Executed July 11, 2001
Missouri Pardon and Parole Board
1511 Christy Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Re: Jerome Mallet
Dear Board Member:
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we urge the Board to exercise its discretionary power in favor of staying the execution of Jerome Mallett and granting him a clemency hearing. We base this request on two issues: denial of equal protection and due process and disproportionate nature of the punishment.
DENIAL OF EQUAL PROTECTION AND DUE PROCESS
Mr. Mallett, an African-American, was convicted in January 1986 of the murder of a white highway patrolman and sentenced to death. On March 2, 1985 Mr. Mallett was pulled over for speeding in Perry County, Missouri. The officer learned that Mr. Mallett was wanted in Texas and placed him into custody. Mr. Mallett managed to free himself from the handcuffs and in the ensuing struggle, grabbed the patrolman's revolver and shot him with it.
Mr. Mallett was brought to trial in Perry County. He requested a change of venue because of prejudicial pretrial publicity. Both the prosecution and the defense offered suggestions for an appropriate venue; due to the potential racial overtones of the case, the defense specifically expressed concern that there be some African Americans resident in whatever venue was selected.
The judge, however, ordered the case transferred to Schuyler County which neither attorney had suggested and which, at the time of the trial, had no African-American residents. The trial judge in Schuyler County had himself sent a plaque to the highway patrol to honor the life of the patrolman killed by Mr. Mallett; Mallett argued unsuccessfully that this judge should dismiss himself. The all-white jury found Mr. Mallett guilty and sentenced him to death.
In a subsequently filed post-conviction motion, a Circuit Court judge ruled that the facts of this case amount to a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination by applying Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986). The judge also ruled that Mr. Mallett's due process rights were violated when the state trial court transferred his case to Schuyler County where there were no African-American residents. As a result, the judge set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial.
In a 4-3 decision, that ruling was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court which reinstated Mr. Mallett's conviction and death sentence. His petition for certiorari asking the US Supreme Court to review that decision was denied by one vote with strong dissents by Justices Marshall, Brennan and Blackmun. Subsequent habeas corpus motions have been denied.
DISPROPORTIONATE NATURE OF THE PUNISHMENT
The dissent in the hearing before the Missouri Supreme Court all cited the case of David Tate in agreeing that Mr. Mallett's punishment should be reduced to life in prison. Mr. Tate, a white supremicist carrying machine guns and hand grenades in his car, was pulled over by two white troopers in Springfield, Missouri, opened fire and killed one of the highway patrolman. He received a sentence of life in prison.
The ACLU opposes capital punishment in all cases as a barbarous anachronism and in violation of the US Constitution. In Mr. Mallett's case, the defendant's Constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were fundamentally violated. Further, the fact of a lesser punishment meted out to a white defendant in the case of a similar murder of a white highway patrolman casts raises serious concerns about fairness. In light of these violations and concerns, we urge the Board to stay Mr. Mallett's execution and grant him a clemency hearing.
Sincerely,
Diann Rust-Tierney
ACLU Capital Punishment Project
Matt Limeux
ACLU of Eastern Missouri
James V. Dick
Pro Bono Counsel
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP