GILMORE, GEORGE C.
General Information
DOB: August 5, 1946
Race: White
Gender: Male
Crime and Trial
County of conviction: St. Louis
Number of counts: Two
Race of victim: White/white
Gender of victim: Female/male
Date of crime: October 28-29, 1980
Date of sentencing: April 23, 1982
Date of execution: August 31, 1990
Legal status:
Trial Counsel:Last counsel of record:
C. John Pleban
Pleban & Associates
100 S. 4th St., Suite 600
St. Louis, MO 63102
314-241-4141
Kevin L. Collins
310 S. St. Marys, Suite 1850
San Antonio, TX 78218
210-223-9480
Last judicial decision:
--Denial of relief on second habeas petition affirmed by Gilmore v. Delo, 908 F.2d 385 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 497 U.S. 1049 (1990).
Reported Opinions:
--Conviction reversed by State v. Gilmore, 650 S.W.2d 627 (Mo. banc 1983) (defect in indictment)
--Conviction and sentence (after remand) affirmed on direct appeal by State v. Gilmore, 661 S.W.2d 519 (Mo. banc 1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 945 (1984)
--Conviction and sentence (after remand) affirmed on direct appeal by State v. Gilmore, 681 S.W.2d 934 (Mo. banc 1984)
--Conviction and death sentence (after remand) affirmed on direct appeal by State v. Gilmore, 697 S.W.2d 172 (Mo. banc 1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1178 (1986).
--Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed by Gilmore v. State, 712 S.W.2d 438 (Mo. App. E.D. 1986).
--Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed by Gilmore v. State, 731 S.W.2d 369 (Mo. App. E.D.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 933 (1987).
--Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part, by Gilmore v. State, 741 S.W.2d 704 (Mo. App. E.D. 1987).
--Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed by Gilmore v. State, 755 S.W.2d 419 (Mo. App. E.D. 1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1040 (1989)
--Stay of execution granted by Gilmore v. Missouri, 464 U.S. 1306 (per Blackmun, Circuit Justice, 1984)
--Grant of habeas relief by district court reversed by Gilmore v. Armontrout, 861 F.2d 1061 (8th Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1114 (1989). [Habeas relief had been granted by Gilmore v. Armontrout, 681 F.Supp. 632 (W.D. Mo. 1988)].
--Denial of relief on second habeas petition affirmed by Gilmore v. Delo, 908 F.2d 385 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 497 U.S. 1049 (1990).
Significant legal issues:
--Caldwell claim regarding prosecutor's argument that the legislature or governor might take later action to remove any death sentence imposed by the jury, or that Mr. Gilmore might receive parole if sentenced to life, and question whether the claim was procedurally defaulted by appellate post-conviction counsel's alleged failure to assert it in state court proceedings
--Counsel's ineffectiveness in failing to object to the prosecutor's improper argument (among other things)
--Admission of videotaped confession, during sentencing phase, that the defendant killed an additional individual
--Claim under Mills v. Maryland that penalty phase instructions required jury to find mitigating circumstances unanimously, and question of whether the claim was procedurally defaulted by Mr. Gilmore's failure to raise the claim on the first habeas petition on direct appeal, where both proceedings were litigated prior to the Supreme Court's opinion in Mills in 1988.