“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>Todd Shepard was once a bright, handsome and caring person. But it was a different Todd Shepard who decided to kill a police on Halloween night back in 2008.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Last week, I suggested that this would be no ordinary capital murder trial – no cut-and-dry proceedings, no slam dunk by the prosecuting team.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The verdict required little debate by jurors. Against the advice of his defense team, Shepard took the stand to tell his own story and made a surprise confession. In graphic language, he admitted to killing veteran University City Police Officer Michael King as part of his plan to begin the revolution. Shepard’s revolution was supposed to bring about justice and equality for black people.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>After the closing argument by prosecuting attorney Bob McCullough, it took the predominantly white jury about an hour to return with their guilty verdict. It would take many more hours to determine whether Shepard would get the death penalty, as McCullough had requested, or life without parole.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The general trend of juries in capital murder trials has been to move away from death sentences. This is due in large part to the growing number of cases where exonerations have occurred because of prosecutorial misconduct. The Innocence Project has tracked 266 exonerations of wrongful convictions since 1989, and 17 of those were death penalty cases. There are more cases in the pipeline and many more innocent convicts who have given up.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>During the sentencing phase, the jury heard emotional testimony from family and friends of both the victim and the defendant. It is generally an easy task to draw sympathy for the victim, especially if the victim is a police officer. It can be just as easy to demonize a murderer. Only Todd Shepard didn’t fit into the conventional mold of a monster killer.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Complicating the jury’s decision-making was the meticulous testimony of the psychiatrist testifying on behalf of the defense. Dr. Robert Phillips had spent many hours with Shepard and concluded that he was delusional with paranoid thoughts. Sadly, his mental illness did not reach the standard for an insanity plea, one of the many artificially blurred lines in the U.S. criminal justice system.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>After the testimonies of an unrepentant Shepard, the psychiatrist and tearful loved ones, it must have left the jury wondering what had caused his break with reality. His military stint? His substance abuse? The fact that Shepard was dating Annette Green when she was gunned down in her home by St. Louis County police who thought she had a gun in her hand? The death of his mother, for whom he was a major caretaker until her passing?
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Could it have been all of the above, wrapped in the experiences as a black man in America, that sent Shepard over the edge?
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>It only takes one person to derail a death sentence – the jury must be unanimous in its decision. One juror held out, and the jury was forced to render life without parole.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>This was a trial of true human tragedy that illuminates our inter-connectness even as we try so hard to separate ourselves from one another. It also speaks to the need for all of us to be part of building a just and humane world where people like Shepard get the support they need before they hurt themselves or others. Real safety and security are based upon a strong foundation of true justice and peace. “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;”>
What utter nonsense.. Todd Shepard had been involved in criminal activity for decades prior to his murder of Sgt Michael King. He was in the same high school class as me where he was a disruptive influence his entire four years. Circa 1992, he sold an undercover police detective substantial quantities of cocaine (repeatedly). A search warrant executed at his mother’s home resulted in the seizure of over $10k in cash and more cocaine. At the time, his struggling mother was running an illegal child care business for toddler aged children out of the same home. His mother was unaware he possessed that cash and supported him financially. At the time of his murder of King, federal drug trafficking indictments were pending against Todd from yet another drug trafficking investigation stemming from DEA wiretaps. Years after his murder conviction, Todd stabbed two Federal corrections officers over a reduction in recreational time. Todd was a criminal his entire life.