Don't execute Marlin Gray!

To:  Matt Blunt, Governor of Missouri

We are turning to you because we are deeply concerned about Mr. Marlin Gray, a death row inmate at Potosi Correctional Center / Mineral Point. We know that you are aware of his case, since you have just recently (March 2005) received the Application for Executive Clemency by his attorney Joanne Descher. As stated in this clemency writ, there are many unclear issues surrounding the "Chain of Rocks" case.
The state clearly failed in Marlin Gray’s case. All it established was that Marlin Gray was not present, did not tell anyone to kill, and was unaware of what others were doing (or even where they were) on an unlit bridge spanning the Mississippi River.
On the night of April 4th 1991 Thomas Cummins was on the Chain of Rocks Bridge spanning the Mississippi River, with his two cousins, the sisters Julie and Robin Kerry. On that evening Julie and Robin Kerry were pushed off a bridge and drowned.
On the same evening, Marlin Gray (black) was there, too. Along with Marlin on the bridge were A. Richardson (black) R. Clemons (black) and D. Winfrey (white).
Allegedly the four of them robbed Cummins and the sisters, raped the sisters and then pushed the two women off the bridge and ordered Cummins to jump into the river; who then swam to shore and survived.
The state was not able to prove that Marlin Gray was on the bridge when the young women were pushed off the bridge.
The only witnesses connecting Marlin Gray to any crime were Daniel Winfrey, the only white defendant in this case, who had made a deal with the state; and Thomas Cummins, who was the original suspect. However, neither of them testified that Marlin Gray killed anyone, directed anyone to kill, or even knew that any killing would take place.
Matter of fact, the state conceded he was not present at the time the murders were committed.
The district attorney against Gray was Nels Moss. He had a record of 8 reversals due to misconduct and 17 other findings that he committed prosecutorial error.
Following his testimony in the trials of Marlin Gray and the two others charged as the principal actors in the crimes, Cummins filed a civil lawsuit against the City of St. Louis and the individual police officers who interrogated him. He claimed the police had beaten him into making a statement, threatened him, and denied him his right to counsel. The defendants paid Cummins $150,000.00 in a confidential settlement to resolve that case.
Marlin Gray was interrogated at the same police station by the same officers and accused the same police officers of the same kind of beating. This interrogation led to a coerced confession, in which he admitted to raping the victims, but not to any role in their murder. This coerced confession was the only time that Marlin admitted to any guilt.
He filed a complaint within a day of his interrogation, in which he gave a detailed account of his beating by the same police officers later accused of interrogating and beating Thomas Cummins. In Marlin’s case, however, there was no $150,000.00 cash payment. He was not even believed.
It is difficult to know what really happened on the bridge that night.
But it is clear, that without Marlins statement, the only evidence against Marlin Gray would have been that Cummins (who was the original suspect and gave several conflicting accounts to the police) believed Gray put him on the ground and told him this was a robbery, and Winfrey, a co-defendant with inherent credibility problems due to his plea agreement with the state, testified Gray raped one of the victims and then left the bridge.
And it is clear that the police used force to get testimony from Cummins and Gray.
Under these circumstances, Marlin Gray shouldn’t have been convicted for first degree murder and sentenced to death.
A coerced confession and testimonies from witnesses with credibility problems is certainly not enough to reach a conviction for capital murder.
There are many open questions in this case that need to be properly investigated and taken into consideration before coming to an ultimate judgment of what really happened.
We, the undersigned, are asking you to comply with the attorney J. Descher's Application for Executive Clemency, for contemplation of the fact that only Cummins was granted recognition of the police brutality at his interrogation and for thorough investigation of all the facts to get a coherent picture of the events of that night.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Don't execute Marlin Gray! Petition to Matt Blunt, Governor of Missouri was created by and written by Petra E. Herrmann, ALIVE e.V. (herrmann-vorstand@alive-gegen-todesstrafe.de).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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