Legal Team for Black Man on Missouri’s Death Row ‘Hopeful’ New Law Will Clear His Name

Time is of the essence for Leonard Taylor.

Taylor is sitting on Missouri’s death row after being accused of the 2004 quadruple murder of his girlfriend, Angela Rowe, and her three children. However, the 58-year-old claims he is innocent and his attorneys say he has an “airtight” alibi.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that attorneys representing Taylor have sworn statements, adding to the argument that Taylor being 1,800 miles away from the scene of the crime. Attorneys Kent Gipson and Kevin Schriener are calling on the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office to review it under a certain law. The provision would “let a prosecutor file a motion for a hearing before a judge if the prosecutor has information a defendant could be innocent or erroneously convicted.” If the motion is filed by the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office, a judge must review the evidence in a hearing.

The motion was filed last week amid protests to stop Taylor’s execution, which is scheduled on Feb. 7.

And it looks like they were successful. Chris King, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, told The Kansas City Star that the case is under review.

The Kansas City Star reported that Taylor sent a letter claiming he was “unreasonably targeted, falsely accused, wrongfully indicted, unjustly convicted, and cruelly sentenced to die” during his trial in 2008. During the trial, prosecutors said that Taylor called his brother and admitted to killing Rowe and her family. Before he boarded a flight to California, Taylor claimed that Rowe and the kids were very much alive.

SLPD reports that videotape from the St. Louis airport confirms he boarded a flight early the morning after Thanksgiving.

While a convicted criminal, Taylor’s lawyers say there was no motive for him to murder Rowe or her children. Sources from The Kansas City Star say alternative suspects weren’t investigated properly. Other factors, such as no weapon being retrieved, have Taylor’s lawyers hopeful for change. Gipson told the Kansas City Star he wants the prosecutor’s office to live up to their promises. “I’m hopeful that the new regime in St. Louis County will live up to the promises that Wesley Bell made in his campaign, that he’s going to do something about wrongful convictions and I think we’ve shown more than enough evidence to get a new hearing under the new law.”