Supreme Court denies ‘plea of clemency’ from death-row inmate

The Missouri Supreme Court has declined to set aside its order allowing for the execution of Brian Dorsey.

Dorsey is set to be put to death during the 24-hour period beginning at 6 p.m. on April 9. He was convicted of fatally shooting his cousin, Sarah Bonnie, and her husband Ben, in 2006 in their home in Callaway County. He then had sex with his cousin’s body and stole a car and other items to pay off a drug debt.

After the Supreme Court issued the execution warrant in December, Dorsey filed a writ petition arguing that he was “actually innocent” of first-degree murder because his drug-induced psychosis made him incapable of deliberation, and that his trial lawyer, who had represented him under a flat-fee arrangement, had a financial incentive to persuade him to plead guilty to get the case over quickly.

In a separate writ petition, Dorsey pointed to his good behavior in prison and argued that he belonged to a “unique class of persons for whom the penological goals supporting capital punishment are no longer met.”

In a unanimous opinion on March 20 that addressed both petitions, the court denied the claims. Judge W. Brent Powell wrote for the court that there was plenty of evidence for a jury to conclude that Dorsey had deliberated in committing the murders and that his expert witnesses could only speculate that he was psychotic at the time.

Powell said the argument over the trial counsel’s alleged conflict of interest had been raised and rejected in an earlier post-conviction motion. Dorsey’s argument about his model behavior, Powell said, was ultimately “a plea for clemency.”

“Accordingly, Dorsey’s claim seeking relief from his death sentence based on post-trial prison behavior should be directed to the governor rather than this Court,” Powell wrote.

The cases are State ex rel. Dorsey v. Vandergrift, SC100388; and In re: Dorsey v. Vandergrift, SC100486.

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