Convictions tossed, Missouri inmate gains freedom

Flanked by attorneys Olga Akselrod, left, and Ameer Gado, right, George Allen Jr. walks out of the Cole County Courthouse after being released from custody Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, in Jefferson City, Mo. A Cole County judge overturned a 95-year prison sentence Nov. 2 and ordered Allen's release after spending nearly three decades in prison on rape and murder convictions, ruling police had withheld evidence that raised questions about Allen's guilt. Photo by The Associated Press.

By The Associated Press

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — An inmate imprisoned nearly three decades for a rape and murder conviction walked free Wednesday after a judge ruled that St. Louis police hid or destroyed evidence that cast doubt on his guilt while misleading the mentally ill man into a false confession.

Wearing loose-fitting, donated clothes and appearing frail, George Allen Jr., 56, grinned as he hugged friends, family and supporters outside the Cole County courthouse moments after a brief hearing before Circuit Judge Daniel Green.

“I have spent 30 years in prison as an innocent man, but I never gave up hope,” Allen said, reading from a prepared statement. “I knew some day the truth would come out... Thank God this nightmare has finally ended.”

Allen, who suffers from schizophrenia and was blinded in one eye during his lengthy imprisonment, served 29 years of a 95-year sentence — and narrowly avoided the death penalty — in the February 1982 death of 31-year-old Mary Bell. She was attacked and killed in her St. Louis apartment during a blinding February snowstorm. Three witnesses testified that Allen was 10 miles away at his mother’s home in University City at the time of Bell’s attack during a historic blizzard that crippled the St. Louis region.

On Nov. 2, Green ordered Allen’s release in a blistering 75-page ruling that suggested St. Louis police ignored and suppressed numerous pieces of evidence. Among them were blood tests that ruled out Allen as the source of the semen found on Bell’s robe and fingerprints rejected by investigators as unusable smudges that not only excluded him but were also used in comparison with other suspects.

There also were questions about the accuracy of testimony by Bell co-worker, who said she called out her friend’s name outside the victim’s apartment during the attack. Police detectives sent the co-worker to a hypnotist to shore up her account, a session that wasn’t disclosed to Allen’s previous defense lawyers.

The undisclosed evidence was unearthed within the past two years by lawyers working for and with the Innocence Project, the New York group that has helped free hundreds of wrongfully convicted inmates nationwide, often by relying on more advanced, previously unavailable DNA technology. Several lawyers from the St. Louis firm Bryan Cave also assisted Allen’s defense on a pro bono basis.

Innocence Project attorney Olga Akselrod said the group plans to request a formal review by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce of all cases handled by now-deceased St. Louis homicide detective Herb Riley and criminologist Joseph Crow, both of whom were singled out for questionable conduct in Green’s ruling.

The judge found that Riley steered Allen into falsely confessing after more than 40 denials while overlooking details provided by Allen that didn’t match the circumstances of Bell’s death. Allen claimed he was threatened and beaten during the interrogation, but the judge doesn’t address that allegation.

And a lab report written by Crow contained scratched-out notes describing the blood test results that eliminated Allen as a source.

“We have serious concerns that this case is not an outlier,” Akselrod said.

Joyce, who last week declined to again prosecute Allen but cited procedural flaws rather than certainty about Allen’s innocence, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Joyce spokeswoman said the prosecutor was preparing a written response for release later Wednesday.

Allen’s release is not the end of his legal process. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office is appealing Green’s ruling and opposed his release on his own recognizance, stances that drew sharp criticism from defense lawyers.

“This appeal has just extended the pain and heartache for Mr. Allen and his family,” Akselrod said. “They’re just wasting the state’s resources needlessly.”

State prosecutors responded with a written statement provided by a spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Koster and attributed to deputy attorney general Joe Dandurand.

“The trial judge is the first and only person to have found Mr. Allen to have been prejudiced during his trial,” the statement reads. “Numerous judges and courts have affirmed Mr. Allen’s convictions in the years following the jury’s verdict. “

Dandurand added that the state’s appeal is “part of the normal safeguarding process.” Should the Western District Court of Appeals uphold Green’s ruling, the state won’t further pursue the case, he said.

Among those attending Allen’s hearing was Josh Kezer, one of the 22 Missouri inmates who have been exonerated over the past two decades. Kezer was released in 2009 after spending more than 15 years in prison for the murder of a southeast Missouri college student. He too was released after a Cole County judge found that prosecutors withheld key evidence from defense attorneys.

Allen was arrested about a month after Bell’s attack when police mistook him for a convicted rapist whom he reportedly resembled, in part because both were African-Americans in their 20s with shaved heads. Officers who interviewed Allen before Riley dismissed him as a suspect.

———

Alan Scher Zagier can be reached at http://twitter.com/azagier

More like this story

eileen10 6 months ago

This makes me wonder if there have been innocent people put to death and I think the answer is yes. Could that be why their kept in prison for so many years? I'll have to read up on that. I feel bad for this man and his family. He went through a living hell for nothing and I think he'll be paid quite a lot of money but it can't make up for the years he spent in prison. And it seems to me that the people who suppressed and ignored evidence should be punished. Going to prison comes to mind and there again I don't know how many times Iv'e read things like that. Cops lieing etc. and I wonder how they or anyone else who has a part in sending an innocent person to prison can live with what they've done.

Paroquet 6 months ago

Kenny Hulsof would be a good authority on the subject...if he'd spent any time in prison himself.

Look him up. I'm personally thankful there were enough "young" voters to put Claire in her seat the first time around, and drag enough ugly skeletons out of Kenny's closet to put him...

Where's Kenny?

eileen10 6 months ago

I just looked him up. That guy is so corrupt, evil, cold blooded and any other words there are to explain a madman like that. Guess he wnted to look all powerful and make a name for himself. And he still says he didn't do anything wrong. This guy really has s##t for brains and needs to be put on an island with flesh eating zombies that devour their prey slowly.BAZINGA!! End of Kenny numb skull.

Paroquet 6 months ago

Yep. A former prosecutor concerned with self advancement over justice and guy who would put his beliefs before fact. That's what the right has fielded for Missouri "conservatives" over McCaskill's terms.

Republicans need to vet their candidates better. Some of us conservatives aren't sexist opportunistic bigots that eschew science in favor of forcing our belief down somebody else' throat. We're actually quite reasonable, well learned, leave people to their own business, and hold ourselves to be accountable.

And some of us don't sleep all that well as a function of biology rather than conscience, and can't handle narcotic sleep-aids.

So! I'm gonna get me a cup of cocoa (100%) and lace it heavily with whole-fat milk and pray to sleep like a dead man until four, get some hunting in, then go back to trying to restore some sanity among the deluded sociopaths occupying about half of the populace at large. And later, marry a Baptist to a Catholic. Me being an Ordained Minister who is a confirmed Gaian.

Cocoa's ready! Sweet dreams (I hope).

eileen10 6 months ago

Wow. You have quite a day ahead of you. Gaian. Gotta look it up. I'm getting quite an education. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I'm a conservative. MMMMMMMMMMM!! Cocoa with whole milk. Half and half is good too. I made myself a hamburger fried in bacon grease for supper. Got to clog the arteries ya know. Don't want to live til I'm 80 so I figure I'm on the right path. I actually have a strong heart with no clogs but that could change. I believe in enjoying life. I'm skipping all over the place. I remember you saying in another post that your a minister and a pagan I believe so Gaian is, well, I don't know yet. Sounds interesting though. Is there a pagan church around here? If so are you the minister of the church? Not trying to pry. Just curious. Are you also a counselor or psychiatrist? You mentioned the sociopaths. I do believe they run amock around here. Hope you get a deer or two. Have a great day and let me know how the hunting went.

Paroquet 6 months ago

Pagan is a popular general label. It's convenient.

Gaian is what I was called to. I got my Ordainment to provide weddings with no charge to nuptials, and to officiate funerals. Went double with a Monsignor a couple years back.

If you ever want to see the ceiling of my church, just go outside and look up. I'm open all day & night--except when I'm at my cocoa and Missouri meerschaum with a strong pinch of Virginia Gold.

I'm de-scenting now. We've seven in the herd that regularly frequents. I got my eyes on the gray-muzzled doe. Oh, and anymore, I hunt with a couple of sticks, a rock, some feathers, and a string.

As for occupation? I'm an environmental scientist. But I keep strange company and odd friends of various sorts. The Missus is the psych. She tries to keep me from going completely feral.

eileen10 6 months ago

I enjoy talking with you but sometimes I don't know what the heck your saying. LOL. Me little brain, you big brain but I keep up enough to hang in by my eye lids. Except....sticks, rock, feathers and a string? Do you poke the eyes out, klunk it with the rock after tickling it with the feather and tie it up with string? Welllll. That's what my little brain came up with. Holy smokes. Enviornmental scientist. And I recall you graduated with honors. Your like an all around whiz brain. That's a compliment. Your wife must have her hands full with you. Does she ever chase you with a broom? Whack!! Women need to do that to keep their men in line ya know. I prefer a frying pan.Nyuck nyuck. I get a kick out of me. Odd friends and strange company. Well, it keeps things interesting I bet. My friends are kind of wacky like me. We're into downward mobility so none of us has a nose in the air. Just poor folks who like to laugh and look on the bright side of life.

Paroquet 6 months ago

Chase me with a broom? Oh, heck no. I taught her Judo and she outweighs me. And the broad is a leftie on top of it!

Downward mobility? That's the sticks, string, and feathers thing; primitive archery.

It's 0455hrs, I smell like a hole in the wind and look mostly invisible. Gonna go plant myself down by the creek for a spell.

eileen10 6 months ago

LOL! Archery. I didn' think of that. At any rate your wife is a lucky woman. Not every one has a good man like you.I can get carried away with my sense of humor especially when it's the wee hours of the morning so I hope I didn't offend you with anything I said. Like the broom thing. Always keep in mind I love to joke around. So did you get the deer? I hope so. I used to hunt when I lived in Minnesota. And I fished but the thing I liked best was going to the dump with my dad to shoot rats. I was only about 10 or 11 years old so I hit more tin cans than rats because he was in the process of teaching me but eventually I managed to hit a few rats. Those buggers are fast! Don't forget to let me know about the hunt. Going to answer Sequoia which takes a while due to being a two fingered typist. Most everybody here probably zooms on the key board. Later!

Paroquet 6 months ago

You got one thing wrong--not every man is lucky enough to have a Lady like the Missus.

And you'd be hard pressed to offend me. True story--I once had the cops called on me. And I am not kidding, here was the report the officers got: "There's a half naked blond guy running around shouting and chasing a chicken with a rake."

I was actually wearing a kilt because of a function that day, and the darned rooster blasted out of his enclosure when I went to feed the flock, muck the coop, and collect eggs.

And...some of JC's finest wound-up helping me catch that damnable fowl. No, I didn't go to jail. I broke out some tea and we laughed heartily.

Those neighbors have since moved.

eileen10 6 months ago

I stand corrected. Your the lucky one. I have to shift gears after answering Sequoia. Half naked blonde guy running around shouting and chasing a chicken with a rake. OMG! that's priceless! Wish I'd been there cuz I would have laughed my azz off! I bet you ate the chicken? Gee. I wonder why the neighbors moved. Must have been because of the half naked guy weilding a rake chasing a chicken with blood in his eyes. HAHAHAHAHA!!! I can't wait to tell my bingo buddies about that. We'll all be on the floor rolling with laughter. You should write a book and I have no doubt it would make the top one list. Nope. Not top ten Top one. HAHAHAHA. I bet the cops still talk about that. Yep You need to write a book. Chasing a chicken and and and and and HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

eileen10 6 months ago

Paroquet you have won the award for man of the year, the man most likely to make all of us pee with laughter (and you did) , the man who would be a cherished friend, and they want to see a replay of you naked...well, in a kilt, running and shouting after a chicken with a rake. We haven't enjoyed ourselves like that in a long time. We all agreed your better than green stamps and support hose. While we were playing bingo one of us would bust out laughing at the thought of you chasing the chicken and then we'd all start laughing. Oh ya. Your also funnier than Red Skelton and the three stooges combined. You are a very popular man.

wow 6 months ago

I've said it more than once..."zealous representation under tha law means using all the fact's a circumstances, that lead a reasonable person to be able to detrermine the accused persons innocnence or guilt". No games, no gimmicks, just the facts. Until that happens we're going to continue having gulity people go free or get lesser punishment for crimes they committed and innocent people will continue being locked away for crimes they didn't committ. Talk about SBAB!

If somebody really did hide evidence and Mr. Allen went to jail for something the PA Team knew he didn't do. Whoever was involved with doing this needs to be locked away. Everything they own needs to be forfeitted to Allen...and he should get in hire the best legal team possibe to seek further compensation and to make the people who did this to him never get out of prison!!!!!

Sequoia 6 months ago

Eileen, there is no indication this man is going to get a single penny for being wrongly imprisoned. The state is actually trying to put him back in prison. If he wants money, he is going to have to sue... who knows if he even has a case after all these years.

I once wrote about a mentally disabled man in another state who was forced to sign a confession for a rape and murder he didn't commit. The police actually knew they had the wrong man. He was in jail for years and 11 days away from execution before some lawyers decided to help him for free.

Upon his release, he recieved one bus ticket home. That's it.

Make no mistake, the job of the police is to make an arrest. The job of the prosecutor is to put that person in jail. Many don't care whether the suspect actually committed the crime in question, because many law enforcers think, "Well, even if he didn't do this crime, he is probably guilty of something, so it is ok to put him on trial for a crime he didn't commit, because he is probably a bad guy." Not all think that way, but clearly many do.

When police bring a black person into a courtroom in chains and a prison jumpsuit, members of the jury assume he is guilty because he LOOKS guilty.

There are many, many stories out there of people put to death who were later determined to be innocent... often by after-the-fact DNA testing. DNA evidence doesn't always exist, so who knows how many innocent people have been put to death? Illinois has put a moratorium on executions because so many people in that state were determined to have been innocent after their execution.

I witnessed the execution, by lethal injection, of a man who was probably guilty of a terrible murder. The experience convinced me that no good comes from capital punishment.

eileen10 6 months ago

Thank you for all the info. I didn't realize how corrupt the system can be. I talked to a man here in Missouri who had been in prison for being found guilty of murdering his wife . He was on tv and talked about it. He didn't di it and after he'd spent quite a few years in prison DNA evidence proved he was innocent if I remember correctly and he received a large sum of money so I assumed this man would too. What you said about bringing a black man into the court room etc. horrified and shocks me. Is it the same for all prisoners or are blacks singled out? And I can't even begin to know how all the innocent people put to death for a crime they didn't commit must have felt. My mind is reeling and it's hard to think. I knew you had info. for me when I answered Paroquet because I saw my name but I sure didn't think I'd hear what you had to say about everything. In your last sentence you said the man was probably guilty but I think you meant probably not guilty? I'm seeing things in a whole new light and I keep wondering what can be done to stop such madness? And why is the death sentence still in effect? I can see the answers from other people. Over population, was guilty, etc.and Texas, for example, seems to take pride in executing people quickly. In the photo Mr. Allen has a smile on his face and he had nothing bad to say. I cried for what he'd been through then shook with anger at the injustice that was done to him. And it's not an exaguration(sp) at all. I feel so deeply what was done to him that I can't even explain it . Capital punishment needs to be abolished. I used to be in the middle as far as how I felt but that's no longer the case. I don't understand how people can be so self rightous or cruel and uncaring. How they can stand by and convict someone because they look guilty.wow said a lot and I agree. And to know people convict others when they know their innocent and maybe I'm repeating myself. I don't know because of how I'm feeling but it's so wrong! Like that Kenny Hulshof . May not have the last name spelled right but nothing has been done to him. Peroquet mentioned him so I googled. I thought he was one of a kind but thats not true. And all those a-holes are walking free and don't care what they've done. I guess I'm done ranting but I'll never let Mr. Allen be free from my mind. He will always be with me along with the nameless, faceless people who died that were innocent or who are in prison right now for something they didn't do. I care.

Paroquet 6 months ago

Addressing one aspect of your post:

Up until trial, you are in your jail-issued colors and shackled at waist, wrist, and ankle. Even if you are a non-violent offender.

You are never presumed innocent, and made to look guilty when given the audience to appear in your own defense.

softball13 6 months ago

look at the Ryan Ferguson case where the only testimony they have has all been recanted. There was no physical evidence, he was found guilty on another inmates testimony in which that person received a plea bargain and again he recanted. Ryan is trying to be released but "our wonderful system" is fighting to keep an innocent person behind bars.

I also know of another inmate who happens to be on death row, I know he has physical evidence that supported he was at a hospital with his sister at the time of the crime but they would not let this be entered as evidence and much more to support his innocence, all denied. Again, this person was convicted on another person's testimony without any physical evidence found connecting him to the crime.

When the individuals behind our legal system determines they're wrong, instead of admitting that and making it right, they'd rather fight you to keep you locked away. My tax dollars and yours are paying for this and we just keep re-electing these people.

I am totally embarrassed and disgusted as to how we find people innocent and guilty.. Mr. Allen's entire adult life was spent in prison almost 30 years. Nothing anyone can do can give him even a day of that back. I'm sure he's lost many loved ones and just lost his life in general.. so pathetic that things like this happen everyday!

Many people in our society are so quick to judge and say throw away the key without knowing any facts, that's why this keeps happening, because our society allows it.

RobHunterJohnson 6 months ago

Kenny Hulshoff, Helmig, Keezer, and who else? Rob

eileen10 6 months ago

Your so right about society. Not everyone is like that but If there were more people who voted to put people into office who could make a difference then why aren't they the winners and I think I just answered my own question. Either their uninformed or it's a popularity vote or they don't care. And I don't get why the legal system people can't admit they were wrong but I guess it boils down to they don't want to look stupid. Well their stupid for not admitting and they proved themselves to be very, very untrustworthy. I know how you feel about this because I feel the same way and it will only change when there's more of us and less of the other kind. Another problem is the other areas of what a candidate believes in or wants to change. A for instance is a candidate wants to blow the legal system apart but sees the need for higher taxes while the other guy feels the legal system is okay and wants taxes lowered. Guess who gets voted into office. Wish there was an answer.

softball13 6 months ago

A lot of it has to do with being uninformed.. such as going along with what your parents believed, their parents, etc. Just like when people who vote only one way like all Republican or all Democrat straight down the ticket whether you fully agree with that person's beliefs or not.

Sadly, I've got a few in my own family. But if people don't take the time to really understand something then "nothing changes if nothing changes". Whether it's our legal system, our Government, etc. There are innocent people in prison and there are guilty people set free because of flaws, it goes both ways. Our society are the ones who put these people in prison which is a horrible way for someone's fate to be decided. People do not always listen to all the facts, I can promise you that. Society elects the Judges and our Governor, who then elects the Parole Board. I can assure you the Parole Board does not look at these inmates as individuals. So again, people who shouldn't be released can get out and those who should be are still incarcerated which our tax dollars yet again pay for. I have a loved one in prison as well as being a victim myself of a horrible crime that the person was never convicted of, so I can honestly speak from both sides. My heart goes out to those that are wrongfully in prison and I pray for those set free or that should never have been to begin with. Don't get me wrong, this is not 100% across the board, there are times that the system works but more times then not, it doesn't.

But again, we (society) allowed our system to be this way and we continue to allow it.

eileen10 6 months ago

Your right about everything. I learn a lot here. That's a good thing but the feelings of being helpless to do something to help innocent people is a sword in my side. And you suffered a horrible crime and the criminal walked. My heart goes out to you for whatever it is you went through. Rest assured that person will pay. Not today. Not tomorrow. But the price will be high and I'm sure you know that. For everything we do in life there's a price to pay.Then there's the aspect of someone getting out of prison and for those who want to do well they find it hard when some or most people look down on them or don't trust and that's so wrong. There are so many different things about prison and guilt or innocence, adjustment, family, friends, selfworth and on and on. Sometimes I feel like screaming...so I do.

softball13 6 months ago

Thanks Eileen, it's nice to know there are people who are willing to be open minded. I never lose hope or faith that some day, some time, things will change for the better for everyone.

eileen10 6 months ago

Amen.

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