VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Citing multiple conflicts of interest, a judge has removed Carter County Prosecuting Attorney Rocky Kingree from representing the State of Missouri in a motion seeking to set aside the conviction of a man sentenced to die for gunning down a Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant.
In Kingree's place, Circuit Judge Kelly Parker appointed Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson to represent the state and handle the motion filed by Lance Shockley. Patterson's appointment came at the conclusion of a hearing held Friday morning.
"It was one of the most interesting hearings I have ever been in," Kingree said in a prepared statement. "Usually, the defendant asks for a prosecutor to be disqualified, but in this case, it seemed Judge Kelly Parker was hell bent on choosing the prosecutor, which takes away from him being fair and impartial."
As Carter County's prosecutor, Kingree said, he has been "known for my ethics and fairness in all cases. This includes allowing a defendant to present his or her evidence and always abiding by the Constitution."
In Shockley's case, Kingree said, he "learned of an accusation that Chris Koster's Office and Missouri State Highway Patrol withheld evidence, and as my ethics and the Constitution provided, I notified the defense of the information."
Elected by the people, Kingree said, he understands he does not represent law enforcement or some other interest, "but I always represent the people of Carter County.
"I have spent my entire time in Carter County fighting corruption in the government, including corruption in law enforcement. I was disappointed that Judge Kelly Parker did not want the voice of Carter County heard and wanted to choose his own personal prosecutor to represent the Carter County people."
Kingree said this is an "extremely tragic case, with a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper, like my father was a trooper, (being) gunned down outside of his house, and the family of Lance Shockley anticipating the future execution of their family member.
"I hope justice is pursued on behalf of Trooper Graham, and Lance Shockley receives fair treatment under the law."
Shockley, 37, of Van Buren was convicted in March 2009 by a Carter County jury of the Class A felony of first-degree murder in connection with the March 20, 2005, death of Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr.
An inmate at the Potosi Correctional Center, Shockley filed a post-conviction relief motion Jan. 23 on his own behalf seeking to vacate, set aside or correct the judgment and sentence in his case.
In his motion, Shockley claimed ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel.
The Public Defender's Office subsequently was appointed to represent Shockley, and its attorneys filed a motion March 10 asking Parker to lift prior orders issued by the trial court and order the state to disclose evidence material to their investigation and presentation of post-conviction claims.
In the motion, the attorneys cited requests to unseal documents surrounding an earlier motion to withdraw involving Shockley's then attorneys with the Capital Public Defender's Office, ordering the highway patrol lab to provide specific photographs and ballistics evidence, lifting a prior court order prohibiting contact with jurors and order the state to give them an opportunity to view all evidence and files.
A subsequent telephone conference, according to Casenet, Missouri's online court reporting system, was held between the attorneys, Kingree and the judge. During that call, Kingree reportedly announced the state "had no objections to any" of the requests or to Parker's proposed orders.
Parker entered orders March 14 granting the requests.
On March 24, Assistant Attorney General Steven Berry filed a motion to set aside Parker's March 14 orders. Among the reasons Berry cited was that Shockley was prosecuted by the AG's Office with "no participation on the part of the Carter County Prosecuting Attorney's Office."
Kingree was elected and took office after the conclusion of Shockley's case.
Since that time, additional motions have been filed by Shockley's attorneys, Kingree and the AG's office.
A motion hearing was held Friday morning, with Kingree, along with Shockley's attorneys, Jeannie Willibey and Pete Carter, present.
The court, on its own motion, looked into an "appearance ... of conflicts of interest concerning the continued representation of the State of Missouri by Mr. Kingree," according to the Casenet docket entry.
This review was based upon "the report of the special prosecutor" in Shockley's case.
Two such documents are on file as part of Shockley's Supreme Court case and were completed by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, who was appointed as special prosecuting attorney for Carter County.
The first report, dated Oct. 26, 2011, indicates McCulloch was appointed to "investigate an allegation of nondisclosure of evidence by an assistant attorney general" in Shockley's case.
Upon the conclusion of his investigation, McCulloch found "absolutely no credible evidence" the assistant AG or anyone "withheld any information from the defense attorneys representing Lance Shockley."
According to an Oct. 31, 2012, report, McCulloch again was asked to investigate an allegation that Graham had kept files in his home pertaining to wrongful and embarrassing conduct by other law enforcement personnel and that patrol personnel removed those files from his home after his murder.
McCulloch concluded credible evidence established Graham did not maintain such files, and since there was no evidence such files ever existed, the patrol could not have removed them from his home or withheld them.
During Friday's hearing, the court called Kingree as a witness and "received his testimony under oath."
The court also took "judicial notice" of Shockley's entire file, and based on the evidence presented, found Kingree "has multiple conflicts of interest in representing the State of Missouri in this cause of action."
Five conflicts were listed on the Casenet docket entry.
"There is a substantial risk that Mr. Kingree's continued representation of the State of Missouri ... will be materially limited by his personal and professional animus (feelings of ill will) toward, bias against and conflicts with the Missouri State Highway Patrol (and) ... by his personal, prior involvement in the underlying criminal proceedings concerning discovery violation issues," the docket entry said.
In addition, the court found Kingree would be limited by "his family's involvement as potential witnesses," and the "possibility that he would be compelled to attack the credibility of those witnesses to properly and zealously represent" the state.
Further, the court cited Kingree would be limited by his family's "close personal relationship" with Cathy (Crowley) Runge. Runge was engaged to Graham at the time of his murder.
"There is a substantial risk that Mr. Kingree will be needed as a necessary witness," either by Shockley or the state, "concerning the multiple allegations of discovery violations."
The conflicts of interest, the docket entry said, would "materially affect (Kingree's) ability to properly, effectively, ethically and zealously represent the state.
" ... If this court were to allow Mr. Kingree to continue ... it would most certainly negatively reflect on and impact the administration of justice in this case and the public's trust."
It was the order of the court that Kingree be "discharged and removed as attorney for the state" in Shockley's post-conviction relief case.
Patterson and the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney's office were appointed to "represent and defend the State of Missouri."