorneys argue that he suffers from malformed blood vessels that could increase the risk of pain and suffering or a prolonged lethal injection.

The timing of this stay by the U.S. Supreme Court is similar to events leading up to the execution of Allan Nicklasson in December. He had been scheduled to be executed at 12:01 the morning of December 11 but a stay was issued by the Court late the night before, with the Court hearing arguments on December 11. His execution was eventually carried out after a delay of nearly 23 hours.

Governor Jay Nixon (D) has meanwhile denied a petition for clemency for Bucklew.

In his statement, Nixon says, “Russell Bucklew came to the home of Michael Sanders armed and with the intent to murder him. After storming into the home and fatally shooting Mr. Sanders, Bucklew fired a shot at Sanders’ six-year-old son, but missed. Bucklew then continued on a rampage of violence, including the armed kidnapping and rape of his former girlfriend and a shootout with the Missouri State Highway Patrol that left a trooper wounded. The jury in this case properly found that these heinous crimes warranted the death penalty, and my denial of clemency upholds the jury’s decision.

“I ask that the people of Missouri remember Michael Sanders and keep his family, as well as the other victims of Russell Bucklew’s crimes, in their thoughts and prayers.”

Bill proposed to address sentencing of juveniles convicted of murder

February 18, 2014 By Mike Lear

A bill has been heard in a House committee that aims to solve a problem with the sentencing of juveniles found guilty of first-degree murder in Missouri.

Representative Stanley Cox (right) listens as Matt Selby with the Missouri Prosecutors Association testifies in favor of Cox’s bill.

A 2005 Missouri Supreme Court ruling eliminated the sentence of death for juveniles. Then in 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that when there is no alternative to life without parole, that is an inappropriate sentence for someone under 18.

Representative Stanley Cox (R-Sedalia) says that leaves it up to the state legislature to put an alternative in the law, and his bill (HB 1560) proposes one.

“The choices will be that they can have life without parole,” says Cox, “Or alternatively … they can have a sentence of 50 years without parole and then be subject to parole.”

Representative Rochelle Walton Gray (D-Black Jack) says that’s not much of a choice.

“When you say 50 years you may as well be saying life for an 18 year-old, or anyone older than that, as a matter of fact, so you’re really not trying to give any other options for the most part,” Walton Gray says to Cox. “It’s just that you know that with the decision that was made you have to come up with an option as far as the Court is concerned.”

Joplin attorney William Fleischaker says Cox’s proposal misses the intent of a Supreme Court ruling in 2012.

“You can’t automatically sentence a youthful offender to life without parole and, in my opinion, the equivalent of life without parole,” Fleischaker tells the committee, “Without considering various youth-related factors.”

The lack of an alternative is what attorneys for Alyssa Bustamante cite in a recent hearing in which she seeks to vacate her guilty plea in the 2009 murder of her 9-year-old neighbor, Elizabeth Olten. Bustamante’s lawyers argue that the lack of an alternative to life without parole intimidated her into agreeing to a guilty plea. Those lawyers cite the same 2012 Supreme Court case, Miller vs. Alabama, that Cox references in support of his bill.

No vote has been taken on Cox’s bill.

Blunt, Nixon both pleased with Supreme Court gun ruling

June 26, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

A 5-4 ruling upholding the right of Americans to own guns pleases the governor and attorney general.

To Governor Blunt, there wasn’t really a question as to whether the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to bear arms.

"The Supreme Court didn’t give us the right," Blunt told the Missourinet, "The United States Constitution clearly states that the American people have a right to keep and bear firearms. The court has affirmed that and I am very pleased with their decision."

The decision strikes down Washington, D. C.’s ban on handgun ownership. The ruling found that government can enact gun ownership restrictions, but that the District’s prohibition went too far.

A spokesman for Attorney General Jay Nixon, Scott Holste, says Nixon joined 29 other attorneys general who filed briefs with the Supreme Court, arguing that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right. He says the Supreme upheld that argument. Others had argued that it was a collective right reserved only for those who were members of a militia.

Holste says the ruling supports what he calls Missouri’s common sense gun laws.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Professor Says Court Discloses Leanings In Church-State Case

June 26, 2007 By admin Leave a Comment

A University of Missouri law professor says the US Supreme Court gave us a glimpse into its views of separation of church and state as well as separation of powers in a ruling handed down Monday.

The court decision in Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation never got to the merits of the lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics challenging the Bush Administration’s faith-based initiatives. Instead, the US Supreme Court ruled the group didn’t meet the criteria necessary to file such a suit; that it lacked "standing". The court ruled that being a federal taxpayer was not sufficient as grounds to file a lawsuit that the parties needed to prove they were truly aggrieved to file suit.

University of Missouri law professor Carl Esbeck says the court also abided by a 1968 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits such lawsuits against an initiative sponsored by the executive branch. Esbeck says an opposite ruling would have placed the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under incredible scrutiny into its day-to-day activities. He says the court decided it didn’t have jurisdiction to interfere with an executive branch initiative.

Esbeck specializes on church-state issues and actually helped craft the Bush Administration’s faith-based initiative.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports. (:60 MP3)

Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Could Change Under Anti-Crime Bill

May 15, 2007 By admin Leave a Comment

Language has been placed in a large anti-crime bill that would conform Missouri’s ban on partial-birth abortion to the law upheld by the United States Supreme Court.

The wording of the amendment is taken from the Nebraska case in which the US Supreme Court upheld a partial-birth abortion ban. The Missouri legislature passed a ban in 1999 over the veto of Governor Mel Carnahan. The Supreme Court has asked the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals to review that law in light of its ruling.

Rep. Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis) says there’s no evidence the procedure is used in Missouri. Onder has succeeded in keeping the practice a Class A felony, which is harsher than the Class C felony that is federal law. Onder says he doesn’t believe the constitutionality of the bill rests on the penalty.

The anti-crime bill, HCS SS SCS SB 429 , now goes to the Senate with time running out on the session.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)