By The Vanguard Staff
HUNTSVILLE, MO – Murders described by the New York Times as “so brazen, so brutal, they stunned the people of Missouri” on June 22, 2000, led Michael Tisius to a 2010 conviction and sentence of death.
Tisius—who was 19 and intent on forcibly freeing an imprisoned friend at the county jail—now faces execution Tuesday, June 6, 2023, for the murder of two guards.
The Times said the jury only took a few hours convict Tisius more than a decade ago, but now “six jurors, including two alternates, have said in sworn affidavits included in a clemency petition that they would be supportive or would not object if the governor of Missouri stepped in to commute the sentence to life imprisonment, rather than death.”
The Times added it is “rare, experts said, to see so many jurors formally taking such a stand in a death penalty case…Another juror, when contacted recently by legal representatives for Mr. Tisius, told them that he could not read in English, a requirement in Missouri courts for jury service.”
A federal judge ordered last week that the execution be halted while the claim of illiteracy was investigated, but on Friday, an appeals court overruled that decision.
“In a 56-page petition sent to Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri, jurors recounted in statements obtained from Mr. Tisius’ defense team why they have changed their thinking since the sentencing 13 years ago. They were still convinced of his guilt, the jurors said, and believed he should never be released from prison,” writes the NY Times.
But they, added the Times, “spoke of new details they learned from Mr. Tisius’ legal team and what they remembered from the trial: the harrowing background of Mr. Tisius’ childhood, which included abuse and neglect; of his mental impairments; and of his good behavior in prison since his conviction.”
“I believe that people can change and should get second chances,” one juror said in an affidavit. “At this time, based on what I have learned since the trial, I would not object if Mr. Tisius’ sentence were reduced to life without parole,” another juror said.
Jason Smith, a juror who voted Tisius to death in 2010 for killing the two jail guards, “has come to reconsider that decision,” the Times wrote.
“There is no legal recourse for jurors who have had a change of heart about a death sentence, said Juandalynn Taylor, a visiting professor at Gonzaga University School of Law who teaches on the death penalty, though lawyers often find examples of it in interviews with jurors during the appeals process,” the NY Times story notes.
In interviews with The New York Times, two jurors said they have been haunted by their experience. One woman who served as an alternate said she has suffered from anxiety, sleeplessness and guilt. If she had been allowed to vote, she said, she would not have chosen the death sentence.
Another juror, Jason Smith of Republic, Mo., said that in the 13 years since the sentencing, his views on Tisius, who is now 42, have shifted.
During deliberations, “Mr. Smith said, he felt it was a crucial fact that Mr. Tisius had killed more than one person. Mr. Tisius had an opportunity to stop before shooting the second jail employee, Mr. Smith recalls reasoning, making the death penalty a just punishment,” wrote the NY Times.
But, the Times continued, “now he said he knows, based on what he was recently told by Mr. Tisius’ legal team, that doctors who have examined him concluded that he had mental deficiencies that could have impaired his decision-making. Another juror said he has learned about medical research showing that the frontal lobe of the brain is not fully developed in the teenage years, but still supports the death penalty in certain cases” and feels that Tisius should spend the rest of his life in prison.
“But he no longer believes Mr. Tisius deserves to die (noting) ‘I feel angry and remorseful…I feel that I wronged Michael,’” wrote the Times.
The NY Times added, “Public support for the death penalty in the United States has waned for decades, and Missouri is one of only four states to have carried out an execution in 2023, along with Florida, Oklahoma and Texas, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.”
The Times said, “The other person who was trying to free (the inmate) was (his) girlfriend, Tracie Bulington. She was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for her role in the killings.
The Missouri Supreme Court denied an appeal from Tisius and, in March, scheduled his execution. Since then, opponents of the death penalty have intensified their efforts to persuade the Republican governor to commute the sentence.
The NY Times added, “Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Pope’s representative to the United States, appealed to Mr. Parson for clemency. The American Bar Association argued in a letter that capital punishment should be prohibited in cases of people who have committed crimes while 21 years old or younger.
“Mary Fox, director of the Missouri State Public Defender system, asked Mr. Parson to commute the sentence, saying that Mr. Tisius was not effectively represented during the trial. Ms. Fox said that the process of capital punishment can be troubling for jurors, prison employees who get to know inmates and the lawyers who defend their clients,” wrote the NY Times.
In a statement from prison, Tisius said he still believed there was a chance his sentence would be commuted, noting, “My only hope is that the Governor makes his decision based on me, my remorse, my life, and my rehabilitation over the last 23 years,” he said. “I feel like I’ve changed, I hope he can see that in me too.”
