Judge denies motion to overturn Patterson's murder conviction

A Cape Girardeau County circuit judge has turned down Ryan Patterson's bid to have his conviction overturned.

Patterson, who is serving three life sentences for the 2009 deaths of a pregnant Cape Girardeau woman and her 15-year-old son, filed a handwritten motion in January 2013, seeking to have the judgment against him vacated, set aside or corrected.

In denying the motion, Judge William Syler rejected Patterson's claims that he had received "ineffective assistance" from his appellate attorney and that his case possibly had been tried by a tainted jury.

"Wherefore, in that movant failed to allege sufficient and legitimate facts and failed to demonstrate prejudice which would entitle him to relief ... it is hereby ordered, adjudged and decreed that movant's motion to vacate, set aside or correct judgment is denied," Syler wrote.

In court last month, Patterson's attorney, Jessica Hathaway, delivered an argument based on "inefficiencies" of his appellate attorney, Ellen Flottman.

Hathaway said Flottman failed to raise any claims when the opposing counsel struck three of the four black jurors from the jury pool.

She also mentioned the possible influence of media coverage on the jury. Because of the high-profile nature of the case, a jury from Pemiscot County heard Patterson's appeal, but it later was discovered television broadcasts about the case reached Pemiscot County viewers.

At the February hearing, assistant prosecuting attorney Julie Hunter, representing the state, said Flottman had been informed about the issue but opted to keep the jury because Pemiscot County had one of the state's highest percentages of African American residents.

In court filings, Patterson, who is African American, has raised questions about whether racial bias influenced the handling of his case.

"I believe that I have the wrong color of skin because if I was white my life would have been protected and better defended," he wrote in an affidavit he filed along with the motion last year.

Patterson was convicted in August 2011 of killing Jamie Orman, her unborn child and her 15-year-old son, Derrick, as part of a failed scheme to murder Orman's boyfriend, John Lawrence, and burn his Missouri Avenue home to collect insurance money.

In October 2012, the Eastern District Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, online court records show.

At the time of the Ormans' deaths, Patterson was living with Lawrence's estranged wife, Michelle, who in 2011 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and testified against Patterson in exchange for a 15-year sentence.

A third suspect, Samuel "Ray Ray" Hughes, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In his motion, Patterson said Hughes and Michelle Lawrence lied about him in exchange for lighter sentences.

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