For years death penalty opponents in Missouri have believed that the state had insufficient evidence to execute Larry Griffin in 1995. After a two year investigation of this case, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office disagreed with death penalty opponents. A recent report from the Circuit Attorney’s Office claimed that Griffin was “fairly and rightfully convicted of the murder of Quintin Moss.”

Quintin Moss was murdered on June 26, 1980, in a drive-by shooting while he was dealing drugs on a street corner in St. Louis. Subsequently Larry Griffin was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death in 1981.

Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce re-opened the investigation of the case in 2005 at the request of Walter Moss, the brother of the murder victim. Moss had received a report by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) that raised two main questions: 1) that the wrong person was convicted for the murder of Quintin Moss and 2) that new evidence existed that pointed to the real killers of Moss.

Much of the case against Griffin was based on the testimony of Robert Fitzgerald, an eye-witness, who told police his car was broken down at the street corner when the shooting happened. He claims he saw Griffin leaning out the car window and firing a revolver. For years death penalty opponents questioned the credibility of Fitzgerald’s testimony because of his criminal record, because police implicated Griffin as a suspect before Fitzgerald identified him, and because Fitzgerald may have benefitted legally from the state in exchange for his testimony.

Joyce’s report disputes the allegations against Fitzgerald. Although Fitzgerald is now dead, prosecutors say his testimony is supported by other eyewitness accounts and some physical evidence police found in the car. Joyce’s office was able to locate a new witness Carl “Doe” who now says he was with Fitzgerald, but working under the hood of his car at the time of the shooting, and did not see the shooters. He confirmed some of the details of Fitzgerald’s story.

Based on her investigation, which included review of the LDF information, review of documents connected with the case and the interviewing of witnesses, Circuit Attorney Joyce stated that “no credible information has been discovered from any source that supports claims of innocence” for Griffin. Death penalty opponents are still not convinced. They note that discrepancies in Carl “Doe’s” statements and other inconsistencies with previous investigations of this case show a clear need to have Griffin’s possible innocence explored by an independent body.

Regardless of the results of the Griffin investigation, the MCC believes that this case highlights the shortcomings in our current legal system: the inadequacy of eyewitness identification, the incompleteness of the original investigation and the danger of relying on testimony from witnesses with something to gain.

“Unfortunately these problems are not limited to Larry Griffin’s case,” notes Rita Linhardt of the Missouri Catholic Conference. “Missouri has wrongfully sent three individuals—Clarence Dexter, Eric Clemmons and Joe Amrine—to death row. It took these individuals years to prove their innocence and some of the issues in their cases were similar to Griffin’s.”

Errors clearly abound in death penalty cases, with approximately one-third of the death sentences in Missouri being eventually overturned. Nationally at least 123 people have been exonerated after being sentenced to death.

The MCC joins with other groups and concerned citizens calling upon the General Assembly to pass legislation that places a moratorium on executions while there is a careful review of the death penalty system in our state. “Until we can ensure that our justice system is providing the necessary safeguards to protect the innocent, no one should be subjected to this irreversible punishment,” notes Linhardt.