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Report in Kezer case to undergo analysisMonday, July 7, 2008
The report, a statement taken by then Scott City officer Bobby Wooten, has become a key piece of evidence in the wrongful conviction case of Joshua C. Kezer, who was convicted of Lawless's murder and sentenced to 60 years in prison. Physical evidence never linked Kezer to the homicide, and he was convicted largely on the testimony of Mark Abbott, a witness who placed Kezer near the crime scene. Shortly after Walter re-opened the murder investigation in 2006, suspecting that more people had been involved in the killing, Abbott's statement to Wooten surfaced, dated 10 days after the Nov. 7, 1992, slaying, which cast further doubt on the conviction. In that statement — made several months before Abbot picked Kezer out of a lineup — Abbott named another man, someone he knew, as the person he saw near the crime scene. Kezer's trial attorneys said they never saw the report, which could present a discovery violation if proven to be true, but the state recently filed a motion contesting whether the document is real. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan granted the state's motion for the handwriting analysis June 12. In a May interview with an investigator from the attorney general's office, Wooten said he doesn't believe the signature on the document was his, though he signed a statement in January for Kezer's attorneys, saying he remembered drafting the report. "As the witness has questioned the authenticity of the document, and whether it is his signature on the document, expert analysis is needed to determine if it is actually Lt. Wooten's signature on the document," the state's petition said. The state suggested using a private forensic expert, formerly an employee of the Missouri State Highway Patrol Laboratory, to perform the testing. Now in private practice, that analyst will compare the document with a sample from Wooten and attempt to determine whether Wooten signed the report. "It is obvious that the report is authentic," Charlie Weiss, attorney for Kezer, said in an amended petition. "Rather than acknowledging that a mistake was made by not turning over the report, however, respondent is unjustifiably attempting to question its genuineness," the petition said. The amended petition argues that the signature on the report shouldn't be compared with a recent sample of Wooten's handwriting, because the style of a person's signature changes over time. A comparison between the report and other examples of Wooten's signature on official Scott City police department records from the same time period would be a more valid and accurate test, the petition said. The case is set for a status hearing July 28 in Cole County. 335-6611, extension 245
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I simply cannot beleive the amount of time it's taking them to release this man. All though the evidence shows he wasn't any where near the crime scene, they are taking their sweet time. Wish they would have went on evidence when they put him in prison in the first place.
If only they had been so meticulous with the evidence 15 years ago....Josh Kezer would be free, as he deserves to be. Two families would have been spared a decade & a half of unnecessary grief.
Blondie
I hope that with the extra time they are taking, they also decide who is at fault for this terrible mistake. Was it a mistake, a cover up or just a quick closed case to make someone look good?
You hear all the time about people whose cases are overturned by DNA what is the problem on this guy? I am the mother of three daughters and I can't imagine losing one of them the way that michele's mother has,but I also know that I would want the PERSON who actually did it to be the one in jail...not someone who was just blamed for it.
This is the key statement in this article:
"Rather than acknowledging that a mistake was made by not turning over the report, however, respondent is unjustifiably attempting to question its genuineness,"
May Judge Callahan see through all the smoke and mirrors of the Atrorney Generals's Office and do the right thing. An innocent man has suffered long enough. Josh Kezer was arrested two weeks after his 18th birthday. He is now 33 - it is past time to give him his life back.
Quote from the original trial; (Bill Ferrell) "We don't need to solve this case. We merely have to close it. It's election year.
check again it was'nt an election year during the trial and the incident itself happened after the election
Hey, shoe - - Yes it was election year. It was not only elction year - - Josh was sentenced on August 2 - -Election DAY!!!!! People were downstairs voting while his life was being stolen upstairs. I was there, I'll nevr forget the irony. - -
We have been following the stories on this case very closely and cannot believe that it is more important to our elected officials to protect their reputations rather than to make certain that the correct people are put in jail for crimes.
We have e-mailed the attorney generals office on three different occassions with no reply. It looks like evrybody is afraid to make a move rather than take any action to see if Josh Keezer was even at the crime seen.
We all need to commend Sheriff Rick Walters for at least trying to get justice and hope that we can keep him and people like him in office to look out for us.