Judge rejects AG motions in Kevin Strickland case; Baker to argue he’s innocent Monday

The judge overseeing Kevin Strickland’s evidentiary hearing, which is set to start next week, on Thursday rejected three motions filed by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

Arguments made at the hearing again illustrated a power clash in the case, with the AG’s office unsuccessfully contending that Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker does not represent Missouri in it. Disagreements also stemmed from how to interpret the state’s new law that allows local prosecutors to seek to free prisoners they believe are innocent.

Among the motions denied was one that attempted to narrow the scope of the evidence that will be presented at Monday’s hearing. The AG’s office sought to have two affidavits kept out, but prosecutors said the judge should consider them.

“We think you can look at everything,” Edward “Chip” Robertson, a former Missouri Supreme Court justice who joined Baker’s team trying to free Strickland, told Judge James Welsh. “We want to empower you to make the right decision.”

The denials mean Strickland’s evidentiary hearing, which has been delayed twice in Jackson County, is set to begin at 10 a.m. Monday. Evidence will likely be presented over several days. Welsh said he will order each side to file post-trial briefs, meaning they will assert their arguments again in writing after the hearing. It remains unclear when Welsh will make a ruling.

In an investigation published in 2020, The Star reported that, for decades, two men who pleaded guilty in the 1978 triple murder swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the killings. A third, uncharged suspect also said Strickland is innocent. The only eyewitness to the shooting later tried to recant her identification of Strickland and wanted him freed.

In May, Strickland, 62, received rare support from local prosecutors who said he is “factually innocent” and called for his release. Baker filed a motion seeking to free him when the new law went into effect in August. The AG’s office has fought her efforts, contending Strickland, who was 18 when he was arrested, is guilty and received a fair trial.

Baker declined to comment Thursday and said she is “going to try” the case in the courtroom.

During the hearing, the AG’s office attempted to argue that Baker does not represent the state in Strickland’s case.

But Robertson — who suggested the AG’s office “does not like” the new law — said there were three murder trials underway in Jackson County in which Baker or one of her assistants represented the state of Missouri. He noted the new law’s language states the AG’s office may appear at the evidentiary hearing, but it did not have to; it “chose to be here.”

Ahead of Monday’s hearing, groups plan to gather at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Jackson County courthouse to call for Strickland’s release. The rally was put together, in part, by the National Organization of Exonerees, a group of exonerees based in Michigan.

If prosecutors prevail and Strickland is exonerated, his imprisonment will mark the longest known wrongful conviction in Missouri.