BYRD, MAURICE O.
General Information
DOB: December 7, 1954
Race: African-American
Gender: Male
Crime and Trial
County of conviction: St. Louis
Number of counts: Four
Race of victim: African-American (3)/white (1)
Gender of victim: Female (3)/male (1)
Date of crime: October 23, 1980
Date of sentencing: December 8, 1982
Date of execution: August 23, 1991
Legal status:
Trial Counsel:
Last judicial decision:
--Second petition for habeas corpus denied by Byrd v. Delo, 733 F.Supp. 1334 (E.D. Mo. 1990), aff'd, 917 F.2d 1037 (8th Cir. 1990), reh'g denied, 942 F.2d 1226 (8th Cir. 1991).
Reported opinions:
--Conviction and sentence affirmed on direct appeal by State v. Byrd, 676 S.W.2d 494 (Mo. banc 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230 (1985).
--Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed by Byrd v. State, 723 S.W.2d 37 (Mo. App. E.D. 1986), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 872 (1987).
--First petition for habeas corpus denied by Byrd v. Armontrout, 686 F. Supp. 743 (E.D. Mo. 1988), aff'd 880 F.2d 1 (8th Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1019 (1990).
--Second petition for habeas corpus denied by Byrd v. Delo, 733 F.Supp. 1334 (E.D. Mo. 1990), aff'd, 917 F.2d 1037 (8th Cir. 1990), reh'g denied, 942 F.2d 1226 (8th Cir. 1991).
Significant legal issues:
--Cognizability of Mr. Byrd's claim that the prosecution exercised peremptory strikes in order to exclude all four African-American veniremembers, as his case was final on direct appeal before the Supreme Court's decision in Batson.
--Merits of Mr. Byrd's claim under Swain v. Alabama, in light of showing on second habeas petition that the prosecutor's office had a policy of excluding African-American veniremembers in capital cases
--Trial counsel's effectiveness in calling a witness who placed Mr. Byrd at the scene of the crime, but whose statements to the police were inconsistent
--Procedurally barred (abusive) claim that penalty phase instructions required the jury to find mitigating circumstances unanimously in order to give them effect, in violation of Mills v. Maryland