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Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt opposes immediate release of Keith Carnes

Schmitt and Carnes.jpg
Posted at 6:33 PM, Jan 24, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-24 19:33:49-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt says Keith Carnes should not be immediately released from prison.

In court documents filed on Monday to the Missouri Supreme Court, Schmitt’s office details why they oppose the motion for Carnes’ release.

DOCUMENT: Read the Attorney General's filing

In the 47-page document, they state the “standards for gateway innocence and cause and actual prejudice excusing the default of the alleged Brady claim have not been met here. And the claim itself is without merit.”

The filing comes after attorneys for Keith Carnes filed for his immediate release on Friday. It follows an 111-page report by Judge William Hickle, the special master appointed in the case, that narrowly focused on the factual findings of the case.

In that report, the judge pointed out that a report from a confidential informant “was not disclosed by the KCPD to either trial counsel or the prosecutor’s office prior to trial.”

Following that, Carnes’ attorneys in their motion for release stated Carnes’ convictions “were unconstitutionally obtained due to a Brady violation.”

Carnes has been serving life in prison without parole at South Correctional Center for the 2003 murder of Larry White.

Carnes has insisted he did not do it.

The Missouri Supreme Court has not yet responded to the motion for Carnes’ immediate release.


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