Hit man will return to Missouri's death row.

[softheart]

17th May


MISSOURI:

A federal appeals court has, in effect, ordered Richard Clay, an accused
hit man, back to Missouri's death row for the Bootheel murder in May 1994
of businessman Randy Martindale.

The three-judge panel reversed today a decision by U.S. District Judge
Dean Whipple of Kansas City. 3 years ago, Whipple had ordered a new trial
for Clay based on what he ruled was new evidence.

At the heart of Whipple's ruling and the appellate court reversal was the
testimony of the state's key witness against Clay in Clay's 1st-degree
murder trial.

St. Louis lawyer Jennifer Brewer, two private investigators and students
from Webster University helping the defense had been told by Charles
Sanders that he had misled the jury about the sentence he was to get for
his testimony and that prosecutors Kenny Hulshof, now a Repubican
congressman, and H. Riley Bock, New Madrid prosecuting attorney, knew
about it.

The appellate court said the impeachment value of the information "was
relatively insignificant'' because Sanders had been questioned at length
about various deals with prosecutors by Clay's lawyer during the trial.
The appeals judges also cast doubt on the veracity of Sanders' affidavit
and questioned the wisdom of Whipple in accepting it.

(source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)