{"id":1813,"date":"2025-06-25T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/25\/execution-date-set-for-man-sentenced-to-die-by-a-missouri-judge-over-2005-murder-2\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T08:00:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T13:00:33","slug":"execution-date-set-for-man-sentenced-to-die-by-a-missouri-judge-over-2005-murder-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/25\/execution-date-set-for-man-sentenced-to-die-by-a-missouri-judge-over-2005-murder-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Execution date set for man sentenced to die by a Missouri judge over 2005 murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Missouri Supreme Court Building in Jefferson City on March 12 (Clara Bates\/Missouri Independent).<\/p>\n

A Missouri man who was sentenced to death by a trial judge in 2009 despite a jury deadlocking on whether he should be executed has been scheduled to undergo lethal injection in October.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Missouri Supreme Court last week issued a <\/span>warrant<\/span><\/a> for the execution of Lance Shockley, who recently exhausted his state and federal appeals and was convicted of the 2005 murder of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The court announced the execution date on Tuesday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Graham was shot and killed in his rural Carter County driveway. Graham had been investigating Shockley\u2019s role in a fatal drunk driving accident, which the prosecution argued gave Shockley the motive to kill him. Shockley has insisted he\u2019s innocent.<\/span><\/p>\n

A jury in 2009 found Shockley guilty of first-degree murder. But <\/span>in the punishment phase of Shockley\u2019s trial, the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on whether he should be executed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In most states with active death penalty laws, that deadlock would have resulted in the defendant being sentenced to life without parole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But under Missouri law, Shockley\u2019s penalty case then got handed off to a Carter County circuit judge who, after independent review, sentenced him to death.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Group of Republican lawmakers raise concerns about Missouri death penalty<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Only Missouri and Indiana give judges the authority to unilaterally decide on the death penalty, a fact that <\/span>over the years<\/span><\/a> has drawn scrutiny<\/span><\/a> from those who believe it places too much power in the hands of one person and denies defendants their constitutional rights to trial by jury and protection against cruel and unusual punishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2023 Amber McLaughlin was executed because of the unilateral decision of a trial judge. S<\/a><\/span>ev<\/span>eral retired judges <\/span><\/a>opposed the execution in a letter to then-Gov. Mike Parson, calling it a \u201c<\/span>flaw in Missouri\u2019s capital sentencing scheme.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An <\/span>analysis included in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court organized by the national nonprofit watchdog group Project on Government Oversight <\/span><\/a>found Missouri judges, who are elected in most parts of the state, have been more likely than juries to impose death sentences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In cases without jury deadlock, from 2000 to 2018, the jury imposed a death sentence in 64% of cases. But in deadlocked cases with a trial judge making the decision, the death penalty was imposed in 86% of cases, according to the brief.<\/span><\/p>\n

A bipartisan group of lawmakers <\/span>in recent years have filed legislation <\/span><\/a>to eliminate judge-imposed executions, but the proposals have made little progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

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