Less than two months after a lower court threw out George Allen Jr.’s 1982 conviction of murder and rape charges, an appellate court has upheld that ruling. Allen, 56, will remain a free man.
Last Wednesday the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled that Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green did not abuse his discretion in throwing out Allen’s conviction because information was withheld at his jury trial that reasonably could have clouded the jury’s verdict that he was guilty.
Attorney General Chris Koster said there will be no further appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court, and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said she would not retry Allen.
The evidence withheld from the jury trial, as summarized by the appellate court, included “serological test results, police documents referencing serological test results, documents concerning fingerprints found at the crime scene, a drawing of the crime scene made by Allen, and the fact that a key prosecution witness had been hypnotized.”
While Koster’s appeal of the lower court ruling was attacked by U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay and others, Presiding Judge Cynthia L. Martin singled out his office for praise in the appellate ruling. Stipulated facts, agreed to by Koster, all but sealed the deal in ruling on the appeal, she notes.
“The Attorney General’s independent investigation of Allen’s habeas claims has persuaded the Attorney General to stipulate that Allen was denied access to evidence prior to his trial which should have been made available to him,” Judge Martin writes in the unanimous appellate opinion.
The ruling was a major victory for Allen, his mother Lonzetta Taylor, volunteer prison minister Tom Block, Allen’s pro bono counsel from New-York-based Innocence Project and Bryan Cave, and the community that rallied behind him.
“I was proud to support George Allen’s fight for freedom, and the determined efforts of his family and the Innocence Project to right this terrible injustice,” Congressman Clay said.
“This case represents the worst kind of abuse of a black suspect with diminished capacity who should have never been charged in the first place. I am thankful that Mr. Allen has been restored to his family, permanently. Mary Bell’s tragic murder is still unsolved, and her family deserves justice too. My hope is that law enforcement will take a fresh look at this case and find her killer.”
Mary Bell, 31, was raped and stabbed to death in her apartment in the LaSalle Park neighborhood on Feb. 4, 1982. Police initially picked up Allen because, like the prime suspect in other rapes in the area, he had a shaved head.
The murder occurred during one of the heaviest snowstorms in St. Louis history, and Allen didn’t drive or have access to a car. To commit the crime, Allen would have had to walk 10 miles from his University City home in 20 inches of snow and walk back because public transportation was not running.
When Allen was released from prison by the lower court’s order, his mother said, “I know that nothing can replace the many years that he has lost, but it is my greatest wish that I see the day when he walks out of prison.”
His mother’s wish, it seems, came true.
