The Missouri Supreme Court recent­ly over­turned the cap­i­tal con­vic­tion of Joseph Amrine, a death row inmate accused of killing a fel­low pris­on­er 17 years ago. The Court found ​“clear and con­vinc­ing evi­dence of actu­al inno­cence that under­mines con­fi­dence” in Amrine’s con­vic­tion (Supreme Court of Missouri, SC84656, April 29, 2003). In a 4 – 3 deci­sion the Court ordered that Amrine be con­di­tion­al­ly dis­charged 30 days from the date the man­date issues in this case unless the state elects to file new charges against Amrine. Amrine has main­tained his inno­cence since the 1985 mur­der, which occurred while Amrine was was housed in a ​“SuperMax” area of Missouri State Penitentiary. Investigators nev­er found phys­i­cal evi­dence link­ing Amrine to the mur­der, and the three inmates who tes­ti­fied against Amrine dur­ing his tri­al lat­er recant­ed their tes­ti­mo­ny and said that they had lied to win spe­cial pro­tec­tion for them­selves. Amrine would have been freed in 1992 with­out the wrong­ful mur­der con­vic­tion. During the argu­ment at the Supreme Court, the state had argued that new evi­dence of Amrine’s inno­cence should have no bear­ing on his con­vic­tion. (Herald Sun, April 29, 2003)

On June 13, 2003, pros­e­cu­tor Bill Tackett filed new mur­der charges against Amrine, one day pri­or to the fil­ing dead­line, and two days pri­or to Amrine’s sched­uled release. Tackett said Thursday he was hav­ing pos­si­ble blood sam­ples from the cloth­ing Amrine wore the day of Barber’s death test­ed. The results are expect­ed in about 90 days. Amrine pled inno­cent, and his bond was set at $1 mil­lion. Kent Gipson, who rep­re­sent­ed Amrine in the orig­i­nal case, said he was dis­ap­point­ed and sur­prised by Tackett’s deci­sion. ​“I think Joe has been in prison 17 years for a crime he did­n’t com­mit and this just com­pounds the injus­tice,” Gipson said. (AP, June 13, 2003)

On July 28, 2003, pros­e­cu­tor Bill Tackett announced that he would not seek a new tri­al of Amrine and that he would be released. (Associated Press, July 28, 2003) 

Legal Links

  • Click here to read the deci­sion of the Missouri State Supreme Court, hand­ed down on April 29, 2003.
  • Click here to read the appli­ca­tion for Pardon, sub­mit­ted by attor­neys Sean O’Brien and Kent Gipson.
  • Click here to read the peti­tion for Habeas Corpus filed in February of 2003 by O’Brien and Gipson.
  • Click here to read the response to the Habeas peti­tion, filed by respon­dent Al Luebbers.


Additional mate­ri­als and information:

  • Click Here to read DPIC’s Press Release (July 28, 2003)
  • Click Here to read the Missourians Against the Death Penalty Press Release (July 28, 2003)
  • Click here for more infor­ma­tion on the doc­u­men­tary about Joseph Amrine, Unreasonable Doubt
  • Click here for Amnesty International’s cov­er­age of this case.