Stacey Lannert

Infobox Person


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name = Stacey Lannert
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birth_name = Stacey Ann Lannert
birth_date = birth date and age|1972|05|28|mf=y
birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, USA
death_date =
death_place =
other_names =
known_for = Conviction for murder
occupation =
spouse =
website =

Stacey Ann Lannert [ [http://www.wetv.com/shows/women-behind-bars/bios/stacey-lannert Full name] : website.] (born May 28 1972, St. Louis, Missouri [ [http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/360862 Date of birth] : Care2.com website.] ) is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for the murder of her father, Tom Lannert.

The crime and the trial

At the age of 18, in the town of St. John, Missouri, Lannert shot her father while he slept, citing ongoing abuse of her younger sister, Christy, as a catalyst. She has been incarcerated since. Lannert claims that her father sexually abused her from the age of nine, and that reports of the abuse to her guidance counselor, babysitter, and psychiatrist brought no result. Several expert witnesses testified at both Lannert's trial and appeal, agreeing that Lannert shows signs of abuse.

Lannert testified that she entered her home via a basement window at approximately 4:15-4:30 am on July 4 1990, and, seeing a rifle, decided to kill her father. The first shot broke his collarbone; he awakened and asked her to telephone for help. At first Lannert complied, but then returned and shot her father in the head at point-blank range. The next day, she had a friend dispose of the murder weapon, and pretended to discover the body. Evidence introduced at the trial also showed that she had, over an extended period of time, explored several possible methods of killing her father, discussed her plans and made preparations with others, and openly considered the financial gains to be made from the murder.

Charged with first degree murder and other felonies, Lannert offered the defense of insanity or mental defect, and attempted to use the "battered spouse syndrome" defense. In a pre-trial ruling, the court limited mention of "battered spouse syndrome" but allowed the defendant to make "an offer of proof of self-defense". However, the judge refused to include self-defense in instructions to the jury. According to the court "the defendant's testimony didn't indicate that she was in immediate fear of serious physical injury or death [,] [as] her testimony was that her father was asleep and passed out and drunk, or at least asleep, and she knew that when she fired the first shot". Thus, the court concluded that " [t] here [was not] any basis in the evidence for self-defense". The jury subsequently found her guilty and sentenced her to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Time served and appeals

However, after sentencing, some members of the jury expressed outrage that facts of sexual and physical abuse were never introduced at trial. The presiding judge, the Honorable Steven H. Goldman, issued this statement regarding Stacey's case:

" [The] sentence is severe for a 20 year old. It is also somewhat surprising considering the evidence of sexual abuse by the victim's father... [a] conventional life sentence would be more appropriate from a comparison standpoint." [http://www.freestaceylannert.org "Free Stacey Lannert" quotes] .]

The Missouri Court of Appeals found in favor of the trial judge. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, issued this statement after Lannert filed a petition for appeal:

"The 'absence of aggression or provocation on the part of the defender' element of the Missouri self-defense statute does not articulate a time frame during which the initial act of aggression and the act of self-defense must occur. It is therefore deeply troubling that the jury was not completely informed of the scope of the abuse Lannert suffered, her fear, or her rage that her sister may also have been victimized by their father. This evidence of battered spouse syndrome might have placed Lannert's actions in proper context, and may have allowed a jury to conclude that Lannert was not the initial aggressor on the night of her father's death, potentially resulting in a very different outcome than what she faces today."

Nonetheless, on March 11 2003, the court also found in favor of the original trial judge, though "reluctantly": the ruling held that the appeal failed before the cited standards: "Deadly force may be used in self-defense only when there is (1) an absence of aggression or provocation on the part of the defender, (2) a real or apparently real necessity for the defender to kill in order to save himself from an immediate danger of serious bodily injury or death, (3) a reasonable cause for the defender’s belief in such necessity, and (4) an attempt by the defender to do all within his power consistent with his personal safety to avoid the danger and the need to take a life." The court rejected Lannert's position that " [a] man who rapes his daughter when she is in the third grade is the initial aggressor, and the author of his own doom". More crucially, the court noted that Battered Spouse Syndrome does not amount to a defense in itself, but merely a support for a claim of self-defense, indicating the frame of mind in which the defendant finds herself at the time of the act. The court declined to override Missouri's rules for jury instruction or interpretation of the Battered Spouse Syndrome law.

Lannert has exhausted all of her appeals, and is now seeking from Missouri Governor Matt Blunt either commutation of her sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years (of which she has served 15 already) or pardon.

Lannert is described as a 'model prisoner' and is active in many different community projects as well as helping other survivors of incest and abuse.fact|date=March 2008 Her sister Christy, convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, was sentenced to five years imprisonment, and released after serving two and one half years.

Lannert is the focus of energetic support, with numerous websites inviting signatures on a petition for clemency. [ [http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/125146079 Stacey Lannert Petition] .]

References

External links

* [http://vlex.com/vid/18524995 Stacey Lannert's Application to the U.S. Court of Appeals]