Larry Griffin
Larry Griffin (September 23, 1954 - June 21, 1995) - was a man accused of killing 19-year-old Quintin Moss. Moss was killed in a drive-by shooting while allegedly dealing drugs on a street corner. The alleged crime happened in Saint Louis, Missouri, on June 26, 1980[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. On June 21, 1995, the State of Missouri executed Griffin by lethal injection. He is one of the few people who were put to death soley based on the testimony of a single sole witness who had been at the crime scene.
The testimony against Larry Griffin came from Robert Fitzgerald, a career criminal from Boston. The testimony had loopholes since when the crime occurred Fitzgerald was not in Griffin's proximity!!!
There were others who were executed by testimony of single witness including Garay Graham who was executed on June 22, 2000 when Texas Governor George Bush & the Texas appeals board refused to give him life in prison instead. He maintained his innocence until he was executed for the crime.[8][9]
Re-opened investigation
After Griffin's execution, a 2005 post-execution investigation was sponsored by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.[10][11][12] This NAACP investigation raised doubts about the conviction (the shooter's identity), and caused an investigation by the St. Louis City Circuit Attorney's Office. The St. Louis City investigation ended in a finding that "the right person was convicted".[13]
However investigation was botched since it only centered only around original prosecutors who convicted Larry Griffin. Nothing new was introduced to the case. [14]
References
- ↑ "Larry Griffin". http://www.quixote.org/ej/grip/reasonabledoubt/Larry%20Griffin.html.
- ↑ Herbert, Bob (2005-07-14). "Convicted, Executed, Not Guilty". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/14/opinion/convicted-executed-not-guilty.html.
- ↑ Did Missouri execute an innocent man?. MSNBC (2005-07-12). Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ↑ "Humans make mistakes" (in en-US). The Economist. 2005-07-21. ISSN 0013-0613. https://www.economist.com/united-states/2005/07/21/humans-make-mistakes.
- ↑ "How overzealous prosecution and racial bias result in unjust death sentences in Missouri" (in en). 2022-11-27. https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-11-27/how-overzealous-prosecution-and-racial-bias-result-in-unjust-death-sentences-in-missouri.
- ↑ "Execution of an innocent?" (in en). 2005-07-14. http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/execution-of-an-innocent/article_b36d3d25-c6a5-5fc6-b27b-a11e1e6efec2.html.
- ↑ L. Kirchmeier, Jeffrey (Winter 2006). "Dead Innocent: The Death Penalty Abolitionist Search for a Wrongful Execution" (in en). Tulsa Law Review 42 (2). https://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2567&context=tlr. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
- ↑ Template:Cite report
- ↑ "Convicted killer executed, but was he guilty?" (in en). 2007-06-25. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19418891.
- ↑ Zernike, Kate (2005-07-19). "Executed Man May Be Cleared in New Inquiry". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/19/us/executed-man-may-be-cleared-in-new-inquiry.html.
- ↑ "Missouri death sentence case gets another look" (in en-US). MSNBC. The Associated Press. 2005-08-05. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8841547.
- ↑ "Campaign to clear executed US man" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2005-07-13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4678553.stm.
- ↑ Tribune, Chicago (2007-07-13). "Report: Executed inmate was guilty" (in en-US). https://www.chicagotribune.com/2007/07/13/report-executed-inmate-was-guilty/.
- ↑ deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent#Larry_Griffin
