Court upholds conviction for murder

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A state appeals court on Tuesday rejected a former Dunklin County teen's claims that his murder confession was not voluntary due to his age, low mental ability and the fact he was medicated.

Kenneth Gray had challenged his convictions for second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Oct. 27, 1999, shooting death of R.W. "Dub" Cooley. Gray was 16 years old at the time and certified to stand trial as an adult.

Although acknowledging that authorities neither verbally nor physically threatened him during interrogation, Gray, now 19, argued Dunklin County Circuit Court Judge Stephen R. Sharp erred in not suppressing the confession at trial. Gray claimed his youth, IQ of 73 and his regimen of Prozac for anxiety and depression presented special circumstances that rendered his confession involuntary.

A three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District said the record proved otherwise.

The court said Gray demonstrated a familiarity and understanding of the legal system when during early interviews with sheriff's deputies and juvenile officers he invoked his right to remain silent without being informed of the right and refused to submit to a gunpowder residue test.

"This hardly bespeaks a person so unsophisticated, unintelligent and uninformed that he could not understand the context of what was occurring," said Judge Kenneth W. Shrum in the court's opinion.

During later interviews that ultimately led to his confession, Gray said he understood his rights as read to him and signed a waiver of his right to have an lawyer present.

The court said Gray's demeanor during the videotaped confession and the behavior of the questioning officers doesn't support his claim of coercion. The court also found Gray's medication made him more functional not less.

According to the court record, Gray shot Cooley twice after Cooley attempted to call the sheriff's department when he discovered Gray had broken into his rural Dunklin County home.

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