Two former inmates who were exonerated after spending years on Missouri’s death row will talk at Missouri Western State University on April 11. The talk, “Two Death Row Exonerees: Death is not Justice,” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 11 in the Kemper Recital Hall, Spratt Hall room 101. A reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. and continue after the presentation in the Walter Cronkite Memorial in Spratt Hall. The reception and talk are both free and open to the public.
Joe Amerine was convicted of murder based mostly on the testimony of inmates. He spent 17 years on death row before the Missouri Supreme Court found there was no credible evidence to uphold a conviction. Reggie Griffin spent 23 years on death row before the Missouri Supreme Court overturned his death sentence because prosecutors had withheld critical evidence.
Amerine and Griffin are two of Missouri’s four death row exonerees. There have been 156 death row inmates exonerated in the United States since 1973.
The talk is co-sponsored by the Legal Studies Association, Student Government Association and Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The reception is sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies program, funded by the Missouri Western State University Foundation.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.