Jessie Dotson, convicted Lester Street killer on death row, petitions for new legal outcome
Jessie Dotson, the man convicted of six murders in the notorious Lester Street killings, is petitioning the courts for a writ of habeas corpus. If granted, Dotson would appear before a judge to make his case for a different legal outcome.
The petition asks that a judge rule Dotson's six first-degree murder convictions and three attempted first-degree murders as unconstitutional and vacate the corresponding sentences.
An inmate in the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Dotson has been on death row since he was sentenced to death six times over in connection with the 2008 murders in the Binghampton area. All six of the murder victims — four adults and two children — and three young survivors were found in a small house on Lester Street some 40 hours after the attack occurred.
Three small children survived stab wound that left them in critical condition; Jessie Dotson's 9-year-old nephew identified him as the attacker, providing crucial evidence for the prosecution.
The 249-page petition covers dozens of points of objections to the original trial, with many of those points hinging on what Dotson's current attorneys assert was insufficient counsel at the time. Other points relate to physical evidence or a lack thereof.
His defense asserted these brutal killings were ordered by gang members out for vengeance against Cecil Dotson, Jessie Dotson's brother and a member of the Gangster Disciples, who "crossed multiple members of his own gang," according to the petition.
The petition also lists dozens of examples of where Jessie Dotson's defense counsel was insufficient in the handling of the case. Further, Jessie Dotson has documented neurocognitive deficits — which means he is constitutionally protected from the death penalty.
The filing comes a little under one year since the Tennessee Supreme Court denied a request for funds to hire experts that could assess whether Dotson's constitutional rights were violated during the 2010 trial.
While the petition brings up dozens of points of contention against the trial, underpinning the majority of these objections is what the petition repeatedly casts as ineffective counsel.
Why does the petition call for Dotson to be taken off death row?
During the investigation of the killings, law enforcement was unable to find any DNA that belonged to Jessie Dotson. According to The Commercial Appeal archives, prosecutors told jurors they would instead build their case against Jessie Dotson through his confession to the murders as well as the eye-witness testimony from a child who survived the massacre.
C.J. Dotson, 11-years-old at the time of the trial, had survived the attack and a stab wound to his head.
The petition asserts that the young boy, at the time, was not competent for trial — an issue Jessie Dotson's defense should have raised before the court.
"Counsel failed to obtain medical records relevant to his competency to testify, including a May 8, 2008, neuropsychological evaluation at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, which revealed significant impairment in his long-term memory. The District Attorney General had those records, but counsel did not request them," the petition read.
Jessie Dotson's mother, Priscilla Shaw, also testified in court that he confessed to the killings. Friends described him as "coy" when he was asked about his involvement.
The petition goes on to state that the young witness identified two other individuals as perpetrators in initial interviews.
Alternate theory Lester Street murders resurfaced in petition
During Dotson's trial, his attorneys said the brutality and scope of the murders pointed to something more than a drunken argument, which is what was said to have spurred Dotson's rampage.
Cecil Dotson's involvements with the Gangster Disciples, and the people he was said to have crossed, all took place during a time when Mexican cartels were, according to the petition. The Gangster Disciples, the petition argues, were overseen by a cartel with ties to gangs known for their level of brutality like the Sureños-13, Norteños, and MS-13 gangs.
The style of the killings and the fact the victims included young members of the Dotson family, his defense said, was more indicative of a "total blackout order," an order to kill a target's entire family. In this case, the petition said, it was a retaliatory hit ordered on Cecil Dodson that resulted in the mass murder.
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The petition claims that prosecutors and investigators intentionally ignored or actively suppressed information that would support the retaliation theory. Claims that Cecil Dotson admitted to stealing weapons or drugs from other members of the Gangster Disciples were at the heart of multiple examples of statements made by those who knew Cecil Dotson.
Despite a mound of evidence that supported the retaliation theory, detectives under immense pressure to make an arrest pivoted to the young survivor who, at the time of the interview, was on a mixture of mind-altering drugs due to the treatment of his head injury.
Jessie Dotson's petition will go through administrative proceedings with the state before the need for an evidentiary hearing is evaluated.
Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Jessie Dotson, convicted of killing 6 in Memphis, files for new legal outcome
