United States: Prison guards sign petition to stop death row inmate from being executed

In the United States, in Missouri, a petition was launched to ask the governor that one of the prisoners not be executed as planned for Tuesday, April 9.

The signatories, including many guards of the prison where the death row inmate is being held, believe that the latter has reintegrated and speak of an unjust sentence.

Brian Dorsey was sentenced to death for the murders of his cousin and her husband, Sarah and Benjamin Bonnie, in 2006.

The petition is supported by more than 70% of prison officers at the prison where the inmate is located. Five jurors who participated in the criminal phase of the trial at the time also signed the text, as well as a former Missouri Supreme Court justice and at least three local Republican elected officials.

To defend their position, the signatories first highlight the circumstances of Brian Dorsey’s death sentence. They maintain in particular that the latter was suffering from a “psychosis caused by drug consumption” and a “black hole linked to alcohol consumption” at the time of the murders.

It emphasizes that the inmate, suffering from chronic depression, was sometimes prey to hallucinations. These elements should, according to them, have spared him a conviction for first degree murder.