Evidence Suggests MO May Have Executed Innocent Man in 1995

St. Louis, MO (AP): Prosecutors are investigating whether a man may have been wrongly executed in 1995 after the victim's family and others recently raised questions about whether he was guilty of the crime.  Larry Griffin, 40, was convicted in a 1980 drive-by shooting that killed Quinton Moss but maintained his innocence.  Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said on Monday that the file was reopened after she was approached recently by several people with doubts about the case, including Saul Green, a Detroit attorney who is the lawyer for Moss' (the victim's) family.  Others included Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project...and Sam Gross, a University of Michigan Law School professor who looked into the case....'If the victim's family doesn't feel the right person was held responsible, and the actual killer is still out there, I'm going to do everything in my power to give them some closure, even though this individual has been executed,' she said." Story...  More here, including NAACP report on Griffin's innocence.

In other capital punishment news...

Jarratt, VA (AP): "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, (July 11), granted a stay in the execution of a man convicted of fatally stabbing the manager of a pool hall.  Robin Lovitt was scheduled to be executed at 9 p.m. (on July 11). barring intervention from the high court or Gov. Mark R. Warner. The court's action was made without comment.  Lovitt, 41, was convicted in 1999 in the slaying of Clayton Dicks, 44, during a pool hall robbery in Arlington. Lawyers sought last-minute court intervention in a case in which the murder weapon and other evidence was destroyed (by the court clerk) after the trial.  Among those fighting the execution are Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel in the Clinton Whitewater investigation, who argued the case before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in February." Story... [Mark Godsey]