MAN WHO SHOT TEEN SENTENCED TO LIFE, AGAIN

BENTON, Mo. -- Gary Evans walked out of the courtroom Wednesday with two life sentences for the third time for the same crime -- killing a 17-year-old girl. As a bailiff led him out, Evans turned his head toward his mother and sister and asked them to start up the appeals process again.

After all, history is on his side.

Scott County prosecutors originally charged Evans with first-degree murder after the Nov. 27, 1994, death of Amy Morningstar, who was staying at his home in Scott City, Mo. Evans said the shotgun he was cleaning discharged accidentally and killed the girl. Investigators said the shooting was intentional.

For the past six years, Evans' appeals have hung on the premise that he agreed to a plea bargain that he never got. Court records show that misunderstandings and errors by a judge and a prosecutor extended the appeals process, forcing the victim's relatives to relive the incident in court repeatedly.

When Evans was originally sentenced on July 27, 1995, he thought he was pleading to second-degree murder and that prosecutor Cristy Baker-Neel was dropping an armed criminal action charge and declining to recommend a sentence.

However, Neel and an assistant public defender both told Scott County Judge Anthony Heckemeyer their only agreement was that sentences on the two charges should run concurrently.

Baker then told the judge Evans should get two life sentences, while assistant public defender Anne Kiske asked for a 20-year sentence. Heckemeyer gave Evans two life sentences.

Evans filed his own appeal protesting the decision, writing that he would have never pleaded guilty if Neel was going to recommend a sentence.

A second hearing

Evans' was successful and had a re-sentencing hearing before Scott County Judge David Dolan on June 29, 1998. In an earlier review of Evans' case by Dolan in 1997, the judge decided the prosecutor had not violated a plea bargain, but that the defendant still had a reasonable basis to believe Neel would not recommend a sentence.

A plea petition signed by Evans and his first attorney, public defender Gary Robbins, mentioned the agreement that Evans anticipated. But it was not signed by the prosecutor, said public defender Kent Hall, Evans' most recent attorney.

At the second sentencing hearing, Dolan gave Evans two life sentences again. The judge said he was not going to change Heckemeyer's ruling, but only "correct the mistakes that were made."

However, Dolan made a new mistake, judges from the Southern District Court of Appeals ruled. In his comments during re-sentencing, Dolan indicated he relied on Heckemeyer's judgment instead of making his own decision.

The appeals court decided Evans needed a third sentencing with a new judge from outside the 33rd Judicial District. Cape Girardeau County Judge William Syler was chosen for the task.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Syler made it clear that he read all the prior court proceedings himself and had come to his own opinion on a proper sentence. He also cautioned Scott County assistant prosecutor Charles Leible that, if he made any statements regarding a sentence, the appeals court could throw out the convictions and start over.

If the court didn't accept Evans' request to withdraw his guilty pleas or give him the sentence he originally expected, it would create another injustice, public defender Hall told the court.

"If this is left as it is, there will always be a doubt about the integrity of his guilty plea," Hall said.

Evans reminded the judge that he was appearing for the third time for sentencing.

"I believe if this went to trial, it would show that this wasn't intentional," Evans said.

But the sentences didn't change, and Evans was led out of court to look for another way to come back.

Angry relatives

Evans' sister, Margaret Evans of Blodgett, Mo., said she expects it will take another two or three years before he returns to court for another appeal. She blames prosecutor Neel.

"If she would have stuck to her plea bargain, we wouldn't be coming back here all these times," Margaret Evans said. "My brother should do time for manslaughter, but not what he was given."

Hall doubts that his client will have any more successful appeals. Evans could seek a transfer of his case to the Missouri Supreme Court, but the court generally only accepts cases involving large public issues or when conflicts exist between appeals courts' decisions, Hall said.

Gary Morningstar said he dreaded having to go to court for a third sentencing hearing Wednesday to retell how his daughter's death affected his family. He brought a photograph to court that normally stands on his nightstand. It shows Morningstar and his wife with Amy.

He said he'd go to a fourth sentencing hearing if necessary.

"In order to honor Amy's memory and to let the court really know, you have to be present," he said.