Missouri

April 27, 2005

The state of Missouri is scheduled to execute Donald Jones on April 27, 2005 for the March 1993 murder of Dorothy Knuckles in St. Louis County.

In the early morning hours of March 6, 1993, Jones arrived at the home of Knuckles, his grandmother, with the hope of obtaining money to fuel his addiction to crack-cocaine.  Intensely frustrated by his grandmother’s unwillingness to provide him with money and her stern criticism of his drug and alcohol dependency, Jones hit her with a butcher block.  He then proceeded to stab her with a knife from the block, in a frantic attempt to silence her screaming.

After scrounging up money around the home, Jones took his grandmother’s VCR and car.  He was arrested three days later for the murder and provided police with an audiotape confession.

At trial, Jones pled not guilty to murder in the first degree and armed criminal action.  He was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to death for the murder conviction and life in prison for the armed criminal action conviction.  Jones received the death penalty for Dorothy Knuckle’s murder even though her family fervently objected to the imposition of the punishment.

Serious questions exist surrounding the trial judge’s ability to preside over Jones’ case with impartiality.  The judge clearly possessed ill feelings towards one of Jones’ attorneys.  Nevertheless, he refused to remove himself from the case.  The judge’s possible bias against defense counsel may have prevented Jones from receiving a fair trial.

In the post conviction action that followed, Jones’ appellate counsel obtained affidavits from multiple psychologists and psychiatrists regarding Jones’ mental condition.  An affidavit signed by Dr. Richard Wetzel stated that he conducted a neuropsychological examination of Jones.  Wetzel found Jones to suffer from brain defects that reduced Jones’ ability to control his behavior.  Dr. Rosalyn Schultz and Dr. Moisy Shopper both concluded in their affidavits that Jones might suffer from some form of dissociative disorder.  And lastly, Dr. Robert Smith signed an affidavit in which he claimed that Jones’ drug and alcohol dependency might have impaired his ability to deliberate or plan the attack.  Unfortunately, Jones’ attorneys submitted these affidavits after a hearing had already been denied on a claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to present mitigating evidence.  As a result, they were excluded from consideration by the court.  Had they been submitted prior to the ruling and taken into full consideration, these affidavits might have “lessened the degree of the offense, mitigated punishment, or both.”

The death penalty is never an acceptable recourse.  It is particularly alarming in this case because the fairness of Jones’ trial has been put into question and potentially mitigating psychological and psychiatric evidence was not examined during the appeals process. The execution of Donald Jones should not proceed.

Please contact Governor Matt Blunt and urge him to halt this execution!