As execution of St. Louis Black Man looms, Moratorium sought for study

The chances of being charged with a death penalty for an African American killing a white person was 37% in St. Louis County. The chances a white person faced the death penalty for killing an African American was 12 %

One week of life remains for Stanley Hall, confessed murdered of Barbara Wood. Hall threw a struggling Woods off a bridge in St. Louis in 1994. The State Supreme Court has set an execution date of March 16, the first execution for Missouri in a year-and-a-half. Supporters of a moratorium on the death penalty spoke against the "crap shoot of state killings" one-week prior to the planned execution of Stanley Hall. Hall committed the murder in the City of St. Louis, but despite requests from attorneys, the trial took place in St. Louis County. "This is significant as St. Louis County is the state's most zealous death penalty jurisdiction, resulting in 33 death sentences," Rita Linhardt said. Three times as many murder cases were tried as capital murder cases in St. Louis County as compared to murder cases in the City of St. Louis between 1978-1996. A representative from Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, Linhardt believes geographic arbitrariness needs to be studied by a commission during the proposed moratorium. Disproportionate racial aspects of death penalties in Missouri also needs to be studied, Linhardt said. Michael Lenze, University of Missouri-Columbia sociology instructor, said the chances of being charged with a death penalty for an African American killing a white person was 37 percent in St. Louis County. The chances a white person faced the death penalty for killing an African American was 12 percent. The bill would impose a three-year moratorium on executions in Missouri and create an independent commission to study if prosecutors are using uniform measures when they seek the death penalty. [more]