Hundreds Ask Missouri Governor to Grant Dorsey Clemency

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Facts

  • More than 150 people, including 70 current and former prison workers, have asked Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to grant clemency to Brian Dorsey, who is scheduled to be executed next week for murdering his cousin and her husband in 2006.1
  • Dorsey on Tuesday filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), arguing that his attorneys provided 'grossly deficient representation in a capital case.' Appointed through the Missouri State Public Defender, his lawyers were each paid a flat fee of $12K.2
  • Missouri no longer allows flat fee compensation for public defenders. Dorsey’s current counsel says his old lawyers did not provide him with a sufficient level of representation.3
  • According to figures from federal courts, Dorsey’s lawyers were paid $3.37 per hour if they spent the standard 3,557 hours on his case. However, no one disputes the fact that Dorsey killed Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, before sexually assaulting her.4
  • The Missouri Supreme Court upheld Dorsey’s conviction and life sentence in 2009. Retired Judge Michael Wolff, who served on the bench at the time, wrote in an op-ed that he regrets his decision and he was “unaware of how compromised' the lawyers were.5
  • Barring an intervention, Dorsey will be executed April 9. Parson has never granted a request for clemency.1

Sources: 1Guardian, 2STLtoday.com, 3Yahoo News, 4Los Angeles Times and 5STLPR.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by New York Times. Parson should grant Dorsey clemency. Prison workers, and even the judge who upheld his death sentence, are unified in their belief that Dorsey was failed by the justice system. Dorsey has been a model citizen for the past 18 years, and he shouldn't die because he wasn't allowed proper counsel.
  • Narrative B, as provided by AGO. This outpouring of support for Dorsey is turning him from a cold-blooded murderer into a victim, but Parson can't let it affect him. No one is questioning whether Dorsey committed these heinous crimes and his conviction has been upheld multiple times. Dorsey must be punished for what he did.

Predictions