New trial for Reginald Clemons pushed back 6 months

ST. LOUIS — A judge has granted a six-month extension for the new trial for Reginald Clemons, who has spent more than 20 years on death row in the deaths of two sisters who were pushed from an abandoned Mississippi River bridge in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison on Tuesday set a tentative August trial date. The original date was Feb. 23.

Clemons was one of four men convicted in the 1991 deaths of 20-year-old Julie Kerry and her 19-year-old sister, Robin. The Missouri Supreme Court in November overturned the conviction, based on a finding prosecutors wrongly suppressed evidence and detectives had beaten Clemons into confessing.

The trial date was delayed after Clemons’ public defender argued he needed more time.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com