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Experts: Handwriting on report in Kezer case was Scott City officer'sWednesday, July 30, 2008
The document is at the center of an investigation that has called into question the conviction of Kezer, who was blamed for the 1992 murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless based on testimony of inmates who later recanted their stories. The report has surfaced as a key issue in the wrongful conviction suit attorney Charlie Weiss filed on behalf of Kezer because it casts doubt on the credibility of a witness who placed Kezer near the crime scene and may not have been disclosed to the defense before trial. The attorney general's office questioned the authenticity of Wooten's signature on the report after Wooten told their investigator he did not believe he'd signed the document. The results of the handwriting analysis performed on the document were announced by state's attorney Michael Spillane at a case review Tuesday in Cole County Circuit Court, Weiss said. Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter wasn't surprised. "We knew what we had, we knew we had an original document," Walter said. Walter's investigator said he found the report in a box at the Scott County Sheriff's Department when he reopened the case in 2006. The report, he said, was clipped inside a notebook belonging to one of the deputies who worked on the original investigation. Trial attorneys for Kezer said they had never seen the report, and that it could have affected the outcome of the case. Wooten at first told Walter he remembered turning the report over to Scott County investigators and signed a statement for Weiss acknowledging it was his signature. Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan also agreed Tuesday to accept an amended motion requesting that bullets in the homicide case be compared with those in a New Madrid County capital murder case. When the state argued that it hesitated to break the chain of custody in a death-penalty case by releasing the bullets to Scott County, the parties agreed that Walter could bring an expert to highway patrol headquarters to examine the bullets for comparison purposes. A hearing still has not been set in the case, but Weiss said he's fairly confident they will get one. Callahan asked both attorneys to meet at 1 p.m. Aug. 4 to discuss the case at length. 335-6611, extension 245 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
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No big revelation here. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will come to light in this case from now on supporting the case against Josh Kezer. That case is as dead and hollow as a locust shell. All that is left is an unfortunate soul sitting by himself tonight in his cell for almost 5600 nights straight for no reason. How would you like that?
How strange that the two presumptive gubernatorial candidates are involved in this case--Jay Nixon as the current AG (and the prosecutor's boss in 1994) and Kenny Hulshof the prosecutor himself. Hulshof is hoping he can get through the primary without justice being done for his victim Mr. Kezer and embarrassing him. Any possibility this case is slothing along because of political considerations?
Over the past few months I have seen many comments on this story. Some good. Some bad. Either way Bridget has done a stellar job in covering it. I am a friend of Josh's. He and I grew up in Cape together. It feels good to see all the support Josh has at the reader level with this paper. The reason for my message is to try to appeal to any reader or poster on this site who believes in the innocence of Josh. I would like to know if anyone out there would like to be involved in a grassroots effort of obtaining signatures for a petition to free Josh. The reason for the petition is to raise awareness and garner more media attention to level the playing field against a state agency who seemingly is prepared to fight this conviction no matter what the evidence shows. If you would like to help, please contact me by e-mail at esimodave@sbcglobal.net. I am sure Josh would more than appreciate all the help he can get. Thank you.
it does not surprise me that Wooten said he did not remember signing it ... back then Scott city police where as crooked as they come .. i know i was rasied there and they only did stuff to make them selfs look good no matter who,s life it messed up... i think if they find out josh did not do it that all involved should have to sit in prison for a while and see how they like it .. but that is just my thought..
How could someone open an 'old' murder case 2 years in advance and know that it would still be in process when it came to election time years later?
Let's be real.....not EVERYONE, in this country, has negative preconceived ideas of political gain through their office.
If that were true the prosecutor, in this case, would have not been in the position he is in today, you think ?
I don't know who is guilty of this murder, I know that there are a lot of questions about whether or not the right person is in prison, what I don't understand is why are the officials that can help to detemine the truth dragging there feet. This young man has been in
prison for a long time and it looks like he doesn't belong there. Why isn't anybody in a hurry to do something on this case? Why don't we run DNA, and Fingerprints, and why don't we prosecute the people that held back evidence and made deals and recanted and recanted again and maybe then we'd have a system that we could beleive in.
Every time I read a new story in this paper about Joshua Kezer's case, it makes me very sad. I do not know Joshua Kezer personally, but I did know the victim in this case very very well. Mischelle was a close friend of mine. No one wanted to see someone covicted for this crime any more than myself. But it breaks my heart, as a Christian, to think that this poor young man has lost so many years of his life sitting behind bars for something that it is becoming more and more obvious that he didn't do. The DNA found at the scene apparently didn't match. The statements made (by a convicted felon - were apparently not true - shock, shock!). Yet Joshua still remains behind bars. How much longer must he sit there? Until Mr. Hulshof's election campaign is over with perhaps? Sad, sad, sad. I'll keep praying for Joshua and his family and for true justice.
Hey whowhatwhenandwhy, this murder case could and should have been open many years before it was. People notified and went in to then sheriffs office (Ferrell) as early as 2ooo, to talk to him about the same stuff that is going on now. And our upstanding law official told these people that he did not want to hear what they had to say that he had his conviction. I do not believe it has anything to do with elections, it has to do with right and wrong and justice. Which I do no see in this case. A man behind bars for a crime he did not do and lies from every direction (supposed witnesses, ex-cops, prosecutors and so on) Think about it, it could have been you as the sacrificial lamb, instead of Joshua Kezer. 60 years in prison. Would you think that this was open because of an election then.
I was just on the KFVS news home page. they have Live Local & Late breaking News Capitol letters in the center of the top of there home page. They need to add MISSING as one of there categories. I wonder who kept this story from getting on the air, maybe some one that don't want the truth to be known.