More than 70 corrections officers including a former warden from Missouri’s Potosi Correctional Center wrote to Republican Governor Michael Parson beseeching him to spare the life of Brian Dorsey, a condemned murderer set to be executed on Tuesday, saying the inmate is reformed and does not deserve to be put to death, the Washington Post reports.
It’s the latest effort to spare the 52-year-old man who was convicted of the double murder of his cousin and her husband in 2006, as he was on a three-day crack bender. After being awake 72 straight hours because drug dealers he owed money to threatened to kill him, he murdered the couple and stole cash, guns, jewelry and other items to pay off the drug debt. Once arrested, Dorsey cooperated with investigators and prosecutors. Advocates note that Dorsey was diagnosed with a major depression disorder as a child, but never received effective treatment, instead using alcohol and cocaine to self-medicate. Since he’s been in prison, he’s received regular, effective treatment which has significantly changed his behavior.
“There isn’t a nicer guy than Brian. He is one of the most pleasant people we know. He doesn’t deserve to be executed,” the letter reads, noting that Dorsey was housed in an “honor wing” set aside for the best-behaved inmates. “We know that he was convicted of murder, but that is not the Brian Dorsey that we know. We urge you, Governor, to exercise your authority under the Missouri Constitution to commute Brian’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
Defense attorneys have also appealed based on ineffective counsel, and they point to the compensation for firms working as public defenders in capital cases as one reason. Dorsey’s court-appointed trial attorneys, his current lawyers argue, did not carry out an independent investigation, did not assert that Dorsey was in the midst of a drug-induced psychotic break at the time of the murders, nor did they obtain a lesser sentence for Dorsey’s cooperation and confession.
The reason, Dorsey’s current attorneys note, is the fact that public defenders assigned to trial cases receive a flat fee from the state of $12,000 regardless of the amount of work they put in for the case. This, the director of the Missouri State Public Defender system acknowledged that this system encouraged the retained attorneys to do limited, if any, work: “Missouri State Public Defender acknowledges the prevalence of unconstitutional and ineffective assistance of counsel in death penalty flat fee cases,” the director wrote, saying the system violates both American Bar Association guidelines and the Missouri Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct.