MERCER, GEORGE C. "TINY"
General InformationDOB: August 31, 1944
Race: White
Gender: Male
Crime and Trial
County of conviction: Green
Number of counts: One
Race of victim: White
Gender of victim: Female
Date of crime: August 31, 1978
Date of sentencing: November 9, 1979
Date of execution: January 6, 1989
Legal status:
Trial Counsel:
C. John Lozano
Last counsel of record:
Douglas S. Laird
700 W. 47th St., Suite 1000
Kansas City, MO 64112
816-753-1000
Last judicial decision:
--Dismissal of appeal from denial of second federal habeas petition. See Mercer v. Armontrout, 864 F.2d 1429 (8th Cir. 1988).
Reported Opinions:
--Conviction and sentence affirmed on direct appeal by State v. Mercer, 618 S.W.2d 1 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 933 (1981).
--Denial of post-conviction relief affirmed by Mercer v. State, 666 S.W.2d 942 (Mo. App. S.D. 1984)
--Habeas corpus denied by Mercer v. Armontrout, 643 F.Supp. 1021 (W.D. Mo. 1986)
--Denial of habeas affirmed by Mercer v. Armontrout, 844 F.2d 582 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 900 (1988)
--Second habeas petition denied by Mercer v. Armontrout, 701 F.Supp. 1460 (W.D. Mo. 1988), appeal dismissed by Mercer v. Armontrout, 864 F.2d 1429 (8th Cir. 1988).
Significant legal issues:
--existence of "cause and prejudice" to excuse Mercer's failure to raise certain claims of trial counsel's ineffectiveness during first federal habeas petition and state post-conviction proceedings, where trial counsel himself served as state post-conviction counsel and litigated federal petition.
--constitutionality of the "depravity of mind" aggravating circumstance
--adequacy of evidence supporting aggravating circumstance that the defendant killed the victim at the direction of another or as the agent of another
--admission of evidence that defendant was being prosecuted for a previous rape