MEDIA CONTACT:
STEVEN ENGELHARDT (314) 504-4029
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FRIDAY 11.18.11

Congressmen Clay and Cleaver Ask Missouri Attorney General Koster to

Examine Case of Wrongly-convicted Man

Mentally-ill Man Still Jailed 29 Years After False Confession

– WASHINGTON, DC – Congressmen Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) and Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-Missouri) today asked Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to consider freeing a St. Louis man wrongly convicted in 1982 and jailed for the past three decades.

New information conclusively proves that George Allen, Jr. did not commit the crime, and that police withheld exculpatory evidence from both the prosecutor and the defense at the time of trial.

“It appears that this is a grave injustice that can be remedied only through swift action by Attorney General Koster. He has the facts, he has the evidence, and he can make the decision to release Mr. Allen and return him to his family,” said Congressman Clay.

A letter delivered today to Koster and signed by both Representatives details the case that has troubled the St. Louis community for decades, including new exculpatory DNA evidence, a “confession” full of critical mistakes about the crime and obtained through a very leading interrogation, and the prevalence of recent high-profile false confession cases in other jurisdictions.

“We feel that it is important that you personally take a very careful look at this case,”the Congressmen write in their letter to Koster. “We want to make sure that you are aware of the importance of this matter to the local community, and the implications of this case for broader concerns of public safety and justice.”

Mr. Allen has filed a writ of habeas corpus in Cole County Circuit Court. The case was brought to the Congressmen’s attention by Barry Scheck and The Innocence Project, a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.  Since the organization’s founding, more than 250 people have been exonerated through DNA testing in the United States, including 17 who were at one time sentenced to death. Mr. Allen is also represented by local counsel Ameer Gado, Dan Harvath and Tim O’Connell from the St. Louis firm of Bryan Cave.

The Attorney General’s office has promised to make a decision by November 30.

”I hope that the Attorney General will make a quick decision, and come to the only conclusion possible: that Mr. Allen is actually innocent of this crime. Further, I am hopeful that he will release Mr. Allen speedily and get him home in time for the holidays,”said Congressman Clay.

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