BY FAX: 573-751-1495

May 3, 2002

The Honorable Bob Holden
Missouri Capitol Building, Room 216
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0720

Re: Joseph Amrine

Dear Governor Holden:

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we urge you to grant clemency and pardon Joseph Amrine, who is currently imprisoned on death row in Missouri. Such relief is merited by the circumstances of Mr. Amrine's case. Mr. Amrine was convicted of murdering another inmate while he was in prison.  There is, however, serious doubt about his guilt.  The prosecution relied heavily on the testimony of other prisoners who gained in some way by testifying against Mr. Amrine.  All of those prisoners have since recanted their testimony.  In addition, a prison guard's testimony implicates a different man in the murder (a man who testified against Mr. Amrine at trial).  Finally, three of the original trial jurors, including the foreperson, have said that if they knew all of the evidence they would not have found Mr. Amrine guilty.

Joseph Amrine was convicted of murdering a fellow inmate while in a recreation room in the old Missouri State Penitentiary (now known as the Jefferson City Correctional Center.  At the time of the murder, Mr. Amrine was almost finished serving a 15-year sentence for robbery.)  At his original trial, Mr. Amrine was convicted based almost exclusively on the testimony of other inmates who had something to gain by testifying against Mr. Amrine.  All three of Mr. Amrine's accusers, Terry Russell, Jerry Poe and Randall Ferguson, now admit that they lied when they accused Mr. Amrine of the murder, and that they did so to save themselves. The trial prosecutor, Tom Brown, declared that without the testimony of the three prisoners the State would not have had a case; it would have been dismissed.

At trial, the defense failed to elicit exculpatory testimony from a prison guard, Officer John Noble.  Officer Noble was in the recreation room at the time of the murder.  He saw Terry Russell and another inmate engaged in ""horseplay.""  Then, he saw the victim drop a homemade knife as he fell to the ground with blood running from his nose and mouth.  Officer Noble identified Terry Russell as the person he saw running away from the slain inmate.  Officer Noble stands by his original report that he saw Russell involved in the altercation with the fallen inmate.  Unfortunately for Mr. Amrine, Officer Noble was not given the proper opportunity to provide this testimony at trial.

The jury remained unaware that the three prisoners who testified against Mr. Amrine would gain from their testimony, or that Officer Noble implicated another prisoner in the murder.  Had they known all of the evidence, their decision to convict Mr. Amrine would have been different.  The foreman of the jury, Russell Gross, recalls doubting whether the defense presented all of the evidence in the case.  Now that he is fully informed of all the evidence he is convinced that Mr. Amrine is innocent and that Terry Russell killed the prisoner.  Another juror, Larry Hildebrand, agrees with the foreman and says that key issues that point to Mr. Amrine's innocence were never discussed during the jury deliberations.

Mr. Amrine's accusers have recanted their testimony and Officer Noble has stood by his original report implicating Terry Russell in the murder of the inmate.  No one now claims that Mr. Amrine murdered another prisoner.

The ACLU opposes capital punishment in all cases as a barbarous anachronism and in violation of the Constitution.  Mr. Amrine's case particularly merits clemency.  Given the irrevocable consequences of a death sentence, especially against an innocent person, we submit that Missouri should afford Mr. Amrine full consideration for his plea to be released from prison.

Sincerely,

Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Capital Punishment Project

Matt Limieux
ACLU of Eastern Missouri

Bart T. East*
Pro Bono Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.

*  Admitted to practice in New York.  Admittance to the District of Columbia Bar pending.